ROANOKE, Va. – For the past few years, maintenance projects have been building a steady backlog within the City of Roanoke.
Monday’s City Council meeting saw the Roanoke City Council make a move towards clearing up those city maintenance issues, passing a Line of Credit Bond Anticipation Note - or LOCBAN for short - worth $25 million.
“It’s a general obligation bond. We were able to get a fixed interest rate of 3.92,” Mayor Joe Cobb said. “That only applies to - well, it’s fixed - the interest will only apply to that which we draw down.”
Such projects include maintenance to elevators and HVAC systems across the city. This is not restricted to just items within the City Hall building, but Mayor Cobb did say they would be keeping an eye on some items within the building.
“Some of the items that we saw on the list tonight are the elevators that we’ve been talking about for a while, the HVAC system,” Mayor Cobb said. “There are three of four key areas that are priorities for us, but definitely the elevators are numero uno.”
The city is hoping that they don’t have to use all of that credit.
The meals tax increase from earlier this year, however, will allow them a little more flexibility to get these projects done
“That allows us about $2 million per year that we can use to dedicate to that so it’s going to help with some of it,” Mayor Cobb said.
These projects will not be done overnight. The money from the LOCBAN will be spread out across the next five to seven years.
“It’s like a household. We have to prioritize. It’s rare that we can get everything done all at once,” Mayor Cobb said. “We want to make sure that when we do replace these or replace them, that we are doing them to the highest standard and they are going to have a long life.”