Council introduces lease-financing ordinance for new fire station and refers it to public-services committee

Council introduced Ordinance 9-26, which would authorize lease financing for a proposed fire station project. During initial debate council members asked who had conducted the project investigations and where detailed plans and cost estimates were; legal and finance advisers said prior schematics and a depiction of the new station were filed in an earlier resolution and offered to provide additional information.

Bond counsel (identified in the meeting as Dennis) told the council that prior public hearings included depictions and schematics and that financing options were a function of the city’s constitutional debt-limit capacity. City advisers (including Greg Marts and financial advisor Bob Swintz) explained that a prior project (fire station six) used a different financing mechanism and that the city’s remaining debt capacity required lease financing for the new project.

Council members also asked why the BOT (build–operate–transfer) procurement used previously was not being used; staff said the BOT/procurement matter would be addressed in a future public hearing with a procurement resolution and form-of-agreement filed next month. Following discussion, the council voted to introduce the ordinance and to refer Ordinance 9-26 to the Public Services Committee for further review so the committee could receive additional project plans, cost estimates and answers to council and public questions.

The introduction preserves the option for committee review and for staff to supply more detailed documents before final action. Councilors asked staff to provide answers and documents before the next month’s final passage vote.