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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/11/04 EDC MINUTES THE COLONY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REGULAR BOARD MEETING CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM FEBRUARY 11, 2004 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 11th day of February 2004, at the City Hall conference room with the following roll call: Board Members: Bob Norris, President Present A1 Garcia, Vice President Present Kevin Greene, Treasurer Present Rick White, Secretary Present Bo Trosper, Member Present StaffMembers Present: Tom Terrall, Director of Economic Development Cindi Lane, Economic Development Specialist And with five voting members present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: Item 1.1. Pledge of Allegiance: President Bob Norris led in the Pledge of Allegiance. 2.0. CONSENT AGENDA Item 2.1. Reports: a. Cash flow projection b. Monthly ~ Cent Sales Tax graph e. Tax Allocation Summary for December d. Summary of current activity regarding development e. Marketing update f. Buxton / Corer Itaag & Thrasher update g. NTCAR breakfast on January 27, 2004 h. Weitzman/Cencor update (a.) Tom Terrall said he was pleased that the sales tax remains ahead of projections. (b) The sales tax graph reflects the past two years of sales tax collected and shows the tax revenue ahead of the base year by almost 15%. (c) The tax allocation summary is there for the board members to compare our tax revenues with those of other cities. (d) Mr. Terrall mentioned the CVS Pharmacy is building at the southeast comer of Paige and S. Colony, and the former Wendy's has been bought by Taco Delight and is currently being remodeled. The 10,000 square foot shopping strip on the northeast comer of Main St. and Cougar Alley is finished on the outside and interior work is being done for Wingstop and Java House. A Bank One will be built on the northwest comer of S.H. 121 and Blair Oaks. (e) Cindi Lane updated the board on website hits, print advertising, NTCAR sponsorship, the Chamber directory ad, and Shapiro & Company is brainstorming to come up with an event to draw brokers. (f) Mr. Terrall gave an update of what is happening with the two retail consultants that were hired a couple of weeks ago. Buxton has received all the materials they have requested and they should have Phase 1 completed by the end of February. Kelly Cofer who is with Cofer Haag and Thrasher has spent the past two days interviewing council members, 4A board members, the chamber executive director, the city manager, and some key retailers. He is on his way back to the office where he will do some phone interviews then complete the first part of the study. Both companies should meet or exceed their deadlines. (g) Mr. Terrall thanked Mr. Trosper and Mr. Garcia for attending the NTCAR breakfast. They were very helpful in greeting brokers and making The Colony's presence known. The booth was set up in an ideal location for recognition. Mr. Terrall said that he wanted to invite the board to attend the next three meetings if they are available and as soon as he is notified __ of the dates he will pass the information to them. The turnout was excellent and Mr. Terrall has received a phone call from a broker who attended the breakfast and has a client interested in The Colony. (h) One of The Weitzman Group brokers, Robin Barrow, told Mr. Terrall that there are currently four offers made by Weitzman to retailers. Two of them are to restaurants, one is to a tire service company, and one is to an entertainment business. Item 2.2. Approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting held January 14, 2004 and the special meeting held January 26, 2004: President Norris asked if there were any corrections, changes or additions that anyone would like to make and there were none. Mr. Garcia made a motion to approve the minutes as written, Mr. Greene seconded the motion and all members voted aye. 3.0 PUBLIC COMMENTS 3.1. Public Input: There was no public input. 4.0 REGULAR AGENDA Item 4.1. Discussion and appropriate action regarding using Xceligent, Inc. for website property listings: Mr. Terrall introduced Dennis Kemaghan, Regional Director for Xceligent, Inc. He said that he wanted the board to see Mr. Kemaghan's presentation and that if they wanted this service they could review the contract in the March meeting because it was not available yet. Mr. EDC Minutes February 11 2004, Page 2 Kemaghan demonstrated how The Colony EDC could make use of the services available to enhance the property listings, land, office, and retail buildings. Xceligent gathers data from 15 major markets and sells the data to clients, mostly brokers and cities. They have signed over 200 companies in the last year. The brokers make most of the property updates, however, the city members may also make updates. Members receive email reminders and must update their listings every 30 days. This service can be linked to the EDC website so that a prospect can click on the EDC website, go to properties and when they click onto the properties the website is redirected to the Xceligent website and all properties can be viewed in great detail. The board asked several questions including the pricing for these services. Mr. Kernaghan stated that he does not know the arrangement that Mr. Terrall worked out with Doug Curry, the CEO and co-founder of Xceligent and that the contract would include all the pricing information quoted to Mr. Terrall by Mr. Curry. Mr. Kernaghan gave several examples of how the EDC can use this information as a tool for gathering and displaying property information including greenfield sites. Item 4.2. Discussion and appropriate action regarding using Xceligent, Inc. for website property listings: President Norris said that the next thing is to get the contract and take a look at rates and discuss it at the March meeting. Item 4.3 EXECUTIVE SESSION as authorized by section 551.086 of the Local Government Code regarding Economic Development, to-wit: A. To deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect. The board did not go into executive session. Item 4.4: Consideration of appropriate action to be taken as a result of executive session: There was no action taken because there was no executive session. President Norris adjourned the 4A board at 8:30 p.m. Cindi Lane Robert E. Norris Economic Development Specialist President EDC Minutes February 11 2004, Page 3