City Beat: City to issue BKD building bonds

The bond issue under Chapter 100 of the Missouri Revised Statutes means that the city will actually own the property in the parking lot of University Plaza. Developer Opus Northwest will buy the bonds and lease the space in the planned four-story, 100,000-square-foot office building, allowing the city to abate 100 percent of the property tax on the land improvements for the first 10 years and 50 percent for the next 15 years.

The 50 percent abatement will increase to 75 percent if the project achieves Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certification.

Even with the abatements, the property is estimated to generate $2.2 million in payments in lieu of taxes over 25 years with LEED Silver certification and $4.4 million without the certification.

If the property were not developed, it would generate only $37,000 in property taxes during the same period, according to city officials.

The bond issue is the last major agreement needed to begin construction, according to David Harrison, general manager of Opus Northwest’s Kansas City office. He said construction on the facility should begin within the next 60 to 75 days and be complete by the end of third-quarter 2009.

“There’s still just a couple of little final approvals that we need, but I think we’re first and 10 on the 1-yard line right now,” he said.

Auditor finalists

Council also met July 29 in closed session to discuss the three finalists for the internal auditor position that was created after a scathing state audit of the city was released in December.

Interim City Manager Evelyn Honea said the city received 15 qualified applicants for the job, and three finalists were selected from a group of five who were previously interviewed. She noted that the chosen candidate could be announced within 10 days of the meeting, once the standard background and reference checks are complete.

Honea said the auditor, who will answer directly to council’s finance committee and not to the city Finance Department or the city manager’s office, will have several tasks to focus on, most related to State Auditor Susan Montee’s recommendations.

One of the first items on the auditor’s agenda would be determining the most cost-effective method to repair and maintain city-owned vehicles.

“It will certainly take a little while for this person to get their feet on the ground and get the office established and set up a work plan with council,” Honea said. “It will take some meetings with council to set a priority list.”

The position will pay up to $80,000, according to previous Springfield Business Journal coverage.

City security

Council considered authorizing the purchase of metal detectors for historic City Hall and the east public entrance of the Busch Municipal Building.

If approved, the city would allocate $125,000 for the new equipment along with two additional security officers to run the equipment.

The recommendations come on the heels of a shooting during a council meeting in Kirkwood, where a gunman stormed the meeting and killed five people before he was shot to death by police.

Springfield resident Carl Herd said he thinks metal detectors shouldn’t be the city’s top priority.

“Hiring more police would make sense and be a better use of taxpayer dollars,” Herd told council. “More policemen should be your priority.”

Council is expected to vote on the security proposal at its Aug. 11 meeting. [[In-content Ad]]