Lake City Report - April 23, 2010
City
bonds andbroadband top the list
Columbia County, FL (Posted April 24, 2010 05:25 am)
by City Manager Wendell Johnson and
staff
From City Manager Wendell Johnson
City Bond Issues
City Manager Johnson:
I encourage the public to attend all budget
meetings and city council meetings. We have
staff available to answer your questions and
Lake City values your contribution.
As reported last week, the Sales Tax and
Utility
Bond initiative is progressing as planned.
The Request for Funding Proposals (RFP) process
exceeded expectations and 10 proposals were
received on Monday, April 19, 2010.
The Finance Team met early this week
and reviewed the proposals. A
recommendation for the award of contract for
financial services will be forthcoming to the
Council before the end of May, 2010.
The recommendation will be two-fold and
include: 1) Local bank financing of the Sales
Tax Revenue Bond Refunding and, 2) A qualified
Investment and Financial Services Firm for the
Utility Bonds Refunding needs.
The Bond Resolutions will be submitted by the
Finance Team for Council consideration on May 3,
2010.
North Florida Broadband Authority (NFBA)
The NFBA met this week at the Suwannee Water
Management District Office in Live Oak. The
planning for the $30 million NFBA Broadband
Grant continues for high speed internet access
in our 14-county region, which includes Columbia
County and Lake City.
The Project Status since my last report:
a. The Project and
Construction Management Firm, AirWire, Inc.,
is preparing the Master Schedule Template.
This includes the Engineering Specifications
for the Network Element, the RFP for
equipment procurement and the mobilization
timeline.
b. The Preliminary
Project Budget was approved. A $750,00 “line
of credit” has been arranged to fund
preliminary needs over the months until
October 1, 2010.
c. The Network
Requirements for “Level 3” have been
established. Level 3 is one of the
largest fiber owners in the Country and will
be completing the network activity.
d. Master Service
Agreements with AirWire and KeenWire will be
completed before the next meeting in May.
e. Tenant Surveys
will be distributed during the week of April
26, 2010. The surveys are designed to
determine key system uses (anchor tenants)
such as government agencies, schools,
hospitals, etc.
The City Staff Report is available in pdf format
here.
