HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/10/08 EDC
MINUTES
THE COLONY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM
SEPTEMBER 10,2008
The Regular Session of The Colony Economic Development Corporation of the City of
The Colony. Texas. was called to order at 7:03 p.m. on the lOth day of September 2008.
at the City Hall conference room with the following roll call:
Board Members:
Bob Norris. President
Rick Casterline. Vice President
Tom Tvardzik. Treasurer
Kevin Braby. Member at Large
Absent (business)
Present
Present
Present
Staff Members Present:
Tom Terral!. Director of Economic Development
Cindi Lane. Economic Development Specialist
Gordon Scruggs. City Engineer
Council Liaison:
Perry Schrag
Absent
With three voting members present at 7:03 p.m.. a quorum was established and the
following items were addressed:
Item 1.1. Pledge of Allegiance: Vice President Rick Casterline led in the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Item 4.2. Update and discussion on Austin Ranch infrastructure project: Mr. Terrall
asked if this item could be moved up since Gordon Scruggs was present and was
giving a presentation. Mr. Scruggs gave a presentation of the current status of this
project. He showed a timeline of the project stating that so far every milestone has
been accomplished ahead of or on schedule. The escrow agreement and the plans
for the lift station need to be finalized. The cost estimate is $2.9 million and
currently the project is $2.8 million (about $150.000 under projection) so far. The
board had a question about the swap with Carrollton causing any impact and Mr.
Scruggs said that it did not. The board also wanted to know if Billingsley has
deposited his portion of the cost of the project in escrow and Mr. Scruggs said that
he has not yet. but the attorneys are working on the escrow agreement and should
have the details sorted out soon. Hopefully in the next two weeks the City will
have it worked out with the contracts coming in.
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. Treasurer report
g. Update of Memorial Dr. median cut at Wal-Mart
h. NT CAR Trade Expo August 28
i. NAIOP golf tournament September 9
j. Relocation of utilities underground on Main St.
(a) Mr. Terral I said that nothing has changed. no major entries were made
through July 31 st. Sales tax was a little higher than anticipated for August. For the
fiscal year the revenue is approximately $55.000 ahead of projection. (b) The
graph illustrates that each month the revenue has been greater than previous years.
(c) The allocation summary reports that The Colony sales tax is approximately
2.25% higher than August last year and about 5.55% higher for the calendar year.
(d) Mr. Terrall said that according to the Director of Development Services there
is no new development news to report from the planning department. (e) Ms.
Lane reported the website statistics, brought the new aerial for the board to see.
mentioned that the website information is being updated, and showed the board
the give-a-ways for the two tradeshows and two golf tournaments. (f) Tom
Tvardzik reported the total revenue and expenditures to date as of June 30, 2008.
He also brought copies of the balance sheet showing that all line items are in
balance with the budget. Mr. Tvardzik passed out copies of '"A financial
Analysfs Toolkit" and "Creating an Economic Development Policy." The
Analysfs Toolkit article explains the role of economic development as it pertains
to the impact of a business to the City in which it resides. Mr. Tvardzik also
suggested that for the future agendas, items within the consent agendas that are
supported by back up materials included in the packet should be separated from
other reports so as to save time during the meeting to approve multiple items that
need no explanation or discussion from the other items. (g) Mr. Terrall said that
he discussed with Mr. Cheatham the protocol of starting on the Memorial Drive
median cut without having approval from the council. Mr. Cheatham sent an
email to council for the city to start preliminary work to see if anyone had any
objections. He received no objections from council. A budget and timeline for the
project is in process. (h) Mr. Terrall reported that the NTCAR Trade Expo was the
largest held since The Colony EDC began participating six or seven years ago.
There were approximately 1,300 attendees registered before the tradeshow and
300 walk-in attendees. There were about 147 exhibitors. The booth was extremely
busy the entire evening and almost all the give-a-ways were given out by the end
EDC Minutes September 10. 2008. Page 2
of the evening. The new aerials were very popular as well. The Colony EDC
booth collected approximately 100 business cards and many more visitors than
that came by. It was a very successful evening. (i) Mr. Terrall said that it was a
rugged day with all the rain. There were approximately 120 golfers at the
beginning of the day but several left after a couple of hours of rain. There were an
estimated 65-80 golfers at the end of the day. The dinner was great. During the
day there were many comments and compliments regarding remembering The
Colony and our sponsorship. Mr. Terrall got a chance to speak at the dinner. He is
working on changing the MOU to continue to sponsor the tournament at The
Tribute for another five years. Mr. Terrall said he thought it is well worth the time
and money. CD Mr. Terrall said that he spoke with the city engineer about placing
the electric lines under the ground along Main Street. The city engineer thought it
would take between $5-$10 million dollars (closer to $10 million) to complete
that job. He thought it would be crowded and possibly not enough room to run all
the extra lines and cables with insulation in between. Mr. Casterline had several
questions so Mr. Terrall said he would have further discussion with the city
engineer and bring the answers back to the board.
2.2. Approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting August 13, 2008: Vice
President Casterline asked if there were any corrections. changes or additions that
anyone would like to make. Tom Tvardzik made a motion to approve the minutes
as presented. Mr. Braby seconded and the motion carried with all members voting
in favor.
3.0 PUBLIC COMMENTS
Item 3.1 Public Input: There was no public input.
4.0 REGULAR AGENDA
Item 4.1. Update and discussion regarding use of The Colony EDC funds for City
projects: Mr. Terrall said that since the August 4A board meeting a list of
possible assistance from the EDC fund was provided to him. A draft list was
created by an engineer that was hired by the city. Mr. Terrall has reviewed the
draft along with the public works director and the city engineer. The list focused
on debt payment projects. Mr. Terrall said that he needs to have another meeting
with the city engineer and the public works director including the consultant to
understand the data and methodology and ask questions. It seems that some items
on the list were based on trip data, commercial verses residential. Mr. Terrall still
does not have a report with number of dollars requested. Mr. Casterline asked Mr.
Terrall to check with the council about the need for4A funds since the ad valorem
tax dollars to the City came back higher than expected. The other board members
present concurred with the request.
EDC Minutes September 10,2008, Page 3
EXECUTIVE SESSION
5.1. The Economic Development Corporation shall convene into closed executive
session pursuant to Section 551.087 of the TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE to
deliberate a financial or other incentive to business prospect to locate, stay, or
expand in The City of The Colony:
The board did not have an executive session.
5.2. Any action to be taken as a result of executive session regarding financial or
other incentive to business prospect:
No action was taken.
Vice President Casterline adjourned the 4A board at 8:05 p.m.
C-/~A(~ ~~
Cindi Lane ~r1ine
Economic Development Specialist Vice President
EDC Minutes September 10.2008, Page 4