EDA schedules July hearing to confirm citywide development district as financing option for police station ownership

The New Prague City Economic Development Authority said it will hold a public hearing in July to ‘blanket the whole city as an economic development district,’ a move staff said would preserve options for financing and project ownership, including a potential EDA ownership and lease‑back arrangement for the proposed police station.

Executive director (introduced at the meeting) told the EDA the item will appear on the July agenda and that staff is working with the city attorney to locate existing district documents; if the documents cannot be found, the public hearing would establish the district citywide. “I will be putting on our agenda for July a public hearing just to hold that required public hearing to blanket the whole city as an economic development district that would allow us to do stuff,” the executive director said.

Why it matters: staff explained a confirmed EDA district would give the authority clearer legal standing to acquire or hold property for development projects and to support financing approaches that require the EDA to hold title. The executive director said city council is currently weighing two financing options for the police station: traditional CIP bonding, which the council controls, generally includes public hearings and can be subject to a reverse referendum; and a lease‑revenue financing approach, in which a different public entity would hold the building and lease it back to the city, typically without a public hearing or reverse referendum but often at a modestly higher interest rate.

Staff cited past precedents to illustrate how the EDA has previously acted as a financing agent for community projects, including borrowing for the community center and acting as a pass‑through for other local facilities in earlier years. Participants said that history provides a template for how the EDA might structure ownership and finance if the city requests it, but they emphasized any such step would be contingent on an explicit city council request and remaining legal and financial review.

Meeting discussion also touched on risk and accountability. Several participants noted that even when the EDA acts as a pass‑through borrower, the city remains the ultimate taxing authority and would be responsible for debt service if payments were not made. Staff committed to prepare and advertise public hearing notices in time for the July 9 meeting so the EDA would have the option available should the council request it.

Next steps: staff will prepare public notice materials and advertise the July 9 public hearing; the EDA expects to consider the hearing record and potential action after the hearing. No formal EDA decision to acquire the police station or to pursue lease revenue financing was taken at the meeting; staff described the hearing as a procedural step to preserve options.