| City borrows to fund buys |
By: Paul M. Malchow
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Posted: Thursday, March 4, 2010 10:07 am
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Not many people pay cash for a car these days, and so it goes with the city of Le Sueur. In order to fund planned purchases for the next three years, the city council approved the sale of $380,000 in general obligation equipment certificates at its Feb. 22 regular meeting.
Monte Eastvold of Northland Securities appeared before the council to outline the details of the funding. He said it has been standard procedure for the city to offer the sale of the certificates to local banking institutions. Two Le Sueur banks submitted bids for the certificates and the bid was awarded to CornerStone State Bank. CornerStone offered an average interest rate of 2.893 percent over the five-year life of the certificates. The other bidder was Home Town Bank which submitted an average interest rate of 3.646 percent.
Eastvold said while the certificates will impact property taxes to a degree, taxpayers won’t see a jump on their tax bill because the city is retiring debt in 2010. In fact, Eastvold said, even with the certificate sale, the city will be carrying less debt next year than it currently does.
City Administrator Rick Almich said the certificates will allow Le Sueur to maintain its current rotation of police cars. A majority of the money will be used to purchase a new chassis for a fire truck. The remainder of the funds will be used to replace exercise equipment at the community center, upgrade and replace playground equipment at parks, purchase a pickup truck and lawn mower for the parks department, and improve the function of various city offices.
• The Le Sueur Area Citizens group presented the council with an update of its interaction with the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (MMPA). MMPA is proposing the construction of an anaerobic digestion project in the city’s industrial area on U.S. Highway 169.
Citizens group spokesperson Keith Peck delivered a packet including MMPA’s environmental assessment worksheet (EAW); comments on the EAW from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; and issues the citizens’ group is looking for MMPA to address. These issues range from emission concerns to daily operations of the plant.
“We urge you to take a close look at this project,” Peck told the council. “You as elected officials are sworn to due diligence. We all want green energy, but we want it to be correct – not at the expense of the environment.”
• City Building Inspector Dan Murphy sought approval of permit fees charged by the city for various construction projects. Murphy said the building permit fees have been in place for a number of years and are not increasing. However, a state law requires an annual review by the city of fees charged and this review must be referenced by resolution.
By city statute, building permits are required for home improvements ranging from construction to the installation of water softeners and heaters. A complete list of required permits and their fees is available at city hall.
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