If all falls into place, Palmerton could save in excess of $300,000 through the refinancing of a prior bond issue.

By a unanimous measure, borough council on Thursday adopted a parameters ordinance to refinance the borough's existing 2011 bond issue.That action came after council heard from Jens Damgaard, Bond Counsel of Rhoads & Sinon LLP.Damgaard said the goals of the financing plan were as follows: To prepare for the potential refinancing of all or a portion of the series of 2011 bond issue, and to secure financing for all or a portion of the borough road projects in the estimated amount of up to $2,500, whereby the borough expects to spend the money over the next two to three years, with a majority of the expenditures taking place in mid-2016.There is still $9.5 million outstanding from the borough's 2011 bond, of which the call date for that is Sept. 1, 2016.The parameters ordinance council adopted is to refinance up to $10 million of the 2011 bonds between now and that call date, with a minimum net savings target of 3 percent actual refinancing this year of about $7.5 million, market permitting, which Damgaard said that could result in a savings in excess of $300,000.Damgaard said the next step will be for council to adopt an ordinance later this spring to issue up to $2.5 million of new money projects for street work through the Request for Proposal process. The actual transaction would be financed as a draw down bank loan via a competitive RFP process.Borough Manager Rodger Danielson previously said the street work won't consist of a lot of construction, but, rather, resurfacing, primarily north of Delaware Avenue. The borough will continue to utilize Community Development Block Grant funds for some of the other areas, he said.Danielson said the borough undertook a road program in the early 1990s, at which time it resurfaced all of the roads done through a series of loans and grants that used CDBG funding.