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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/01/1998 MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON OCTOBER 1, 1998 A REGULAR SESSION OF The Colony Community Development Corporation (4B) was called to order at 7:10 p.m. with the following members present: Don Goebel President Morris Seay Member Susan King Member Vicki Briggs Member Pamela Kane Member and with members Walden and Manser absent; thus a quorum was established. Also in attendance was Gene Ramsey, Director of Economic / Community Development, and Pam Nelson, Director of Parks & Recreation. 1. CITIZEN'S INPUT. There was no citizen's input. President Goebel used this time to discuss items of concern to the board. President Goebel asked if we had determined what we were going to do for Pain and the Parks Board. Member King stated we have all the expenditures for Beverly and Kathy or are you asking about more money for Pam? President Goebel answered he was referring to all the hours Pam has put in. Bernetta stated that as a staff liaison, the city is reimbursing Pam for $100.00 per meeting. Bernetta said she would bring the information she has in regards to that. Member Briggs informed Bernetta that everytime the issue comes up, we're given a different answer. Bernetta added, if it's something different, then it's Lanny's doing. President Goebel continued that his concern is to recognize Pam and her efforts for the board. Bernetta asked what type of reimbursement he was talking about. President Goebel stated he was referring to something for Pain as a going away type thing. He added that he knows she is getting paid, but he thinks we should recognize her in a more personal way. He continued that when Beverly left, we all chipped in and gave her something. Bernetta said it's different if you're doing it personally as opposed to using taxpayer money. Bernetta recommended that Gene look into the issue. Member King asked why we couldn't do it under personnel or contractual services since our budget has been approved by City Council and us. Bernetta answered that the contract hasn't been approved yet. President Goebel stated he was thinking about something like a dinner for example; but he thinks someone needs to look into the legalities first. He added that he does not want to delay this much longer. 2. RECEIVE REPORT FROM COUNCIL LIAISON, BERNETTA HENVILLE-SHANNON REGARDING COUNCIL / BOARD RELATIONSHIP. Bernetta relayed to the board that Council has agreed to meet jointly with all 3 boards to get on track and resolve all of our differences so that we may function. She wants to make sure Council has a clear understanding of what she thinks is the way things should be run. She wants to make sure Council understands that this is not an advisory board; you can take citizen input, come up with a scope of projects and it's either yes or no from that point. She thinks that after the joint session with everyone, we'll be able to get some goals and some ideas of where we all want to go. Council realizes they can't give you direction, they all agree on that. Council wants to see a list of projects that you're potentially trying to do. The first rule of business was to make sure Council has a clear understanding of what their roles were and there was some discrepancy on that. In the end, Council left knowing that this in not an advisory board, it's an entity of it's own that Council oversees, but the board comes to Council with a list of projects. She thinks the Retreat will be a good tool to get us all on the same track. Member King asked Bernetta if that in terms of projects they want to see, would it be more advantageous to wait until after we start taking RFP's? Bernetta responded that Council is not asking for that right away. After you do you're RFP - please present to Council some ideas of what you want to do. Council understands this can't be done in one day or a month - they understand the RFP will go out and that will determine the list of priorities from the board - from there they can start thinking about it and it's my job to try to facilitate it through Council. Member King stated that she does not want to be put in another situation where Council is wanting a lot more information than we're able to give them because we are not qualified to give it. Bernetta responded the next time something goes to Council we're going to make sure all the avenues are looked at. Bernetta continued that a lot of Council thought they could make recommendations. She told them they need to read the bylaws. Member King asked Bernetta if there was any indication when the joint meeting might be. Bernetta answered that it was decided to do it at the retreat. Gene added that the Retreat will be on the 24`x' of October at the Senior Center with 7 members of the Council, 5 members from the 4A Board, and 7 members from the 413 Board attending for a team building day and there will be a facilitator. 3. ELECTION OF TREASURER FROM THE MEMBERSHIP. Member King nominated Member Briggs to be the Treasurer. Member Kane seconded the nomination. Ayes: President Goebel, Members King, Seay, Kane, Briggs. Noes: None Member Briggs asked what the position entailed. Member Seay answered that it's not a day-to-day routine - it's making sure policies are followed and audits are conducted. 