POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff has been in default of a redevelopment agreement since Dec. 20, a representative of Eight Points development said Monday at a city council meeting.

It is costing the city more than $1,500 a day, or $50,000 a month, the longer it delays issuing bonds as stipulated under the redevelopment agreement, Eight Points representative Alan Bornstein said.

The city is paying interest of 10 percent on $13.4 million owed to Eight Points, Bornstein said. This increased from 8 percent in December because of a failure to issue the bonds.

If the bonds were issued, Bornstein said, the city could be paying interest as low as 5 percent.

City manager Heath Kaplan first told city council members in March about the contract penalty and increased interest rates, but in April said publicly the city has met all of its obligations to Eight Points.

The city is not in compliance and has not made all of the required payments, Bornstein said.

Eight Points has had no substantive dialogue with the city manager or financial consultant First Southwest since the first of the year, he said.

"We're obligated at this point to take action and to do things to enforce our rights, whether it be as simple as making requests for records ... or whether we bring claims and assert claims against the city," Bornstein said.

Bornstein told the council he was concerned it may not have been informed of all of the details concerning the city's decisions and obligations.

The city could not issue the bonds in December because doing so would have caused Poplar Bluff to default on a $5 million loan for technology upgrades it assumed in October, Bornstein said.

The city manager was made aware of this conflict before the technology loan was issued, he said. Bornstein said these communications have been documented.

The city risks losing historically low lending rates by delaying the bond issuance, he also said.

The first payment to Eight Points on the $13.4 million debt was due May 1, Bornstein said.

This payment was late and incomplete, he said.

The city also owes almost $800,000 to Eight Points for reimbursement of utility and other infrastructure work, Bornstein said. This was due April 11 and has not been paid, he added.

Kaplan made no response to Bornstein's allegations in the meeting.