Following major concerns about employee safety and a possible building collapse, Waynesville councilmen voted in a Thursday evening special session to refinance an existing utility loan that will provide about $200,000 to replace flood-damaged Parks Department and Street Department buildings.
The financing package takes an existing 2001 loan Waynesville obtained for $1.03 million through the Missouri Association of Municipal Utilities, cuts the interest rate from 5.88 percent to 4.25 percent which saves the city $49,000 over the 28-year life of the loan, and adds the $200,000 onto the remaining loan balance of $685,000.
That rate was locked in several months ago and is better than what Waynesville could obtain now with much more difficult market conditions, City Administrator Bruce Harrill said.
“We’re getting the additional money at a very good rate,” Harrill said. “If we want any additional financing, our best option is to do this right now.”
Some cities are now paying rates of up to 8 percent for comparable projects, he said.
Councilwoman Diana Stanford said she had to be convinced of the need for more debt.
“I went down and I looked at the buildings the Park Department is in today; they showed me that rafters that caved in,” Stanford said. “I thought long and hard about this and I would say we need to put them in another building.”
If Waynesville officials do nothing, it’s possible the building will collapse under heavy snow, Stanford said.
Councilman Mike France said the building has no heat and the city would have to pay to install a furnace if the building is used this winter.
Councilman Alan Clark said something must be done.
“This is not only a safety hazard, it is a health hazard, and our employees deserve better,” Clark said.
In other business, councilmen approved an internal grievance policy on discrimination and received a report by Harrill on electric rate increases from the city’s utility supplier, Show-Me Electric. Waynesville’s rates will rise 13.04 percent, Harrill said.
“Some cities have been lower, some have been higher, and we’ll be talking in the utility committee about how to handle this,” Harrill said.
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