Maumee council OKs bond sale for mall road projects

Road construction to make the retail center more accessible is nearly complete at The Shops at Fallen Timbers.

Maumee City Council has approved selling up to $4.1 million in bonds to pay for the nearly completed road construction project at The Shops at Fallen Timbers.

The project, in the works since 2009, was intended to make the shopping center more accessible and involved relocating what formerly was a portion of Russell Road and reconstructing Jerome Road.

"The project turned out great," said Joe Camp, the city's public service director. "It's been a long-awaited project."

In 2011, the city paid for the project with one-year notes that mature next month, so the council decided to sell 20-year bonds to cover the debt, city officials said.

Linda Wilker, city finance director, called the March 5 vote "routine for a bond sale."

"While this is a new bond sale, it is not new debt for the project or the city," she said. "You can consider it 'replacement' debt in that the new long-term debt is replacing old short-term debt."

The construction is about 95 percent completed, with only finishing touches, such as waiting for the grass to grow around a retention pond, left, Mr. Camp said.

Also, Norfolk Southern Railroad will close a portion of the new Jerome Road from Monclova Road to the tracks to update the crossing. Mr. Camp said he did not know the construction timetable.