Fort council authorizes sale of $2.275 million in bonds

By Chris Spangler

The Fort Atkinson City Council on Tuesday authorized the sale of approximately $2.275 million in bonds to fund capital improvement projects and equipment purchases in 2022 and 2023.

Meeting in regular session Tuesday, the council adopted two resolutions advancing the issuance of promissory and note anticipation notes and sale of general obligation refunding bonds. 

Council approved a total $1.574 million to be borrowed in 2022 for purchasing a police department squad car and a single-axle dump truck/plow, skid loader and transit van with water tank for the Public Works Department, remediation and demolition of the former Loeb-Lorman Metals site, covering the city’s payment toward this summer’s deck replacement on the Robert Street bridge, and undertaking the annual street reconstruction program.

The streets and Loeb-Lorman projects also would receive gap funding. The Robert Street bridge reconstruction will be covered in part by state Department of Transportation monies, according to city officials. 

Funding in 2023 is to go toward a police department squad car; the city’s portion of the Whitewater Avenue milling and overlay project; replacing the fire department’s squad with a rescue/EMS unit; purchasing equipment, hoses and a personal protective equipment (PPE) dryer for the fire department, and replacing a Parks and Recreation Department flatbed truck.

The majority of the 2023 CIP projects were pushed back from 2022 and prior years, city officials have reported. 

At this point, the costs associated with each project or piece of equipment are estimates, according to city officials. 

On hand at Tuesday’s meeting was Kevin Mullen, director at R.W. Baird Co. Inc. in Milwaukee, which serves as the city’s financial adviser.

He informed the council that the interest rate on the $2.275 million note anticipation note is 0.97%, less than originally expected. The purchaser is Farmers State Bank.

The funds will be available March 22.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an interest rate below 1%, so that is really impressive,” council President Chris Scherer said.

Mullen noted that the city’s levy-supported debt service payment in 2022 is 1,097,582. The additional borrowing in 2022 will increase the 2023 levy-supported debt service payment to $1,298,968, which is a difference of $200,586.

“The debt service will be about $1.1 million to $1.4 million a year through 2024 and then it will begin to drop off,” Mullen told the council.

After the $2.275 million in bonds are issued, the city will have about $40 million remaining in its general obligation bonding capacity.

The city plans to consider awarding the general obligation bond bids on May 17, with the closing slated for June 7.

In other business, the council:

• Approved offering a proposal to the School District of Fort Atkinson for managing installation of fiberoptic line from the main line in the Glacial River Trail (bike path) and running east along Park Street to include service to Purdy and Luther elementary schools.

The proposal from the subcontractor was just under $36,000. The city will pay the subcontractor and then be reimbursed by the school district for the full cost.

The city had managed the installation of fiberoptic lines, with the school district as a partner, with CARES Act funds in 2021. It marked the second fiber build, following the school district-led installation in 2019.

The work is expected to be done this summer.

• Approved a temporary municipal code exception for “No Mow May.”

Proposed by Heart of the City, “No Mow May” allows for grass to exceed the stated eight-inch maximum to facilitate promotion and education of habitat necessary for successful emergence and survival of pollinators in the month of May.

This exception allows back yards of residential properties and designated city-owned property to be exempt from enforcement of May 1-31. The latter includes Barrie Park near the playground on the corner, North Main and North Fourth streets by the railroad tracks, a swatch near the electronic sign at Jones Park and a section of Wilcox Park.

According to the resolution, one of every three bites of food consumed requires pollinators, including bees, butterflies, moths, birds, as well as many others. These pollinator species are in decline due to pesticide treatments and mowing, urban sprawl, habitat loss, disease, and parasites.

The formative period for establishing and nourishing pollinator species occurs in late spring and early summer upon their emergence from hibernation, and at the same time, supporting plants emerge and blossom, offering them habitat and forage opportunities, according to the resolution.

• Approved purchasing a skid loader with broom attachment for the Department of Public Works from Miller-Bradford & Riseberg for $34,573.

Department Superintendent Tom Williamson said that two skid loaders are used daily by the department. They have an estimated viable life of 10 years.

• Approved purchasing two single-axle Ford F-750 plow trucks for the Department of Public Works from Kayser Commercial Sales for a total $384,246.

The trucks will be fitted for salting, dumping and plowing.

Williamson said that the units being replaced were purchased in 1999 and have long exceeded their viable service life of 15 years.

• Named Fred York to a three-year term on the Fort Atkinson Historic Preservation Commission.

• Proclaimed May 14 at World Migratory Bird Day. 

• Approved special event applications for the Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce Lemonade Day May 7; Memorial Day parade May 30; Fort Atkinson Community Band concerts June 20, July 4 and 18, and Aug. 1 and 15 at Barrie Park; BASE Wings & Wheels Fly-in Breakfast at the Fort Atkinson Municipal Airport June 5; Dairy Day at the MOOseum June 18; Hoard Historical Museum Ice Cream Social July 4; and BASE Duck Derby and Day for Kids Aug. 13 at Lorman Bicentennial Park.

• Approved year-end financials.

Council member Megan Hartwick said she greatly appreciated the time and effort the city staff put in to make detailed financial information available to the public.

“There is a lot of talk about transparency,” she said. “The information is available for people to look at. The transparency is there.”

She encouraged citizens to educate themselves by attending meetings, asking questions and reading information available on the city website and in the media.