Greene refinances bond issue
WAYNESBURG – The Greene County commissioners decision to take advantage of today’s lower interest rates and refinance a 1993 bond issue should add a little more than $231,000 to the county coffers for capital projects. At the commissioners’ regular meeting Thursday, Tom Kinney of HT Capital Markets commended the commissioners for “pursuing an interest rate market that we haven’t seen since the Eisenhower administration.”
Currently, the interest rate on the bond is 5 to 6 percent, with total interest due of $610,000, said Gene Lee, chief clerk.
With the refinancing, the interest rate will be around 1.1 to 3 percent, reducing the interest owed to almost $270,000.
After costs, Lee said, the amount left over, which is money available only for capital projects, will be $231,453.
According to Lee, the 1993 bond had been taken out to pay off earlier bonds that were used for several large projects, including the new Curry Home, which cost $3 million. Later, that facility was sold to a private company for $5 million and is now called Rolling Meadows Nursing Home.
Other projects included construction of the county jail addition, grandstands at the county fairgrounds, site preparation for the new Curry Home, a feasibility study for a regional county prison (which never materialized), the airport administration building and the 1991-1992 reassessment.
The original amount of the bond issue was $10,250,000 and was set to mature in 2010. On June 1, the county made a $3,055,000 payment, bringing the total owed down to $2,475,000.
Budget director Scott Kelley said the county probably will use the $231,000 windfall to pay for new roofs on the Fort Jackson and Ben Franklin buildings, as well as other repairs. The refinancing will not affect the maturity date, he said.
In response to a question during the public comment period at the agenda meeting, Lee reported that the county has two additional bonds outstanding, including one issued in 1997, which is listed as a “contingent liability” with Greene County Industrial Development Authority for Meadow Ridge Park. The county still owes $655,000 on that bond, which is due in 2017.
The other bond was issued in 1998 and is set to mature in 2021. That money was used for the renovations to the county courthouse and the Fort Jackson building, Lee said. The county still owes $6,815,000 on that bond.
As of June 30, the county’s debt totals $9,945,000 for the three bonds, Lee said.
In other business, the commissioners approved a new agreement between the county and Delta Development Group of Mechanicsburg for “community planning and development of a funding strategy for community-based economic development projects within Greene County.”
The six-month, non-exclusive contract begins Aug. 1 and notes that Delta will be paid on a retainer basis. Delta will be paid $6,000 monthly, with another $12,000 for the execution of the contract for 60 hours of work per month.
For those months in which Delta personnel work more than 60 hours, the county will pay the following rates: LeRoy D. Kline Jr., president, $225 per hour; Darren J. Asper, vice president, $175 per hour; Jason Yakelis, project manager, $125 per hour; and all other associates, $100 per hour.
Delta’s last contract with the county expired March 1. That contract covered a 12-month period beginning March 1, 2002, and included a monthly fee of $6,000 for 60 hours of work per month.
Additional work was to be billed at the following rates: Kline, $150 per hour; Asper, $125 per hour; Tara Nictora, project manager, $100 per hour; and all other associates, $75 per hour.
The county has paid Delta $88,662.97 so far, according to the controller’s office.
The commissioners approved the new contract without comment. No representative from Delta was present at the meeting.
During the public comment period, Dunkard Township resident Jesse Wrick asked about the contract with Delta.
“I’d like to get signed on,” Wrick said. “You don’t have to produce anything. …These people are getting some pretty good money here, and a small amount of it is mine.”
In response to a question from Wrick, Commissioner Farley Toothman said Delta will try to obtain financing for a water line to Graysville and will seek highway funds.
“I believe there is great value in Delta,” Toothman said.
Commissioner Dave Coder, referring to Central Pool in Waynesburg, added, “We’ve got a pool that’s over 50 years old that’s really in need of service and repairs. A major part of this contract is to replace the pool facilities.”
“I’ve seen labor contracts that were not nearly this one-sided,” Wrick said.
Coder said that a Delta representative will be asked to attend a future commissioners’ meeting to discuss the firm’s work.
Kline, reached at his office Thursday, said his firm will seek funding for a new community recreational facility, as well as water and sewer lines. Kline said he is working with U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown) to get Greene County placed on the list of rural areas eligible for funding for water and sewer projects.
Additionally, Kline said he is researching economic development initiatives with the state Department of Community and Economic Development, as well as the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Homeland Security.
Kline maintains that his work, most of it behind the scenes, speaks for itself.
During the last contract, his firm worked to obtain funds for the Greene River Trail, the Morrisville traffic project and EverGreene Technology Park, he said.
He said the contract that expired in March cost the county just around $72,000, with very little work done beyond the 60 hours per month.
“We have worked very hard in Greene County, and there are things we can show,” Kline said. “We have the knowledge of and access to funding sources, and we’re able to get in front of political leaders.”