Charles City leaders approve financing for construction of new fire station
Charles City County’s Board of Supervisors approved the financing for the construction of a new fire station during Tuesday evening’s regular monthly meeting.
A presentation from financial consultant Davenport and Company provided county leaders an overview of the bidding procedure of the project. An RFP published for bank institutions was issued on Oct. 19, with four companies yielding proposals for a request to borrow $5 million for the construction of the facility to be located on Roxbury Road (Route 106). Of the returned inquiries, two banks yielded proposals: Atlantic Union and Truist.
Atlantic Union’s proposal recommended a fixed interest rate of 2.085 percent over a 15-year period or a 2.135 fixed interest rate that spanned a 20-year period. Truist’s bid provided a 2.08 percent fixed interest rate over the 15-year period or a 2.34 percent fixed interest rate over a 20-year time frame.
The biggest difference in the bids were the option to prepay on the loans. Atlantic Union offered the ability to make early payments without any penalties attached to it, while Truist would charge a one-percent premium. In addition, Truist would charge a $6,000 counsel fee whereas Atlantic Union did not charge anything for banking services.
Davenport and Company representatives recommended to county leaders to select Atlantic Union as their financing provider for the fire station. When District 2 supervisor Bill Coada asked how much the project would cost in total, a figure of $6.1 million for the 15-year fixed rate was provided.
“We are asking for a $5 million loan, but what is the other $1.1 million for?” Coada inquired, when earlier projections pegged the project at $3.6 million.
County Administrator Michelle Johnson responded by emphasizing that while $3.6 million would be used for construction and engineering, additional funding would be used to address wastewater issues that include the construction of an onsite facility. The design of the building would cost $315,000, while the preliminary figures to address the wastewater takes up the final $1.1 million of the total borrowing amount.
County supervisors approved the financing portion, electing to go with the 15-year fixed rate option from Atlantic Union’s Public Finance. They followed that up with a resolution and approval of the contract.
“Our county administrator is beaming hard up here,” said Coada, complimenting Johnson and her staff on her work.
“We want to make sure we are being financially responsible to our community,” Johnson responded when addressing working to negotiate costs down for the project and the loan rates. “We are looking to diversify our revenue streams and looking forward to eliminating our debts.”
As part of the contract for construction, county supervisors approved Henderson Incorporated out of Williamsburg to design the fire station. Henderson is also the organization that designed and constructed New Kent County’s newest station located in Talleysville.
In another board action, county leaders approved a food pantry contract with EPIC Energy in the amount of $1,293,800. According to Johnson, $500,000 of that amount is a grant provided by the state, $320,000 received was donations from two private businesses, and $45,000 was a donation for free services to site plans. In total, $865,000 of the project is accounted for, with $428,800 remaining. Johnson says that her staff is currently working on finding additional grant and that if more county funding is needed, it would be utilized from the FY2022-23 budget.