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art.004/2/004/1
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ARTICLE 4 AS AMENDED
RELATING TO DEBT MANAGEMENT ACT JOINT RESOLUTION

     SECTION 1. This article shall serve as the joint resolutions required pursuant to Rhode
Island General Law § 35-18-1, et seq.
     SECTION 2. Section 3, Article 4 of Chapter 162 of the 2021 Public Laws is hereby
amended to read as follows:
     Section 3. University of Rhode Island – Combined Health & Counseling Center – Auxiliary
Enterprise
     WHEREAS, The University of Rhode Island board of trustees and the university have a
long-standing commitment to the health and wellness of their students; and
     WHEREAS, The university has a desire to create a one-stop center to address the physical,
emotional, and mental health of its students; and
     WHEREAS, The University of Rhode Island board of trustees and the University of Rhode
Island are proposing a project which involves the construction of a new Combined Health &
Counseling Center to meet the ongoing and growing health needs of their students; and
     WHEREAS, The university engaged a qualified architectural firm, which has completed
an advanced planning study schematic design for this new building; and
     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Public Corporation Debt Management Act requires the
general assembly to provide its consent to the issuance or incurring by the state of Rhode Island
and other public agencies of certain obligations including financing guarantees or other agreements;
and
     WHEREAS, The design and construction associated with this work of an auxiliary
enterprise building will be financed through the Rhode Island health and educational building
corporation (RIHEBC) revenue bonds, with an expected term of thirty (30) years; and
     WHEREAS, The total project costs associated with completion of the project through the
proposed financing method is twenty-nine million dollars ($29,000,000) thirty-three million six
hundred thousand dollars ($33,600,000), including the cost of issuance. Debt service payments
would be supported by revenues derived from student fees associated with the respective auxiliary
enterprises of the University of Rhode Island occupying said facility. Total debt service on the
bonds is not expected to exceed sixty-three million three hundred thousand dollars ($63,300,000)
seventy-eight million dollars ($78,000,000) in the aggregate based on an average interest rate of
six and one half (6%) percent (6.5%); now, therefore be it
     RESOLVED, That this general assembly hereby approves financing in an amount not to
exceed twenty-nine million dollars ($29,000,000) thirty-three million six hundred thousand dollars
($33,600,000) for the combined health & counseling center project for the auxiliary enterprise
building on the University of Rhode Island campus; and be it further
     RESOLVED, That, this joint resolution shall take effect upon passage.
     SECTION 3. Section 2, Article 4 of Chapter 162 of the 2021 Public Laws is hereby
amended to read as follows:
     Section 2. University of Rhode Island – Memorial Union – Auxiliary Enterprise
     WHEREAS, The University of Rhode Island board of trustees and the university have a
long-standing commitment to the overall development of their students; and
     WHEREAS, The university believes that the memorial union celebrates life at URI and
acts as the nexus for campus community, student engagement, and leadership. It is an intersection
connecting the academic core of campus and the campus's socially active residential community.
The student union at the university is an integral part of the educational ecosystem that shapes the
student experience; and
     WHEREAS, The University of Rhode Island board of trustees and the University of Rhode
Island are proposing a project that involves the renovation and expansion of the memorial union to
meet the ongoing and growing needs of their students; and
     WHEREAS, The university engaged a qualified architectural firm, which has completed
an advanced planning study for this renovation; and
     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Public Corporation Debt Management Act requires the
general assembly to provide its consent to the issuance or incurring by the state of Rhode Island
and other public agencies of certain obligations including financing guarantees or other agreements;
and
     WHEREAS, The design and construction associated with this work of an auxiliary
enterprise building will be financed through the Rhode Island health and educational building
corporation (RIHEBC) revenue bonds, with an expected term of thirty (30) years; and
     WHEREAS, The total project costs associated with completion of the project through the
proposed financing method is fifty-seven million six hundred thousand dollars ($57,600,000), one
hundred eighteen million dollars ($118,000,000), including the cost of issuance. Debt service
payments would be supported by revenues derived from student fees and retail lease payments
associated with the respective auxiliary enterprises of the University of Rhode Island occupying
said facility. Total debt service on the bonds is not expected to exceed one hundred twenty-five
million six hundred thousand dollars ($125,600,000) two hundred seventy-two million dollars
($272,000,000) in the aggregate based on an average interest rate of six and one half (6%) percent
(6.5%); now, therefore be it
     RESOLVED, That this General Assembly hereby approves financing in an amount not to
exceed is fifty-seven million six hundred thousand dollars ($57,600,000) one hundred eighteen
million dollars ($118,000,000) for the Memorial Union project for the auxiliary enterprise building
on the University of Rhode Island campus; and be it further
     RESOLVED, That this joint resolution shall take effect upon passage.
