Council member Sue Cahill, right, and Bethany Wirin, left, consider one of several bond issues Monday night in council chambers. They voted in favor of borrowing $13.7 million for bonding projects.

The Marshalltown City Council approved $13.7 million of general obligation bond projects at their regular Monday meeting.

Projects that were approved were:

• The purchase of two fire trucks

• Work on the airport hangar and terminal

• A replacement for the recreational trail

• Construction of the softball complex’s parking lot

• Tennis court reconstruction

• Downtown street and sidewalk repair

• Storm sewer replacements and

• Reconstruction of the street crossing and replacing crossing gates for a railroad quiet zone.

Vision Marshalltown, Kading Properties, Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce and several residents sent letters pushing for the bonds to be approved.

Council members and city officials received correspondence in favor of some of the individual projects, including one to provide improvements to recreational trails.

The quiet zone project had the most push back.

“The quiet zone project looks at our four railroad projects crossing in town and would make improvements that would allow us to apply to the federal railroad commission to have those declared an area where they cannot use their whistle, except for specific purposes,” said Jessica Kinser, city administrator.

Prospective measures on quiet zones was previously discussed.

Council member Gary Thompson took responsibility for bringing the quiet zones back to the council’s attention.

Despite bringing the project back he could not support it.

“When do we silence the church bells?” Thompson asked. “Where do we draw the line?”

He and council member Bill Martin were the only votes against the project. It passed 5-2.

The individual projects will still need to be approved at later dates, but the council needs to vote so the city can borrow the funds.

The COVID-19 pandemic decreased revenues for the city’s upcoming fiscal year. To compensate, the council approved a resolution to refund existing 2011-2014 bonds and save an estimated $54,900 in interest.

The general obligation bonds are money the city borrows back by the full faith and credit of the city’s taxing authority.

“In other words, the taxpayers that own property are obligated to repay the debt, which is accomplished through the property tax levy and is included as part of your property tax bill. General obligation bonds usually have the lowest rate of interest and are typically considered the municipal debt with the least risk,” said Diana Steiner, finance director.

The debt borrowed for the new projects could have an effect on the property tax levy depending on how much the council is willing to contribute out of local option sales tax and council designated funds or cash reserve during the FY22 budget cycle.

“There’s still other steps to go in the bonding,” Kinser said. “The council still has to approve an amount we would be selling.”

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Contact Thomas Nelson at 641-753-6611 or tnelson@timesrepublican.com.