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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/07/05 EDC I I I MINUTES THE COLONY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REGULAR BOARD MEETING CITY HALL SEPTEMBER 7, 2005 The Regular Session of The Colony Economic Development Corporation of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:01 p.m. on the 7th day of September 2005, at the City Hall Council Chambers with the following roll call: Board Members: Bob Norris, President Al Garcia, Vice President Kevin Greene, Treasurer Rick Casterline, Member Paul Koenig, Member Perry Schrag, Council Liaison Present Present Absent (business) Present Present Absent (business) Staff Members Present: Tom Terrall, Director of Economic Development Cindi Lane, Economic Development Specialist Rebecca Koo, Finance Director Guests: Demian Salmon, Vice President Development/Marketing, Jackson-Shaw And with four 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. Item 1.2. Announcement and welcome new 4A board member: President Norris introduced new board members Rick Casterline and Paul Koenig to the board, welcomed them and thanked them for agreeing to serve on the board. Item 4.1. Discussion and presentation of Cascades at The Colony: Mr. Terrall introduced Demian Salmon, the Vice President Development/Marketing of Jackson-Shaw. Mr. Salmon gave a presentation of the Cascades at The Colony update. He explained that after almost one year of negotiating the price with the landowner, his company closed on the 100 acres and simultaneously closed with KB Homes on 45 of the 100 acres for their single family component of the project. Jackson-Shaw has also submitted the first set of plans to the planning department. The first structure that will be built after the infrastructure will be some model homes. Mr. Salmon explained that they are on a timeline and he passed out a preliminary development schedule. The focus of the project currently is on design, engineering, and monument features. After the infrastructure is complete they will commence construction of the office/flex park on the southeast side of the property. Mr. Salmon answered several questions from the board. They had questions regarding the residential aspect, flex space, rental pricing, retail questions, and office building questions. Mr. Terrall thanked Mr. Salmon for coming and speaking to the group. 2.0. CONSENT AGENDA Item 2.1. Reports: a. Cash flow projection b. Monthly % Cent Sales Tax graph c. Tax Allocation Summary for June, July, and August d. Summary of current activity regarding development e. Marketing update f. Quarterly report to city manager g. Treasurer's report h. Report on DFW Marketing Team Steering Committee i. Report of NAIOP Icon national convention and tradeshow June 20-22 (a) Tom Terrall reported that sales tax was the last three months were ahead of projection and that for the fiscal year the revenue is more than $81,000 ahead of projection. (b) The graph reflects the percent of increase from 2003 to 2005. Sales tax shows that collections are ahead of 2004 and 2003. (c) The allocation summary is there for the board members to compare our tax revenues with those of other cities. (d) Mr. Terrall reported that some economic activity is not necessarily done through the economic development department so he checks with the planning director before each meeting to see what activity is going on in the City. Currently High Performance Auto Spa has been approved for construction on Main St., Sonoma Grande will soon be under construction, Century Bank will be built in front of Big Lots. Wachovia Bank is under construction at the northeast comer of Main St. and S.H. 121, and the Colonnade Plaza strip center is under construction behind Bank One on Blair Oaks. (e) Cindi Lane reported that the website is currently being completely redone by the new ad agency. She also reported the web site statistics and explained that the ad agency will design a generic ad that can be used in a variety of publications and eventually industry specific ads will be designed to be used for different publications. (f) Mr. Terrall explained that this quarterly report is a summary of what things his department has been working on and that sometimes it is redundant because the projects being worked on are the same for up to several months or over a year at a time. (g) Treasurer Kevin Greene emailed his report and Mr. Terrall passed a copy out to each member and reviewed it. According to the report, revenue was slightly ahead of the budgeted amount. Expenses were favorable to the budget. As of June 30, 2005, cash total is $3,478,866.72. Subtracting payables, fund balance is $3,478,866.72. This balance is EDC Minutes September 7,2005, Page 2 I predominantly unencumbered with the exception of the amount to be paid for the Memorial Drive extension and the amounts to be paid for the Legends Cascade project, which are payable over a period of years. (h) Mr. Terrall gave a history of the DFW Marketing Team, why it was developed, and what its general purpose is. He explained that their focus is currently on getting prepared for a hospitality event at a conference called CoreNet that will be held in Las Vegas this October. Mr. Terrall explained what the event will be like and said that the committee unanimously chose him to attend the entire conference with a complete registration valued at $1,700 since he has done so much work toward this project.. (i) Mr. Terrall explained what NAIOP is to the new board members and why The Colony EDC participates in their events. He said that at this conference there were over 170 attendees and 25 exhibitors. The Colony EDC was an exhibitor. He met two company representatives that are interested in commercial property so he put them together with a developer of property in The Colony. Item 2.2. Approval of the minutes of the special joint session board meeting held June 6, 2005, the regular board meeting June 7, 2005, and the special board meeting on July 18, 2005: President Norris asked if there were any corrections, changes or additions that anyone would like to make and there were none. President Norris approved the minutes by acclimation. I 3.0 PUBLIC COMMENTS 3.1. Public Input: There was no public input. 