12-R344
2012 -- S 2873
Enacted 06/11/12
J O I N T R E S
O L U T I O N
APPROVING THE
ISSUANCE OF HARBOR, PIER, AND PORT REVENUE BONDS BY THE
Introduced By: Senator William A. Walaska
Date Introduced: April 12, 2012
WHEREAS, The Rhode
Island economic development corporation (“EDC”) is a public
instrumentality of the State of
pursuant to
amended, the "act"); and
WHEREAS, The act declares, in part, that new industrial,
manufacturing, recreational,
and commercial facilities are required to attract and
house new industries and thereby reduce the
hazards of unemployment; and that unaided efforts of private
enterprises have not met and cannot
meet the needs of providing those facilities due to
problems encountered in assembling suitable
building sites, lack of adequate public service,
unavailability of private capital for development,
and the inability of private enterprise alone to plan,
finance, and coordinate industrial,
recreational, and commercial development; and
WHEREAS, The act further declares it to be the public policy of the
state to encourage
the expansion and development of the state’s harbors and
ports and to foster and improve the
handling of waterborne commerce from and to any port of this
state and other states and foreign
countries; and
WHEREAS, In furtherance of these goals, it is the policy of the state
to retain existing
industries and to induce, encourage, and attract new industries
through the acquisition,
construction, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of industrial,
manufacturing, recreational, and
commercial facilities, as well as transportation, harbors and
ports, residential, environmental,
utility, public service, institutional, and civic and
community facilities, and to develop sites for
such facilities; and
WHEREAS, The act has empowered the
corporation to establish subsidiary corporations to exercise its
powers and functions, or any of
them; and
WHEREAS, The general assembly, pursuant to
et seq. (as enacted, reenacted and amended, the
"QDC Act") created the Quonset development
corporation as a subsidiary of the
WHEREAS, The QDC Act
provides that the Quonset development corporation shall have
the power to purchase, take, receive, lease, or otherwise
acquire, own, hold, improve, use, and
otherwise deal in and with, real or personal property, or any
interest therein, wherever situated,
including those certain transportation, harbor, pier, and
waterfront facilities located at the
Quonset business park; and
WHEREAS, The QDC Act
also provides that the Quonset development corporation shall
have the power to sell, mortgage, lease, exchange,
transfer, or otherwise dispose of or encumber
any project (or in the case of a sale, to accept a
purchase money mortgage in connection
therewith), or to grant options for any such purposes with
respect to any real or personal property
or interest therein, as the lawful agent and attorney-in-fact
of the
development corporation with respect to all property of the
corporation at the Quonset business park, all of the foregoing
for such consideration as the
Quonset development corporation
shall determine. Any lease by the Quonset development
corporation to another party may be for such part of the Quonset
business park, real or personal,
for such period, upon such terms or conditions, with or
without an option on the part of the lessee
to purchase any or all of the leased property for such
consideration, at or after the retirement of all
indebtedness incurred by the Quonset development corporation on
account thereof, as the
Quonset development corporation shall determine; and
WHEREAS, The act authorizes the
borrow money and issue bonds for any of its corporate
purposes; and
WHEREAS, Pursuant to §§
35-18-3 and 35-18-4 of
assembly of the
port revenue bonds (the "bonds") for the purpose
of providing funds to the Quonset development
corporation for financing capital projects including harbor,
pier, port, channel dredging, and all
other costs related to the improvements necessary in the
immediate vicinity of the Davisville
piers at the Quonset business park (the "2012 Davisville piers project"), including funding,
capitalized interest, costs of issuing the Bonds, and related
costs, and the establishment of
reserves for the project and the bonds, including a debt
service reserve fund; and
WHEREAS, The financing of the 2012 Davisville
piers project and repayment of the
bonds will be accomplished through one or more loan
agreements having the Quonset
development corporation as borrower, such agreement or agreements
to require that the Quonset
development corporation make loan payments in an amount equal to
the debt service on the
bonds; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED,
The general assembly hereby approves the
development corporation's issuance of the bonds. The bonds will
be special obligations of the
under a loan agreement with the Quonset development
corporation and from bond proceeds,
funds, accounts, and properties and the proceeds thereof
pledged therefor, and thus the Rhode
Island economic development
corporation's maximum liability will be limited to loan repayments
received under the loan agreement and the aggregate amount of
such other funds, accounts,
properties, and proceeds; and be it further
RESOLVED,
That the total amount of debt approved to be issued in
the aggregate shall
be not more than $7.5 million. Total debt service on the
bonds is not expected to exceed
$911,200 annually and
$9,112,000 in the aggregate, based on an average interest rate of 4.0
percent and a 10-year maturity; and be it further
RESOLVED,
That the general assembly hereby approves the Quonset
development
corporation's entering into the loan agreements described above.
Payments under the loan
agreements shall be derived exclusively from project revenues
and such other proceeds, funds,
accounts, projects, and the proceeds thereof as the Quonset
development corporation may pledge
therefor; and be it further
RESOLVED,
That none of the bonds or the loan agreements shall
constitute indebtedness
of the state or a debt for which the full faith and
credit of the state is pledged or a moral
obligation thereof; and be it further
RESOLVED,
That this resolution shall apply to bonds issued
within one (1) year of the
date of passage of this resolution; and be it further
RESOLVED,
That this joint resolution shall take effect
immediately upon its passage by
this general assembly.
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LC02373
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