The fundraiser signals one of the most significant steps yet in Mr. Cuomo’s re-election effort. The governor had been set to attend a pair of high-profile fundraisers in Florida in early April, but canceled them days beforehand. The fundraisers had been scheduled for a day after the deadline for the passage of the state budget, a process that wasn t originally expected to run up to its April 1 deadline.
Although City of Hope officials aren't characterizing it that way, the options which the City is facing in rehabilitating a substantial portion of its wastewater collection and treatment system is much like the arcade game where players use a rubber mallet to whack moles that pop up on a game board.The mole, in this instance, is rainwater that infiltrates wastewater collection lines that, in some cases, are as much as 50 years old; oftentimes, pushing massive amounts of water through a system that was not designed to handle it at one time. Replacing those lines, along with defective or damaged manholes, is the major expense in the entire project, an estimated $4.2 million in a projected $7.1 million program that includes the collection and treatment system. In terms of money, probably no more than $8 million for the project, and there would be some refinancing to go with that, City Manager Catherine Cook said in a recent interview. The goal would be to keep the project in the under $10 million range altogether, including the refinancing; because, the under $10 million range allows the bond issue to be 'bank qualified,' which means that banks who are large purchasers of municipal bonds would be qualified to bid it. About $2 million in refinancing of current bonded debt is expected to be involved,Chanel bags, Cook said. We are still structured in the financing to make the payout at the same time as the original bond issues, she said.That means the City will tackle the financing of a three-part rehabilitation/replacement program extending through 2015 while reducing the debt service costs on its existing bonds substantially. The 1997 bonds are scheduled to payout in 2019; we'd refinance those, but they would still pay out in 2019, Cook said. Right now, we're paying about four percent; but, if we refinance, we'd pay about two percent. Sometimes, you refinance and extend out, but that is not our intention with our old bond issues. The cost savings in debt refinancing will be helpful in paying for the new project, she said. For the majority of the issue, almost $3 million of the remaining $7-8 million would be focused on our wastewater treatment facilities, Cook said. Our plants were constructed in 1979; they are in very good shape, and we did about a million dollars in work on them in 1997 and 1998. The treatment process units themselves at both the Bois D'Arc and Pine Creek wastewater treatment pla