Council acknowledges $43 million public safety bonds and accepts frontage lot in exchange

The City of Muskogee City Council on Sept. 22 approved Resolution No. 3055, acknowledging that the Muscogee County Public Safety Authority will issue revenue bonds in the principal amount of $43,000,000 to fund acquisition of sites and construction of a new public safety building. The council also approved accepting a frontage parcel on O'Mulgee Avenue from the Muskogee County Public Safety Authority as part of an earlier property exchange.

Miss Bodenhammer presented both items. She told the council the authority will issue the debt and collect taxes to service it; the city "will not be responsible for this debt, but as beneficiary, we have to acknowledge that they're taking out this debt," according to the record. The resolution authorizes issuing the bonds, selling at a discount, and waiving the competitive bidding act for that financing.

On the property transfer, Bodenhammer said the transfer is part of an earlier exchange: the city transferred rear parking-area property related to the Civic Center to the authority; in return the authority will convey a frontage parcel on O'Mulgee that will be delivered cleared. She told the council the authority is also providing demolition funds "I think it's about 400,000 for demolition of the properties there," and prefaced that remark with "don't quote me on this," indicating the amount is approximate.

Both the bond acknowledgement (Resolution No. 3055) and the property acceptance were approved by council roll call, with the bond resolution recorded as unanimous and the property acceptance likewise recorded as approved. Presenters noted that the county authority, not the city, will manage the debt issuance and repayment.

The actions allow the county authority to proceed with financing and transfer cleared property to the city; council records do not specify further conditions, timing for demolition work, or selected sites for the public safety building.