DISCOVERY BAY – Jefferson County Public Utility District officials are breathing easier after Tuesday’s state Public Works Board approval of a $100,000 no-interest loan to fund an archaeological study at Beckett Point.
“Getting this $100,000, that really makes us feel better,” said Wayne King, PUD commissioner from Gardiner.
That’s because until the loan was approved Tuesday, human remains – found May 27 during construction of a $2.8 million septic system and community drain field project and thought to be Native American – threatened to kill the project.
The state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation ordered work at the site halted until a study could be done to determine whether additional human remains or artifacts exist underground at Beckett Point, which juts into Discovery Bay.
The cash-strapped PUD could not afford the archaeological study and thought the project might have to be abandoned, even though the majority of the work had been completed.
The loan – to be paid back within six years – enables the PUD to do the study and continue the process of allowing crews to get back to work.
