Three Newton commissioners stall fire station bond, seek funding for parks, aquatic center

“So we’re going to hold District 1 hostage — unbelievable!” said Edwards. “That blows me away.”

Edwards went a step further Wednesday, calling the actions of Mason, Sanders and Henderson “blackmail.”

“They didn’t get what they want, so the citizens of District 5 and District 1 are not going to get their fire station,” he said.

Mason, Sanders and Henderson voted to table a $4.9 million fire station bond resolution for 30 days — the same amount of time County Manager Lloyd Kerr said it would take him to explore funding options for an estimated $42 million in projects requested by the three commissioners. Those projects include renovation of the former Cousins Middle School to include a Black history museum and a park in Nelson Heights (District 4), development of a park off Fairview Road (District 3) and construction of an aquatic center (District 2).

Only the Cousins project had previously been discussed by the commissioners. The cost to renovate it has been estimated at $8.75 million

Edwards and District 5 Commissioner Ronnie Cowan were opposed to the tabling. Edwards sought to emphasize the importance of the fire station, which would serve Districts 1 and 5, versus parks and recreational facilities.

“We’re talking about people’s lives at stake,” said Edwards, adding that Districts 2, 3 and 4 already have adequate fire protection coverage. “Commissioner Cowan and I are simply asking to come up to where 2, 3 and 4 are with fire protection.”

But Sanders said that the western portion of the county, which is the most heavily populated, contributes more overall to county property tax collections than Districts 1 and 5.

“They want a return on their investment,” she said of District 3 residents.

Sanders said residents in her district have been asking for more parks for years.

“It is not a want; they need parks,” she said.

The authority members approved — by the same 3-2 vote — bonding for the projects in District 2, 3 and 4. Although the projects were approved, the authority does not have the ability to back bonds. Any bonding approved by the authority would also have to be approved by the Board of Commissioners, and a vote by the Board of Commissioners should have preceded the vote by the authority.

“I think that there is a misunderstanding about what the purpose of the Public Facilities Authority is,” said Cowan. “It’s really a mechanism for securing the best bond rates. It’s not for project approval.”

County Attorney Megan Martin recommended last year that the authority be formed in order to take advantage of lower bond rates and fees that would be available through an authority.

If bonds were issued for the projects in Districts 2, 3 and 4, county officials estimated that the debt service on the bonds would be $2.6 million annually over a 20-year period. Kerr said the most likely sources to pay that debt service would be a millage rate increase, which he said would be “significant,” or a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax that would have to be approved by voters.

The debt service on the $4.9 million in bonds for the new fire station would come from the fire district tax, which is already collected county-wide for fire services. That debt service would range from $450,000 to $550,000 per year.

Kerr said the cost estimates for the projects in Districts 2, 3 and 4 don’t include enough detail to determine overall costs.

“I think there’s still a tremendous amount of information that we need,” he said.

Mason asked Kerr to explore other funding options, which might reduce the amount of bonds needed to fund the projects, including grants and corporate contributions. He asked that Kerr present those other options within 30 days.