Peters boasts fiscal health
McMURRAY – Peters Township Council learned at its Monday meeting that the township has a AA+ bond rating from Standard & Poor’s credit agency, which means it is on financially sound ground and has the ability to pay back funds raised with a bond issue.
The rating will come in handy if council decides to go through with a bond issue to buy a portion of the shuttered Rolling Hills Country Club on East McMurray Road.
“This will help us with bond issues,” township manager Michael Silvestri said of the rating.
A bond obligation rated AA differs from the highest-rated obligations only to a small degree. The municipality’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is very strong.
But the township’s plans for a bond issue are on hold until it decides how to proceed with the potential purchase, Silvestri said during the meeting.
The township is working in partnership with Peters Township School District to acquire part of the Rolling Hills property.
The school district is eyeing the property as the site of a new high school, while the township is interested in using property for recreation, including possibly a community pool.
At its April 25 meeting, council hired the Pittsburgh law firm of Reed Smith to act as bond counsel in its pursuit of a portion of Rolling Hills at a cost $10,500 plus expenses. Rolling Hills was closed in December.
“We anticipate doing a bond issue, but until we have determined the cost, we are on hold,” Silvestri said. “We are currently waiting for values from our appraiser so we can make an offer.”
The property is being bought by Laurel Communities, a residential development company that includes Marty Gillespie, president of Heartland Homes, now part of NVR Inc., the parent of Ryan Homes, and the township and school district are trying to negotiate the purchase of a portion of it.
The proposed Peters bond issue, according to documents from Standard & Poor’s, is for $7.585 million in general obligation bonds. This bond is a type of municipal bond and is backed by a state or local government’s pledge to use legally available resources, including tax revenues, to repay its bond holders.
“The bond proceeds will be used to finance the purchase of property for recreational facilities within the township and to pay all costs and expenses incurred by the township in connection with the issuance and sale of the bonds,” Standard & Poor’s said in an April 27 letter to the township.