Sale of bonds for new rec center expected to begin in January

Sale of bonds for new rec center expected to begin in January

Nov 10, 2001

SUPPORTERS OF the recreation center celebrate Tuesday night after hearing that the measure passed. From left are Mark Knox, Dan Porter, Steve Miles, Eleanor Kuhl, Chris Burkett, Michelle Brown, Brad Wayt, Jim Herrick, and Bob Diederich.

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

Sale of the $8.9 million in bonds voters recently approved for a Cortez rec center will likely begin after the start of the new year.

According to Don Dionnes, vice president of George K. Baum & Company, the company handling the sale of the bonds, bonds usually sell between 30 and 60 days after the issue is passed, but Baum said the bonds won’t be ready in 30 days.

However, when the bonds are ready for sale, area residents will have the first opportunity to buy them.

"Our plan is to give residents who live in or outside Cortez the first chance to buy the bonds," said Dionnes.

City officials can move forward before the bonds are sold.

"It’s been my experience with projects like this that, when they have an architect on board like they do, they’re able to go ahead and start the design and move ahead on the construction phase of the project," said Dionnes.

The rec center is expected to be built within the next 18 months, according to city officials. Construction may begin this winter.

"From the city’s standpoint it’s an excellent time to do a bond issue or to be borrowing money," said Dionnes, who remarked that it had been a long time since he’d seen interest rates so low.

Voters passed the rec center on Tuesday by a vote of 851 to 724 — a solid margin.

A similar measure had failed in 1994.

Now that the bond issue has passed, residents will pay an extra 55 cents for every $100 purchase in the city, an increase of 0.55 percent. The city sales tax will now rise to a total of 4.05 percent.

The extra revenue will fund the 43,000-square-foot center, which will be managed by Cortez Parks and Recreation at the north end of Parque de Vida.

The handicapped-accessible facility will include a family pool, water slide, indoor jogging track, a six-lane lap pool and diving board, basketball and volleyball courts, multi-purpose rooms, an exercise area for aerobic machines, day care, office space, and, thanks to a $500,000 state energy-impact grant, racquetball courts.

Center operating funds will be paid for by a $300,000-per-year city subsidy that is built into the bond package.