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The Onalaska Common Council approved $110,000 in spending on the Onalaska OmniCenter to make year-around ice possible, with much of the cost offset by savings from refinancing OmniCenter debt, also approved at Tuesday’s monthly meeting.
Under the refinancing plan, the city will pay 1.95 percent on the remaining $750,000 owed for the OmniCenter, a big drop from the 5.21 percent it is paying now. The interest savings over the next five years would amount to about $89,000.
The savings is reduced, though, by about $27,545 in bond issuance costs, and the interest on the $110,000 for OmniCenter improvements will cost the city $7,400
The refinancing proposal won unanimous approval from the council, but Alderman Tim Miller voted against the OmniCenter project.
The inclusion of the $110,000 in the bond refinancing amounted to a city endorsement of the new five-year business plan for the OmniCenter proposed by the Community Development Authority, which oversees operations of the OmniCenter. The plan includes a North American Hockey League amateur team called the Coulee Region Chill under a recently approved deal.
While the city approved the OmniCenter new borrowing for subflooring and a dehumidification system for building 2, a public hearing is still required. That hearing will be held at the next Board of Public Works meeting April 6.
OmniCenter Manager Tom Hammill said that without the dehumidification system in the second building and subflooring for both arenas, the city might as well throw the OmniCenter’s new five-year plan out the window.
“Not having dehumidification is like having a van without gas,” Hammill said. “Without it, we’ll just be adding more weddings and banquets.”
The CDA is currently restructuring its board to add city-wide economic development activities under its umbrella. That plan will be presented at the April council meeting.
Jim Strack and Jack Pogreba, who are challenging council members Jim Olson and Kim Smith for their seats in the April 6 election, were critical of the CDA’s five-year plan for the OmniCenter.
“This is the same CDA that is operating the OmniCenter at a loss,” Strack said during the public input section of Tuesday’s council meeting. “You should deny the requests for $110,000, dissolve the CDA, have the council operate the OmniCenter and void the lease with the NAHL until new management is in place and until the decision on the authority of the CDA is resolved.”
Bond issue
In addition to approving the OmniCenter refinancing, the council also passed a resolution awarding the sale of $2.7 million in Build America Bonds for 2010 capital improvement projects.
Brad Viegut, from the city’s investment advisor Robert W. Baird and Company, told council members the city’s bond rating with Moody’s was not in any danger of being lowered with the new debt.
“From a rating standpoint, there will be no negative rating from the issuance of the debt,” Viegut said. “Rating agencies will not see a negative impact one way or the other.”
Other business
n The city approved a request from Barry Nimtz, owner of the Blue Moon Saloon and Roadhouse, to erect an electronic sign with animated text on the property.
n The council approved a subdivision request by Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin for the planned building of a new retail center on Theater Road.
n The council approved the first and second reading of an ordinance to rezone land at the Connect Church on Kinney Coulee Road South for the building of a 78-unit apartment complex. The issue will be reviewed by the council once more in April before becoming effective. The design and construction of the building is still subject to public hearings.
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rt2spk wrote on Mar 11, 2010 4:40 PM: