The Warrenton Fire Protection District is working through the bonding process to appropriate the $10 million in funds approved by voters in the April 8 election. 

Fire Chief Anthony Hayeslip said they held their due diligence and ratings call with the S&P Ratings Firm last week and expect to hear back on their bond rating some time this week. 

A bond rating signifies the creditworthiness of a bond, and how likely a creditor is to pay back the money and interest that was borrowed, according to investopedia. 

Voters approved a $10 million bond for capital improvements and a 25-cent tax increase in the April 8 election which will be used to purchase new equipment, make improvements to existing fire stations and hire additional staff. 

While the tax increase will not take effect until 2026, Hayeslip said they are already hard at work planning out how to make use of the bond funds. 

Bond process

Once the district receives their rating, they will have a period to review the report from the ratings agency before the information is made available to the public. 

Hayeslip was optimistic they would receive a solid rating, even with the district’s financial woes but said they have the opportunity to purchase bond insurance to shore up their rating if necessary. 

“The biggest concern for us as far as the rating goes, is we don’t have any reserves,” said Hayeslip. “So that’s kind of a big thing for them. So we may not end up with an A rating, we might end up with a B rating, as long as it’s not below a triple B.”

After their rating is approved, Hayeslip said they plan to issue the bonds on July 15 and approve the resolution for their issuance at the board of directors meeting that evening. 

Hayeslip said they plan to issue all $10 million of the bonds at once and said even if they do not spend it all at once they can invest what they are not using to accrue interest before the funds are needed. 

Per the bond agreement, the funds must be spent within three years of their issuance, although Hayeslip was not concerned with the deadline. 

“We decided that between the renovation (at Station 1) and the trucks that we’re going to get ordered, right there is almost 85% of the bond,” said Hayeslip. 

New equipment

The district also announced on June 3 they plan to purchase two Rosenbauer fire trucks from Sentinel Emergency Solutions in St. Louis. 

Previously Hayeslip said they had expected to wait up to three years for a new fire truck since manufacturers are behind on orders. He said they were able to find two demonstration trucks that were being manufactured that would be ready for purchase within 18 months. 

While the district is still finalizing the deal, Hayeslip expects them to move forward with the purchase as soon as funds from the bonds are available. 

Hayeslip said they tentatively plan to spend $1 million per truck plus an additional $200,000 per truck for equipment. 

He said they were unsure of prices since they have not decided whether to finance the trucks, or buy them outright. He said the committee in charge of purchasing the trucks is working out whether it makes more fiscal sense to purchase them outright or finance the trucks. 

They also plan to purchase a ladder truck for roughly $2.2 million which Hayeslip hoped would be available in three years. 

Station improvements

Hayeslip said they have maintained a contract with Arch Imaging since they submitted requests for proposals last year prior to the passage of the bond. That contract will be used for the design process to add living quarters to Station 1. 

“We need to get living quarters here as cheap as we can,” said Hayeslip. “We just think it’s going to be way too expensive to build onto this building new.”

He said they are still working on designs but have been considering moving the administrative offices at Station 1 to the basement and repurposing the main floor of the station as living quarters to staff it 24/7. 

At Station 2 they have budgeted $750,000 to replace the parking lot as Hayeslip said the concrete was not installed correctly when the building was constructed in 2007 and there are sections of the lot that are failing. 

He was optimistic they would come in under budget on that item and said they would try to save as much of the concrete as they could. 

They have also tentatively budgeted another $500,000 for renovations to the interior of Station 2 including items like improvements to the classroom such as a video conference system and new carpeting. 

Hayeslip stressed that all budgeting numbers are still preliminary and they will need to reconsider once they receive bids for the items they are working on. He also reaffirmed the district’s commitment to spending the money effectively, and hoped they would be able to come in under budget on a number of items. 

“I want to be ultra conservative, because I don’t want people to think, ‘well, that’s never going to cut it,’” said Hayeslip. “Because we’re going to make it work, and we’re going to get everything done we need to do now.”