Council opens public hearing and approves $5.5M presale for North Shore street reconstruction bonds

Forest Lake City Council opened and closed a public hearing on a street reconstruction plan for projects that include work on North Shore Drive and then approved both the plan and a resolution authorizing a presale to issue up to $5.5 million in general obligation street reconstruction bonds.

Dan Titra, municipal adviser with Ehlers, explained the steps the city must follow under state law: noticed public hearing, adoption of a reconstruction plan, a 30-day reverse-referendum period during which citizens may gather petition signatures to force a bond referendum, and finally a competitive bond sale after publication of an official statement. Titra said staff would conduct a rating call with a credit rating agency and that a higher rating reduces interest costs; he described the city’s credit process and noted the rating’s up-front cost is typically recouped in lower borrowing costs over time.

During the public hearing there were no members of the public who chose to speak; the council voted to adopt the reconstruction plan and later approved a resolution authorizing the issuance and presale of bonds in the proposed principal amount of $5,500,000. Council members were told staff anticipates bringing bond-bid results back to the council around May 12 for award and closing thereafter.

Why it matters: The presale authorization begins a process that will secure borrowing to construct prioritized street work and, subject to bid results and any reverse-referendum activity, will increase the city’s bonded debt and require debt-service budgeting.

Provenance: - topicintro: {"block_id":"1931.9349","local_start":0,"local_end":24,"evidence_excerpt":"7 C Forest Lake, 46 Street Reconstruction Bonding. We have I don't know if some of the staff's gonna kick this off or we'll go right to, to Dan here."} - topfinish: {"block_id":"2650.37","local_start":0,"local_end":26,"evidence_excerpt":"Great. Thank you. You are members of the council and we'll be seeing you on or around May 12 to discuss the bids on the bonds."}