Fiscal court approves first steps in funding process for justice center

By Melinda J. Overstreet / Glasgow News 1
Barren County Fiscal Court and, subsequently, the Barren County Public Properties Corp, which is the same group of people, started the financing part of the wheels in motion Thursday for the construction of a new justice center for the county.
With Magistrate Trent Riddle absent, the remainder of the court voted unanimously at its special meeting rescheduled from Tuesday to approve a resolution directing the public properties entity to take certain actions necessary for the issuance and authorization of revenue bonds. Magistrates Jeff Botts and Tim Coomer joined remotely via video connection, as they were attending a Kentucky Association of Counties event; Judge-Executive Micheal Hale and Magistrates Carl Dickerson, Mark Bowman, Kenneth Sartin and Billy Houchens attended in person.
Dickerson said he wanted to make sure he understood that a “yes” vote meant they would be proceeding, and Hale told him that was correct.
Before the vote was taken, Chip Sutherland, a financial advisor with Baird who has considerable experience working with local governments on public funding options such as bond issues, answered several questions from the court members as well.
He said this resolution would authorize a bond anticipation note for $3,695,000, including any associated costs, that will fund the project until they reach the point of getting the “permanent bond” issued, which won’t occur until next year.
Bowman asked him to walk them through the process a little more.
Sutherland said the resolution gives Baird the opportunity to solicit bids from interested parties that want to make a construction loan. The terms were all within the document the court members had, he said. They’ll allow a couple of weeks for bidders to submit their paperwork.
“Our whole key is that we need to close this transaction before Dec. 12. We need the money to close on the property, so we’ve scheduled a closing for this loan – if things go well and with your all’s approval, we’ll go out and solicit bids, we’ll get responses from interested banks, we’ll look at them, assess the winner, award it and then move toward closing around Dec. 6,” he said.
That should ensure that the money is actually in place in time to close on the purchase of the properties.
Then the architects and others will get the design work done, and then a dollar amount can be placed on the overall project, including construction. At that point, they’ll come back and ask for an authorization for a long-term, fixed rate bond issue to finance that, Sutherland said.
The AOC will be responsible for paying the bond, but it will do so by making lease payments to the county for use of the space, and that amount will be the amount of the bond payments, he said.
In addition to Sutherland and another Baird representative, individuals from the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts, the architect, and the local project development board for the justice center were in the audience, either in person or via video stream.
The fiscal court meeting was then essentially temporarily recessed so the Barren County Public Properties Corp. special meeting could take place sooner, rather than upon adjournment of the other meeting, which had several more agenda items that were postponed, so that some of those in attendance regarding this matter did not have to wait as the fiscal court addressed those items.
The public properties entity, after approving minutes from its last meeting of Aug. 24, 2021, voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds and a contract, lease agreement and option by and among the public properties entity, the AOC and the county itself.
The state legislature, through monies it budgeted for the project, essentially guarantees payment of the financing.