FLOWERY BRANCH- In a move that will save the south Hall County municipality nearly $200,000 the Flowery Branch City Council approved a loan agreement with JP Morgan Chase Bank Thursday evening for the construction of their new city hall project.
(The final vote was 5-1 with Councilman Joe Anglin the lone dissenting council member; Anglin has been opposed to the scope and scale of the nearly-$6-million project since its inception.)
According to City Finance Director Jeremy Perry, when city staff first began considering how to finance construction of the complex, loan interest rates of 3.5-percent were under consideration. That quickly dropped to 3-percent after initial discussions with local lenders; soon the competition among banks to be the financing entity for the project began to intensify.
So the city put out a bid to other lenders to an effort to find the best financial package. “We put a bid out with Regions, Brand Bank and BB&T and they all came in at the low twos (percent).”
The city council decided in May to accept the package offered by BB&T at 2.19-percent for 13 years. Accumulated interest over the life of the $4-million loan was $645,817 according to Perry.
Part of the agreement with BB&T was that funds would be handled by a separate agency (a common municipal financing practice) and the Gainesville Hall Development Authority was selected. The bank subsequently changed that decision and asked the city to create an Urban Redevelopment Agency to handle funding.
The city agreed and the wheels began turning for creation of that agency.
Then, about three weeks ago according to Perry, JP Morgan Chase Bank entered the fray, offering a loan interest rate of 1.56-percent. At that lower rate total interest dropped to $448,154, a savings of $197,663.
Accepting the lower rate was axiomatic, but because the mechanism of creating the Urban Redevelopment Agency requested by BB&T was already in motion, the city decided to complete the process.
Councilman Fred Richards will chair the Agency, Chris Mundy will be vice-chairman.
City Manager Bill Andrew said that the URA will serve future development guidance needs. “I think one reason to go ahead and continue with this body is that it could be useful in the redevelopment plan as a whole…there could be a lot of other issues this organization might be helpful on.”
UNIQUE REZONING APPROVED FOR PARK WALK SUBDIVISION
Unanimous rezoning approval was given to the once-abandoned subdivision, Park Walk, a 53-acre development off Jim Crowe Road.
The rezoning was customized slightly to accommodate the subdivision since it is already partially developed and 46 of the 137 lots have been final platted.
“We had PUD (Public Use Development) conditions that were created back in 2005 and, obviously 2005 is a long time ago,” City Manager Bill Andrew explained. “It was a different developer with different goals.”
Andrew said a new developer has expressed interest in working with the existing conditions at the site and completing the project.
“They want to work with what’s existing and they are also wanting to make a few changes, too.”
Andrew said required procedures have been followed by the city to allow for the special rezoning conditions, as well as several measures taken by the city beyond those required by the state.
“The mailings we do to adjoining residents is going beyond state law,” Andrew said. “We really do go an extra mile to let the community know that these developments are happening.”
Mayor Mike Miller added, “It’s nice to see our city growing with new, quality residences. It seems like we’re in a boom right now.”
