Riley County commissioners on Nov. 3 approved a resolution authorizing the county to finance improvements to its solid-waste disposal utility and approved a temporary construction easement tied to the University Park wastewater lagoon.

Britney Phillips, Riley County budget and finance officer, told commissioners the county sought guidance from the attorney general’s office during the financing review because financing a utility project in this way required extra legal review. Phillips said the county intends for the solid-waste utility to repay its share through rates and budget adjustments, and staff plans to issue bonds and temporary notes and bundle the financing with a Peterson Ranch bond issuance to reduce costs. Phillips said financing could be tailored to a 10-year repayment term given Peterson Ranch’s projected early payoff.

On the temporary construction easement, a commissioner moved and another seconded approval of an easement described in the agenda packet as a temporary construction easement related to the University Park wastewater lagoon and referencing Frank Hagenmeier (packet text contains multiple spellings). The motion was called and approved during the meeting record.

What was decided: The commission moved and seconded a resolution identified in the meeting as resolution no. 110325 authorizing acquisition and construction of improvements to the county solid-waste disposal utility and the issuance of general-obligation bonds and temporary notes to finance those costs. The resolution was moved, seconded and approved during the meeting; the transcript does not record specific roll-call vote tallies.

Key details and limitations: Phillips said the financing approach requires the solid-waste utility to consider fee and budget changes to pay long-term debt. She said staff is "still working through" the exact loan term and that the county will "put this out to bid with our Peterson Ranch bond as well just to save some financing costs." The transcript records discussion that staff is projecting 10- and 20-year scenarios but expected to tailor the debt to a 10-year term for the Peterson Ranch split.

Other votes: The commission also approved routine items on the agenda during the same meeting including adoption of a Veterans Day proclamation, approval of requested employee action forms and approval of minutes from the Oct. 30 commission meeting. The record does not include detailed vote tallies for those routine approvals.