The Glen Cove City Council passed several resolutions this week. These included the release of a final draft of the Master Plan for the city and the decision to try to refinance some bonds at a lower interest rate.

The Master Plan has been called a "unified vision" for Glen Cove's future development. Mayor Ralph V. Suozzi said the document is "now suitable for public review."

The final draft is available at City Hall in the Office of the City Clerk and on the website www.glencove-li.com.

On the financial front, the mayor announced that three bonds that the City of Glen Cove previously issued are now open to the possibility of refinancing. He said the official term is "refunding," which is the process of retiring an existing bond issue through the sale of a new bond issue. The mayor said that once these bonds reached the 10-year mark, they became eligible to undergo this process.

According to Mayor Suozzi's report, the bonds were issued at interest rates as high as 5.75 percent. The rate that Glen Cove is seeking could be as low as 2.75 percent. He added that even with a $60,000 cost incurred from this process, the savings over 6 years would be $200,000 and the city would be "cash positive" for 2009.

The City Council voted to pursue a bond refund, but will not necessarily execute this option unless the right interest rates are secured.

Along these lines, the city voted to hire the services of investment advisors Capital Markets Advisors, LLC. They will be paid $1,000 per month, billed quarterly.

The firm had been retained by the city in the past but was not used in 2008. "We have a lot more to gain having them work for us," Mayor Suozzi said. Capital Markets will help the city with things like credit rating strategies, SEC compliance and the annual filing of financial documents.

During the vote to refund the three bonds, Councilman Tony Jimenez called the move, "very prudent."