Lake City Report - January 15, 2010
Bond Debt and the Blanche
Hotel
take center stage this week
Columbia County, FL (Posted January
16,
2010)
by City Manager Wendell Johnson and
staff
From City Manager Wendell Johnson
Bond Debt – Staff Review
Early in December of 2009, Executive Director
of Administrative Services, Grayson Canson and
I, along with members of the staff, initiated
review and discussion of the City’s bond debt.
The review continues and involves the City’s
existing Sales Tax Revenue Bond; Series 2000 -
General Fund; and the existing Utility System
Revenue Bonds - Series 1998A, Series 2000, and
Series 2003 (Utility Fund).
There are two objectives of the review:
Evaluate the potential for General Fund revenue
generation for capital improvement needs.
Determine the potential for Utility Fund debt
enhancement, which is a concern considering the
City’s need to finance the Kicklighter Waste
Water Treatment Plant.
At this point of the review I am pleased to
report the City has a very favorable position to
achieve both objectives.
A Staff summary report will be prepared as
the next step with a recommendation for Council
consideration before January 30th.
Blanche Hotel
Jones Edmunds Engineering was contacted this
week to discuss the details leading to the
services of a structural engineer to assess the
condition of the Blanche.
Jones Edmunds
has scheduled a meeting with their Facilities
Group to prepare a proposal for City's
consideration on how we need to proceed with
arrangements for this service.
Suwannee River League of Cities (SRLC)
Meeting and Dinner
Councilman Eugene Jefferson and I attended
the SRLC quarterly meeting in Williston on
January 14, 2010. The highlights were:
a.
Scheduling of the SRLC Lobbying Team for the
upcoming 2010 State Legislative Session. There
are still slots available (Mayor and Council)
for March and April.
b. Update of the
North Florida Broadband Authority (NFBA) $32
million Federal Grant Application. The
presentation from the NFBA Consultant was made
to the National Communications and Information
Administration Board on January 11th. The
decision of the NCIA should be made within a
matter of days.
c. Lake City
Councilman Jake Hill was appointed to the SRLC
Board of Directors at large.
Annual Employee Awards Banquet
The awards banquet will be held on January
29, 2010 at the Country Club at Lake City from
7:00 – 11:00 p.m.
The City Staff Report is available in pdf format
here.
