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Twigs and Branches
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This page is part of the site located at Twigs and Branches ... onthe Free Pages atRootsweb.com. There is no charge to access this site's pages. If you have arrived here from somewhere else, such as a pay site,and are in a frame, you can click the correct url of above forthis site tobreak free of the frame. Courthouse Renovation &Addition 2005The Saga Continues for another year..... 5 Jan. 2005 (Wednesday)- Lawsuit filed to Recover Damages for county Project -The Greene County Commissioners and Greene CountyBuilding Corporation have filed a civil lawsuit seeking more than #3.1 million in damages... - The seven-count, 25 page lawsuit was filed in Greene Circuit Court jointly on behalf of the county and building corporation by the Indianapolis law firm of Drewry Simmons Voorehm, along with Maryilyn Hartman of the Hartman & Paddock, law firm of Bloomfield. ... - Named as defendants were United Consulting Engineers, Inc., Indianapolis; DLZ Indiana, LLC, Indianapolis; and ALt & Witzig Engineering, Inc., Carmel.. - The suit, filed Dec. 30, requests a trail by jury. No jury date was immediately set. The trio of defendants have 21 days form the time of the filing to answer to the suit. -The law suit alleges:
The court action is traced back to the Jan. 3, 2003 installation of the first series of "auger cast piles" for the foundation of the addition portion of the project by Beatty Construction Company, Inc. - a subcontractor...installed a second series of piles on Jan. 6, 2003 and a third on Jan 8, 2003.... - "The settlement caused immediate and significant structural damage."... The suit alleges that installation of the auger cast pilings caused the more than 100 year-old courthousestructure to "destabilize, settle and crack."... The suit alleges that the building owner - the building corporation- demanded that the mini-piles be installed. When that action was not carried out by the design team or Weddle, the owners hired Spartan Specialties, LTD to do the compaction grouting work. - The repair work was carried out between Feb 27 and March 10, 2003..... Over the next few months, DLZ and United attempted to provide "incomplete, partial, remedial designs to compensate for damage caused by the settlement"... - ...during the period May 2003 and to the spring of 2004, the owners raised the scope, safety and constructability concerns with United and DLZ.- because the design team failed and/or refused to address those safety concerns, the county was left no option but to contract in April 2004 with Safeway Services, Inc. to consult, design and construct a shoring system to preserve the integrity of the courthouse structure.... - The base contract work continues and is not anticipated to be completed until well into 2006,"... - ...Weddle has submitted claim cost information to the building owners over the past two years and has sought adjustments to both its contract time and contract price. Weddle has made a claim for $1.1 million in delay damages..already have been paid for extended field overhead general conditions resulting from the foundation problems. - ..the county alleges it has incurred significant costs and damages related to the settlement problems including the cost of the remedial work by Spartan and Safeway, investigative costs, expert consultations, fulltime onside representation costs - initially from United Engineers and from the owner's independent on-site manager who was been retained since Nov. 2003, incurred costs of construction, disruption, and impact cost to the various agencies using the courthouse during construction, legal fees related to performance problem and contract issues, and increased and extended project funding costs. - ...the bulk of the county's additional costs and delay relate to the "inappropriate and negligent design" that called for installation of "auger cast piles." - "it is well-known among experts in architecture and design engineering that the installation of auger cast piles near existing structure can cause the existing structure to shift or settle ...United, DLZ and Alt & Witzig recommended the installation of auger cast piles near the existing courthousewithout taking adequate measure to protect a against the very settlement failures that Occurred.".... - alleges that foundation problems continue. - "The owner is continuing to incur additional related costs as new problems continue tobe discovered and resolved during the on-going construction process,".... 14 Jan. 2005 (Friday) - A large 115 feet crane at the Greene County Courthouse addition/renovation project site preparing to complete four-six weeks of steel erection work,...A crew from Harmon Steel is doing steel work that will involve the erection of several 60 feet tall columns. Masonary subcontractors from Whaley Construction Company, of Bloomington areshown on scaffolding located on the southside of the building... overall the project is now on schedule. 