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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/05/08 EDC MINUTES THE COLONY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REGULAR BOARD MEETING CITY HAll CONFERENCE ROOM NOVEMBER 5, 2008 The Regular Session of The Colony Economic Development Corporation of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on the 5th day of November 2008, at City Hall, 6800 Main Street, The Colony, Texas, with the following roll call: Bob Norris Rick Casterline Tom Tvardzik Kevin Brady David Peerson President Vice President Treasurer Member at Large Member at Large Present (arrived at 7:10 p.m.) Present Present Present Present Perry Schrag Council Liaison Absent And with four board members present a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: [IQ] ROUTINE ANNOUNCEMENTS; RECOGNITIONS: Call To Order Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag Announcement of upcoming events and activitiesl - Welcome to new board member - David Peerson - Mr. Terrall introduced newly appointed board member David Peerson to the group. Citizen Input - none L?:-,-O~ CONSENT AGENDA 2.1 Cash flow projection (Terrall) 2.2 Monthly X cent sales tax graph (Terrall) 2.3 Tax allocation summary for October (Terrall) 2.4 Approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting October 8, 2008 (Terrall) 1 These items are strictly public service announcements. No action will be taken and no direction will be given regarding these items. Tom Tvardzik made a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented, all members voted in favor. [IQ] REGULAR AGENDA 3.1 Marketing update (Lane) Ms. Lane reviewed the website statistics and showed the board ads that were printed in Black's Guide and the Dallas Business Journal. The website updates will be implemented when the map portion is finished. The board said they would like to see marketing web stats on the consent agenda, look into sponsoring a broker's website, and look into more effective ways to spend marketing money. 3.2 Update and discussion regarding use of The Colony EDC funds for city projects (Terrall) Mr. Terrall said he was still waiting for the city to give him the list of projects report including a financial breakdown, the city attorney opinion, and the 4A attorney opinion. Dale Cheatham is calling a meeting of the city engineer, public works director, Pete Smith and Bob Hager and himself to determine what projects The Colony EDC can fund. An agreement needs to be written that encompasses the whole list and the methodology needs to be clarified. Mr. Tvardzik requested that the City's consultant come before the board and explain his methodology. 3.3 Report of ICSC Texas Dealmaking Tradeshow in San Antonio October 29-31, 2008 (Terrall) Mr. Terrall reported that The Colony EDC exhibited with the tradeshow booth and participated in some events. Attendance of exhibitors and attendees were less than previous years. The retailer round-up was held to get the correct contacts for retailers interested in moving into or expanding in Texas. There were some no-shows which was a sign of the times. Attitude was different than expected. There were many people at the EDC booth. Most retailers are saying that in immediate future nothing is going on but they are looking at the future for projects. Mr. Terrall felt that overall; it was a good tradeshow in a great booth location. Many aerial maps and business cards were distributed. Mr. Terrall emphasized how important it is for The Colony EDC to keep its presence known. 3.4 Discussion and appropriate action regarding adopting the City's investment policy for The Colony Economic Development Corporation (Board) Mr. Terrall gave history on the City's investment policy saying that it was first approved by the EDC on December 12, 2007 and with a couple of amendments approved by council September 15, 2008. The only changes that were made from last year were the date change to September 15, 2008 and that Coastal Securities was added to brokers on Page 12 of the document. Texpool Prime and Texasterm were added to the list of authorized government Pools. EDC Minutes November 5,2008, Page 2 Mr. Tvardzik made a motion to approve the City of The Colony Investment Policy. Mr. Casterline had some questions about where the money was being invested and discussed other investment possibilities. Mr. Tvardzik assured him that the funds presented in the policy are very sound funds. Mr. Peerson seconded the motion. There was further discussion. Mr. Casterline said he would like to have a finance person come to a future meeting to let us the board what they are investing in. All members voted in favor except Mr. Casterline who abstained, motion corried. 