Pottawatomie County commissioners on Monday took a step toward bringing a new fire station to Blue Township.
The board unanimously approved a resolution, declaring the need for the facility in Fire District Number 5, which serves the southwestern area of the county, east of Manhattan. The resolution authorizes the county to issue up to $2 million in general obligation bonds to help fund construction. Commissioner Dee McKee questioned what happens to the county’s debt obligation if the City of Manhattan chooses to annex any portion of the fire district. Attorney Mitch Walter, with public finance firm Gilmore Bell, explained how that works under the state’s fire district act, KSA 19-3601.
“If there’s a municipality that gets annexed or disorganized, if it has bonded indebtedness attached to it, that stays with that real property until those bonds are paid off,” he said.
