Concordia City Commission Authorizes the Issuance and Sale of General Obligation Bonds
The Concordia City Commission met on Wednesday, October 1, at City Hall to hold a regular meeting.
The meeting began at 5:30 PM with the Commission discussing plans for authorizing and selling General Obligation Bonds. The City plans to utilize the bonds to help cover the costs for constructing a new housing subdivision, as well as raising funds for the construction of the Community Activities Center. The City is seeking $2,435,000 for the bond series, and received five bids. The winning bid was from Northland Securities, Inc., who has offered to pay $2,553,703 to reduce the interest rate from 4-5% down to 3.86%. The Commission was informed that the bonds' interest rate will start at 2.6% and eventually rise to 4.1% over a 22 issue year period. The Commission voted on both the issuance and sale of the bonds and both votes passed.
The Commission then voted to accept the September 17 meeting minutes, and also voted on accepting Appropriation Ordinance #18. Both votes passed.
Next, the Commission heard a proposal for a KDOT Highway 81 project bid, The project will consist of road surface preservation that will run from north 6th Street to north of the Viaduct Bridge , curb to curb with curbs being replaced as well. The bid also presented an additive project of replacing the eastbound lane on the bridge for approximately 120 ft. to improve driving conditions. The KDOT will enter into a cost share program with the City, covering up to $400,000 of costs, with the City covering the remaining balance. The Commission favored the project including the additive project. The estimated costs of the main bridge project plus the additive is approximately $508,319.45, which would require the City to cover the remaining $108,319.45 balance after the KDOT cost share program. With only $40,000 currently budgeted for the project, the Commission decided to move towards suspending some projects planned for later this calendar year and picking them up in the beginning of the new year in order to allocate the necessary funds to cover the Highway 81 project. The Commission voted and the item passed.
The next item brought up to the Commission was the request to hire an Animal Control Officer to assist with tasks at the animal shelter. The position will be part-time with 20 scheduled hours a week. The Commission voted and the item passed.
The final action item brought to the Commission was a repair project for the Brown Grand Opera House. The Brown Grand has made multiple repairs over the last few years to seal off entrances that are used by bats that seek shelter in the building. With recent investigations into current bat activity, the Brown Grand is seeking a project to better seal openings found in the east and west walls of the building. The Commission discussed the project and decided to take the planned budget from the City Hall boiler repair project, as it isn't an urgent project, and allocate those funds to the Brown Grand. The Commission voted and passed the item.
The Commission then heard reports from the City Staff. Concordia Fire Chief John Christensen announced to the Commission that along with the current planned activities for the Fire Station Open House, the Station has purchased a number of fire blankets to hand out at the event. Christensen also shared that bids for a new ambulance will open on Thursday, October 2, with the new ambulance to be delivered in July of 2028.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:14 PM. The next meeting of the Concordia City Commission will be held on October 15.