4. DISCUSSION OF THE TOUR TO THE TEXAS STAR CONFERENCE CENTER IN EULESS, TEXAS. Berretta began by informing everyone that she has a video of the tour except for the part where the City Manager spoke about how they run their operation. Member King stated that the majority of their 413 Board are Council members. Member King continued that she was most impressed by what they were able to accomplish in 5 years. They made a plan and stuck with it. They're a good model for us to follow, in certain aspects. Bernetta stated they had a 37-month budget and acquired all their periuneters in those 37 months. Ms. Nelson stated that a former City Manager and Parks Director of The Colony are now the City Manager and Parks Director in Euless. Member King stated their dedication to the youth in their community is extraordinary and the emphasis they place on amateur athletics is amazing. Their foresight, planning and vision of the future in every way facilitate more people within their city. Everything is planned for a future vision for the growth of the city. Bernetta stated they wanted to buy land in their own city and to make sure they built out of a flood plain. They also wanted to do the project in a time frame everyone could live by. Member King stated the shell of their new library building is 45,000 square feet - they finished out 25,000 square feet. The remaining is already plumbed, has electricity, and air-conditioning vents - all they have to do is put up a wall and they have expanded their library. They planned for the future. Bernetta stated their athletic fields were basically emphasized on baseball and softball. Football is in a separate area and is handled by the school district but have a mutual relationship with the city. In their athletic plan, they had an adult softball area that generates funds on its own. There are a number of teams that come out there and play. They purchased Softball World and revamped it. They have 4 baseball fields and each is like a mini stadium that represents Ranger Stadium, Dodger Stadium, and others all centrally located to the concession stand and bathrooms. The City Manager told us he'd tell us how they got their project up and running. Gene added that the City Manager is President of 4B and 4B has 3 functions - economic development, recreational development, and library. The board consists of 3 City Council members, the City Manager, and 3 others selected by the City Council. They had 1 public hearing and no one came. Since then they have moved forward and leveraged funds coming their way and went out and purchased some bonds. Most impressive to me was that of all the structures we saw, there was no monument or memorial to one person - it was to the citizens. Member King added they donate 2% of their annual budget to the Arts. They're doing a lot of bronze statues at their sports complex, library complex and golf course. Bernetta stated they delayed their project for 6 months to wait on the $500,000 grant they applied for. They bought land in Fort Worth and de-annexed from them. Member King stated the section of land is in Fort Worth. When they annexed into Euless they said they would provide the community with water and sewer and give them reduced rates for the golf course as citizens of Euless and some other things if they would let them annex this land within their city limit. Fort Worth had something Euless wanted and Euless had something Fort Worth could use. It worked out great for both. Member King continued stating the golf course is the only thing in the flood plain. They didn't want any of the youth sports in a flood plain because it's not usable for anything else. Member Kane asked if the conference center had a stage area. Member King replied they built 2 conference centers. One is located at the golf course and the other is located at the library. The one at the library has a catering kitchen with the capacity to hold 150 people. The good thing about the one at the library is that it is separate from the library - you could use it without having to walk through the library. 5. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT FOR SERVICES BY THE CITY AND TAX ADMINISTRATION BY THE BOARD. Gene has given everyone a copy of the contract that is highlighted in yellow for words or phrases recommended to be additions and highlighted in green for words or phrases recommended to be deleted from the document because they're no longer pertinent. Gene began reading from the Articles of Incorporation. He stated when this was written, the tax money hadn't been received yet, so he recommends we delete - WHEREAS, while the tax has been levied, the proceeds from the tax will not actually be received by the City and paid to CDC for several months; and - Everyone agreed with his recommendation. Gene recommends the following phrases be added to the document - WHEREAS, Section 21 of the Development Corporation Act provides that the city shall approve all program and expenditures of the development