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Referring to private and public easements in the vicinity and contention regarding development over these past two or three decades, Mr. Thomas said, “It’s been a can of worms for 25 years. I wish the city would take the worms and go fishing.” He also said his dad gave money to the city for improvements in that neighborhood that were never made. City Engineer Cara Geheren said about a dozen residents attended a recent neighborhood meeting and generally supported the street extension. She said a property owner said he would consider donating to the city a necessary 5,000 square foot easement, “which is significant.” That property owner is Tuck Thomas. Mayor Mary Thun said the current situation at Thornberry is unsafe and that she was almost run over when checking out the area recently. “It’s dangerous,” she said. *** “I support the improvements,” said Mayor Thun. “And I agree with Kim about that utility box at Auburn.” Councilmember Tom O’Connor said he did not appreciate learning of bid tabulations and costs just prior to the city council meeting that evening. He stated, “At the end of the day I’m going to vote for this. Infrastructure is a city’s responsibility. But it distresses me that we can’t see the numbers in advance. Next time I will vote against a project if we are not provided the financial data on hard copy ahead of time.” A 4/5 vote was needed in order to move the projects ahead. Councilmember Paulsen cast the single nay vote without further comment.
REFINANCING WATER REVENUE BONDS AND SAVING VICTORIA OVER $346,000 Council approved the refinancing of $7,480,000 in water revenue bonds that will result in an immediate savings of $221,000 and $346,000 in savings over the life of the bonds. Councilmember Jim Paulsen asked Paul Donna, the city’s financial consultant with Northland Securities, a question about current events. Mr. Donna replied that the IRS has said it was going to audit 50% of the Build America Bonds to make sure that the money is going for government purposes. “That is drawing a lot of attention,” he said. Stated Councilmember Paulsen, “It leaves room for a lot of mischief.” Agreed Councilmember Tom O’Connor, “Anytime the federal government gets its hands on local funds, it’s a potential for mischief.” Said Councilmember Tim Amundsen, “It’s never fun to say I told you so, but I did vote against using Build America Bonds.” The other option for the water revenue bonds was traditional tax exempt bonds. Mr. Donna said that the IRS will continue to audit tax exempt bonds, but he didn’t use the 50% figure. These water revenue bonds were originally issued to pay for construction of the water treatment plant/fire station renovation, a project completed in 2006.
VICTORIA RECEIVES ‘09 FIRE AUDIT CLEANEST AUDIT THEY’VE EVER SEEN Said Jeff Nordeen, Secretary of the Victoria Fire Relief Association, “This is probably the cleanest audit I’ve ever seen. It is consistent with previous years’ findings. Audits are mandatory for any pension plan with over $200,000 in assets.” Net assets of the Special Pension Trust Fund of the VFRA is $658,455. Jeff reported that funded liability is actually 79%, which is up from 69% last year. The Association paid out $102,000 in pension benefits in 2009 and received a total of $74,000 in contributions from city and state. Net assets increased nearly $62,000. Said Councilmember Jim Paulsen, “How do you manage this? This is good news. It is time to focus on good news.” Replied Firefighter Nordeen, “We’ve used Wachovia Management for 4 or 5 years now. Our advisor has pension experience. We have our investment advisor come in every year.”
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July 2010 |
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City Scoop Continued |
