Staff writer
A new Hillsboro Community Hospital is closer to becoming a reality after the Hillsboro City Council meeting Monday.
The city council, acting as the Public Building Commission first approved a letter of engagement with Triplett, Woolf, and Garretson Law Firm out of Wichita.
“We have a standing relationship with the city as its bond counsel,” JT Klaus said. “We do not have that relationship with the public building commission, so it was necessary to have an engagement letter.”
After they approved the agreement, PBC discussed a resolution to authorize the issuance of $1,325,000 worth of bonds.
The city’s financial adviser, Greg Vahrenberg of Piper Jaffrey, explained the sales process, while Klaus went into legal details.
Klaus described a complex series of steps that ultimately will give ownership of the property where the hospital will be to PBC. HCH will pay rent to the city, which in turn will pay PBC to pay down the bonds.
“This is the structure we have created, as complicated as it is,” Klaus said, “but make no mistake about it. If the hospital does not pay the rent, the city is obligated to pay it from the existing mill levy in order to guarantee that the bonds ultimately get paid.”
Klaus said that the Bank of Hays already accepted the structure and has agreed to make the loan to the hospital on those terms.
The bond resolution was passed unanimously, and hospital CEO Marion Regier expressed her gratitude for moving forward.
“Thank you, this is great,” Regier said. “We definitely appreciate it.”
“We look forward to seeing (the hospital) go up, too,” mayor Delores Dalke responded.
In other business:
- Council approved year-end amendments to the 2015 budget.
- Applications were approved for cereal malt beverages from Hillsboro Golf Association, Walmart, Casey’s General Store, Ampride, and El Lorito.