At the Oct. 10 Agenda Review Conference, the head of Pensacola Energy told the Pensacola City Council that he will be bringing to the board a bond issue to fund the replacement and upgrade of gas pipes in the utility’s service area to be done over the next three years.
“The driver of the projects is the resurfacing that will be going on in the city,” said Don Suarez. “We want to get ahead of those areas where we have gas main under the roadways. What don’t want to do is go after the paving and have to break up the roadway to make repairs.”
He said, “That’s pushing us to get a lot of work done in a short period of time.”
This summer, Mayor Ashton Hayward announced that he wanted to borrow $15 million to do the 10-years’ worth of street paving over the next three years. The council approved the plan and the mayor borrowed the money in late July.
According to Suarez, the other factor for the Pensacola Energy bond issue is the new construction and the utility needs to expand to cover the growth. City Administrator Eric Olson told the Council the mayor would bring forth the bond documents at the November council meeting.