Endowment Gift Lessens Burden on Davis Township Taxpayers

The new fire station will be built between the Starke County Fairgrounds and the Wayne Apartments in Hamlet.
The new fire station will be built between the Starke County Fairgrounds and the Wayne Apartments in Hamlet.

When the Davis Township Building Corporation met last night it was advised by the Starke County Community Foundation that the James Hardesty Endowment Fund would be providing $25,000 a year, for eight years, for the construction of the new firehouse and community building.

The Davis Township Advisory Board and Trustee, which met concurrently, were advised by Umbaugh Associates that the Hardesty eight-year annual gift will reduce the total amount of interest the corporation will have to pay for the bonding.

A total of eight banks and underwriters have been contacted about financing the project, and Umbaugh is currently seeking the lowest interest rate. Currently it is expected to be about 3.7-percent.

A total of 27 qualified construction bids were reported received for the project; two others submitted failed to meet requirements. There still must be some bid reviewing before the Corporation can take action on any of them.

The group is seeking local contractors for excavating, electrical and other portions of the project as no bids for those portions of the project were recieved in the first round of bidding.

The next meeting of the Corporation, with the Advisory Board and Trustee, is Wednesday, September 24th at 6 p.m. in the Hamlet Fire Station.

Agenda items include the ratification of the land sale, commitment to financing and the signing of other documents.