River Forest officials took the next step toward a series of infrastructure improvements in the village, issuing a $600,000 bond at the Jan. 22 village board meeting.
The five trustees at the meeting voted unanimously to issue the bond to Forest Park National Bank. Bob O’Connell did not attend.
Village administrator Matt Walsh explained that Forest Park National Bank was the only bank to respond to the bid forms issued to “several local” financial institutions to provide best interest rate over a two-year period. Finance director Rosemary McAdams explained that bond counsel Ice Miller of Chicago had characterized Forest Park National Bank’s proposal as “competitive.” Walsh said Ice Miller had prepared the required notice and contract paperwork for the bond issuance.
“As a non-home rule community, the village is provided with a limited amount of debt service at its disposal,” Walsh explained in a memo to officials earlier in January, noting that the Debt Service Extension Base was established when the property tax extension limitation law went into effect. The DSEB is an amount that limits the principal and interest that the village can levy to pay on loans or bonds each year, Walsh continued, adding that the DSEB for the village is about $300,000 and grows by CPI each year.
“This year our DSEB obligations were paid off and we can now realize our full DSEB extension,” he said.
The bond proceeds will be deposited in the village’s infrastructure improvement bond fund and be used for street resurfacing and other applicable public works infrastructure projects, he added.
The $600,000 will be repaid over two years at an interest rate of 3.55% in the first year and 3.45% the second. Interest to be paid is about $2,500, slightly less in the second year due to the lower interest rate.
Funds for paying principal and interest will be raised through a separate debt service levy that will be included in the overall village levy. The portion of the approved levy that will be directly for the debt service is about 0.4% of the village levy, Walsh said.
A required public hearing on the matter was held Jan. 8, but no member of the public spoke.
Officials also started making plans for spending some of that money earlier in January, approving three contracts for infrastructure projects costing $500,000.
The contracts are $122,400 to Strada Construction Co. of Addison for the 2024 curb and sidewalk replacement program; $113,270 to Nardulli Construction Company Inc. of Chicago for the 2024 concrete Americans with Disabilities Act ramp replacement program; and $270,000 to Holiday Sewer and Water Construction Inc. for the 2023 water main improvement project.