The village of Celoron is taking out a $900,000 serial bond issue to pay for improvements to Lucille Ball Memorial Park.

The board approved the bond issue during its meeting on Dec. 11. The serial bond issue is subject to a permissive referendum by village residents if enough residents choose to sign petitions to place the issue on an election ballot.

Village officials plan to spend the money to purchase new furniture and equipment for the park and to make site improvements to the park. Celoron may not need the entire $900,000 for the project. The resolution says the village will use less money from the serial bonds if it receives grant money, and it was announced earlier this week that the village will receive $382,680 from the state for design and construction on the project through the state Consolidated Funding Application process.

A serial bond is a bond issue structured so that a portion of the outstanding bonds mature at regular intervals until all of the bonds have matured. Often, serial bonds are used because they mature over time, so they can be paid for with recurring revenues such as ticket revenue or rates if they are used to build an electric plant or parking ramp. The village plans to pay for the bond issue through the property tax levy each year.