City OKs bond refinancing; Move will save Fort Scott more than $300,000.

With approval from the city commission on Tuesday, Fort Scott will save itself $375,000 on water system improvement bonds.

The upgrades financed with the proceeds have already been done. They include improvements to the water plant, water tower, water lines and a fire truck, Assistant City Manager Susan Brown said.

"We are paying off some 40-year loans with KDHE -- the Kansas Department of Health and Environment -- and we're going to refinance them by refunding a current general obligation bond," Brown said.

The $375,000 will be saved over the life of the life of the 40-year note, because interest rates on the bond market are so good right now, Brown said. The bonds were originally issued in 2001 and 2004 and total $7.5 million, Brown said.

"In order to have the authority to refinance them, we have to refund a general obligation bond, which is a $55,000 bond issued in 1999," she said.

During its nine-minute gathering, the commission also:

* Tabled a construction contract for the skate park. Brown said a few things still need to be fixed in the contract and property swap between the city and USD 234. She said a special meeting would probably be held next week to tend to those items, but no date or time has been set yet.

* Heard an update on the Take Charge Challenge, a friendly competition between 16 cities in Kansas divided into four regions to promote energy efficiency. The contest was facilitated by The Climate and Energy Project in partnership with the Energy Division of the Kansas Corporation Commission and ran from January through September. It was announced Oct. 26 that Fort Scott won the prize of a $100,000 federal grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will come through the city.

Plans are to use the funds to install more energy-efficient lighting at Fort Scott High School gym, the old and new gyms at Buck Run Community Center and the ballfields at Fisher Park north and south. Brown has noted these facilities are used practically year-round.

* City Manager Dave Martin reported on Project 17, a regional executive committee made up of people from 17 Southeast Kansas counties, of which he is a member. It includes four state senators and 16 area community leaders who will be setting up a framework to revitalize the region's economy.

A larger group, which initially gathered in November, will gather quarterly and the executive committee will meet monthly. State Sens. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, Pat Apple, R-Louisburg, Jeff King, R-Independence, and Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer, put the November conference together. "I think it's great. I think it's exciting," Martin said. "I'm very much supportive of the senators putting this effort forward. In order to survive, we have to think of Southeast Kansas as a whole." He added his focus will be training young up-and-coming leaders.

* During the meeting, Brown said Martin talked about getting the golf course ready for links season and needed improvements and equipment.

* The pool project, Martin reported, is on schedule. Brown said both the pool and the expansion to Buck Run Community Center could be done in the first part of May, however, the pool might be finished sooner.

* Tabled an appearance by the Regional Leadership Academy First Impression Team, which did not attend the meeting. The group, which offers advice on bettering communities, is expected at the Feb. 7 commission meeting, Brown said.