The City of Hood River is refinancing the debt for the municipal waterline replacement project that will see the bond paid off in a shorter amount of time and save on interest payments.  The original 40-year bond of just over three million dollars through the U.S. Department of Agriculture was taken out in 2011 when the City’s fiscal health and bond ratings were not as good as they are today.  City Manager Steve Wheeler says the refinancing will accelerate the payment schedule down to ten years and double the size of the annual payment, but also save the City over two million dollars in interest.  The bond repayments are funded with water rate revenues.  Wheeler says a good result of this is that Columbia Bank gave the City the lowest quote, so the money will stay in the local area.