City Council shores up massive spending plans

The downtown College Station project received funding from two sources.

The first was $3 million from the city’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee program, which allows the city to borrow money against future Community Development Block Grant funds.

Mary Lilly Smith, Springfield economic development director, said the city received authorization for $8.8 million in Section 108 money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2003. The city had intended to use that money for two projects: the Universal Paint building and the MFA mill.

“The money wasn’t needed for MFA since the Jordan Valley Innovation Center was undertaken,” Smith told council. “We still have a little less than $8 million available to us.”

College Station’s second funding boost came from $8.8 million worth of council-approved bonds. The bonds, to be used for construction of the adjacent 360-space parking deck, will eventually be combined with bonds for the Heer’s Tower parking deck once the Heer’s deck design is finalized.

In a separate action, council also approved $2,685,000 from the Section 108 funds for the city’s Small Business Development Loan Program, which Smith said has become so popular that the city has a hard time keeping enough funding to make loans.

Mayor Tom Carlson said the two funding projects are indicative of the experience of the city’s legal, finance and economic development departments.

“I’d like to say how fortunate we are to have a seasoned staff that can do these things,” Carlson said at the meeting. “There was a time when we weren’t undertaking these kinds of projects. There was a time when we were only expected to provide traditional government services. We’ve really expanded our mission in the community.”

He added that citizens who are concerned that this money isn’t being spent on other services, such as additional police staff, shouldn’t be upset.

“Money that is being used for these purposes is not available for other purposes,” he said. “These monies come with strings attached on how to use them.”

Also on the agenda:

• Springfield-Branson National Airport also got approval for its bond issue. Bonds worth no more than $115 million will be issued to cover the cost of construction on the new Midfield Terminal.

The 285,000-square-foot terminal, expected to open in fall 2008, will contain eight passenger-loading gates capable of handling 16 aircraft. The design also allows for future expansion if needed, a feature not available in the current terminal.

• Council adopted the Capital Improvements Program for 2007 through 2012. The program is the city’s list of highest-priority construction and improvement projects.

The list, which contains projects totaling $564 million, includes 37 new projects valued at more than $60 million.

Among the new projects: $26.7 million in Springfield-Greene County Parks improvements; $4.7 million in funding for the new crime lab; $4.2 million to remodel and refurbish the Busch Building; and $10.4 million for the relocation

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