The Jefferson City Council recently approved a $1 million general obligation urban renewal note for improvements.

City Administrator Mike Palmer says the loan is split up into two portions. The Council last Tuesday approved $640,000 corporate purposes loan for three downtown building renovation projects, as well as the City’s $250,000 match toward the Community Development Block Grant revitalization project. The Council previously approved the other $360,000 essential purposes loan for the final payment for the overpass bridge to the Department of Transportation and a wastewater study for the north part of the City.

Palmer notes that the loan will go against the City’s debt capacity, but he feels comfortable with the amount that they have to pay off.

“We’re pushing the limit where we feel comfortable. This is pretty much it. When they weighed it out, this was kind of the limits of what we’re going to borrow for a while until we can pay down some debt. There’s quite a bit of debt that’s scheduled to come off in the next five years.”

The loan will now go out for bids to several banks.