Holly Trustees Approve ARPA Bond Refunding Resolution

The Holly Trustees approved Resolution 2018-3, acknowledging and approving the issuance of refunding bonds by the Arkansas River Power Authority. A follow-up presentation of the refunding proposal was made to the trustees by ARPA General Manager, Rick Rigel, during their March 7^th monthly meeting.  He outlined the plans for them during their February meeting.  The trustees, following their regular meeting, went into executive session for legal advice on the resolution as well as a related certificate covering the ARPA Power Supply Agreement, Organic Contract and a Resource Pooling Agreement.  Several ARPA member communities including Holly used the services of La Junta attorney, Phillip Malouf, to address some of their issues with the certificate.  The Trustees were concerned about the amount of the bond refunding which had been left blank, but would be completed at a later date once the refunding process had begun.  Following the executive session, the Trustees approved the resolution.  All other ARPA member communities will need to approve the resolution in order to begin the bond refunding process this spring.  The amount of the bonds is $143M, used to complete the construction of the Lamar Repowering Project.

Eric Depperschmidt, Executive Director of Prowers Economic Prosperity and Aaron Leiker, PEP President, presented an annual overview of the economic organization’s accomplishments during the meeting. Depperschmidt is meeting with municipal officials in Prowers County to present his annual report.  Leiker noted that PEP is developing a county-wide incentive package for prospective businesses.  He noted that while each city may have their own incentive package, such as Lamar, a similar presentation from each community would provide an immediate outline for future inquiries on a county level.

The Trustees approved the budgeted $20,000 expenditure for an annual chip-sealing project for several roads in town. Mayor Tony Garcia and several of the Trustees had discussed the criteria used to determine which roads would receive the upgrade.

The Trustees also passed Ordinance 521 on second reading which prohibits driving or parking of trucks, truck tractors or other large vehicles on streets within the town’s boundaries. Trustee Johnny Lyon cast a ‘no’ vote as he had expressed concern over where residents would be able to park before enacting such an ordinance.  Regarding ‘no parking’ signage, the Trustees received advice from Prowers County Sheriff Zordel in an email which suggested specific language should be used on the signs and their general placement.  The Trustees also voted to allocate some funding to purchase the signage.

In other action, the Trustees approved the contract with Brase Insurance for Airport Liability Coverage. There was an increase from $1725 to $1811 from last year.  A new wage scale for swimming pool employees was approved, keeping in line with the state minimum wage increases.  That amounted to an extra $5,000 over last year.  A third party estimate for servicing the ARPA generator was approved and the town will seek out an independent contractor to assist in complying with landfill regulations as stipulated by the state health and environment department.  Municipal elections for Mayor and Trustee will be conducted on Tuesday, April 3^rd and the next Trustees meeting will be Wednesday, April 11^th.

By Russ Baldwin

(Editor’s Note:  Due to the proximity of the election and first Wednesday as a usual Trustee meeting date, the Trustee’s next meeting has been re-scheduled for Wednesday, April 11th)