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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/08/04 EDC I MINUTES THE COLONY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REGULAR BOARD MEETING CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM SEPTEMBER 8, 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 8th day of September 2004, at the City Hall conference room with the following roll call: Board Members: Bob Norris, President Present Al Garcia, Vice President Present Kevin Greene, Treasurer Present Rick White, Secretary Present Bo Trosper, Member Present Perry Schrag, Council Liaison Present Staff Members Present: I Tom Terrall, Director of Economic Development Cindi Lane, Economic Development Specialist Guest Present: C. Kelly Cofer of Cofer Haag & Thrasher 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 c. Tax Allocation Summary for August d. Summary of current activity regarding development e. Marketing update f. Weitzman/Cencor update g. DFW Allies Marketing Team update I h. Report of NTCAR August 20 retail bus tour and ICSC luncheon i. Report on NTCAR Trade Expo, September 2, 2004 I I (a) Tom Terrall reported that August sales tax exceeded the forcast. (b) The sales tax graph reflects the sales tax revenue. (c) The tax allocation summary is there for the board members to compare our tax revenues with those of other cities. (d) Mr. Terrall said that the board has been made aware of everything that has currently been filed with the planning department. (e) Cindi Lane reported that the August web site visits down from the past couple of months. She gave the board an update on the new, corporate relocation DBJ ad, the special big box ad, and the status of the goodie bags for the golf tournament (f) Mr. Terrall reported that he had a meeting with a Cencor representative that morning regarding the original letter of intent signed in 2002. Mr. Terrall is going to make an amendment to the agreement with Cencor and bring it to the board for approval in October. (g) The - next DFW Allies meeting will be on September 29. The focus is on the Coronet conference in San Antonio in November. There will be approximately 600 invitations mailed for the special event sent to various brokers, developers and site selection companies from manufacturing, distribution and retail areas. (h) Mr. Terrall reported that the bus tour was extremely successful. It began with a luncheon and a speaker from the retailer, Ikea. There were three busses and all were completely filled. There was a booklet distributed to all the passengers, which contained information about The Colony in addition to the site material. The tour went through western PIano, Frisco, and The Colony. Harry Persaud, Cindi Lane, and Mr. Terrall (each on a separate bus) spoke about opportunities in The Colony as the busses passed through. There were many questions at the conclusion of the tour and many brokers remembered the tour when they ran into Mr. Terrall and Ms. Lane at the NTCAR Expo the following week. As a result of the tour, at least two appointments have been set. (i) This was the first Expo held at the Adam's Mark Hotel. The reception had excellent attendance with more than 1,800 attendees and 114 exhibitors. The location of The Colony EDC was excellent and many people stopped by and asked questions. It was a successful tradeshow. Item 2.2. Approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting held August 11, 2004: President Norris asked if there were any corrections, changes or additions that anyone would like to make and there were none. President Norris proclaimed the minutes to be approved. 3.0 PUBLIC COMMENTS 3.1. Public Input: There was no public input. 4.0 REGULAR AGENDA Item 4.1. Final presentation from Kelly Cofer of Cofer, Haag & Thrasher: Kelly Cofer addressed the group and handed out an executive summary of his findings. He recommended selling The Colony as a "white collar" community. He EDC Minutes September 8 2004, Page 2 ~ .-",,- I explained two markets that make up The Colony, the S.H. 121, Class A market and the Main Street, second generation market. He recapped the markets, their selling points and their obstacles. He explained what, in his opinion, should be done to draw developers and brokers to The Colony and provided a list of high- interest, mid-level interest, and no interest retailers in the executive summary. He said he would be available to meet retailers or brokers from this point forward for up to 12 months. President Norris thanked Mr. Cofer for his hard work on this proj ect. Item 4.2. Review and appropriate action regarding the revised Comprehensive Policy Statement and Application for Economic Development Incentives: Mr. Terrall explained that he wanted to add the Job Training paragraph in the Comprehensive Policy Statement and he asked the board for their comments, thoughts, and criticisms and that from this point, the revisions would go back for the attorney's review. If the attorney recommends a material change he will bring it back to the board. President Norris made a motion to approve the revised policy and application. The board unanimously voted aye. Item 4.3. Discussion of the NAIOP golf tournament being held on September 14, I 2004 at The Tribute Golf Club: Mr. Terrall reported that there are 144 golfers signed up with eight representing The Colony. The Colony EDC will distribute the goodie bags at Hole #1. NAIOP is supplying the tents. The EDC booth will be set up inside close to the registration table. Mr. Terrall gave out the agenda for the day. He will conduct a training session with the golfers the day before the tournament. Item 4.4. Discussion and appropriate action regarding the release of board members' contact information to Office of The Governor: Mr. Terrall explained that the Office of The Governor made a request for 4A board contact information and he felt that he should receive permission from the board. He said the purpose was to be able to update the board on miscellaneous items regarding economic development. Their was discussion and the board came to the conclusion that any pertinent information they needed to be aware of would be communicated through The Colony EDC staff, therefore it would not be necessary for contact information to be given to the Office of The Governor. Item 4.5. Discussion and appropriate action regarding moving revenue budgeted for marketing to a separate bank account: Mr. Terrall explained that it is now acceptable for 4A corporations to carryover unused marketing money from one year to the next as long as it is held in a separate account from the rest of the 4A funds. If the board decided to have this done, the account would be maintained I and balanced by the accounting department. Mr. Terrall said that although he is still researching this possibility with the accounting department, he wanted to get input from the board. There was discussion and the board members had some EDC Minutes September 8 2004, Page 3 questions of how the account would be set up, who could sign on it, and how it would benefit the corporation. The board wants to find out more about what can be done with the separate funds. Kevin Greene made a motion to approve pursuing, setting up promotional expenditure bank account, checking to see if 4A can transfer excess funds for this fiscal year, and setting it up for two signatures required in signing of the checks, one being the director of economic development and the other being either the city secretary or the city manager. Bo Trosper seconded the motion and all members voted in favor. Item 4.6. Discussion and appropriate action regarding funding council members' trips to the ICSC annual tradeshow in May 2005: Mr. Terrall explained that during the past two years that city council members have attended the ICSC annual tradeshow the expenses have come from the City's general fund. This year the City is looking for ways to reduce the budget so the city manager wanted Mr. Terrall to ask the board if they would approve 4A to pay for the council members' trips to ICSC for the 2004-2005 fiscal year budget. Mr. Greene made a motion for the 4A board to approve payment for the ICSC annual tradeshow and travel expenses for up to three council members based on the EDC staffs budget per capita for the 2005 event. Rick White seconded the motion and all members voted in favor. Item 4.7 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. There was no executive session. Item 4.8: Consideration of appropriate action to be taken as a result of executive session: No action was taken because there was no executive session. President Norris adjourned the 4A board at 8:40 p.m. (~~J.~"d~ ~~ z:~~{ 'bert E. Norris Cindi Lane Economic Development Specialist President ---,- EDC Minutes September 8 2004, Page 4 'u,.__.