Channahon agrees to issue bonds for new dispatch center
By Jeanne Millsap Correspondent February 6, 2013 7:58AM
Updated: March 14, 2013 6:07AM
Pending final approval by the Western Will County Communications Center 911 call and dispatch facility, the village of Channahon will issue a series of general obligation bonds in the amount of $5 million to fund a new building for the center.
The deal was approved by Channahon trustees recently, along with the recommendation that WESCOM also pay Channahon a handling fee of $100,000 for administering the bonds.
It was WESCOM that requested the village issue the bonds on its behalf, as it is not able to raise taxes to support the project, and it was also not able to achieve a bond rating from Moody’s necessary to issue bonds on its own.
Channahon is a member agency of WESCOM and also a home-rule community, making it able to take out the bonds. WESCOM will save $1.2 million in interest by going with the bonds, as opposed to taking out a private loan.
WESCOM’s current facilities are in the Plainfield Law Enforcement Building and are too crowded, WESCOM officials say. They wish to build a larger building on the 3.4 acres they have purchased adjacent to the facility.
Channahon will use the administrative fee to buy communications equipment and radios for the police department and possibly as some reimbursement for the time of the village’s finance director.
WESCOM also will pay Channahon’s legal fees for the transaction.
