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ARTICLE 4 AS AMENDED |
RELATING TO DEBT MANAGEMENT ACT JOINT RESOLUTION
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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. |