Feb. 4--The plan to build a downtown parking garage next to the baseball stadium that's now under way is back on track, using a loan-and-tax credit plan instead of the anticipated bonds.

Bowling Green city commissioners approved the idea 4-1 on Tuesday night, after getting more assurances and a financial break at a nonvoting afternoon work session. This keeps ambitious downtown redevelopment plans -- covering 383 acres and possibly topping $400 million -- rolling, despite a dismal market that makes selling project bonds impossible for an unknown period.

"We've embarked on this project at probably the worst possible time," Mayor Elaine Walker said of launching the redevelopment plan just before the nation went into recession. But the new financing plan offers hope to finish the work without additional commitments of city money, and still aims at securing the release of millions in state tax money for bond payments by hitting $200 million in investment in the area by the end of 2014, she said.

The county and nonprofit corporation formed to oversee redevelopment had already signed off on the new financing plan, but commissioners wouldn't budge before they got assurances that the loans will be repaid as soon as possible, and that the intended recipients of money now needed for the garage loan payments would accept a loss of funds for several years.

Graves-Gilbert Clinic, Western Kentucky University and The Medical Center all plan new buildings in the redevelopment district, and expect their construction bonds to be repaid with higher tax revenues projected to result from the development. But those projects aren't expected to start for several years, while 80 percent of any new local tax revenue from that area is piling up to cover those bonds when they're issued.

Under the loan plan as originally presented, the city was expected to give up perhaps $250,000 more in that tax revenue than the all-bond plan would have demanded. Now, with the state allowing a change in the calculation's starting date and tax rate, that request is moot, city Chief Financial Officer Jeff Meisel said.

"So you're saying we're not going to have to come up with $250,000 every year?" Commissioner Joe Denning asked.

That's right, Meisel said. The city still doesn't know if more than the $1.6 million annual payment for the ballpark construction bonds will be needed, but this change keeps the basic proportion of money the city gets from taxes in the district stable, he said.

The new plan calls for a series of loan exchanges between bank-connected investment funds, the nonprofit downtown corporation and a new sister corporation created just for this purpose. Those loans would allow developers access to enough tax credits to pay for a smaller garage, cut from a planned 821 spaces to 430.

Without construction of that garage and surrounding commercial and residential space, the overall redevelopment plan would probably wither; and representatives of Graves-Gilbert, Western and The Medical Center have indicated that their projects probably wouldn't be built at all without the tax redirection allowed within the district.

Graves-Gilbert sent CEO Chris Thorn and board chairman Dr. Randy Hansbrough to Tuesday's meeting to pledge their commitment of at least four years' worth of that tax revenue, and half of it thereafter if needed.

"We're in for 30 years if you need the full 30 years," Thorn said.

Though the loan plan legally stretches for three decades, no one expects the new financing arrangement to be in place that long, said Kevin Brooks, attorney for developers and the downtown corporation. The revised financing agreement specifies that when the bond market improves, the planned bonds will be sold and that money used to repay the loans.

"The goal is for it to go away just as soon as the bonds can be sold," he said.

Final documents on all details of the plan still haven't been seen and OK'd by city bond counsel Dirk Bedarff despite a "flurry of activity" among lawyers, City Attorney Gene Harmon said, but that's expected well before the final vote in two weeks.

The ordinance won its first round of approval 4-1, with Denning voting no.

Navajo closing

After years of argument, the Navajo Drive entrance to Shawnee Estates is just one vote away from being permanently cut. An ordinance to block the street between the corner of Geronimo Way and Navajo's intersection with Patton Way and Fields Drive passed a first reading by a 3-2 vote, and is headed back for a final poll in two weeks.

"This has been an ongoing issue," said Commissioner Brian "Slim" Nash, who sponsored the ordinance. In 2005, the city blocked Navajo and Shawnee Way after residents complained of heavy and fast cut-through traffic from large new apartment complexes nearby. Since then, traffic-calming devices have been installed and a new outlet for apartment residents -- Fields Drive -- has been built. Those closings were officially temporary; Nash said he will submit a similar permanent closure of Shawnee Way soon.

Nash said he doesn't think those connections to surrounding development should have been made in the first place. As at previous debates, several residents and nearby property owners argued each side of the issue, referring to dueling petitions, which asserted that large numbers of the 410 households in Shawnee Estates backed opening, or closing, the streets.

In the end, commissioners Catherine Hamilton and Bruce Wilkerson wanted to reopen the street at least temporarily to gauge the effect of related traffic changes, but they were in the minority.

Fire station bid

Scott, Murphy & Daniel will build a new administrative office for the Bowing Green Fire Department and renovate the existing headquarters under a $2.6 million bid approved last night. The nearly 30-year-old headquarters will get a new roof and expanded living areas as the growing staff fills space now used for offices, Fire Chief Greg Johnson said. The new office building will go up next to the current station. It will include a large meeting room for government and public use, Johnson said.

All original bids for the job exceeded the $3.2 million budget by several hundred thousand dollars. The city negotiated with the three lowest bidders, and plans to buy all materials directly. Those changes have cut the price by nearly $1 million, Johnson said. The dearth of big construction jobs in the current recession made the bidders compete for the project, he said.

"I think that helped bring the cost down also," Johnson said.

The bid was approved 4-0, with Denning abstaining. He's an employee of Scott, Murphy & Daniel.

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Copyright 2009 Bowling Green Daily News