     SECTION 4. Confined Aquatic Dredged Material Disposal Cells.
     WHEREAS, Over the past several years the Army Corps of Engineers has approached the
Coastal Resources Management Council to act as the local sponsor to the federal action of
maintaining the depths of the Providence River and Harbor Shipping Channel; and
     WHEREAS, The Providence River and Shipping Channel was last maintained in 2003;
and
     WHEREAS, The project will include dredging and removal of sediments not suitable for
ocean disposal, and thus will require the construction of a new Confined Aquatic Disposal (CAD)
Cell to dispose and sequester those sediments; and
     WHEREAS, CAD cells are constructed in aquatic environments to reduce the
environmental risk from sediments not suitable for ocean disposal by storing these sediments in a
depression in the bottom of the aquatic system; and
     WHEREAS, CAD cells offer a major economic value, as a significant cost of disposing
dredged materials is in the transportation of the dredged material to a disposal location; and
     WHEREAS, Having CAD cells located in the same general area from a dredging operation
saves local port operators millions of dollars over the 20-year life of those cells; and
     WHEREAS, The Coastal Resources Management Council seeks to build additional
capacity in the CAD Cells beyond that required only for this specific project, in order to account
for the many port, maritime, and marina and boatyard facilities that also have the need to dredge
material at their facilities, which may not be suitable for ocean disposal, thereby saving these
entities significant cost, in both sediment testing and transportation of the material to other
locations, due to the fact that the existing CAD cells in the river have reached their useful design
life; and
     WHEREAS, With the approval by the voters of the 2016 Rhode Island Port Infrastructure
Bond referendum, the need to maintain the viability of port and maritime operations, the state's
marine trades industry, and the increase economic value of ProvPort, increased disposal capacities
from new CAD cells are needed; and
     WHEREAS, The Army Corps of Engineers expects to begin maintenance of the
Providence River and Harbor Shipping Channel in the fall of 2027, the total cost share of the non-
federal sponsor is required by August 2026; and
     WHEREAS, The state share associated with this project is estimated to be thirty five
million dollars ($35.0 million), with six hundred and twenty thousand dollars ($620,000) derived
from the Coastal Resources Management Council Dredge Fund, financing from the issuance of
debt as described herein, and the remainder from other sources of capital funds. The total financing
obligation of the State of Rhode Island would be approximately twenty-three million dollars ($23.0
million), with twenty-two million eight hundred thousand dollars ($22.8 million) deposited in the
project fund and two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) allocated to pay the associated costs of
financing. Total payments on the State's obligation over twenty (20) years on the twenty-three
million dollars ($23.0 million) issuance are projected to be thirty-six million nine hundred thousand
dollars ($36.9 million) assuming an average interest rate of five percent (5.0%). A minimum of
eleven million and six hundred thousand dollars ($11.6 million) of the total principal and interest
payments is expected to be financed from an increase in fees charged to marine operators to deposit
their dredged materials into CAD cells, with general revenue appropriations used to supplement
fee revenues. General revenue appropriations shall finance principal and interest payments in any
fiscal year that fee revenues are insufficient; and
     RESOLVED, That this General Assembly hereby approves financing in an amount not to
exceed twenty-three million dollars ($23.0 million) for the provision of funds for the Confined
Aquatic Disposal Cells project, including two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to pay costs of
financing; and be it further
     RESOLVED, That this joint resolution shall take effect upon passage.
     SECTION 5. This article shall take effect upon passage.