Duarte : Senior Center Advances

The City Council moved forward Tuesday with preliminary plans to build a $2-million senior citizens’ center immediately east of the civic center complex by authorizing a complicated funding procedure similar to a bond issue.

The facility will be built on Huntington Drive immediately east of town center on a 1.47-acre lot the city acquired in 1989. Council members concluded that an alternative proposal to acquire three parcels to the west of the civic center would be more costly and take longer.

The proposed 12,000-square-foot facility, which has been in the planning stages for more than a year, will include classrooms, office space and storage areas. Architectural drawings will be completed by December, with construction expected to be finished a year later.

Council members approved a financing plan like that used in 1987 to fund construction of the civic center. Michael Yelton, director of administrative services, said the city will sell certificates of participation with a total face value of $7.2 million subject to an interest rate cap of 8%. After paying the city for the certificates, the underwriting firm of Chilton & O’Connor Inc. will resell the certificates to the public like bonds.

About $4.8 million of the proceeds will be used to repay the 1987 certificates in a move similar to refinancing a home mortgage. The remainder will be used to build the center and to establish a reserve fund, cover costs of insurance, and pay underwriters’ fees.