Eureka has the money in the bank for projects it promised would be funded by a half-cent sales tax approved in 2018.
City Clerk Julie Wood said the city received $18,995,000 from a lease-purchase agreement on Tuesday. Eureka will pay off the loan with proceeds from the sales tax, which was called Proposition E.
“That’s one of the fastest, smoothest bond offers I’ve ever done,” Mayor Sean Flower said. “Pretty well done.”
The money will be used to replace the crumbling Allenton Bridge, build a new government center to house City Hall, Eureka Municipal Court and the Police Station and for flood mitigation measures.
The Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Aug. 1 to enter the lease-purchase agreement.
“We’ll have all of the funds for the Prop E projects in the bank by (Tuesday) Aug. 15,” Mayor Sean Flower said Aug. 1.
Wood said the city will use the money from the lease-purchase agreement and from grants to begin the Prop E projects.
“The Prop E funds we are bringing in will pay this back,” she said. “All of those funds will be used for Prop E projects.”
Board members also voted unanimously Aug. 1 to enter an easement agreement with the BNSF Railway.
Allenton Bridge goes over BNSF tracks.
Wood said the easement agreement and money provided by the lease-purchase agreement means the city now will be able to seek construction bids for the bridge and municipal center projects.
“We hope to go to bid in the fall,” she said. “But these things take time. We’re not sure when construction will begin.
“(BNSF) is one player in a larger project,” Wood said. “We are still getting all the puzzle pieces together.”
The new bridge will be built west of the current bridge and will have four lanes for traffic.
Allenton Bridge was built in 1928 and is 95 years old. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) gave the bridge a sufficiency rating of 2 out of 100 in a 2015 inspection.