19 Janaury 2005 - Wedensday - - Commissioner.... - - ...In other action, the commissioners: Agreed to conduct an executive session at 1 p.m. on Jan. 25 to receive an update on pending litigation pertaining to the courthouse renovation/addition project. Heard a request from Linton resident Larry Poe, who asked that the commissioners hire a professional structural engineer to examine the possibility of doing compaction grouting around the foundation of the entire courthouse building. Poe said he is unsure how the building will react to compaction grouting that has been done on just the south side of the structure and not on the other three sides. Beard assured Poe that was "something we'll look into"........ 20 January 2005 Courthouse Questions - - Lawyer, board members answer questions about courthouse project woes - - The lawyer representing the Greene County Building Corporation and the Greene County Commissioners said the upcoming civil lawsuit filed against the so-called "design team" for the courthouse project offers no guarantees for a favorable legal outcome, but there is a strong case to be made that damages have been done and somebody besides the county is responsible. ...Bloomfield resident Jim Breeden asked what happens if the county is unsuccessful in the civil lawsuit that was recently filed against the engineering and architectural firms that designed the courthouse project. Attorney Marilyn Hartman said....In this case, however, I think one thing is pretty clear from the facts. The damage to that building is not the fault of Greene County.We didn't design it. We didn't build it. We hired professionals who were charged with the responsibility to give us a good design..... ...I think it would be minuscule to say that we're not going to recover something," Hartman said, "The question is how does the responsibility wash out. There are going be claims for damages that are very specific structural damage claims ... .... There will probably be an open issue as to whose responsibility that is." Hartman said it's unlikely that the county will be in a position that it doesn't collect something from the suit. "But then again, I would crazy as a lawyer if I didn't say, 'anything is possible,' but given the facts we have. Here we have a county who contracted with professional people to do work and something went wrong. There are going to be experts that look at what happened with that design, and they'll basically say 'it's this person's fault or that person's fault, or part here and part there'. Then, that is what will be sorted out in the litigation,"...... Hartman said preparation is key in a civil suit like the one that was filed and she recommended to the commissioners and the Building Corporation that a recognized expert firm in construction litigation like the Indianapolis firm of Drewry Simmons Voorehm be hired. ...........it's likely that a special judge will be appointed in the civil lawsuit filed in Greene Circuit Court on Dec. 30, 2004..........
Corey updated the members on the construction project ....that recent progress on the site is encouraging. Concrete forming work has been completed and at least a dozen structural steel columns have been erected ....."Whaley Construction is completing the remainder of the first elevator shaft. The final grade beam was poured last week and they are going to strip forms today," Corey said. ..... In other action, the three-member Building Corporation voted to retain its officers for another year. Amos Musselman, of Newberry, will serve as president and David West, of Linton, vice president. The board also voted to keep its regular monthly meetings on the third Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. An exception was made for the March meeting, which was scheduled for Thursday, March 24. 24 January, 2005 Monday - - Raising Taxes not an option - -The Greene County Commissioners will conduct a special open meeting Tuesday afternoon to address the financial issues raised by the hiring of a new architectural/engineering firm for the courthouse project. Raising taxes is not an option either the commissioners or the county council is considering, according to Greene County Commissioner's president Bart Beard. The commissioners already have an executive session slated for 1 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss a personnel matter. At approximately 1:30 p.m., they will convene in open session to talk about what financial means will be pursued to finish the building project........Beard replied, "I think it's going to come out what we need. We need to get these figures better, but we need to get an architect and an engineer on board and get this going so we can get a pretty accurate count when we take it to the council. We need to see what additional appropriations we need to keep this project going."......"It's not going to cost the taxpayers more money. I know everyone thinks, 'yes, they are just saying that',.....One option that is being explored is use of County Option Income Tax (COIT) monies to fund any project shortfalls. "We're looking more of a line of credit type of situation so we can structure it for COIT money and things like that without raising it (taxes)," Beard said, ........." 