The City of Mount Pearl is borrowing $5.2 million from TD Canada Trust in what is the final loan for the financing of the already completed Summit Centre.
Corporate and Community Services committee chairman Andrew Ledwell said the loan is for 20 years with an interest rate of 3.57 per cent locked in. TD Bank was among three respondents to a Request for Proposals the City issued for the financing.
"This is an interesting one for me," said Ledwell. "I was just sitting there thinking one of the very first large items I presented when I first got elected back in 2011 or 2012 was regarding the awarding of the tender for what we called at that time the Multiplex, which is now the Summit Centre, of course."
The cost of the state-of-the-art swimming pool, exercise stations and multi-purpose rooms weighed in at some $31 million.
"I remember the mayor of the day (Randy Simms) saying, 'There you go, you just spent 30 million bucks,'" said Ledwell.
Ledwell said the RFP the City issued was for a long-term loan. "We entertained proposals from a number of financial institutions, we looked at a number of possibilities in terms of borrowing, including some fixed rates, some variable rates, and I think as a committee we determined a fixed rate is likely the best for us to enter into at this time,” he said. “It certainly makes budgeting easier as we move forward with assessing our financial position as a city."
The loan will be repaid monthly over the course of the next 20 years.
