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art.004/2/004/1

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     ARTICLE 4 AS AMENDED

RELATING TO DEBT MANAGEMENT ACT JOINT RESOLUTIONS

     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.