25 January 2005, Tuesday - Meeting Cancelled - - Concerns over compliance with proper meeting notification, as outlined in Indiana's Open Door Law, forced the Greene County Commissioners to cancel a special public meeting today. The meeting slated for 1:30 p.m. was expected to address the financial issues raised by the hiring of a new architectural/engineering firm to finish the courthouse project. The commissioners did conduct a closed executive session on an unrelated matter at 1 p.m. today, but the open portion of the meeting, as announced on Friday, was not properly advertised or posted, as required by the Indiana Open Door law, so the meeting was canceled, ......the executive session had been properly advertised. ... concerns about the legality of the open special meeting forced its cancellation. "We want to be very sure we do things right," she said. ..."Public notice of the date, time, and place of any meetings, executive sessions, or of any rescheduled or reconvened meeting, shall be given at least 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) before the meeting...This requirement does not apply to reconvened meetings (not including executive sessions) where announcement of the date, time, and placeof the reconvened meeting is made at the original meeting andrecorded in the memoranda and minutes thereof, and there is no change in the agenda.... The decision to conduct Tuesday's special meeting came during a 1 p.m. Friday. ....th at the notice requirement was notmet since the meeting didn't adjourn until about 2 p.m.....discussions were underway late Monday among the commissioners to find a new meeting date and time. .....hopes to have the meeting scheduled for Thursday or Friday.A decision will be made today on the meeting's date and time. ....neither the board of commissioners nor the Greene County Building Corporation have a signed contract with the designated new architect/engineering firm -- A2SO4 Architecture, from Indianapolis, as was inferred by a story published Monday. The attorney said she didn't want to comment "on the record" whether there was a "hitch" in the contract signing. ..."We have been in contact with them (A2SO4). "When asked if a contract had been signed,.... "There has been no contract to sign."....county officials in conference with A2SO4 personnel are expected to complete the contract details sometime Wednesday. "Everything is ready to go, from what I have been told," Beard said...... 27 January, 2005 Thursday - Commissioners, councils scheduledspecial meetings - - The Greene County Commissioners will meet in special session at 8 a.m. on Friday to discuss and act on a proposed resolution that deals with special financing provisions that will be needed to complete the county courthouse addition/renovation project. That meeting will be a prelude to a special meeting...scheduled for 4 p.m. on Monday. Officials...Coonrod and Associates....London Witte LLC,...are expected to be present and update the council on financial considerations needed to see that the courthouse construction project is funded. Both meetings, to be held in the commissioner's room ...basement, are open to the public.....previously stated that the estimated (financial) shortfalls on the project is close to $2.5 million.One option to make up the shortfall...is use of County Option Income Tax (COIT) monies, ...a solution to the funding shortfall would befound without raising property taxes. 31 January, 2005 - Monday - Commissioners pass resolution - - The Greene County Board of Commissioners took the first step in a special meeting Friday morning to secure the necessary additional funding to complete the courthouse renovation/addition project. However, the decision was not unanimous and did not come without some controversy. By a 2-1 vote, the resolution that authorizes the commissioners to enter into negotiations to secure a modified lease by the Greene County Building Corporation after it receives a petition containing the names at least 50 owners of real property in the county, was passed....The resolution also requests the Greene County Council to convene a special meeting to consider the resolution and to determine the amount of the additional costs. That meeting has been scheduled for 4 p.m. today....Under terms of the resolution, the commissioners have determined that the county cannot provide the necessary funds to pay additional project costs. The resolution states that proceeding with "all steps looking toward the acquisition, construction and equipping of the additional project by the Building Corporation, and the leasing of such additional project by the building corporation to the county under an arrangement whereby the county will own the project at the end of the modified lease."....Pertaining to charges raised by Crouch that all the financial data has not been made available, Beard said, "I know I have been on here (the commissioners) for two years and I've had all the information that has been gathered as far as the courthouse goes. We are going to make sure over in the Auditor's office, everything is going to be here. Everything in the past that has come out it is public record and it needs to be available."