3.5 Discussion and appropriate action regarding The Colony EDC exhibiting at the CoreNet Global Summit in Dallas April 26-28, 2009 (Board) Mr. Terrall explained that in the marketing section of the budget there is money to use for an upcoming event that he would like to do but since The Colony EDC has not done this particular event before he would like to explain the event to the board. He explained that The CoreNet Global Summit in Dallas next April is one of two annual summits and moves around the country but will be in Dallas next April so many metroplex cities will exhibit there. The CoreNet Summit is more expensive than other trade shows The Colony EDC has participated in. The Greater Dallas Chamber made a deal for price reduction if a certain number of Texas-based companies participate. If CoreNet is able to get 20 booths sold in the Texas pavilion it would cost $3,500 for a 10x10 booth or $7,000 for a 10x20 booth. The board wanted to know if there would be different attendees from those exhibited to at other conferences and tradeshows. It is Mr. Terrall's opinion that probably there would be more people from around the country, not just from the metroplex. He feels that it is something we need to do and should be present. Mr. Terrall said that since it is in our back yard and our competitors will be there that it would be good for us to be there. At this point Mr. Terrall does not know who the attendees will be. Only thing he can do is wait for registration list to come out. Booth assignments start on Jan 15, and a deposit needs to be made on or before Jan 31. Motion to table by Mr. Peerson. until December to see who registers plus which other exhibitors plan to be there. Mr. Tvardzik seconded motion to table and all members voted in favor. 3.6 Discussion and appropriate action regarding agreement between City of The Colony and The Colony Economic Development Corporation for The Colony EDC to participate in the actual costs to design and construct a left turn lane, median opening and driveway modifications along Memorial Drive west of Main Street and authorization for The Colony EDC president to sign said agreement (Board) Mr. Terrall explained that he left $300,000 in the agreement but The Colony EDC will probably only end up paying approximately one half of that according to preliminary estimates. In a phone discussion with Wal-Mart they are not looking to get reimbursed the $130,000 they paid to the city for the drive that connects the Wal-Mart parking lot to Memorial Drive. Wal-Mart had a couple of stipulations that were not a problem. The agreement states that The Colony EDC is to pay actual costs, and that is what will be paid. On Article 4, Section 2, the completion date had to be moved from February 28, 2009 to April 30, 2009 because engineering will have to advertise and go out for bids. EDC Minutes November 5,2008, Page 3 That was the only change made. Mr. Terrall said he would like to maintain the $300,000 in the agreement to keep from having to make future amendments. Personnel changes have been made at Wal-Mart in Bentonville since the City's agreement to build the drive, and if they were to make another personnel change it could cause further delays by amending the agreement. The Colony EDC is only paying for the actual cost of the construction which should be approximately $150,000. Mr. Casterline made a motion to accept the economic development incentive agreement and have the president Bob Norris sign. Mr. Tvardzik seconded, all in favor. The motion passed with all members voting in favor. 3.7 Discussion and appropriate action regarding scheduling a date and time to have orientation for new 4A board members (Board) Mr. Terrall asked the board to think about this and give Ms. Lane some suggested dates, either Saturday breakfast or week night dinner meeting. The board thought it would be best to meet in January after the holidays and either chose a Tuesday or Wednesday. The orientation could be at The Tribute for dinner. Ms. Lane will bring back the possible dates to the December meeting. 3.8 Update and discussion regarding The Colony EDC's payment for Austin Ranch infrastructure (Terrall) Mr. Terrall said that the EDC payment was made on October 28 to the City. He received proof that the Billingsley money was deposited in the escrow account, proof of the wire transfer, and an email from the City confirming the amount deposited. He does not know when they will break ground, he will find out and discuss in the next board meeting. [IQIEXECUTIVE SESSION 4.1 A. Executive session Pursuant to Texas Government Code, Section 551.071 (2) Consultation with legal counsel regarding land acquisition and TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE, Section 551.072 Deliberation regarding the purchase of real property to discuss possible land acquisition within The City of The Colony The board went into executive session at 8:00 p.m. EDC Minutes November 5,2008, Page 4 Reconvene to Open Session 4.2 A. Any action to be taken as a result of executive session regarding the purchase of real property within The City of The Colony for land acquisition The executive session ended at 8:47 p.m. no action was taken. ADJOURNMENT President Norris adjourned the 4A board at 8:48 p.m. (~rrU .~ Cindi Lane Recording Secretary d~ [2~( ... , Robert E. Norris President EDC Minutes November 5,2008, Page 5