Conshohocken council will vote October 21 on up to $15 million in bonds for a fire and EMS building, roads and a public works site

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:36:30 -0400

Conshohocken Borough Council may enact an ordinance on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, that would let the borough borrow up to $15 million through General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2027. A general obligation bond is a loan repaid from the borough’s general revenues and backed by its power to tax. The borough posted notice of the ordinance on October 9. The money would pay for the design of a new fire and EMS building, road and transportation repairs, the purchase of a public works facility, fire and EMS vehicles, and the cost of issuing the bonds. The maximum schedule attached to the ordinance runs the debt to December 1, 2051 and caps total payments of principal and interest at $30,862,383.33.

For contractors, the bond would pay for design work on the fire and EMS building and for road and transportation repairs, all of it work paid from public funds.

The limits in the ordinance

The draft is a parameters ordinance: council sets the outer limits now, and the borough’s officers accept the final terms once the buyer prices the bonds, as long as those terms fall inside the limits. The ordinance names RBC Capital Markets as the underwriter and buyer of the bonds in a private negotiated sale, PFM Financial Advisors as municipal advisor, Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel as bond counsel and Fulton Bank as paying agent.

Limits in Conshohocken's proposed parameters ordinance for its General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2027
Term	Limit in the proposed ordinance
Principal amount	Up to $15,000,000 (net of original issue discount)
Interest rate	6.500% maximum on every maturity
Final maturity	December 1, 2051
Maximum total debt service	$30,862,383.33
Purchase price	90% to 125% of par
Underwriter's discount	No more than $8.00 per $1,000 of bonds
Average useful life of the project	30 years
Type of debt	Non-electoral general obligation, backed by the borough's full faith, credit and taxing power
Approval before delivery	Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development

Source: conshohockenpa.gov

The debt is non-electoral, which means it does not go to the voters. Under the Local Government Unit Debt Act, the state law that governs municipal borrowing in Pennsylvania, the borough files a debt statement and a borrowing base certificate with the Department of Community and Economic Development, and the ordinance bars delivery of the bonds until the department approves. Council declared the project’s average useful life to be 30 years, and the ordinance says the borough obtained “realistic estimates of the costs of the Project through bid prices or estimates from persons qualified by experience to provide such estimates.”

The maximum schedule

PFM’s schedule, dated October 9, 2026, sets a 6.5% maximum interest rate on every maturity. At those ceilings, the borough would pay $880,833.33 in 2027, mostly interest, then between $1.10 million and $1.31 million a year from 2028 through 2050. The last payment, in 2051, carries $2,055,000 of principal, and the year’s total rises to $2,188,575. Interest makes up $15,862,383.33 of the $30.9 million total at the cap.

At the 6.5% cap, interest exceeds principal each year through 2041

Maximum principal and interest by fiscal year, General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2027, dollars

Principal ($)
Interest ($)

Maximum parameters, not the final terms. Actual rates and amounts are set when the bonds are priced. Source: conshohockenpa.gov

Maximum principal, interest and debt service by fiscal year, from Schedule A of the proposed ordinance. These are ceilings, not the final terms.
year	Principal ($)	Interest ($)	Debt service ($)
2027	$25,000	$855,833	$880,833
2028	$340,000	$973,375	$1,313,375
2029	$330,000	$951,275	$1,281,275
2030	$345,000	$929,825	$1,274,825
2031	$365,000	$907,400	$1,272,400
2032	$380,000	$883,675	$1,263,675
2033	$395,000	$858,975	$1,253,975
2034	$420,000	$833,300	$1,253,300
2035	$440,000	$806,000	$1,246,000
2036	$460,000	$777,400	$1,237,400
2037	$490,000	$747,500	$1,237,500
2038	$505,000	$715,650	$1,220,650
2039	$535,000	$682,825	$1,217,825
2040	$555,000	$648,050	$1,203,050
2041	$585,000	$611,975	$1,196,975
2042	$615,000	$573,950	$1,188,950
2043	$645,000	$533,975	$1,178,975
2044	$680,000	$492,050	$1,172,050
2045	$715,000	$447,850	$1,162,850
2046	$745,000	$401,375	$1,146,375
2047	$780,000	$352,950	$1,132,950
2048	$825,000	$302,250	$1,127,250
2049	$860,000	$248,625	$1,108,625
2050	$910,000	$192,725	$1,102,725
2051	$2,055,000	$133,575	$2,188,575

Source: conshohockenpa.gov

What the money would pay for

The ordinance lists five purposes without an amount for each. Borough records give detail on two of them.