... As far as I'm concerned, there are no secrets about it. It's been a rough project and we need to get through it. ....To that, Crouch responded, "Today is the 28th (of January) and I don't have the same information that Mr. Beard and Mr. Hasler do."Hartman replied to Crouch's allegations by explaining that the board of commissioners has no formal office and she has maintained the records in her private law office with the assistance of her privately paid staff. "I am a private attorney and when people ask for information, they are given it in a timely fashion. If Kathy wanted to come over to my office, which by the way at one point she made an appointment to come in, then there would be no problem." Crouch interrupted and said, "No, I didn't Marilyn. There was never an appointment made Miss Attorney. Excuse me, you are an employee and represent the board of commissioners." Hartman replied, "I am not employed by the county commissioners. I am a private attorney. I engaged my professional services....I have other clients...When things are a big priority, they get done. When things are not as great a priority, they aren't put on the front burner.... Had you indicated in any fashion that there was a particular period of time you wanted information,if you had been more specific about what you wanted, it would have been provided to you. It's just real simple." When Crouch said she had asked at the Jan. 4 meeting for information, Hartman said, "You have no idea of what you are asking. I've got 10,000 sheets of documents related to this project. I get them every day. You have no idea." Crouch then replied, "You have a duty to the board of commissioners and to the citizens of the county to provide that information." Beard said, "There hasn't been anything that I have asked for that I haven't gotten.... After the meeting, Hartman provided her own documentation that showed that Crouch had made an appointment for April 21, 2004 at 9 a.m. to review project documents prior to the primary election. Hartman and her staff said the Republican commissioner failed to show up for her assigned appointment.... 1 February 2005 - Tuesday - Paying back 'line of credit' or bonds will be cahllenge Whatever method the Greene County Council selects to finance the "unfunded" portion of the courthouse renovation/addition project, finding a way to pay back the "line of credit" or bonds that will be sought will be a challenge. Council members Ed Cullison, John Wilkes and Ed Michael were previously appointed as a committee to look into funding options and enter into discussions with Steve Dyson, of C.L. Coonrod & Company -- the county's financial planner...."some cuts" may have to be made in the project to curtail the amount that needs to be borrowed and wait on the anticipated court settlement before deciding what to include. "If we borrow the money, it's going to cost us. It's plain and simple. It's called interest,"... ...if the county doesn't get a favorable court settlement in the suit filed against the "design team," then the county will have to come up with a method to pay back the bank anticipation notes (BANs) or the bonds. "That would be where we would have to issue the bonds to pay that back down. .... the County Option Income Tax (COIT) money going into the General Fund, it does not quite cover our Debt Service amount,".... the shortfall is about $100,000....the county is currently using COIT funds for daily operating expenses...... We're going to have to take some COIT to pay for the debt,"..."The BANs or the line of credit, I would want to do that in the county. I think we can do it in the county. We're going to have to decide how much we want to go."...who will control this line of credit? "We want the council to have full control. Nothing is to be paid out of that line of credit without prior approval.... isn't sure the council can exert that much control over the "line of credit" used by the Greene County Building Corporation, but that is what he would prefer. Commissioner's attorney Marilyn Hartman explained that the county council would be welcome to review the list of monthly bills to be paid by the Building Corporation prior to the meeting. She would provide copies to the council, if requested. ...the commissioners and building corporation would go a step further and draft an ordinance that authorizes the "pre-review" by the county council. ...commissioners and the building corporation want to work hand-in-hand with the county council to solve the funding dilemma.......at the current point in the project, estimates are the best method available to determine how much money is needed to finish the project. ...the new A & E firm...has been charged with the task of "cutting back" where possible by closely looking at the original design and making changes where it deems necessary to save money. Rich Starkey, with the Indianapolis law firm of Barnes and Thornberg -- the county's bond counsel, estimated that it will take about three months to finalize the BANs line of credit option, if the council decides to go that route. He asked that the county council make a decision on its funding option in a "week to 10 days." Starkey said the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance would have to approve any modifications to the funding arrangements on the project. He said the timeframe is very important. "We are trying to make sure that Weddle Brothers has the confidence that there is money available to finish the project. If they don't have that assurance, then under the contract they are under right now, they have the ability to just cancel the contract and stop working..... ... "We have to finish this project. We can not, not complete it. I think we're going to have to work together and put some trust in each other between the commissioners and the council. We're going to have to give these people a line of credit so this project will go forward."