Milton council chooses water meter replacement with Granary funds

With the first tranche of funds Milton will get from revenue raised by the special development district designation for the Granary at Draper Farm development, town council elected to use the $1.5 million in funds on replacing radio read water meters throughout town.

Council had narrowed its list of potential projects down to four, but a decision needed to be made at council’s July 1 meeting as the first bond issue is soon set to close. The other options on the table were land acquisition, a basketball court and a shared-use path between Cannery Village and Heritage Creek. Replacing the meters was chosen in part because the project can be brought to bid quickly. The actual pricing and a contractor for the project will be subject to a competitive bid process. 

A special development district is a special tax levy to be paid by Granary residents. 

As part of the special development district, the town agreed to issue special obligation bonds – bonds developer Convergence Communities says are backed by Granary residents, not the town – up to $42 million. The proceeds from that tax will be put into a special fund to be used for public infrastructure improvements within and potentially outside the Granary. The special tax does not preclude developer Convergence Communities from paying town-required performance bonds, which set aside money to ensure roads and other infrastructure are completed.

The first bond issuance, the sale of which will close Monday, July 11, is actually two sets of bonds: one that matures in 2044 and another that matures in 2053. These are maturity bonds, designed to earn the investor interest until the maturity date, in which the investor will be repaid at face value. The difference is the 2044 bonds will earn at a 5.7% interest rate and the 2053 bonds will earn at 5.95%. Mayor John Collier said the total proceeds from the first bond sale is $15 million. 

Convergence will use the money from the bonds to pay for infrastructure projects benefiting the public, which could include streets, sidewalks, and parks and recreation facilities. Convergence has agreed to give the town up to $5 million from proceeds raised by the special development district to use on other infrastructure projects in three tranches with the other two tranches coming in 2030 and 2035. 

The first phase of the Granary project, proposed as a 1,350-unit development on a 450-acre parcel on Sand Hill Road, is set to break ground this summer and will include 175 units. The build-out is scheduled to take place over 20 years in 10 sections. 

When it came to picking which project to move forward with, council agreed that land acquisition was probably not the best use of the money at this point. Collier said replacing water meters is a project the town needs to undertake now before it needs to spend a lot more time, money and effort using older meters. 

In casting her yes vote, Councilwoman Randi Meredith said, “This is not the most glamorous project, but we really need water meters. Hopefully we have enough money left in that tranche to do something more exciting.”