Ham Lake vote may prove costly

A refinancing plan that would save Ham Lake hundreds of thousands of dollars will likely be put on hold because the City Council apparently will miss Monday's deadline to approve a joint powers agreement with Anoka County.

"This is a high price to pay, but interest rates were rising during their delay," Anoka County Commissioner Dan Erhart said Friday. "The City Council procrastinated. With the higher interest rates, we can't meet our criteria for doing this."

The council, while eager to refinance the debt on the Willows senior housing project, voted 3-1 earlier this month not to approve refinancing unless Anoka County agrees to language that would keep the city's Housing and Redevelopment Authority levy funding in Ham Lake.

With the county's end-of-June deadline having arrived, attorneys from both sides must reach a compromise or Ham Lake will be charged a $50,000 fee to issue bonds, if it should later choose to refinance. City Attorney Bill Dorn said Friday that a resolution from the City Council formally requesting the refinancing is not expected before the council next meets on July 7.

Ham Lake Mayor Paul Meunier, the only council member to vote in favor of the refinancing package, expressed frustration at an opportunity missed, at least for now. He has said repeatedly that the City Council has to "look at the big picture," that the agreement which would save Ham Lake an estimated $50,000 annually is, at worst, a "calculated risk."

Ramsey, which agreed to the county's refinancing offer on the Savannah Oaks senior housing project there, could save an estimated $40,000 a year for the next 18 years, county officials said.

But Council Member Joey Erikson reiterated that she could not vote for a new contract that did not contain language that guaranteed that Ham Lake's HRA money would be spent in Ham Lake.

"We had a contract that protected our HRA money. We don't want a refinancing package where we give that up," Erikson said.

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419