The North Little Rock School Board at a special meeting Wednesday authorized the sale of $65,465,000 in construction bonds to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which submitted the lowest of the four bids made on the bonds.
The district will use the bond money to help pay for Phase II projects in the district's ongoing capital improvement program in which 21 campuses are being reduced to 13, nearly all of which will be new or extensively remodeled.
Phase II projects include the completion of a new Glenview Elementary and renovations to Ridgeroad Middle School and Crestwood, Seventh Street and Indian Hills elementary schools, as well as a portion of the North Little Rock High School project.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch offered an interest rate of 3.433442 percent to purchase the bonds. The district will repay the bond debt through Feb. 1, 2043.
Others that made bids on the school district bonds are Raymond James & Associates Inc., 3.473446 percent; Wells Fargo Bank National Association, 3.500007 percent; and Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., 3.597833 percent.
Scott Beardsley of First Security Beardsley Public Finance, the district's financial adviser, said the district's total annual debt payment on the new and previously issued bonds will be $12.8 million per school year, which is about $2 million less per year than anticipated when the capital improvement program began. The smaller annual debt is the result of lower-than-expected interest rates on the bond issues.
Also Wednesday, the School Board approved design plans for renovating and converting Ridgeroad Middle School into an elementary school that will open in August to pupils now attending Park Hill, North Heights and Pike View elementary schools. The drawings for what is expected to be an $8 million project were prepared by Lewis Architects and Engineers of Little Rock.
The board on Wednesday delayed action until next week on several pieces of property owned but no longer needed by the district. At a Tuesday work session, the board will consider any offers for purchase on the properties, as well as possible demolitions of old schools.
Metro on 01/22/2015