Thursday, April 13, 2023
Lorain County Community Guide
Commissioners consolidate bond anticipation notes STAFF REPORT
The Lorain County Board of Commissioners consolidated five bond anticipation notes for millions of dollars in ongoing or completed infrastructure projects at its meeting April 4. Doing so saves the county thousands in transaction fees in anticipation of issuing a larger future bond to help pay off public infrastructure projects, county officials said. A bond anticipation note “is a short-term interestbearing security issued in advance of a larger, future bond issue. Bond anticipation notes are smaller shortterm bonds that are issued by corporations and governments, such as local municipalities, wishing to generate funds for upcoming projects,” trader and investment adviser James Chen said in an article for Investopedia. Commissioners issued: ● $6,230,000 in bond anticipation notes for the Emerald sewer project in Columbia Township. ● $6,030,000 in bond anticipation notes for the Sandstone Ridge Phase 1 improvements, “including a new county highway, storm sewers, sanitary sewers, waterlines, a new sanitary pumping station, and other related improvements” in the development off state Route 58 near the Ohio Turnpike in Amherst Township. ● $2,950,000 in bond anticipation notes for con-
structing and purchasing sanitary sewer improvements related to “Project Apple Pie,” the secret code name for what became the Carvana facility built on the former Spiegelberg Orchards in Elyria Township. That project is done, the sewers are in, and Carvana is up and running, Commissioner Jeff Riddell said. ● $1,220,000 in bond anticipation notes to pay the costs of construction and other improvements at the Lorain County Engineer’s Office’s garage. That project has been completed, and the engineer’s office will pay off what was borrowed with revenue from the motor vehicle gas tax, county officials said. ● $960,000 in bond anticipation notes for the Boone Road widening project in Columbia Township. ● $740,000 in sanitary sewer improvement bond anticipation notes “for the purpose of paying the cost of construction and acquiring sanitary sewer system improvements” for the Hampshire Farms development in Amherst Township. Budget Director KC Saunders said the county borrowed money to fund those projects. As long as they remain notes, the county only makes interest payments, he said. When the projects go to bond, there are transactional costs, and Saunders said it doesn’t make financial sense to absorb all those costs separately. “This is money we already borrowed,” he said,
and the notes are being extended another year before going to bond. “We’re not going to bond yet, but we will be.” That’s when principal payments will begin, Saunders said. Because commissioners consolidated all the notes, they will pay only one transaction fee instead of six. Riddell said bond fees can be in the “tens of thousands of dollars if not more.” “It’s not just filing a mortgage and you have collateral,” he said. “Public financing is much more complex. … Sooner or later, we have to start paying on the principal.” Chuck Brooky, business manager for Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 758 in Amherst, asked commissioners during public comments to hold off on the vote on the engineer’s garage bond anticipation notes until the engineer’s office assigns a prevailing wage coordinator to work with unions on highway and bridge projects. Brooky first raised concerns about the issue on March 24. A prevailing wage law requires contractors on public projects to pay regionally standard hourly wages, benefits and overtime, according to the Affiliated Construction Trades of Ohio. Rates are calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor and Ohio Department of Commerce and established by local standards and competitive practices.
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The explosion blew out the front of the home and did damage to the neighboring home had a window frame blown out along with part of the roof peeled off. friend of hers which drove her to the scene Tuesday said she was a single
mother who had just rented the unit and started to move in from Medina last week.
DRIVING
FROM A1 six-month window. Starting Oct. 5, distracted driving will be an unspecified misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $150 and 2 points against a driver’s license. Punishments scale up with repeated offenses, and a second violation within two years can lead to a fine of up to $250. Fines are doubled in a work zone. Under the new law, it is illegal to even hold or “physically support” an electronic device except holding it to one’s ear or answering a phone call with a single tap or swipe. Drivers older than 18 can use a hands-free device, but only if they are not physically supporting the device or entering any symbols into it. There is an exception to the law when stopped at a traffic light or when reporting an emergency. Exemptions apply to first responders using an electronic device in the
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a coworker, she said. She said she didn’t smell any natural gas before the explosion, but did afterwards. Her bedroom shared a wall with the unit which caught fire. “I was trying to figure out what was happening, and then when I saw the smoke start coming into my bedroom I got out of the house,” she said while sitting on the back of a South Lorain County Ambulance watching fire crews douse the remaining hot spots of her home. The woman who rented the back unit, where the fire started, was not home when crews first responded. A
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an injury accident because somebody was answering a text or on their phone,” Pelko said. “Everybody wants to go home and hug their loved ones, and we want to make sure people can do that. That’s what (this) law is for.” In April 2018, Avon passed a distracted driving ordinance similar to the one that Ohio has now adopted, which City Council President Brian Fischer said has made the city safer. “I’m happy that the state explored this,” he said. “And that now Ohio has caught up to Avon on this.” Avon’s ordinance does not have the same exemption for drivers stopped at traffic lights, but Fischer said it is an important step forward in combating distracted driving. “Anybody driving anywhere sees everybody is on their phone,” Fischer said. “So any legislation that gives law enforcement a chance to combat that and educate people is good.”
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