Council authorizes mayor to sign refinancing documents, discusses $250,000 lighting expense and reappointments
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Summary
Council approved a municipal order authorizing the mayor to execute refinancing joiner documents for NAB Fort Thomas LLC, discussed a $250,000 funding authorization for school ball‑field lighting conditioned on an updated lease, and approved reappointments to advisory boards.
The Fort Thomas City Council voted by roll call to authorize the mayor to execute documents that would allow NAB Fort Thomas LLC to refinance an equity line of credit for the 1 Highland project, and it addressed a separate request to authorize up to $250,000 for ball‑field lighting at city‑owned school property.
City administration told the council the refinancing request arose because the developer’s equity line will experience a rate change on Jan. 1 and the developer sought to lock a new rate for three years. The administration described the request as a loan‑refinance joiner distinct from the original IRB (which the administration said was roughly $20–$21 million when issued). A city legal advisor, Jim Parsons, reviewed the documents and told council members the joiner language “makes it clear that the city has no liability for payment of the underlying loan,” according to remarks read at the meeting.
The council considered municipal order MO21 2025, described in the agenda as “a municipal order authorizing the mayor … to execute an open‑end leasehold mortgage to pay joining NAB Fort Thomas LLC’s refinancing efforts on the 1 Highland project.” In a roll call recorded in the transcript, council members registered votes of “Aye” (Jeff Beazell, Adam Blount, Ben Pendry, Eric Strange and Lauren McIntosh), and the municipal order was carried as read.
Separately, the council considered a municipal order to fund up to $250,000 for lighting improvements at Winkler/Winford ball fields so the school district could complete installation in March. City staff said the city would advance the funds and recover them under an updated lease agreement; several council members insisted on seeing the updated lease before final disbursement. One member said, “I’d like to have that signed in official before… I would go yes. It’s a quarter million dollars.” Council discussion settled on approving the expenditure in principle while conditioning actual disbursement on execution of the revised lease and receipt of the agreement by council.
The meeting record also shows municipal orders to reappoint a planning‑commission member and an OKI board representative were introduced and carried as part of the municipal orders portion of the agenda.
Next steps recorded on the public record include the mayor and staff circulating the refinancing documents and any redacted versions to council for review and the city circulating the updated lease with the school district prior to finalizing the lighting expenditure.
The meeting adjourned after the municipal orders and roll calls.
