Aquatics center bond issuance goes before council

On Tuesday Maricopa’s city council will look at authorizing city staff to submit an application to the Greater Arizona Development Authority (GADA) for issuance of up to $20 million in bonds to finance land acquisition and construction of an aquatics center in Maricopa.

The funds, if approved, would be the first issued as part of a $65 million parks, recreation and libraries bond package passed by voters last year.

City Manager Kevin Evans said he could not identify the location or the size of the land the city is considering purchasing, but original bond election materials point to a facility in the 50,000-square foot range.

Evans said if the construction market allows, that could possibly be expanded.

“We are going to do the best to maximize all of the money that we have been authorized to spend,” he said. “This is a very advantageous time to build.”

City officials have two options when it comes to issuing up to $20 million in bonds: directly issuing the bonds themselves or applying to GADA for bond issuance. GADA was created by the Arizona legislature to assist governments with the development of infrastructure by helping them secure low interest bonds.

The city’s lack of a credit rating would mean a high interest rate if leaders were to issue their own bonds with no assistance; therefore, staff is recommending using GADA in the issuance of the bonds.

“Any point of difference in an interest rate is significant when you are talking about this much money,” Evans said.

If the council directs staff to apply for the issuance of bonds, Evans said they would work as rapidly as possible to get the project underway, hopefully having the center complete in a year and a half.

“This community is in desperate need of recreation facilities of all types, and this is the first step,” Evans said.

Although there are no positions to staff a center in this year’s budget, Evans said he would not petition council to build the project if he didn’t think the city could afford to staff it. “There are many ways to get creative when it comes to staffing,” he said.

In addition to the bond approval, the council will vote on whether of not to join two different economic development partnerships.

Council members will also host a special joint meeting with the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce at 5 p.m., prior to the council meeting. Chamber leaders will outline services, business friendly policies, the BuyLocal campaign and tourism strategies.

To view the agendas, click here.

If you go:

What: Maricopa City Council meeting
Where: 22590 N. Powers Pkwy
When: Tuesday, Aug. 18, (joint session with Maricopa Chamber of Commerce at 5 p.m.; regular council meeting at 7 p.m.)