By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
ASHWAUBENON – A resolution to borrow $12.8 million for a new Green Bay Bullfrogs stadium, the Mike McCarty Way reconstruction project and other projects in the village was approved Tuesday, April 24, by the Ashwaubenon village board.
Board members were informed about the issuance of general obligation promissory notes for those projects by Greg Wenholz, the village’s finance director, and Brad Viegut of Baird.
In addition to the new baseball stadium and the reconstruction planned this year for Mike McCarthy Way, Wenholz said borrowing is also included for sidewalks along Ridge Road and the Manseau Flats tax incremental financing (TIF) incentive.
Because of the bids for the Mike McCarty Way reconstruction work coming in lower than budgeted, Wenholz and Viegut noted the bonding amount was able to be reduced by $700,000 as reflected in the resolution.
“This note anticipation note is simply a short-term borrowing in anticipation of long-term debt,” Viegut said. “It’s to fund the projects that Greg outlined, and then in July, this taxable note will be split into two separate long-term borrowings. One will be tax exempt, and that will fund the sidewalk projects and the Mike McCarthy Way road project, and then all the other projects will be funded with the taxable long-term bond.”
Viegut said anything supported with a private development agreement or has a private purpose instead of a public purpose would not be eligible for tax-exempt financing.
The first step in the bonding process, Viegut said, will get the village in a position to issue 20-year debt for the borrowing obligations.
“The 20-year debt is going to better tie (in) with the agreement for the Bullfrogs, for example, and the revenues anticipating from the TIF districts to help repay this debt,” he said.
Viegut said the short-term borrowing will have an interest rate of 2.89 percent when the funds “settle” on May 15 and have a maturity date of Nov. 15, along with a “first call” feature in August.
He said he would be able to come back to the board in July for the final long-term financing to approve.
“Once (the long-term financing is) approved, this short-time note will be paid off in August,” he said. “So this is just the first step of a two-step process.”
Viegut said a Moody’s rating will be obtained for the two long-term bond issues in the summer with the purchaser being Zions Bank out of Utah.
He said he estimates the interest rate will be just over 3.5 percent for the tax-exempt portion of the long-term borrowing and 4.2 percent for the taxable portion of the 20-year borrowing.
In the event interest rates lower over the term of the borrowing, Viegut said there are call features starting in 2024 on the long-term debt in which the village could pre-pay the debt and then issue new debt if interest rates improve.
Low bid approved
As part of the ongoing redevelopment in the village’s Sports and Entertainment District along Mike McCarthy Way between Holmgren Way and Ashland Avenue, upgrading the utility and roadway infrastructure is being planned with the assistance of Ayres Associates.
The village received six bids from contractors to upgrade the sanitary sewer, storm sewer and water main as well as upgrade the pavement from asphalt to concrete.
The high bid was more than $3.3 million with board members approving the low bid from Peters Concrete Company of $2,415,193, plus $1,200 to reuse salvaged storm sewer pipe for a creek project at Ashwaubenomay Park.
Village Director of Public Works Doug Martin said the reconstruction project is scheduled to start the week of May 7 and expected to wrap up the middle to end of September.
“It will go into the Packers season a little bit,” he said. “This is a large project that we are trying to get done as quickly as possible. It will go into the season this year.”
Martin said he hopes to have a couple of the travel lanes along Mike McCarthy Way open for the regular season, similar to when work on Oneida Street was taking place.
Village President Mary Kardoskee said the Mike McCarthy Way reconstruction was initially planned for 2019, but was moved up to this year so that developments now being built wouldn’t have to deal with the road in front of them being torn up next year when they would be open.
Martin said the reconstruction when completed will look like Mike McCarthy Way now does between Holmgren and Oneida with sidewalks on both sides.
He said an alternate bid of $555,853 from Peters Concrete Company for a parking lot at the former Truck Equipment site on the north side of Mike McCarthy way wasn’t included in the reconstruction project.
Village Manager Allison Swanson said adding the parking lot was decided against because of the timeline of the reconstruction project and an estimate it would take more than 10 years to repay the cost of the lot, based on Packers parking revenue.
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