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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/11/09 EDC CITY OF THE COLONY DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS MARCH 11, 2009 The Regular Session of The Colony Economic Development Corporation of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:02 p.m. on the 11th day of March 2009, at City Hall, 6800 Main Street, The Colony, Texas, with the following roll call: Tom Tvardzik President Absent Kevin Braby Vice President Present David Peerson Treasurer Present David Smith Secretary Present Femi Omonije Member at Large Present Perry Schrag Council Liaison Absent Tom Terrall Staff Present Cindi Lane Staff Present Gordon Scruggs Staff Present Rebecca Koo Staff Present Robert McGee Consultant Present And with three board members present a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1.0 ROUTINE ANNOUNCEMENTS; RECOGNITIONS: Call To Order: - David Smith called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Kevin Braby arrived immediately after the meeting came to order and presided over the remainder of the meeting. Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag Mr. Braby led in the Pledge of Allegiance. Announcement of upcoming events and activities' Mr. Terrall had nothing to announce. Citizen Input: There was no citizen input. 2.0 CONSENT AGENDA 2.1 Acceptance of cash flow projection report (Terrall) 2.2 Acceptance of monthly % cent sales tax graph (Terrall) i These items are strictly public service announcements. No action will be taken and no direction will be given regarding these items. 2.3 Acceptance of tax allocation summary for February (Terrall) 2.4 Marketing update, website statistics, and print advertising (Lane) 2.5 Approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting February 11, 2009 (Terrall) David Peerson made a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented. David Smith seconded the motion and all members voted in favor. 3.0 REGULAR AGENDA 3.1 Update, discussion and appropriate action regarding the City's request for The Colony EDC to fund Waste Water Treatment Plant Expansion, Carrollton Water Line, and City's portion of Edward Don incentive package projects (Terrall): Mr. Terrall read the email he received from Tom Tvardzik earlier this afternoon regarding this item. President Tvardzik said he supports the city using EDC money with two caveats; he does not want to see the EDC put in the position of not having the ability to use incentives for a future project because of being under too much obligation to the city and he wants to make certain that there is some verifiable method of assessing the EDC percentage accurately when projecting costs. Mr. Terrall introduced Gordon Scruggs, City Engineer, and Rebecca Koo, Finance Director to the board. Mr. Scruggs produced a list of projects that the city has paid for that could be reimbursed by the EDC. The consultant, Robert McGee with Freese and Nichols, Inc. created the report. The report is based on projections of what is going to happen in the future as far as commercial development. The consultant looked at the City's comprehensive plan and the master plan and used the current zoning to determine the percentage of what will be future non-residential use of waste water and Carrollton water line usage. Percentages were also based on population growth projections. The percentage could be set up to be re-evaluated every five years or whenever the City's master plan is updated. The board had several questions regarding re-evaluation and numbers used to calculate percentages. Once all the questions were addressed, Rebecca Koo discussed the cost to the EDC of funding the utilities on an annual basis referring to an amortization schedule included in the packet. She said that the maximum that the EDC would pay annually would be approximately $307,000 and that the annual interest percentage rate on the bond payments is based on one issuance at an interest rate of 4.36% which is a very low rate. Mr. Terrall said that initially there was another item on the list but it was removed due to the completion time being more than a couple of years ago based on legal advice and the City is focusing on current projects. According to the attorney opinion, it would be legal for the EDC to reimburse the city for the incentives paid to Edward Don and it would be within the discretion of the EDC board of directors to determine to reimburse the city or pay a portion of the costs for the Carrollton water line and the water treatment plant expansion. Mr. Terrall said what he would like tonight is for the board to vote to move forward so he could have the attorney write an agreement which would come to next month's meeting including everything the board discussed. Mr. Braby EDC Minutes March 11, 2009, Page 2 asked how this assistance to the city compares with the amount of revenue that would be lost if the council had decided to have the city vote on reallocation of sales tax. Mr. Terrall said that based on revenue projections the EDC is losing less revenue this way, plus they have more control deciding on direct projects and set payments. Mr. Scruggs said that as long as the city is not changing the non-residential zoning the forecast of percentage for utilities should balance out. The board had concerns about keeping control by including provisions in the agreement, when to re-evaluate, the ability to make adjustments in the future, and safeguards. Mr. Terrall assured them that all their concerns would be protected in the agreement. Mr. Terrall addressed the third item on the list, which is for the EDC to reimburse the city for their portion of the sales tax rebate to Edward Don and the amount of ad valorem tax abatement. Looking back there is little data to project from. Mr. Terrall suggested using a 3% increase to estimate future dollars. The EDC would in effect, give back 100% of what is being received to the city plus the amount of ad valorem dollars relinquished by the city. Mr. Terrall said he is looking for a motion to move forward, prepare an agreement between the EDC and the city to reimburse the city for the utility payments that were presented and to reimburse the city for their portion of the Edward Don incentive agreement. Next month the board would agree to accept the agreement. Mr. Peerson requested the EDC attorney be present at the next meeting to discuss the agreement. Mr. Peerson made a motion to move forward, prepare an agreement between The Colony EDC and the city to reimburse the city for the utility payments that were presented and to reimburse the city for their portion of the Edward Don incentive package. Mr. Smith seconded the motion and all members voted in favor. 