corporation and shall annually review any financial statements of the corporation. It further provides that at all times, the city will have access to the books and records of the corporation. WHEREAS, Section 23 (11) of the Act states that the powers of the corporation shall be subject at all times to the control of the city's governing body. Member King asked what Gene's reasoning was in adding these. Gene replied that it was a statement that talked about the CDC background and authority - he wanted it added to give balance to it. Gene stated he would like to have a document that says 413 has authority and City Council will hear the recommendations and it's the City Council's responsibility to allow you to function as long as they can approve your project and your budget. This contract is on the October 5"' agenda for City Council - but if you're not comfortable with it, he can have it removed. Everyone agreed with the additions. Gene questioned the following paragraph - WHEREAS, Article V of the Bylaws of CDC authorizes CDC, with certain limitations, to utilize the services of the City Attorney, the City Secretary, and the staff and employees of the Finance Department of the City;and Ms. Nelson stated the reasoning behind this was for there to be an accountant hired and their salary is split 3 ways - 1/3 city, 1/3 4A, and 1/3 413 -there wasn't enough justification to hire one person for any of those things; there was enough work generated by the creation of both corporations and some additional things going on in the city that one person split 3 ways would be beneficial. Gene asked if it was necessary for it to be there and Member King asked if it would hurt anything to leave it in. Gene replied that he was concerned that there may be other persons in the city staff that we'd like to utilize and by naming those specifically, it could be excluding some. He thinks we should delete the paragraph because the contract says you have that relationship with the city. Everyone agreed to remove the paragraph. In the next paragraph, Gene recommends the following phrase be removed - to provide to CDC interim funding Everyone agreed with this deletion. In the WITNESSETH section of the contract, Gene asked for an example in regards to - ALL PROGRAM INCOME RESULTING FROM THE USE OF CDC FUNDS AS PROVIDED UNDER THIS CONTRACT SHALL BE RETURNED TO THE UNOBLIGATED FUND BALANCE OF THE CDC. Member King responded that if we were to start up a business incubator program and it makes a lot of money, rather than going back into the city general fund it would come back to CDC's unobligated fund. Member Seay added that any revenue we receive in excess of the budget goes back into operations for projects. Gene continued to read from the WITNESSETH section items 1 - 13. President Goebel questioned #8 that read: PROVIDE ALL PERSONNEL NECESSARY FOR THE CDC BOARD'S OPERATIONS. CITY SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HIRING, EVALUATION, AND/OR TERMINATION OF, AND ALL OTHER EMPLOYMENT MATTERS RELATING TO, CITY PERSONNEL WHO MAY BE ASSIGNED TO WORK ON CDC MATTERS. President Goebel said we did the evaluation when we hired Gene, but Lanny did the ultimate evaluation. Gene stated Lanny said he asked 4A and 4B to screen applicants with his authority being the selection of the final candidates. The top 2 or 3 would move onto a final interview with Lanny. Lanny allowed you to screen candidates and if 4A and 4B were comfortable with the recommendations, then Lanny could pick from those - but the ultimate employment was his authority. Member Briggs asked if the process would work in reverse. Gene answered he did not think Lanny would do that, but it could happen. President Goebel added this was not the way it was done. The way I read this is if Lanny decides to terminate Gene's contract, then we're out of the picture. We get no input. Gene responded that the City Manager is responsible for hiring all employees - directly or indirectly. Ms. Nelson added this was an issue when we started working on the contract. We talked about the possibility of inserting - with board approval or input - so we'd have some input on the hiring, evaluation, and firing process. It came back to us that we couldn't do that. Member King added John Hill said we couldn't do anything about that, but she doesn't like it. This item will be left in. Gene read from item #10 and stated this phrase will be deleted - PROVIDE A LOAN FOR FUNDING CDC OPERATIONS IN THE AMOUNT OF $ , UNTIL SUCH TIME THAT CDC FUNDS BECOME AVAILABLE FOR DISBURSEMENT AFTER SEPTEMBER OF 1998. Gene stated item #10 would read - CONVEY ALL 4B SALES TAX FUNDS TO THE COLONY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION RECEIVED IN FISCAL YEAR 1998-1999 LESS $87,950.00 ($7,329.00) MONTHLY - THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED BUDGET FOR 4B ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. Gene stated the dollars in their entirety are conveyed to the 4B Board and its bank account - you're invoiced every month for $7,329.00 which is 1/12t" of the operational budget for 4B or there will be a deduction each month so the net is conveyed to your chosen bank