Liberty Township sells $400,000 note to First National / By Martha Knight

LIBERTY VILLA—Liberty Township supervisors have adopted an ordinance authorizing selling a $400,000 general obligation note to the First National Bank of Port Allegany at 2.5 percent interest initially on sums drawn from authorized total.

Supervisors Gary Turner, Bruce Klein and Fred Ernst III met briefly in a special meeting at 8 a.m. last Wednesday, to act on the measure. All three voted in favor.

The note is structured with a two-year initial period in which only interest will be paid on each advance of funds from the total authorized. Thereafter the township will pay 3.65 percent annual interest on the outstanding amount borrowed. Payments will be made monthly. The total amount borrowed will be paid off in 20 years. In the event of default, however, the interest rate would be 6.65 percent.

The funds for paying off the borrowings are expected to come from the water and sewer fees paid by Liberty Township residents who receive those services. The amounts borrowed through the note will be used in connection with the extension of water and sewer lines from Port Allegany Borough southward into the township in the area near Route 155. Three fourths of the project cost is expected to be covered by a state grant.

The supervisors also voted to send back an excavator they had been in the process of acquiring, because it does not appear to be adequate for the intended work. They will seek a heavier duty model instead.