Purposes of the Series of 2027 bonds, with what borough minutes, agendas and notices show about each
Purpose in the ordinance	What borough records show	Amount in borough records ($)
Development and design of a new public safety facility	Fire and EMS building at 1111 Fayette Street; architect Alloy5 presented an update to council on October 7, 2026
Capital improvements and repairs to roads and transportation infrastructure	No project list in the ordinance
Real property for a public works facility	680 Colwell Lane in Plymouth Township, a 45,000-square-foot facility; agreement of sale with RTI Colwell LLC	$5,975,000
Fire and EMS vehicles for borough use	No vehicle list in the ordinance
Costs of issuing the bonds	Underwriter's discount capped at $8.00 per $1000 of bonds

Source: conshohockenpa.gov

The public safety building would stand at 1111 Fayette Street. The borough sought architects in March 2025 for a fire and EMS facility there, and in December 2025 it submitted a cleanup plan to the state Department of Environmental Protection for the former EF Moore Chevrolet property at 1109-1119 Fayette Street and 1201 Butler Pike in Whitemarsh Township. The October 7 agenda listed an update from the architect, Alloy5, and Resolution 2026-15, which would waive subdivision and land development review for the building. The ordinance describes this purpose as the development and design of the facility.

The public works facility is at 680 Colwell Lane, across the borough line in Plymouth Township. At council’s August 5 meeting, the borough’s executive director of operations said the current public services buildings are undersized and that the 45,000-square-foot facility would give the department more space and storage. The director of public services described limited work areas and equipment stored outdoors. The borough manager put the price at $5,975,000 plus closing costs, paid from the General Fund, the Capital Fund and the expected 2027 bond proceeds, according to the minutes. Council approved the purchase 6-0 that night and the agreement of sale with RTI Colwell LLC 7-0 on August 19, when it also authorized a zoning application to Plymouth Township. The borough solicitor said Plymouth’s zoning approval is required before closing. The October 7 agenda listed a first addendum to the agreement of sale and a supplemental appropriation for the purchase.

On September 2, PFM gave council a financing update for fiscal 2027, and council took up Resolution 2026-14, which lets the borough repay itself from bond proceeds for project costs it pays first. The ordinance confirms that resolution.

Conshohocken's public safety building, public works purchase and bond, from borough notices, agendas and minutes
date	Event
2025-03-21	Borough seeks architects for a fire and EMS building at 1111 Fayette Street (proposals due April 24 2025)
2025-12-19	Borough submits a cleanup plan to the state for the former car dealership at 1109-1119 Fayette Street and 1201 Butler Pike
2026-08-05	Council approves buying 680 Colwell Lane for $5975000 plus closing costs (6-0) and awards the Hallowell Street road reconstruction for $832585
2026-08-19	Council approves the agreement of sale for 680 Colwell Lane and a zoning application to Plymouth Township (7-0)
2026-09-02	Council hears a 2027 financing update from PFM and considers Resolution 2026-14 on reimbursing costs from bond proceeds
2026-10-07	Council agenda lists the bond ordinance advertisement and a land development waiver for the public safety building
2026-10-09	Borough posts notice of the parameters ordinance
2026-10-21	Council meeting at which it may enact the ordinance

Source: conshohockenpa.gov

Road work

The ordinance gives no list of streets. For scale, the borough’s most recent road award came on August 5, when council awarded the Hallowell Street road reconstruction, base bid and two alternates, to T. Schiefer Contractors Inc. for $832,585, paid from the Capital Fund balance. On August 19 council authorized bids for the Second Avenue Pedestrian Safety Improvements Project, which the borough’s traffic engineer said is funded through the state’s Automated Red Light Enforcement grant program and includes high-visibility crosswalks and rapid-flashing beacons.

What this means for bidding borough work

Work paid for with these bonds is paid from public funds. The Department of Labor and Industry says Pennsylvania prevailing wage applies to construction, reconstruction, demolition, alteration or repair, other than maintenance, done under contract and paid for in whole or part by a public body, when the project’s estimated total cost is over $25,000. A project cannot be split to fall under that line. Locally funded highway and bridge projects carry a separate threshold of $100,000. The site’s prevailing wage guide covers rate determinations and certified payroll.

Watch the borough’s RFPs and bids notices and the council agendas, where council authorizes each bid advertisement before it runs. The public bids guide lists where Conshohocken-area work is posted. If you plan to bid design-phase or site work on the Fayette Street building, ask the borough administration office at 610-828-1092 which packages it expects to bid and when, since the ordinance does not set a construction schedule.

Caveats

The schedule is a set of maximums. The final principal, rates and maturities come from the buyer’s addendum after pricing, and council can amend the ordinance before it votes. The 6.5% rate is a cap and says nothing about the rate the borough will pay. The ordinance gives no split of the $15 million among its five purposes, so how much goes to roads or vehicles could not be verified from the documents posted. Votes on the October 7 agenda items were not yet in posted minutes when this was checked on October 10, 2026. The bonds also need state approval before they can be delivered.

Municipal finance | Conshy Contracting

Conshohocken council will vote October 21 on up to $15 million in bonds for a fire and EMS building, roads and a public works site

The limits in the ordinance

The maximum schedule

What the money would pay for

Road work

What this means for bidding borough work

Caveats