HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/09/03 EDC MINUTES
THE COLONY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS
APRIL 9, 2003
The Regular Session of The Colony Economic Development Corporation of the City of
The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on the 9th day of April 2003, at City
Hall with the following roll call:
Bob Norris, President Present
Kevin Greene, Treasurer Present
A1 Garcia, Secretary Present
And with three voting members present, a quorum was established and the £ollowing
items were addressed:
Item 1.1. Pledge of Allegiance: Bob Norris led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
2.0. CONSENT AGENDA
Item 2.1. Reports:
a. Cash flow projection
b. Monthly ½ Cent Sales Tax graph
c. Tax Allocation Summary for March
d. Monthly report from March to City Manager
e. Marketing update
f. Summary of current activity regarding development
(a.) Tom Terrall went over the cash flow projection, commenting that the March
sales tax exceeded projections. (b) The sales tax graph shows a 28% increase in
March from the base year of 2000. (c) The tax allocation summary is there for the
board members to compare our tax revenues with those of other cities. (d) Mr.
Terrall pointed out a few things listed in the March report to the City Manager. A
commitment incentive letter that was approved by the 4A board at their Special
Session on March 29 was also approved by the City Council at their meeting
Monday, April 7 and was subsequently sent via FedEx to the developer. Mr.
Terrall mentioned that he wrote a letter to the Colony Chamber Chairman
encouraging the Chamber board members to vote for the cooperative ad campaign
allowing local businesses to participate in an insert a collaborative ad campaign in
The Colony newspaper. Mr. Terrall asked the 4A board members to contact the
chamber board members and encourage them to vote for this endeavor. A
presentation to The Weitzman Group has been postponed until June because the
brokers at Weitzman are preparing for the Intemational Council of Shopping
Centers conference and tradeshow and are cun'ently focused on that. Mr. Terrall
informed the board that EDC funds were dispersed to two local businesses in
March. (e) Cindi Lane passed out designs of direct mail pieces that Shapiro &
Company is working on for the direct mail campaign. A copy of Black's Guide
was also passed around showing the ad insert that the EDC placed with other
Denton County cities. The EDC will receive 200 copies of the insert and the
Denton County ED director will receive 2,000 copies that she will take to trade
shows. (0 Mr. Terrall mentioned the incentive commitment letter saying that it is
one step closer for the developer to move on this project. He reported that there is
more retail activity along Main Street.
Item 2.2. Approval of the minutes of the board meeting held March 12, 2003 and the
special session held March 29, 2003: President Norris asked if there were any
corrections, changes or additions that anyone would like to make and there were
none. A1 Garcia made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Kevin
Greene seconded the motion and the motion carried with all members voting aye.
3.0 PUBLIC COMMENTS
3.1. Public Input: There was no public input.
4.0 REGULAR AGENDA
Item 4.1. Discussion of House Bill 2912 written by Representative Mark S. Homer:
Mr. Terrall has been trying to keep the board up to date with legislative changes
regarding the Development Corporation Act. A draft of this bill was included in
the 4A meeting packet. Mr. Terrall reviewed the highlights of it with the board.
He discussed the term "project" and pointed out that "retail" was not mentioned.
Mr. Terrall contacted the state comptroller's office to try to get a definition of
"primary jobs" and they were not able to give him one at this time, however, they
informed Mr. Terrall that a substitute bill was being presented. Mr. Terrall
contacted the chair of TEDSTA who knew of a substitute but did not have a copy.
Mr. Terrall concluded that the final version of the bill would be a compromise of
versions. President Norris commented that it looks like the legislature has pulled
in constraints and made the Act more clearly defined through this legislation
leaning toward manufacturing and industrial facilities. Mr. Terrall said that he
hopes that the substitute document will be more lenient toward retail and will
clear up the ambiguity and he will send it out to the board as soon as it becomes
available.
Item 4.2. Discussion and appropriate action regarding holding the June meeting on
June 18, 2003 instead of June 11, 2003: Mr. Terrall asked the board if they
would consider moving the June meeting from the second Wednesday, (June 11)
EDC Minutes April 9, 2003, Page 2
to the third Wednesday, (June 18) due to personal reasons that would take him out
of town on June 11. Mr. Garcia made a motion to hold the June meeting on June
18, 2003 instead of June 11, 2003. Mr. Green seconded the motion and the motion
passed with all members voting in favor.
Item 4.3. Discussion of direct mail advertising promotion: The direct mail advertising
promotion was discussed in the reports section earlier in the meeting.
Item 4.4: Discussion of 2003-2004 EDC budget: Mr. Terrall informed the board that he
and Ms. Lane are preparing the budget for the next fiscal year. He asked if there
was anything specific that the board would like to be included in this budget and
to think about it and let he or Ms. Lane know within a few days. He wanted to
know if the board was interested in attending the ICSC Conference next year. Mr.
Garcia said that he would like the budget to make allowances to indoctrinate new
members coming into the board. He also mentioned that since Mr. Greene is a
CPA he might be able to look over the budget. Mr. Terrall said that he plans on
having a council orientation this year once the new council members are seated.
President Norris suggested having a contingency fund for items that come up
during the year.
President Norris said that the agenda was concluded and that the 4A board meeting was
adjourned at 7:37 p.m.
Cindi Lane '~-- Robert E Norris
Economic Development Specialist President
EDC Minutes April 9, 2003, Page 3