account. Gene read from Section II and stated in the fast paragraph Lanny wants the following phrase added - IF THESE EXPENSES EXCEED REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS, THE CITY MAY ASK FOR CDC REIMBURSEMENT OF LEGAL FEES. Member King asked what is reasonable expenses. Gene and Bernetta responded that is to be determined. Bernetta also stated that the City is going out for RFP's for a City Attorney. Gene read from the CDC AGREES TO - and said item #I should read - PROVIDE FINANCIAL REIMBURSEMENT IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED ($2,720.60) TO THE CITY PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT FOR ACTUAL EXPENSES-INCURRED BY THE CITY FOR CDC OPERATIONS FROM FEBRUARY 17, 1998 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 1998. Gene deleted - THE MUTUALLY AGREED UPON AMOUNT SHALL BE REIMBURSED AS FUNDS BECOME AVAILABLE TO CDC AFTER SEPTEMBER 30, 1998, BUT IN ANY EVENT NO LATER THAN . (SEE ATTACHMENT A) Gene stated in item #2, the word Executive, before Director, should be removed. Member Briggs stated that in the AG Handbook, the board members are referred to as "Directors" as far as the law goes, so Gene is the Executive, therefore, Executive should be left in there. Member Seay added this also comes up prior to this in the first paragraph of the Witnesseth Section and it should be added in that case also. President Goebel stated we should remove (413 Board) because we are referred to as CDC everywhere else in the document. Gene stated item #3 should read - DEVELOP BUDGET AND PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERATION WITH RESPECT TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS OF THE CDC. Gene stated in item #5 he would add $87,950.00 and (SEE ATTACHMENT A). President Goebel asked if because there is a fixed amount in here and a set date, will the contract be renewed each year? Gene and Bernetta answered that it will be renewed each year. Gene stated in Section IV, Purpose, the first and second paragraphs should read as follows - IT IS THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF THIS CONTRACT TO HAVE THE CITY IMPLEMENT, ADMINISTER, AND CARRY OUT THE DUTIES THAT AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WOULD HAVE IN ADMINISTERING COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND TO MANAGE AND ADMINISTER SUCH PROGRAMS OF THE CDC. THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WILL HAVE DISCRETION TO PRIORITIZE JOB RESPONSIBILITIES TO MEET THE NEEDS OF CDC. THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC / COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IS HEREBY EXPRESSLY GIVEN THE RIGHT AND POWER BY CDC TO SIGN ALL APPLICATIONS AND DOCUMENTS AS NECESSARY THAT AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WOULD SIGN IN ADMINISTERING COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. In the AGREEMENT Section, the lines for THE COLONY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (413) and THE CITY OF THE COLONY will be removed. President Goebel's name will be changed to read Donald E. Goebel; a date line will also be added. The attest line will be for the City Secretary. 6. CLARIFICATION OF MARINER BY WHICH EXPENDITURES CAN BE USED. Gene stated 413 money can be used for enhancement projects. He stated he was confusing enhancements with improvements. He called the state and they said if you have a project that is a major enhancement of a park facility, if you need extra personnel to maintain and operate the facility, then yes M/O money would be appropriate for 4B expenditures - if you do a facelift, or paint a slide, you can't use M/O money from 4B for ongoing. 7. RECEIVE STATUS REPORT FROM DIRECTOR. A/B. ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION & BYLAWS - Gene said the name change for these items is on the Council Agenda for Monday night. It is the 4"' item in the Regular Session. Also posted is Consideration of the Contract with 4A & 4B - this can be removed if you don't want it on the Agenda, but he doesn't want to delay the process if we are able to come up with something tonight that you are comfortable with. He'd like to keep the process moving. C. RFP - Gene said the RFP is not on the agenda for Monday night's Council Meeting. He suggested that we don't ask for RFP's from City Council until after we have the Retreat. D. NAME PLATES FOR COUNCIL CHAMBERS, BUSINESS CARDS AND NAMETAGS. Nameplates have been ordered for Council Chambers, business cards have been ordered, and the nametags have been received by everyone on the Board except Rick Manser. E. BYLAW CHANGE REGARDING 4A EX-OFFICIO MEMBER. Gene said at Monday night's Council Meeting, 4A has a bylaw change to include and ex-officio member. 8. DISCUSSION OF UPCOMING RETREAT TO BE HELD OCTOBER 17, 1998. Gene stated there is one person who can't attend the Retreat - Kate Jarvella. The facilitator is Sue Carol Clapp. She wrote, "Teams With Style". She has an office in Frisco and has worked with Walt Disney World. There being no further discussio , if was unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m Kathy Neal, R cording Secretary Don Goebel, Preside At