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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/23/98 EDC MINUTES THE COLONY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MEETING MARCH 23, 1998 THE COLONY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CONFERENCE ROOM Dr. Richard Seidler called the meeting to order at 1:07 p.m. Present were: Jorge Diaz Randy Robinson John Gordon Richard Seidler Staff Present: Betty McKean, Director of Economic Development Wanda Blank, Administrative Assistant The first order of business was to seek approval of the Contract with the Economic Development Director. Betty McKean presented the agreement changes as noted in Exhibit lB. If the Board accepts the changes as stated in the letter, it well be an addendum to the Agreement until redone. Dr. Seidler asked for questions. Betty explained the history of her employment with The City of The Colony and her obligations as an independent contractor. The motion was made by Randy Robinson to approve and accept the Contract with minor changes as noted. Jorge Diaz seconded the motion and it was carried by those members present. The interim funding agreement was then discussed. Jorge Diaz made the motion to accept this agreement to interim funding authorizing the President to sign this document and enter into an agreement with the City for funding of EDC. Randy Robinson seconded the motion. Details of the agreement will be in a separate document at a later date. The Budget Workshop scheduled for March 25 will help to finalize the interim funding for EDC. The letters of March 24 and March 16 regarding answers and questions to reimbursements to the City were briefly discussed. Once a final budget is adopted, reimbursement will be definitely outlined in terms of percentages. Jorge Diaz amended his motion to state: We direct the President of the Board to present the interim funding agreement along with the Interim Budget Plan to the City. The motion was seconded by Randy Robinson and it was carded. Item #4 on the Resolution was then discussed. A question concerning the last paragraph was introduced. Then it was questioned if we needed a resolution at all. Betty stated that we presented a Draft of the Resolution to City Council at the last meeting but the Board had not acted upon that Draft as an adoption. The Board decided that this resolution was a redundancy and Randy Robinson made a motion to withdraw the resolution because the previous motion covers it all. Jorge Diaz seconded this motion and it was carried. Item #5 regarding purchases was then discussed. It was brought to the Board's attention that the City refused to pay for certain expenses incurred by the EDC. Betty drew the attention of the Board to item 1 A, paragraph 3 entitled Independent Contractor Status which covers these expenses. This contract is still in effect until March 24, 1998. It was decided that Dr. Seidler would meet with the City Manager regarding the reason the City doesn't want to pay the invoices sent to City Hall. Dr. Seidler will also determine the status of equipment donated by Southwestern Bell. Randy Robinson made the motion to direct Dr. Seidler to meet with the City Manager and get clarification on equipment inventory as well as the reason for not paying the submitted invoices. He will also request the City Manager to respond to these questions in writing. Jorge Diaz seconded the motion and it was carried. The purchase of equipment for the EDC office was then discussed. Approximately $4500 is needed to adequately equip the office at this time and the process to be followed is within the guidelines. After a brief discussion of what was the minimum on which the EDC could operate, the Board decided on three items -- computer, laser printer and dictation equipment. Jorge Diaz made the motion to approve purchase of the 3 items subject to either interim funding provided by the City or another source. Randy seconded the motion and it was carded. The purchase of TexLan aerial photos was then discussed. It was believed that the City was to pay for half of this purchase but EDC has received nothing in writing. The Budget is not in place at this time so the Board decided to table this proposition until after the Budget Workshop on Wednesday. Item #2A concerning the Interim Budget was then discussed. The COG (Council of Governments) intern is the only employee after today at 5 PM if we don't get funding. The Budget will be discussed at greater length on Wednesday where item #2C will be discussed further. Item #6 on the agenda of the Joint Meeting with City Council on April 13th was the next item of business. Dr. Seidler had some preliminary ideas on matters to be discussed. He stated that these were simply "raw comments" and could be refined. They included: 1. What is the philosophy of EDC with City Council? 2. How do we overlap programs (target items)? 2 3. Recognition and credit for Council and EDC 4. Power and Control 5. Logistics/Structure (Together/Independent - Facilities) 6. Budget Briefing - Status 7. Reporting Issues 8. Calendar 9. Liaison 10. Communication Conflicts - How do we handle conflict resolution? 11. Public Relations stance 12. Electric - Strategic Planning Workshop Operations Logistics (item #7) were presented for discussion. Dr. Seidler asked for a logistics committee and Jorge Diaz agreed to serve. He also said he would ask John Gordon to serve with him. [John left the meeting early] Regarding item #8, Jorge Diaz expressed extreme displeasure with the Mayor on her actions at the March 19th Workshop meeting held with City Council. Randy Robinson motioned to adjourn and Jorge Diaz seconded the motion. The meeting concluded at 2:55 PM ~~ Richard//A. Seidler, President ATTEST: Wanda Blank, Recording Secretary (Ms. Blank left employment with the EDC before minutes could be signed.)