HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93010_1241I. The City shall attempt to finance approximately $5,000,000 to be applied to the Project.
2. The City shall be responsible for paying the debt service on the amount financed for the
Project.
3. On or about July 1, 2005, the County shall reimburse the City fifty (50%) percent of all
payments paid by the City as of that date to service the debt of the amount financed for the
project; and thereafter the county shall reimburse the city for fifty (50%) percent of all debt
service payments made by the City on the funds borrowed for the Project until the debt is
paid in full. The County's reimbursement to the City shall be within thirty (30) days of
receiving a statement from the City that a debt service payment has been made.
4. On or about July 1, 2005, the County shall also reimburse the City for fifty (50%) percent of
all costs and fees incurred by the City in obtaining financing for the project.
5. With regards to any grants and reimbursements received by the City for the Project from the
State or Federal grants, after first applying such grants or reimbursements to reimburse the
City for the $2,000,000 paid by the City from its general funds for the Project, the balance
of such grants or reimbursements shall be applied to reduce the balance of the remaining
debt incurred by the City to finance the Project.
6. Should the City not obtain the financing necessary to complete the Project for whatever
reason, then this Agreement shall be null and void.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties affixed hands and seats to this Agreement in duplicate
originals, by authority duly given, on the date and year first above written.
Chairman Johnson said he would speak as the board's representative on the
airport commission. He said the group was attempting to accelerate the development of
the project due to a tight timeframe. Johnson said the timeframe was due to an
economic development project. He said that if the airport commission waited until the
federal and state grants were obtained, the timeframe would not meet the expectations
of a company expressing a willingness to locate at the airport. Mr. Johnson said that to
make sure the expectations were met, the city was willing to go to the market place and
borrow $5 million. Johnson said the city officials were asking the county to reimburse
them for one-half of the principal and one-half of the interest on the borrowed money.
He said W.K. Dickson officials (engineering firm) continued to make assurances that
they could develop a timeframe where the work was reimbursable. He said
reimbursable expenses were land purchases, architectural engineering, and planning.
Johnson said the engineering firm felt it could develop a procedure to maximize, if not
completely gain, the city's total reimbursement of the project, and consequently, the
county. Johnson said for this to happen, everything would have to be 100 percent
perfect. He said his honest feeling was that the project would cost the county some
money. He said, however, he felt the amount would be substantially closer to zero than
the total amount of exposure. Johnson said if the county did not participate, substantial
tax base would be lost and an opportunity to create a marketable asset would be
forfeited -- an asset that would be a recruitment tool for the next generation. He said
that with a 7,000 ft. runway at the Statesville airport, a company could put a jet there
and fly nonstop to Anchorage, Alaska, nonstop to a great deal of South America, and
nonstop to Europe. He said the worse the county could do was to breakeven on the
project.
Attorney Pope said he had reviewed the agreement. He said the agreement
appeared to be consistent with the comments made by Mr. Johnson.
Commissioner Williams said that if the anticipated economic project at the
airport did not happen, he assumed the county could slow down its commitment and let
the grants catch up with the costs.
Chairman Johnson said this was correct.
Commissioner Madison and Commissioner Tice said the improvements would
generate jobs in the county, the improvements would give the county an infrastructure
asset, and the improvements would make the county more appealing to others.