Monday, April 1, 2002 Council to consider reworking QM debt   By John W. Cox, Staff writer LONG BEACH - The company that runs the Queen Mary would receive $28.2 million to refinance debt and repair the historic ship under a proposed bond issue going before the City Council on Tuesday. No taxpayer money would be used to repay the debt, which could total as much as $35 million depending on interest rates as city officials look for bond investors over the next two months. Queens Seaport Development would be responsible for paying off the bond, which would have a term of up to 30 years. It plans to spend about $16.5 million to pay off existing loans with interest rates higher than the bonds' estimated 9 percent to 11 percent interest. Another $5.1 million would pay for hotel room renovations and elevator and escalator repairs, and $1 million would be set aside for construction cost increases. City officials said the bond would include a healthy financial reserve and cover at least a year of debt payments, which could be as high as $3.05 million a year. By refinancing its debt, Queens Seaport stands to save some $1.25 million a year in lower interest payments, a city report states. When the council tentatively approved the bond sale in January, the amount was to total only about $23 million. But that amount excluded reserves that since have been added. It also left out $2 million in outstanding loans that Queens Seaport CEO Joseph Prevratil said he was told to add because of the lower interest rates available. "The city felt that I should include all my debt," Prevratil said. PacifiCenter contract Another item going before the council for approval Tuesday would let the city enter into a three-year contract with a Glendale land-use consulting firm called Garcia, McCoy & Lee Consulting Group. The proposed agreement would limit the contract to $200,000 a year. The firm was hired by City Manager Henry Taboada about six months ago to help the city negotiate PacifiCenter‚@‚Long Beach, a proposed 260-acre housing, office and retail project that Boeing Realty wants to build on former aircraft manufacturing land near Long Beach Airport. Taboada's purchasing authority is limited to $100,000 per contract, and so he needs the council's approval to extend the contract.