Repayment of loans to opera house

The Woodland Opera House is moving forward on improvement plans with support from the city in the form of $2.8 million.The Woodland City Council voted Tuesday to expedite the Opera House project and authorize the city manager to review and sign bank documents that guarantee the repayment of loans.

Additionally, the council approved an increase in the Opera House project´s budget from $2.4 million to $2.8 million. The $2.4 million amount was a cutback from an initial $3 million budget. On May 13, staff reported to City Council proposed spending cuts for Measure E projects based on an estimated $6.6 million shortage of future revenues from the voter-approved 1/2-cent sales tax.

The shortage results from a combination of economic factors, including the "slowdown of the real estate market, rising fuel costs, increasing unemployment, and dramatic reductions in consumer spending," staff reported.

However, the Opera House Board of Directors stated that any amount lower than $2.8 million would render the project infeasible. The project includes Phase I restroom and ADA upgrades and, eventually, the addition of a youth theater and conference room.

The City Council approved the increase with dissension from only Councilman Art Pimentel, who says he supports the Opera House but believes the city´s other priorities should take precedence.

While the Opera House is valuable to the community, the loan guarantee would "lock" the city into paying the project off over the next several years, Pimentel said in a phone interview and at previous council meetings. This is especially risky not only because the future economy is uncertain, but the city has also promised to use Measure E funds for other improvements, he said.

He said he is concerned the city might be "forced to reduce other priorities in the future" if money is tight.

Pimentel said the Opera House is state-owned property and all city-funded improvements to the theater will belong to the state.

In the 2005 city-administered survey asking voters to identify priorities for Measure E spending, 69.37 percent of voters supported improvement projects for parks, 66.8 percent for roads and 53.4 percent for City Hall, Woodland Public Library and Opera House.

Because voters identified the Opera House as a third priority in this survey, Pimentel said, he believes the city should honor parks and road projects before committing to the loan guarantee.

Other City Council members, however, felt that the project should not be delayed.

Opera House Executive Director Jeff Kean said the project is ready to go to bid pending council approval. Phase I construction must also be completed in July in order to avoid scheduling conflicts with theater operations, Kean said.

Any delays now, he said, would hold the project back at least another year.

Discussion of the project was moved up to Tuesday´s meeting agenda, per council direction, and was approved. Other projects that fall under the Measure E budget proposal are scheduled to return to council on June 10.

The report indicates spending reductions on the Community & Senior Center, including the Sports Park; park rehabilitation; public library; and City Hall. The road rehabilitation budget will remain at $30.2 million, which is the minimum amount approved by voters.

Why Home Buyers must Understand the significance of Interest Rate Drops | Initial Time Home Buyers Loans | College Loan Consolidation - You Solution To Student Loan Payback | Stafford Loans As Your Law School Loan Alternative | How To Get A Short Term Loan | Instant Cash Loans, how to get it quickly | Millions of dollars in bad loans | The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority board | Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) has also eliminated some cash-out | Blue Chip properties mortgage Loans | Inventing mortgage-backed securities | SBI bad loans | University Students borrowed loand from Students Loan Bureau | FHA Loans from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp | Bank of North Dakota borrowers have federal student loans | Wall Street investment companies reduces FED loans | Personal Loans easiest way for life | Problems of personal loans | Farmers are not getting fresh loans from banks | Housing finance experts asks lifting of loan limits | India banks' loans rose 24.3 | Shortage in federal student loans | Repayment of loans to opera house | Low-interest loans for home owners at Alaska | Lawrence Township getting loans again | Commercial property loans has risen by 400 percentage | Enable repayment of student loans | Small loans microfinance to expand and improve businesses | International Real Estate Loans | The National Australia Bank NAB has become the third major financial institution | Council Of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has issued a downbeat report on the outlook for the UK housing mar | UK high stret lender Abbeys fixed-rate range will riseup | Commercial bank lending in Singapore in April grew | Small Business Administration Disaster Assistance Loan Deadline | Banks bad loan solution | Car loans with less form filling procedures