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ANNE LINDBERGThe $28-million from two sales will be used to buy church property and upgrade the waste disposal system.
PINELLAS PARK - The city will go about $28-million into debt to pay for a church and upgrades to the water and sewer system.
Council members unanimously agreed Thursday to sell up to $12-million in bonds to finance improvements to the city's water system. The 30-year bonds will pay buyers interest at an estimated 4.21 percent rate.
Pinellas Park's annual debt payments on the bonds will be about $650,000, or about $19.5-million over the life of the bonds. That amount could be less if the city redeems the bonds before the 30 years are up.
Of the $12-million in bonds, City Manager Mike Gustafson said more than $10-million worth of projects are scheduled for the city's sewer system: rebuilding and revamping sewer lift stations, installing pumps and buying a closed-circuit television system to peer into pipes to look for problems.
The City Council also unanimously approved the sale of a second bond issue worth up to $16-million. These 20-year bonds will pay a 3.76 percent interest rate.
Pinellas Park will pay about $1.07-million a year to redeem the bonds. That's about $21.4-million over the 20 years unless the city redeems them before then.
That amount is less than the city was paying on bonds it recently redeemed. Paying those off and issuing new ones at a lower interest rate will save Pinellas Park taxpayers about $703,428 a year.
The bond issue includes $6-million to buy the Pinellas Park Baptist Temple property at 4981 78th Ave. N. The Baptist Temple has bought Joyland on U.S. 19 and will move there no later than Dec. 31, 2004.
The Baptist Temple will remain where it is until then and pay Pinellas Park $12,500 a month in rent.
The city will pay the church $3-million for the land. The other $3-million may be used to renovate the property, although its future use is unclear.
Gustafson said it might not take $3-million to renovate the property. If not, the money could be used for other projects.
Those could include revamping City Hall or to help finance the expansion of the police station, Gustafson said.
In other action Thursday, council members also:
-Agreed to install eight traffic calming devices at $1,000 each.
Three will be on 40th Street N between Gateway Boulevard and 82nd Avenue N; three on 76th Avenue N between 47th and 43rd streets N; two on Land Street between 122nd and 126th avenues N.
- Tentatively passed an ordinance allowing public safety officers, such as police and firefighters, to solicit charitable donations at intersections and other rights of way. The council's final decision is expected July 24.