Leesburg Town Council Vice-President Tom Moore and Council President Larry Richey.

LEESBURG — On Monday, Nov. 13, Jeff Rowe of Umbaugh & Associates, Indianapolis, and Dennis Otten of Bose McKinney & Evans LLP, Indianapolis, attended the Leesburg Town Council meeting to discuss bond refunding opportunities. Rowe discussed the advantages of refunding town bonds, explaining that the interest rates currently being paid on the town bonds average 4.125 percent and that the estimated interest rate after refunding the bonds would be 3.6 percent.

Otten pointed out, “One of the things to keep in mind is that we don’t charge you unless the transaction closes. We don’t want to go through this process with you and then the market changes and we drop a bill on you. We’re not in this to hurt communities by any means. We want the transaction to be successful.”

“At this point we have absolutely nothing to lose and possibly something to gain,” said Leesburg Town Council Vice-President Tom Moore, “If the numbers come back and we aren’t happy with it, we just continue paying the same amount of money.”

Attorney Vern Landis said, “Your risk is virtually none. If it works, you’re saving money – if it doesn’t, you’re just where you’re at now.”

“Based off of the feedback from you guys and the counsel from Vern, this sounds like something we should look into,” said Leesburg Town Council President Larry Richey.

Council members agreed that they would like to pursue the bond refunding. A special public meeting and an executive meeting have been scheduled in which to adopt the necessary ordinance.

Carol Noll, Leesburg, approached board members with a request to start a Little Free Library in Leesburg. The LFL is a box mounted on a post and stocked with books. The idea is that people can take a book and either return that same book or replace it with another book. There are currently over 60,000 Little Free Libraries in over 80 countries.

Noll, a member of Friends of the Library, said she is excited about the idea of having a LFL in Leesburg, as she feels that Leesburg is an underserved area. Noll pointed out that a Leesburg resident who wants a membership at the Warsaw Community Library has to pay an $80 fee.

Noll, who said she got the idea for a LFL after seeing one installed in the town she previously lived in, said she would like to do this in memory of her late mother, as the LFL combines two of the things her mother loved the most – reading and helping people.

According to Noll, the LCL will have everything from children’s books to classics and best sellers.

Noll said she is working with a young man who is going to build the LFL box for his Eagle Scout project.

Leesburg Council member Doug Jones said, “I’m all for it.” Jones said he is an avid reader and would be happy to assist Noll with a donation of books to start the collection.

Richey said, “I think this will be a great thing for the town. It’s a great opportunity.”

Council members unanimously approved Noll’s request, and it was agreed that Clover Park, located on Van Buren Street in Leesburg, would be the best location for the LFL.

Other news:

• Leesburg Street Commissioner Craig Charlton gave a monthly street department report.
• Derek Tenney of Tenney & Sons, Inc., Warsaw, gave a monthly sanitary sewer report.
• No burning in the town of Leesburg.
• No parking on any street in Leesburg between the hours of 3 and 5 a.m.
• A special meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 20, which will be open to the public.
• An executive meeting will be held at 6:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 20. This will be a closed meeting.
• The next regular meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11.