Iola City Council members received a double shot of better-than-expected news Monday.
On a night in which the Council formally approved the sale of $9.65 million in bonds to fund a complete rebuild of U.S. 54, Iola City Administrator Matt Rehder said the project will cost less than previously expected.
Bids for the highway replacement came in earlier Monday at about $12.9 million, Rehder said, substantially lower than the $15.5 million forecast as recently as January.
Additionally, Rehder learned Monday the bonds will be retired over the next 25 years with an interest rate of about 3.99%, less than the 4.3% or 4.5% he had been expecting.
That means the bonds will be paid off at an annual cost of about $636,000 — about $20,000 less than previously thought.
The city will utilize sales tax revenues — Iola recoups about $1 million annually — to retire the bonds, Rehder noted.
“That gives us a little breathing room on that sales tax that we collect, but actually a lot of breathing room over a course of years that we’ll be paying that bond,” Mayor Steve French agreed.
The news was so good that the Council approved the issuance and sale of the bonds without even calling on Garth Herrmann of Gilmore Bell, the city’s bond counsel, prior to the vote.
“It’s a lot easier when the numbers come in lower than expected,” Councilman Jon Wells joked.
THE FULL rebuild will bring about several changes to the highway as it goes through town.
Most notably, the entire length will be reduced from four- to three-lane traffic, with one lane going in each direction on either side of a turning lane.
Having one less lane will allow for crews to build wider sidewalks without encroaching properties along the stretch — the wider sidewalks are courtesy of a $4 million Kansas Department of Transportation grant.
Additionally, the downtown square pedestrian crossings will involve bulb-outs, to shorten the distance pedestrians must walk to get from one side of the street to the other.
The stoplight at Buckeye Street, originally installed to accommodate high school students walking to the Bowlus each day, will be removed, because USD 257 classes are no longer held in the Bowlus.
In its place, a flashing traffic signal will be installed at Sycamore Street, to alert motorists when pedestrians are crossing the street.
Crews also will lower the grading alongside the highway from First Street to Kentucky streets to improve water drainage and sidewalk access.
