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Council adopts bond ordinances to buy city vehicles, waives three‑read rule
Summary
Chillicothe City Council unanimously adopted four ordinances on July 28 authorizing bonds to finance vehicles and equipment for street, police and engineering departments and consolidated the issues; council waived the three‑reading rule and approved each ordinance by roll call.
Chillicothe City Council on July 28 unanimously adopted a package of bond ordinances to finance replacement vehicles and equipment for city operations and declared each ordinance an emergency so purchases can proceed.
What passed
- Ordinance authorizing up to $1,470,000 in bonds for road construction and servicing vehicles and equipment (dump truck, street sweeper, tandem-axle truck, Bobcat skid-steer/loader) — adopted after council waived the three-reading rule. - Ordinance authorizing up to $250,000 in bonds to acquire four police vehicles and related equipment — adopted after waiver of the three-reading rule. - Ordinance authorizing up to $300,000 in bonds for an engineering department vehicle and a tractor with mower arm and related equipment — adopted after waiver. - Ordinance consolidating up to three of the city’s bond issues into a single consolidated bond issue, establishing terms and declaring an emergency — adopted after waiver.
Council procedure
Councilman Creed moved to waive the three-reading rule on multiple items and then moved each ordinance to adoption; the clerk called the roll for each waiver and for each final ordinance vote. Roll-call records in the transcript show unanimous "yes" votes for waiver and adoption on each item.
Why it matters
Council said the borrowings will allow the city to proceed with purchases budgeted in this year’s capital plan after arranging the debt. City staff described the bonds as necessary to obtain equipment that had been authorized in the adopted budget but required financing to acquire this fiscal year.
Implementation details and next steps
- Ordinances included emergency language to expedite issuance and purchase. - The law and auditor offices will complete bond paperwork and report back on sale/closing dates; council did not deliberate detailed financing terms on the floor at this meeting.
Votes and procedure (selected)
- Item 2 (road construction/equipment bonds): motion to waive three-reading by Councilman Creed; second by Councilman DeMent; waiver and ordinance adoption passed by roll call (Bennett—yes; McCourt—yes; Barnes—yes; McKeever—yes; DeMent—yes; Preston—yes; Dunn—yes; Creed—yes). - Item 3 (police vehicles): motion to waive and adopt — unanimous by roll call. - Item 4 (engineering vehicle, tractor/mower): motion to waive and adopt — unanimous by roll call. - Item 5 (consolidation of bond issues): motion to waive and adopt — unanimous by roll call.
No dissenting votes were recorded during the meeting.
What the council did not do
Council did not discuss specific financing rates, underwriter selection, or sale date on the floor; those technical steps were referred to the auditor and law department for completion.
