Sudbury Awards Sale of Bonds to Wisconsin Company

The Sudbury Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to award bonds totaling $5.5 million to Wisconsin-based Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc., during a special meeting at the Flynn Building on Aug. 6.

The sale of the long-term debt was for multiple purposes:

• $3.01 million for the Pantry Brook Farm conservation restriction purchase which took place in December 2012;
• $430,000 for the current Nixon Elementary School roof project;
• and $1.95 million to refund the remainder of the CPA debt issued in 2005.

Baird is an employee-owned wealth management, capital markets, asset management and private equity firm with $104 billion in client assets. With deep expertise, we have been a trusted partner to individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients through many market cycles.

The term of the bond issue is 20/10/6 years. The par amount will be $5.39 million with an interest coupon range of 2 to 4 percent. The interest cost will be $1,398,487.

Savings over six years will be $138,825. The repayment sources are from the CPA funds for Pantry Brook and refunding and the general fund tax levy for the Nixon roof repair.

"This was not refundable back in March," Terkelsen said. "I'm pleased the market rolled in our favor. Saving $138,000 (over six years) on refund turned out to be better than we thought."

At Sudbury’s May 2012 Annual Town Meeting, voters unanimously approved the appropriation of Community Preservation Act funds to purchase the At Sudbury’s May 2012 Annual Town Meeting, voters unanimously approved the appropriation of Community Preservation Act funds to purchase the two conservation restrictions (CR’s) - one for each of the two pieces of property that make up the farm.

A generous grant from the Sudbury Foundation provided $150,000 toward the purchase price, as well as an additional $25,000 toward a permanent stewardship endowment for the property. In December 2012, the Town was awarded a $400,000 LAND (Local Areas for Natural Diversity) grant, which will offset some of the Town’s portion of the purchase price.

The Nixon project will be bonded out over 10 years, and cost the average taxpayer about $10 per year over that period, with the state's reimbursement factored in.

Terkelsen said Sudbury will make one payment every six months.

News of the bond sale comes one week after Sudbury learned it had kept its AAA bond rating.