....if we don't complete this project, then we could throw the county into bankruptcy. Then we are all in trouble, we're down the tubes." 2 February 2005 Bailey in charge of courthouse project records - - Greene County Auditor David Bailey was officially designated as the access to public information officer for the courthouse renovation/addition project in action taken Tuesday morning by the county commissioners. As of last Friday, all records relating to the courthouse project are now stored in the auditor's office, located on the first floor of the c ourthouse.... The commissioners voted to immediately transfer storage of the records to the auditor's office. ... Bailey stressed to the commissioners that he was serving as the record-keeping agent only.I can not explain the records to you. I can only show them to you," Bailey stated. ... voted to designate board president Bart Beard and project manager Jim Corey as the official spokespersons concerning the courthouse project... Also related to the courthouse project, Greene County Council member Ed Cullison updated the commissioners on Monday's meeting that dealt with funding options to make up an estimated $2.5 million shortfall in the project. The county council has scheduled a special meeting at 4 p.m. on Monday to make a final decision. .... Right now we are maybe looking at a line of credit that could be run for five years and the dollar amount at the end of that period would be converted over to bonds,"..."One of the things we want to make sure if we go this route we've got all of our figures together..... "This whole project, this whole mess, whatever you want to call it, it's going to take a lot of cooperation and effort from everybody -- the commissioners, the council, the officeholders...."I know the council is in favor of having the public meeting to discuss it, to allow the public to ask questions ... and kind of put the public at ease to what is going on,"... 7 Feb. 2005 - Monday - County Eyeing new project Firm - - Contract talks broke down late Thursday evening between Greene County officials and an Indianapolis-based architecture/engineering firm on the courthouse renovation/addition project. Faced with a threat that the general contractor was going to pull off of the Greene County Courthouse project unless a structural engineer could answer a pressing construction question, the Greene County Commissioners convened in emergencyspecial session Friday morning. The result that emerged from the brief meeting was passage of a resolution declaring the contract negotiations between Greene County Commissioners and the firm of A2SO4 Architecture at an impasse. The resolution further acknowledged that the county's "second choice" at a Jan. 21 meeting to provide architectural and engineering services -- Bynum and Fanyo of Bloomington -- had declined the offer to take on the remainder courthouse project. The resolution stated that project manager Jim Corey was able to engage in what the resolution described as "positive preliminary discussions" with Strand Associates, Inc., a full service architectural and engineering firm, and recommends the Board of Commissioners approved the hiring of this firm. With the new resolution, the commissioners recommend that the Greene County Building Corporation enter into contract negotiations with Strand Associates........Hartman did not provide details of what went wrong with the contract talks with A2SO4 Architecture, but she did say it involved "liability worries." Beard said Weddle Brothers Construction Company hand-delivered a letter Thursday that stated they were going to "pull off the job" unless the county immediately secured the services of a structural engineer. He termed the engineering question dealing with the steel beams "minor" in his view, but nonetheless, the contractorhad threatened to pull off of the job unless the question was answered withoutdelay. That forced the commissioners to act quickly. "There was going to be a halt in the project. We kept on trying to get a signed contract (from A2SO4) and they were not responding in the way we thought they should," Beard said. "We didn't have any other choice. It is important that the project keeps moving. We don't want to halt it again." Hartman said officials with Strand Associates were able to answer the "engineering questions" and the work crew remained on the job site Friday. Strand Associates is a large, nationwide full-service architectural and engineering firm with offices in Columbus and Indianapolis.....The firm was ranked 219th in the Engineering News Record's (ENR) top 500 design firms in the USA in 2004.... is also the eighth largest design firm in the tri-state region of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, according to the Midwest Construction's 2004 Top Design Firms....The firm, with corporate headquarters in Madison, Wis., has expertise in the following areas: Municipal/General Civil, Wastewater Management, Water Supply, Transportation, Buildings and Facilities, Industrial, Water Resources, Air and Land Management, Construction Services and Information Technology. While no signed contract had been received by the close of the business day Monday... "I am expecting to have a copy of their (contract) proposal (today). David West (Building Corporation member) is available to sign it any time once we get something."