Zephyrhills chooses to have $33,000,000 in bonds issued

By JOE POTTER

The Zephyrhills City Council approved during their meeting on Nov. 10 a resolution calling for the issuance of $33,000,000 in bonds to finance a capital improvement project.

Money provided through the sale of the bonds will be used to pay for the construction of public works facilities and to renovate Zephyr Park and either make improvements to or rebuild Alice Hall.

Plans are in the works for the redevelopment of the City’s Public Works and Utilities facilities maintenance complex to be located on 12.82 acres at 39421 South Avenue. The City has already applied for an Environmental Resource Permit from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFMD) for that site.

Zephyrhills included $27.9 million for the redesign of that complex in their budget for fiscal year 2025-2026, which was adopted on Sept. 22 and became effective on Oct. 1.

Also, $16,000,000 was included in that budget for upgrades at Zephyr Park.

Zephyrhills received an AA rating for issuance of the bonds that would have a maturation date that would be 31 years in the future. The AA rating “was unique for a city the size of Zephyrhills on its initial bond issue,” the resolution said.  The AA rating eliminated Zephyrhills’ need for bond insurance and lowered the cost of issuing the bonds, the resolution said.

Jeff Larson, the finance advisor for the bonds, told City Council that the bonds would be priced on Nov. 20 and would be made available for sale on Dec. 9. The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., will be the entity that sells the bonds on behalf of Zephyrhills. It is located in Pittsburgh, Pa., and is an affiliate of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation.

The resolution also said in part that the project funded by the bonds “should be constructed and equipped to improve and maintain the health, safety, and welfare of the Issuer's inhabitants,” and “The project is necessary, desirable, and in the best interests of the Issuer and its citizens and serves a public purpose.”

In other business on Nov. 10, the City Council heard an update on the proposed

Tree Preservation and Landscape ordinance presented by the City’s Planning Department. It was determined that an entire section of the City’s Land Development Code would need to be redone for this ordinance to be adopted.

Also, spending $743,418.40 to purchase of four vehicles for the City’s Public Works department and/or Parks department and $159.986.93 for the acquisition and installment of a new body on an existing truck chassis was approved on the meeting’s consent agenda.