The Mayor’s plan, which is being fast-tracked through
without any public input, was crafted by Yenni’s hand-picked Economic
Development Committee, a group of 41 of Mayor Yenni’s friends and campaign
supporters.
At the last Kenner City Council meeting, at the Mayor’s insistence,
the Council approved a Resolution calling for the city’s bond counsel to move
forward with the State Bond Commission to receive approval to sell bonds “not
to exceed $47 Million”. The vote was 5-2 in favor with Councilmen Gregory
Carroll and Joe Stagni supporting a delay while they polled their constituents.
To date, none of the 7 council members nor the Mayor has polled the residents
of Kenner or held a Town Hall meeting to discuss and debate these projects and
the debt plan.
The plan consists of 10 projects, none of which will create
any sustainable jobs or new businesses for Kenner and will increase Kenner’s
debt by 32% and be paid back with sales tax revenue for the next 20 years
ending in 2033.
The 10 projects are:
-Rebuilding the Duncan Canal. Cost: $11 Million to be split
50/50 between the City and the State
- Williams Blvd. Corridor from I-10 to Vintage. $11.250 Million
(all City)
- Loyola Streetscape from I-10 to Georgetown. $3.3 Million (all
City)
- Power Blvd. Beautification from West Esplanade to Vintage.
$900,000 (all City)
- The Intersection of Airline and Williams Blvd. Landscape and
Beautification. $500,000 (all City)
- Loyola Landscape and Beautification $500,000 (all City)
- Veterans at the Airport Access Road. $500,000 (all City)
- Erlander Bike Path, from Vintage to the lake. $866,000 (all
City)
- Vintage and Williams Box Culverts. $1.2 Million (all City)
- Williams Blvd. from Vets to West Napoleon. $5.490 Million (all
City)
A part of Yenni’s
plan also calls for refinancing a portion of Kenner’s existing bond debt that is
set to expire in 2018. The city will lower the interest rate on this financing
by about 1% to 3.3-3.5%, which is still higher than the current national
average for Municipal Bonds at 2.54% and higher than the interest rate of the
recently announced debt refinancing by Jefferson Parish (1.8-2.8%).
