(Source: Keith Lawrence Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky. (MCT) — Daviess Fiscal Court will consider refinancing a pair of 20-year general obligation bonds issued in 2003 at its 5 p.m. meeting today in the Daviess County courthouse, a move that should save the county $1 million over the next 11 years, Judge-Executive Al Mattingly said Tuesday.
“We’re not extending the length of the bonds,” he said. “We’re just getting a better rate.”
The county approved issuing the bonds in September 2003.
The larger of the two loans, which refinanced the remaining construction debt on the county jail and helped finance the building of the government operations complex on Kentucky 81, was for about $8.5 million.
The second was for about $2.2 million. Of that amount, $1.8 million went to the RiverPark Center to help it pay down its capital construction debt. The rest, $400,000, went to the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art for a climate control system.
The ordinance to refinance the bonds requires two readings.
Also at today’s meeting, Fiscal Court is scheduled to vote on Western Kentucky Minerals’ plan to mine under Free Silver Road near Knottsville in eastern Daviess County.
The company has promised to build a detour around the mine site during excavation of coal and restore the road to a better condition once the coal is extracted.
The detour should last about a year, company representatives have said.
The grade on a hill in that section also will be lowered to create better visibility, the company said.
But some neighbors have protested the plan, complaining about an increasing number of coal trucks on the road and wondering what the heavy trucks would do to the temporary road.
County Engineer Mark Brasher said Free Silver Road sees about 400 vehicles a day now.
Mattingly said Western Kentucky Minerals has agreed to post bonds totaling $2 million to ensure that the road is rebuilt to the county’s specifications.
Once the road is turned over to the county, the bond will be reduced to $250,000, he said.
That bond will remain in place for the next five years to ensure that no problems develop with the road, Mattingly said.
Keith Lawrence, 691-7301, klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com
———
©2012 the Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.)
Visit the Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.) at www.messenger-inquirer.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Source: Keith Lawrence Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky. (MCT)
