Newsletter: Medina County Economic Development Corporation - Village of Seville New Town Hall and Water Filtration Facility

Newsletters > Newsletter articles > March 2006

Village of Seville New Town Hall and Water Filtration Facility

NEO Municipal Leader Winter 2006 - By: Tom Speaks

Another example of port authority assistance may be found in Medina County where the Summit County Port Authority and the Medina County Port Authority worked in cooperation to assist the Village of Seville. Christopher Burnham, Summit County Port Authority President and Executive Director, cited the challenges faced by the Village of Seville. Burnham stated, “Seville is a relatively small municipality which had no outstanding bond rating. The process of issuing a municipal bond and securing a bond rating is time-consuming.”

The Village had come to the conclusion that a new Town Hall and an upgrade to the water filtration facility were priorities for the community. These projects collectively were to cost $2,030,000.

By working with the Summit County Port Authority fixed-rate financing Bond Fund, rated BBB+ by Fitch Ratings, the Village of Seville was able to secure a fixed interest rate and streamline the potentially lengthy process of bringing the issue to market. As a result of the cooperative efforts with the Summit County Port Authority, the Village of Seville was able to access the capital markets through the Summit Port and obtain a 20-year fixed rate loan at 5.10 percent to finance 100 percent of their project costs.

Seville Mayor Conrad Sarnowski stated, “The big seller was that the port authority could offer a long term fixed-rate for the Village. The 20-year fixed-rate made us feel much more comfortable.”

Mayor Sarnowski also stated, “As a mayor you want to have the ability of adding one more tool, one more financing option in your back pocket. For us, the port authority was like a one-stop shop. They handled the bond council, assembled the necessary people and answered our questions. They handled virtually everything for us.”