AUBURN – Fine print in the City Charter convinced councilors to approve the annual capital projects budget a second and third time Monday night.
The City Council approved the sale of $2.7 million in capital improvement bonds at its Aug. 18 meeting. New bond attorneys Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson found a line in the City Charter that said those decisions required two readings before the council.
“In the memory of our city clerk, it hasn’t been done that way for as long as she can remember,” City Manager Pat Finnigan said.
She said the lawyers recommended that councilors vote on the bond issue a second time Monday, waive the requirement to delay a second reading for two weeks and vote a third time Monday night. Councilors agreed, approving the bond issue unanimously.
“That’s the good thing about having new people look at these concerns every few years,” Finnigan said. “Our old bond counsel never noticed this.”
The bond sets aside $550,000 for road reclamations in this fiscal year, $500,000 for road reconstruction projects, $350,000 to pay the city’s share of matching funds for state Department of Transportation projects and $500,000 for the School Department’s building improvements fund. Another $75,000 is being set aside for contingencies.
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