MARIETTA - The Marietta City Council will vote at Monday night's meeting on refinancing four bonds, including the newly approved $25 million parks bond, to lock in a low interest rate. It could be a few more weeks before the county hears back from the city, however, on the proposed parking deck slated for construction just off the Square.

The council was split in a 3-3 vote Thursday night to add the parks bond onto the agenda at Thursday night's Committee of the Whole meeting. Mayor Bill Dunaway cast the tiebreaker in favor, much to the chagrin of Councilman Philip Goldstein.

Goldstein said Dunaway wasn't being courteous to incoming mayor "Thunder" Tumlin by adding the item without Tumlin's input.

Dunaway wouldn't budge with his vote.

"If we wait until January, it's just that much more delay. It will cost the city for 20 years," he said.

The agenda item is a motion to refinance three existing bonds, with the parks bond rolled into the package. The city will also hire a financial adviser, Dianne McNabb, director of Public Financial Management Inc., and a group of underwriters.

The city owes a total of $40.4 million on the three bonds - two for the Marietta City School District and one used to build the police and fire headquarters - and would save a combined $1.3 million by refinancing if the rates of Oct. 19 hold true, said Finance Director Sam Lady.

To lock interest rates on the $25 million bond, Dunaway suggested issuing the bond in the same package as refinancing three existing city bonds.

"I don't think you can definitely say it will cost you less money, but I would say you could get the best deal at the time," McNabb said.

She did not know what the savings would be if the parks bond was lumped into the refinancing at Thursday night's meeting.

Earlier this week, Tumlin expressed his displeasure with the council's choices.

"I think it's time for this council to respect the next council," Tumlin said.

While the bonds will likely be up for a vote, it could be two more weeks before Chairman Sam Olens hears back from the city on the proposed parking deck.

The council continued to debate partnering with the county on the parking deck. The county has offered the city the chance to lease 102 spaces in the proposed deck for about $300,000 over 25 years. The city's total lease obligation would be nearly $5 million, though the county expects that parking revenues would cover all but about $300,000 of that amount. Olens said that's a deal the city won't find anywhere else.

"Now it has gotten to this point that I think this is as good as it's going to get from the county," Dunaway said. "My viewpoint is that the city needs it."

Councilman Grif Chalant also didn't oppose the partnership.

"I don't have any problem with it if it works right," he said.

Councilman Philip Goldstein has been the chief opponent of the proposal, and believes the county's projected revenues are precarious. He also said parking on the Square is "not as bad" as some make it out to be.

"Currently there's ample parking available in the county deck," Goldstein said, referring to the county's 840-space deck at Waddell and Cherokee streets.

Goldstein argues that shoppers simply want to park on the Square in front of the shop or restaurant they intend to visit.

"And we're never going to solve that problem," he said.

Dunaway said the council would vote on the deck at a special called meeting Nov. 19.