Cold Spring City Council Greenlights $9.75 Million Bond for New Fire Hall

(KNSI) — A years-long saga ended Wednesday in Cold Spring with a whimper rather than a bang.

Or so it looks like, anyway. The city council had no one speak during a public hearing on financing for a new fire hall. The group then unanimously approved the authority to bond for up to $9.75 million to build the new facility.

There could be a snag, though.

Administrator Kris Dockendorf tells KNSI News we’ll know in a month if residents will get the final say. “This starts the 30-day clock and if we receive a petition for referendum, then we will have to take it to the voters.”

Dockendorf expects that the issue will be placed on the primary ballot in August if a referendum is required. If it is called and the measure fails, Cold Spring would have to wait one year to try again.

Dockendorf says the group won’t decide how to raise the money until the month-long window is over. “Council will wait until that 30-day referendum has passed, and then we’ll take a harder look at our updated numbers.”

The group could use Capital Improvement Plan bonds, which can have a term of up to 30 years. Alternatively, the United States Department of Agriculture offers long-term financing at below-market interest rates for projects for up to 40 years but only for finished facilities. An interest-only construction loan would bridge the gap for nearly two years.

Because the construction process is expected to last nearly two years, the interest paid by the city for the construction loan would be amortized and added to the overall cost of putting up the building. That, combined with a longer term and more payments, will result in millions of dollars in extra costs overall for the life of the loan, but the average monthly obligation would be lower.

The facility is expected to have five apparatus bays, a gear locker, a self-contained breathing apparatus locker, a training room, a conference center, and more. It would be 16,000 square feet, mostly one level, with a small portion having a mezzanine in addition to the ground floor.

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