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Council holds vote on rescinding bonds after debate over West Main/Wayman traffic project
Summary
Councilors questioned rescinding bond authorizations for two 2019 projects, most notably a traffic realignment at the Wayman/Main intersection; members agreed to hold the deauthorization and to commission an updated traffic study and return with a refined scope and cost estimate.
Council members spent more than an hour debating a resolution to deauthorize three bond authorizations dating to 2019 and 2020, including funds earmarked for Hudson Park and a West Main/Wayman intersection improvement project.
Several council members, led by Council member Tarantino, urged caution about rescinding the bond authorization tied to the West Main/Wayman project, saying the intersection remains a major traffic chokepoint. "My concern is that eliminating that bond 26 canceling that project at this particular point is disturbing to me because ... that project is important," Tarantino said, describing congestion that backs onto adjacent streets and noting expanded commercial traffic in the area.
City finance staff told the council the municipality27s outstanding debt is near 22 percent of the debt limit and that removing unused bond authorizations can free borrowing capacity. The finance representative said, "We're at of our debt limit, we're at 21.95," and that maintaining prudent debt ratios was a reason to consider deauthorization.
After extended discussion, council members agreed to hold action on the deauthorization. They asked staff to conduct a new traffic study that accounts for development and changed traffic patterns since the original authorization and to return with a more precise cost estimate. Council members discussed preserving $110,000 in currently available cash (an item in the budget spreadsheet) to pay for an updated traffic study so the project27s scope and updated bond estimate could be included in the next capital-budgets process.
Council members also discussed the administrative option of splitting the deauthorization so some authorizations could be rescinded while keeping others in place; staff said the existing authorizations can be re-scoped and returned to the council. No formal bond rescission vote took place at the meeting; the council instructed staff to pursue the study and to return in 2026 for a refined authorization if needed.
