Quorum Present For Bond Ordinances

APPROVAL ALLOWS UPGRADE OF SEWER FACILITIES TO MOVE FORWARD

LINCOLN — The Lincoln City Council held an emergency meeting Saturday morning and unanimously approved two bond issues so that projects to build a new library and to upgrade the city’s sewer facilities can move forward.

The council had planned to vote on the two bond ordinances during a special meeting Sept. 24. However, the action required six votes, but only five aldermen showed up for the meeting. Two members, Laurie Smith and Doyle Dixon, were absent from the Sept. 24 meeting. City officials knew ahead of time that Dixon would be out of town but had not been noti-

“I appreciate all of them taking time out of their weekends, their Saturday morning, to come and take care of this. It was critical to get it taken care of as soon as possible.”

Rob Hulse Mayor

fied about Smith’s absence.

Mayor Rob Hulse said six council members attended Saturday’s meeting: Dixon, Doug Hutchens, Doug Moore, Dustin Higgins, Carla Holcroft and Bobby McDonald. Smith was absent.

He said two aldermen changed their plans so that the council would have a quorum for the meeting.

“I appreciated all of them taking time out of their weekends, their Saturday morning, to come and take care of this,” Hulse said Monday. “It was critical to get it taken care of as soon as possible.”

The council suspended the rules to approve the two bond ordinances in one meeting. The council also approved an emergency clause for each ordinance.

One ordinance authorized the issuance of $1.7 million in sales-anduse tax bonds for a new library and the second ordinance authorized the issuance and sale of $2.4 million in revenue bonds for improvements to the city’s sewer facilities. The interest rate for both bond issues is about 4 percent.

City voters approved a 1-cent sales tax last March to construct a new 10,000-square-foot library. Hulse said work to demolish the current building will begin after the Nov. 6 general election. He said he has challenged the city’s architects and engineers to have the new library open by the first week of August 2013.

The upgrade to the sewer facilities is in response to federal mandates to reduce phosphorus levels. Hulse said the city will pay for the upgrade through graduating increases in sewer fees.