Blue Valley Board authorizes leases backing $23 million in recreation certificates of participation

The Blue Valley Board of Education on Jan. 13 approved lease agreements that allow the Blue Valley Recreation Commission to proceed with financing roughly $23 million in certificates of participation (COPs) to fund new sports fields and improvements to an activity center.

The board’s action authorized two supplemental lease-purchase agreements between the trustee bank and the Blue Valley Recreation Commission, a necessary step for the Recreation Commission to complete the COP sale. The motion passed 7-0.

Board members and staff used the public discussion preceding the vote to probe repayment sources, the mill-levy effects and the recreation commission’s credit profile. Shane DeWald, who presented for the Blue Valley Recreation Commission, said the proposed financing would split proceeds between a sports complex (about $9 million) and an activity center renovation (about $14 million). He said the financing proceeds are expected to be spent…