Council tackles renovation bond

Ordinance would appropriate $1.2 million to pay for Municipal Building additions and renovations.

By: Lea Kahn
   With little discussion, Township Council re-introduced a bond ordinance that would appropriate $1.2 million to pay for additions and renovations to the Municipal Building last week.
   Township Council voted 4-1 to introduce the bond ordinance at its April 20 meeting. Mayor Pam Mount and council members Mark Holmes, Michael Powers and Greg Puliti voted "yes" but Councilman Rick Miller voted against it because of his concerns about municipal finances.
   This is the same bond ordinance the Township Council introduced last month. It failed on final action by the council at its April 5 meeting. Bond ordinances require four "yes" votes to pass. At the April 5 meeting, Mayor Mount, Mr. Powers and Mr. Puliti voted for it, but Mr. Miller voted against it. Mr. Holmes — who would have cast the fourth "yes" vote — was absent.
   In casting his dissenting vote at the April 20 meeting, Mr. Miller acknowledged it was unlikely that he would change his colleagues’ votes. He said he made his point at the April 5 meeting.
   Mr. Miller was not the only one to express concern about municipal finances at the April 5 meeting.
   Carol Harle of Review Avenue, who is a former Township Council member, told the council she was concerned about mounting municipal debt, adding that "this is not the appropriate time to do this."
   Municipal Manager William Guhl said at the April 5 meeting that the amount of debt that was being paid off in 2005 would be more than the amount of debt that would be incurred by the bond ordinance. The township’s debt payment for 2005 is $4.4 million.
   Late last week, Chief Financial Officer Richard Krawczun confirmed that there would be an overall reduction in debt payments — even after Township Council approves the Municipal Building bond ordinance, plus bond ordinances to pay for road improvements and to purchase equipment for the Police and Public Works departments.
   In 2006, the township’s debt payments will decline by $359,000 as previous bonds are paid off, Mr. Krawczun said. The three bond ordinances are expected to generate about $325,000 in debt payments, beginning in 2006, he said. The result is a net decrease of about $34,000 in debt payments next year, he said.
   Last year, Township Council adopted a $3.7 million bond ordinance toward the Municipal Building renovation project. The bond ordinance introduced last week would provide the rest of the money for the project.
   Plans call for demolishing the former Police Department headquarters in the building and constructing a 5,500-square-foot addition. The Police Department and Municipal Court were relocated to a new building on the north side of the municipal campus in 2001.
   The plans also call for renovating 19,000 square feet of the Municipal Building. The original section of the building was constructed in the 1960s, and the north wing was added a few years later.