4.0 REGULAR AGENDA I Item 4.2. Discussion of accounting procedures and investments: Mr. Terrall introduced Finance Director, Rebecca Koo to the board. He gave a brief history explaining that some time ago the board had talked about ways they could receive a better yield on 4A funds and had discussed forming a committee to explore their options. Mr. Terrall asked Ms. Koo to explain how the finance department has invested the 4A bank account. Ms. Koo passed out a City of The Colony Investment Policy and explained that municipal investments have strict laws and stipulations of how the funds can be invested. She explained procedures for which funds are collected and then transferred to another account to pay the payables. She explained the pooling of funds. She explained diversification and the operating fund in TexPool. She provided the board with an investment schedule for the City, highlighting the EDC's portion of interest earned. She explained that the City hired a representative to look for places to invest the pooled funds and that the EDC pays a percentage of the representative's fee. She discussed the financing of capital projects and explained how the City issues bonds for special projects. There was discussion and questions from the board and Ms. Koo answered them. EDC Minutes September 7, 2005, Page 3 Item 4.3. Discussion of ways EDC funds can be used for funding certain City projects: Mr. Terrall explained that the City has been straining with their budget and is trying to maintain services without raising the ad valorum tax. The city council and city manager looked at 4A and 4B to see if there was some way in which they could legally help the city. The 4A board had previously voted to pay the sum of $250,000 for the construction of Memorial Drive from Blair Oaks to Paige Rd. and is currently making annual debt payments of $40,000 for 20 years to pay for the construction of the two south lanes of Memorial Drive from Paige Rd. to Worley. Mr. Terrall asked the board if they would consider financing the entire cost of the construction of the two south lanes of Memorial Drive from Paige to Worley. That is one way the 4A board can legally help the City. He said he would like for the board to think about ways 4A can legally help the City and infrastructure is one way to help. The board had questions and they also wanted to find out if an election for sales tax allocation reduction was still on the table because that might affect the amount of funding the 4A would have available to help the City pay for this infrastructure. Mr. Terrall said that although the sales tax allocation was taken off the table, it has not permanently gone away either. The council members have requested that 4A do whatever they can legally do to assist the City with various future projects. Item 4.7. Discussion and appropriate action regarding restructuring debt service obligation of Memorial Dr. from Paige Rd. to Worley Dr.: Mr. Terrall explained that the EDC is currently paying $40,000 per year for 20 years. He suggested that the board consider financing more of this road to help the City. He said that if the EDC paid 100% of the debt service, the annual payment would increase approximately $13,000. Mr. Terrall referred to an email he received on October 23,2003 when he contacted the attorney general's office to make sure it would be legal for the EDC to fund this project. The email said that since it was the southern portion and that the purpose was an incentive for commercial and retail development that it was legal. Mr. Garcia made a motion to restructure the debt service to pay 100% of the southern two lanes of Memorial Dr. from Paige Rd. to Worley Dr. There was discussion. Paul Koenig seconded the motion followed by further discussion. All members voted in favor and the motion passed. Item 4.4. Discussion and appropriate action recommending a possible election to change the 4A sales tax allocation: This item was discussed briefly in item 4.3. Item 4.5. Discussion and appropriate action regarding NAIOP golf tournament September 13th: Mr. Terrall explained the history of last year's NAIOP golf tournament for the new board members. He explained that The Colony EDC is the title sponsor and there will be 144 golfers and more than that attending the dinner and award ceremony. The Colony EDC will have eight representatives participating in the tournament. The objective is to network with these brokers and developers and make them aware of the commercial development EDC Minutes September 7, 2005, Page 4 I opportunities available in The Colony. Part of the "title sponsorship" is speaking to the group during the dinner and awards ceremony. This year, Mr. Terrall said he will spend about one minute speaking and then turn the microphone over to Demian Salmon of Jackson Shaw to announce his project in The Colony. Mr. Garcia suggested ordering golf shirts for the new board members. Item 4.6. Discussion and appropriate action regarding NTCAR tradeshow September 28th: Mr. Terrall gave the history of The Colony EDC's relationship with NTCAR and also explained the purpose of exhibiting at the tradeshow. It will be held at the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Dallas from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. He invited the board members to attend as it will be an opportunity for them to network with local brokers and developers, plus see what some of the other metroplex cities are doing. I Item 4.8. Discussion and appropriate action of determining a date and time for having a 4A and new council member orientation: Mr. Terrall explained that whenever there is a new board appointment or new council member elected the EDC usually has a breakfast as an opportunity to learn more about 4A corporations as well as getting to know the new members. He said he would like to have a breakfast on an upcoming Saturday morning. There will be handouts, breakfast, and discussion of what The Colony EDC has done and is focused on doing for the City. Everyone discussed when they were available and tentatively decided to try for October 151 at 8:00 a.m. at The Tribute. Ms. Lane will confirm the date after she communicates with the absent members and the new city council member. Item 5.0 EXECUTIVE SESSION as authorized by section 551.086 of the Local Government Code regarding Economic Development, to-wit: Item 5.1: A. To deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect. There was no executive session. Item 5.2: Consideration of appropriate action to be taken as a result of executive session: No action was taken. preSi=: ~ the 4A board at 9:42 PO'ff ~ -r. ~~ Cindi Lane Robert E. Norris Economic Development Specialist President I EDC Minutes September 7,2005, Page 5