Agenda - 11-04-1996 - 8l - Laserfiche WebLink

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Y 4 MEMORANDUM FOR: Orange County Board of Commissioners John M. Link, Jr., County Manager FROM: Rod Visser, Assistant County Manager Ken Chavious, Finance Director Geof Gledhill, County Attorney DATE: October 31, 1996 RE: Appointment of Bond Counsel At the October 15 meeting, the Board instructed us to prepare and distribute a Request for Proposals (RFP) for bond counsel services. We prepared the accompanying RFP, and distributed it to six North Carolina law firms that are well-recognized for their public finance work. Five firms responded to the RFP. We feel that each firm prepared a strong response, and that any of the firms would be capable of doing a good job for Orange County on the Southern Village Elementary financing, or any future financings. Two firms provided responses that we all felt were particularly strong, and the attorneys for these firms who would be our principal contacts were interviewed this morning. Our recommendation is that the Board of Commissioners appoint the Sanford Law Firm to act as the County's bond counsel for the Southern Village Elementary School project financing. The Board may wish to retain the Sanford Law Firm in an ongoing relationship for future bond counsel work, but we recommend that the Board make a decision on that point sometime in the future. The Sanford Law Firm attorney who will perform the County's bond counsel work will be Mr. Robert Jessup. We were very favorably impressed by Mr. Jessup's knowledge, experience, and interpersonal skills, and feel he will do an excellent job for Orange County on this financing project. Specifically, some of the factors that permit us to enthusiastically recommend appointment of Mr. Jessup and the Sanford Law Firm are: • Relevant Experience- The firm has extensive experience in installment purchase financing review, to include numerous school financings. The firm has handled either Certificates of Participation (COPs), private placements, or both for school facilities in Sampson, Bladen, Iredell, Richmond, Halifax, Moore, and Brunswick Counties. Moreover, the firm recently served as underwriters'counsel on a"split forward financing"deal for a Moore County school that is very similar to the financing approach we are contemplating for the Southern Village Elementary School. • Creativity-The firm's record, and Mr. Jessup's responses, reveal a strong orientation toward creativity and innovation in finding appropriate solutions to clients'capital financing needs. • Accessibility-The firm will be readily available to consult as needed with us on either the Southern Village project or other financing issues. The firm is prepared to work with us under the extremely tight timeframes we face in bringing about a successful December 1996 closing for partial funding of the Southern Village school. Mr. Jessup is also an Orange County resident, whose response to the RFP uniquely reflected an awareness of the County's recent and planned efforts in school capital financing.