3.2 Update on Memorial Drive left turn lane (Terrall): Mr. Terrall said that the turn lane is now completed. 3.3 Update and discussion regarding Austin Ranch infrastructure (Terrall): Mr. Terrall said that he expects everything to be completed by mid-summer. 3.4 Discussion and appropriate action regarding the development of a conceptual plan and rendering for vacant properties in The Colony (Smith): Mr. Smith said that he wanted to discuss with the board some ideas about how to market to developers to make them want to build projects with The Colony residents' visions. He suggested having a rendering made of a vision of what the board would like to see to be developed along S.H. 121 and present it to a retailer, restaurant, or office developer so they can envision what their business would look like around some other developments in our city. Mr. Terrall said he did some homework and spoke with a friend who is an architect he sees at various real estate functions. This architect gave him a ballpark estimate of $3,800 - $4,800 for a color rendering per site. He partners with a former Billingsley colleague who could do a study to see what would be practical for a site. The consultant EDC Minutes March 11, 2009, Page 3 study would range in cost from $16,000 - $24,000. There are also other consultants the EDC has used recently who may be able to do a study of this nature. A reservation that Mr. Terrall has is that developers he has encountered have their own products they have done in other locations. They always present their version and try to find out if it would work in our city. It is rare that he runs across a developer who asks what our vision is and will build it for us. Citizen Bart Ripperger suggested a possible 3-D animation of a project being built from the ground up and sitting among other developments in the city. Mr. Terrall said the next step would be for the architect to come to a meeting and bring samples of their work, plus get in touch with the consultant we have previously used for other projects to come and make a presentation. The board seemed to be in favor of this idea because it is a unique way to market and our city needs a vision to market. Mr. Terrall said he would like to run this idea by the city manager to see if there are any potential issues. Mr. Peerson said this idea could also be run by the 4B board and the parks and recreation department to generate a cohesive feel. The 3-D or rendering could be displayed at our booth during trade shows. It could also be added to the website. Mr. Terrall reminded the board that there is a limit of spending no more than 10% of revenue for marketing expenses. Mr. Terrall said he would ask the city manager if the council needs input on this. He said he feels like he has direction from the board and no action would be needed at this time. He will have a consultant come to the next meeting to present what they can do and the costs. He will also talk to Pam Nelson to see if the Community Development Corporation and/or Parks and Recreation would be interested in cooperating. 3.5 Discussion and appropriate action regarding publishing an online newsletter (Peerson): Mr. Peerson explained that he received an email from resident Lisa Leary regarding having a form of an economic development newsletter either available to read on the website or sent out to individuals who subscribe for it. She forwarded him a newsletter from Flower Mound. He does not know anything about the cost or amount of time it would take to create one, but he wanted to bring the suggestion to the board for their input. Mr. Terrall said that some topics in the Flower Mound newsletter are already published in The Colony Connection, a local quarterly publication. The Colony also has an online subscription list whereby residents can receive bulletins. Out of 13,000 dwellings, there are 484 subscribers for the email news blast. He feels that The Colony Connection might be better for communication because it is delivered to every household, it is uploaded onto the city's website and there is no subscription required. Mr. Terrall said that the base information is covered already, less the operational topics such as what meetings he has attended. If the board feels that type of information would be useful to the public he can include it as part of the other information already supplied to The Colony Connection. Because of their location and size, Flower Mound is more active than The Colony thus they have more to report; it is a larger city with more things happening. It would be difficult for The Colony to have enough new material to write a monthly newsletter. Several board members agreed. He said that topics such as the opening of our two new hotels and flex space leased have been reported in The Colony Connection. There was discussion of also including information of local EDC Minutes March 11, 2009, Page 4 businesses' charitable activities in the community although it would be time-consuming to gather that information. The board members realized that the research and information gathering could be time-consuming and difficult to obtain. They were also concerned that one or more companies could get left out inadvertently. One possibility could be to contact the chamber to see what knowledge they might have of local businesses community involvement. Mr. Terrall said he would like to check to see about the layout issue to possibly change the format rather than to invent another venue for communicating at this time. 3.6 Discussion and appropriate action regarding increasing electric capacity in Stewart Creek Park (Peerson): Mr. Terrall first reported that in President Tvardzik's email he said that he concurred with the attorney regarding the park enhancement. According to the attorney, The Colony EDC is not legally able to participate in that type of project. Under the Development Corporation Act, 4A corporations are not allowed to incentivize enhancing a city park. Mr. Terrall suggested to Mr. Ripperger gathering sponsorships from local businesses as a possible way to finance this project. Another idea was to ask Pam Nelson if the hotel and motel tax dollars could be used. ADJOURNMENT Vice President Braby adjourned the meeting at 8:33 p.m. Cindi Lane Kevin Braby Recording Secretary Vice President EDC Minutes March 11, 2009, Page 5