HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978 CS sets April 1 bond vote'llrl�
By ROBERT C. BORDEN
Staff Writer
Despite expert advice to
the contrary, College
Station city councilmen
decided once again
Monday to hold a $9.16
million bond issue April 1,
" the day of city council
elections and a charter
amendment election in the
city.
$. David Fetzer,
executive vice president of
.Moroney, Beissner & Co.
Inc., the city's financial
agents, told councilmen
bond elections held jointly
with council elections are
not as successful as those
held independently.
The council still could
change its minds, but that
appears unlikely. They
formally will call the bond
election at their March 8
council meeting.
Councilmen discussed
individual items to be
included in the bond issue
and approved the order of
the items on the ballot.
They also raised the
proposed total slightly to
$9,165,000 at Fetzer's
suggestion. This will allow
bonds for each of the five
items on the ballot to be
sold in multiples of $5,000.
O'It looks like you have a
pretty full ballot right
now," Fetzer said. When
bond elections are held
with council elections,
candidates tend to run on
platforms either for or
against the bond issue,
thus bringing personalities
into the matter and often
causing the defeat of the
bonds, he said.
"It has been our ex-
perience that it does"
cause problems with bond
elections when held in
conjunction with council
balloting, re added.
Councilman Jim Dozier
said, "We'd like the bond
issue to pass, but we need
to get it done as soon as
possible,"
Fetzer said, "It is our
basic advice to separate
Dril
them (the council and bond
elections)."
Agreeing with Dozier
was Councilman Gary
Halter, who said he fears
"voter fatigue" if too
many elections are held in
the next few months.
Dozier noted College
Station has a large number
of votes who rent their
homes and these
"historically support bond
issues." Other councilmen
agreed, noting A &M ends
its spring classes in the
middle of May and many
potential voters will leave
then.
Halter said, "That's why
I'm hesitant to have it any
later than the middle of
May.
Dozier suggested
keeping the election April 1
unless councilmen change
their minds prior to calling
the election officially
March 8.
After a brief discussion
of each of the various
items to be included in the
bond issue, councilmen set
the order of each item on
the ballot.
The first item will be
water utility im-
provements, for which the
city will seek approval to
sell $5,300,000 in revenue
bonds, to be paid back with
monies generated by the
city utility system.
The second item will be
sewer utility im-
provements, with $845,000
in revenue bonds
requested, also to be paid
out of utility income.
Item three will be
streets, with $300,000 asked
to set up a revolving fund
to pay for street repairs
each year. Another
$230,000 is requested to
make improvements in the
Jersey - Kyle - Dominik
connection.
The fourth item will be a
request .for $1,810,000 to
purchase park land and
make improvements on
the land.
The fifth and last item
1 bond vote
will be for $680,000 to pay
for the land purchased for
a new city police station,
fire station and warehouse.
Total amount of the bond
proposals is $9,165,000.
Items three through five
will be paid back out of tax
funds if approved.
Councilmen spent
considerable time Monday
discussing whether to
include all the park issues
as one item or to separate
them into three issues:
land acquisition for major
athletic facilities, land
acquisition for neigh-
borhood parks, and im-
provements at the parks.
Councilman Jim Gard-
ner noted only library
requests get less support in
bond elections than parks.
Mayor Lorence
Bravenec said he feared
separation of the park
issues might cause some to
fail. Dc pier said, "Well, I'd
like to see them
separated."
Bravenec asked for a
motion on the matter, and
Dozier said, "I'll get mine
out of the way since it
won't be carried," moving
to divide the parks issue
into three parts. It died for
lack of a second.
Councilman Anne Hazen
moved to put the parks into
one bond proposal and
Cor.ncilman Lane
Stephenson seconded. The
first vote was 3 -2 -2, with
Hazen, Stephenson and
Bravenec in favor and
Gardner and Dozier op-
posed. Councilman Larry
Ringer and Halter ab-
stained but Ringer later
agreed to the single
proposal and it carried 4 -2-
1.
ravenee brought up the
ossibility of a greater
homestead exemption for
taxpayers over 65 so they
will not be hurt by having
to pay for the park bonds if
approved. The exemption
is $10,000 now, a figure that
could be increased in the
near future if councilmen
agree with Bravene
r Stephenson and Halter
got into a heated
discussion over a civic
center. Stephenson said he
is under a lot of pressure
from citizens who com-
plain nothing has been
done about the center, for
which $500,000 in revenue
, bonds were approved by
voters in 1976.
"There's a certain
element peeved with us for
not doing something about
it," he said.
"They're the same group
peeved with us for not
following their directions,"
Halter said. "They've got
me peeved with them."
"That's not hard to do,"
Stephenson said. "I think
we ought to do something
or just say we're not going
to do anything and
abandon the project."
Dozier said, "I think
we'd be silly building a
civic center until the
county gets its convention
hand civic enter open and
e see how well it is used."
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