... 8 February 2005 - Tuesday - Council Oks line of Credit - - The Greene County Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday afternoon .... to seek bids for a $2.5 million line of credit from a local financial institution to make up the funding shortfall for the courthouse renovation/addition project. In a special meeting, the council concurred... that the line-of-credit option that utilizes bond anticipation notes (BANs) was the most viable of three alternatives presented to them last Monday by financial consultant Steve Dyson, of C. L. Coonrod & Company. The resolution now authorizes the commissioners to enter into negotiations to secure a modified lease by the Greene County Building Corporation after receiving a petition containing the names at least 50 owners of real property in the county is received. BANs would essentially provide a five-year line of credit to the county -- similar to a home equity loan -- up to a certain maximum amount. The time limit on BANs to governmental agencies is a maximum of five years,.... The county commissioners had asked for the council to consider BANs up to $3 million...by using "value engineering" he feels enough cuts can be made in the project to fall within the $2.5 million range that h as been requested....."With BANs, I would like to try and get the county financial institutions involved and not take it out of the county. We would like to try and work with somebody locally." ...the resolutions now passed by both the commissioners and the county council should be enough of an assurance to the project general contractor...that the county has a viable means to financially finish the project... the council learned from Rich Starkey, with the Indianapolis law firm of Barnes and Thornburg ---- the county's bond counsel, that it would take an estimated three months to finalize the BANs line of credit option.... "We are trying to make sure that Weddle Brothers has the confidence that there is money available to finish the project. If they don't have that assurance, then under the contract they are under right now, they have the ability to just cancel the contract and stop working. We don't want that to happen,"... ..Hartman said once the petition process is concluded, the commissioners will meet to accept the petitions and pass a resolution, then the funding matter is referred to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance for approval. ....according to a balance sheet presented to members of the county commissioners and county council during an executive session on Jan. 4
......the council is asking the architects and engineers to take a close look at value engineering in order to curb some of the projects costs. "I think that's going to be key.....County officials are also hopeful that a successful resolution to a pending lawsuit could provide necessary funds to pay off the line of credit..... A public forum has been scheduled to field questions and give an update on the progress of the Greene County Courthouse renovation/addition project. The informational meeting will be staged at 7 p.m. on Feb. 21 at the Greene County Cooperative Extension Service's community room, located at the fairgrounds. Members of the board of commissioners, county council, bond counsel, financial planner and attorneys involved in the pending lawsuit plan to attend. More information about how the meeting will be conducted will be announced at a later date ....... preliminary contract talks with the new architectural & engineering firm that has verbally agreed to finish the courthouse project is going well.While no signed contract had been received by the close of the business day Monday, ...."Things are going very well. It all takes time."...."I am expecting to have a copy of their (contract) proposal (today).David West (Building Corporation member) is available to sign it any time once we get something."....during the January monthly meeting of the Building Corporation, West was given the authority by the three-member board to sign the contract agreement.... The Greene County Council came away from a special meeting Monday afternoon without making a decision on how to finance the unfunded portion of the courthouse renovation/addition project. Instead, a decision on what funding method to seek will be made at another special meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. on Feb. 7. It was the consensus of the council that more time was needed to mull over the various funding options presented Monday by Steve Dyson, of C.L. Coonrod & Company -- the county's financial planner. .... The resolution also requested the Greene County Council to convene a special meeting to consider the resolution and to determine the amount of the additional costs. That meeting was the purpose of Monday's meeting. Under terms of the resolution, the commissioners have determined that the county cannot provide the necessary funds to pay additional project costs. The resolution states that proceeding with "all steps looking toward the acquisition, construction and equipping of the additional project by the Building Corporation, and the leasing of such additional project by the building corporation to the county under an arrangement whereby the county will own the project at the end of the modified lease." .....county issued $10.5 million in bonds to finance the project. ... The project funding shortfall -- as of Dec. 31, 2004 -- was estimated at $2,534,931, ....