Colfax pays off Glenwood loan

A final chapter in the Colfax Glenwood well saga was marked last week when City Treasurer Mark Clinton reported the city had paid off a loan for the purchase of the well property. The artesian wells at Glenwood are the source of approximately 60 percent of the Colfax city water supply.

The city borrowed $71,250 from the state Public Works Board fund to finance payments on the purchase of the Glenwood well site. The city made four payments of $17,812 to pay off the loan for the purchase.

Colfax purchased the wells from the estate of Dorothy Mitchell in December of 2008 for $115,000. Colfax was able to pay part of the agreed sum out of the water department capital funds. They were authorized to loan up to $95,000 from the state fund, but eventually took out the $71,250 loan at an interest rate of one half of one percent.

The city pursued purchase of the wells for several years because the 100-year lease for the site would have expired last year. Annual term of the lease was $150.