Cooperative-agreement district board approves amended agreement to clear way for bonds and construction after Labor Day

Members of the cooperative-agreement district board voted on April 22 to approve an amended and restated cooperative agreement designed to clarify revenue flows for upcoming bond sales and to move a multi-phase Highway 76 project toward construction.

Paul, a project staff member who led the presentation, said the agreement’s most substantive revision is the ‘flow of funds’ or ‘waterfall.’ He said the 12% set aside at the front of the receipts is allocated in section 3.5 as a 2% administrative fee and 10% for a city maintenance fee, changes intended to make the revenue stream clearer to underwriters. “The biggest change is what we call the flow of funds or the waterfall,” Paul said, “that 12% is broken down into a 2% administrative fee and 10% for the city maintenance fee.”

Bond counsel Sarah said the revised language should make the project marketable to underwriters and reiterated that the planned structure includes a conduit issuer to permit longer debt terms than a CID could offer on its own. “This amended and restated cooperative agreement provides a level of definitive revenues that flow down for bond payments in a way that should be marketable,” Sarah said, adding that firms such as Piper Sandler and Baird have been discussed as underwriters and that the Taney County IDA is expected to serve as a conduit issuer.

The agreement retains a $10,000 annual discretionary fund and includes edits to dispute-resolution language and some service-level standards. Staff also noted a technical change in the maintenance exhibit: the pavement condition index (PCI) threshold was lowered from 70 to 60. An attendee cautioned about time-sensitive state funding, saying the city could risk losing a state funding opportunity if the agreement is not approved promptly.

Officials described next steps as staff finalizing nonmaterial printing/format corrections, coordinating timing with underwriters and the Taney County IDA, and seeking ratification by the board of aldermen at a meeting next Tuesday. Staff outlined an outreach-oriented presentation for that meeting, including a Gantt-chart timeline for bidding and construction, and said they are targeting a start just after Labor Day with about a year of construction, subject to MoDOT approvals and final bids.

Agency staff emphasized that MoDOT approval for tap-in and specific permit items remains a key outstanding requirement; they estimated 30–60 days for some permit items to be resolved and noted an option to begin work using local reserves if bonds are not yet in place. The board approved the agreement by voice vote; individual tallies were not specified in the record.

The board also approved the March 25 minutes earlier in the meeting and adjourned after routine housekeeping items. The ratification vote by the board of aldermen and the formal bond-issuance timeline are the next procedural steps.