$6,313,954 in bond proceeds...$500,000 in change order deletions providing a total of $6,813,954. Current liabilities totaled $8,707,856. This includes a $6,372,886 balance on the contact with general contractor Weddle Brothers....... $130,000 in estimated on-site supervision fees; $500,000 in estimated delay claims; $450,000 in litigation costs; $150,000 in expert witness fees associated with litigation; $550,000 in contingency money;$350,000 in additional architectural and engineering (A&E) fees; and $150,000 in miscellaneous additional expenses. The "unfunded" portion of the project amounts to $641,040 -- including $350,000 in furniture, $131,040 in five alternate bids, $100,000 in lead abatement costs; $20,000 in moving expenses; and $40,000 for telephone service...... ..."The least expensive way to fund the project would be to use available fund balances combined with possible funds from legal settlement to fund the project without using bond anticipation notes (BANS) or bonds." BANs would essentially provide a five-year "line of credit" to the county -- similar to a home equity loan -- up to a certain maximum amount. The time limit on BANs to governmental agencies is a maximum of five years. The county commissioners have asked for Dyson to consider BANs up to $3 million. He explained that the Building Fund has a balance of about $900,000 and the Cumulative Capital Development (CCD) Fund has about $300,000 available. These cash balances could be used for the construction project, if legal settlements are reached in a timely manner... "The risk associated with this option is very high, because funds are most likely going to be needed before settlements are reached." ....A second, more conservative option, according to Dyson, would be to issue BANs and use the cash balances to either lower the amount of the BANs or to repay the BANs or the interest on the BANs. ......there is a slim likelihood of lawsuit settlement funds being available prior to the need for funds, which Dyson estimated to be within 18 months. "It is possible that the combination of cash balances and settlement funds could be enough to repay the BANs without issuing bonds," he told the council. The financial planner said in the long-term the council should decide how to pay for the BANs/bonds -- saying that it was possible that the cash balances and settlement funds would not be enough to repay the anticipated BANs. In that case, a bond would likely be issued to repay the BANs. "The amount of the bond could range from a small amount to possibly $3 million," Dyson stated. "If a $3 million bond has to be issued, then the project becomes very expensive, and the county could either have to issue a property tax to repay the bond or use County Option Income Tax (COIT)." ....Based on the current bond payback, $750,000 annually is needed and an additional $240,000 would be needed to pay for "new debt." "The only place that comes from is straight out of the General Fund," 11 February 2005, Friday -Steel Work 15 February 2005 -Tuesday - forum to also serve as public hearing - -public forum scheduled to field questions and give an update on the progress of the Greene County Courthouse renovation/addition project will also serve as a public hearing on the proposed additional lease for expenses related to the construction delay and pending court action. The informational meeting, which will be an official joint meeting of the Greene County Board of Commissioners and the Greene County Council, will be staged at 7 .m. Monday at the Greene County Cooperative Extension Service's community room,located at the fairgrounds.Members of the board of commissioners, county council, bond counsel, financial planner and attorneys involved in the pending lawsuit plan to attend. The proposed lease will be a modification of the existing building project lease that was financed through $10.5 million in bonds issued by the Building Corporation. Last week, the county council approved a financing plan that will make available an additional $2.5 million for the project through "Bond Anticipation Notes." The modification of the original lease will match the term of the lease expiring after the final lease payment on Dec. 15, 2026. Under terms of the proposed new lease, annual lease rental payments will not exceed $250,000 payable in semiannual installments on June 15 or Dec. 15 of each year during the term of the lease. After a sale of bonds or bond anticipation notes of the Building Corporation, the yearly rental shall be reduced to an amount equal to the sum of principal and interest due in each 12-month yearly period, plus $5,000 payable in semiannual installments, according to a legal notice of the hearing. The legal notice stated, "The county will pay its lease rental payments from county option income taxes (COIT), other available revenues or unlimited ad valorem property taxes levied on all taxable property in the county.".... and the Saga Continues for this year...... |
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