Two resolutions were passed Tuesday night that will allow the North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation to move forward with their lease rental bond project. The resolution approving the form of lease agreement and the resolution approving the issuance of series 2017 bonds received unanimous board approval.
Attorney Thomas Peterson explained that the resolution approving the form of lease agreement authorizes officers to sign the lease that has been before them since June. Before they could sign the lease, the board had to follow proper protocol, such as holding a public hearing over the lease agreement. Peterson mentioned this was one of the final formalities involved in the process.
The next resolution that came up for approval was the issuance of series 2017 bonds. Peterson said that for federal tax purposes, this resolution designates that the bonds will be issued through the building corporation on the school’s behalf.
“The building corporation is the one that actually issues the bonds and they use the monies that the school corporation pays under the lease agreement to pay the principal and interest on those bonds.” Peterson said, “For those bonds to be tax exempt, you as a governmental unit have to approve their issuance by the building corporation.”
Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin explained that the building corporation serves as an intermediary between the school and money lenders. School corporations often utilize a building corporation, a separate legal entity, in order issue additional financing for major projects.
In her superintendent’s report, Zupin provided a schedule outline for the lease rental bond project. An initial planning meeting will be held August 29th. In September, they plan to finalize the schedule, procurement approach and initial design review. An interim design review will be held in October and a final design review will take place in November. In December they shall issue bid documents.
In 2018 they will receive bids in January, begin construction some time in the spring depending on access and weather and they are estimating construction completion by the fall of that year.
The lease rental bond project proposes approximately 5.6 million dollars worth of renovations including the installation of a secure entrance, electronic access control and video surveillance, H-VAC replacement, duct cleaning, exterior renovations, pool re-purposing and tennis court construction.
