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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/08/09 EDCCITY OF THE COLONY DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS JULY 8, 2009 The Regular Session of The Colony Economic Development Corporation of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on the 8th day of July 2009, at City Hall, 6800 Main Street, The Colony, Texas, with the following roll call: Tom Tvardzik President Present Kevin Braby Vice President Present David Peerson Treasurer Present David Smith Secretary Present (arrived 7:08 p.m.) Femi Omonije Member at Large Present Perry Schrag Council Liaison Present (arrived 7:12 p.m.) Tom Terrall Staff Present Cindi Lane Staff Present Joe McCourry Mayor Present 1.0 ROUTINE ANNOUNCEMENTS; RECOGNITIONS: Call To Order: - President Tom Tvardzik called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag: - President Tvardzik led in the Pledge of Allegiance. Announcement of upcoming events and activities' New Developments: Mr. Terrall announced that a new restaurant is moving into the former Daily Grind retail space in Austin Ranch called McSwiggans Irish Pub and a medical company called New Hope Bariatrics has been issued a certificate of occupancy for part of the two story building on Standridge and Memorial. The delicatessen in Wal-Mart is getting remodeled. 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) 2.3 Acceptance of tax allocation summary for June (Terrall) 1 These items are strictly public service announcements. No action will be taken and no direction will be given regarding these items. 2.4 Marketing update, website statistics, and print advertising (Lane) 2.5 Approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting June 10, 2009 (Terrall) 2.6 Acceptance of quarterly report to City Manager (Terrall) Mr. Peerson asked for Item 2.5 to be pulled since he was absent for the June meeting and had to abstain from voting on that item. President Tvardzik said he would move that item to 3.6 so it could be voted on separately. Mr. Peerson made a motion to accept the remainder of the consent agenda as presented. Mr. eraby seconded the motion and all members voted in favor. 3.0 REGULAR AGENDA 3.1 Discussion with Mayor McCourry regarding general policies and methods the board and the city use to recruit new businesses, and promoting future development (McCourry): Mayor McCourry thanked the board for allowing him to come to their meeting and talk about the council's vision for the future of the city and the role that the 4A board takes regarding that. He said that he would be open to having a joint meeting with council if still needed and welcomed the 4A board's feedback. Mayor McCourry said that the residential portion of the city is almost built out and now is the time to focus on the commercial business sites. He explained how important it is to get in the door of the decision-makers, such as was done with Edward Don and really think "out of the box" to get creative and get the attention to bring businesses of all sizes to The Colony. Mayor McCourry recommended that the 4A board and especially the staff continue to work and communicate with the planning department to be on the same page so that when a potential business comes or is recruited to the city the process is as smooth as possible to create a more successful transition for the business. He also requested that when new businesses are recruited he would like for the boards to work for the city as a whole, not just what 4A can or cannot do. He said he would like to challenge the 4A board and staff to think of a way to bring 10 new businesses to The Colony. He suggested as businesses in other cities are visited or patronized to talk with them and see if they are willing to open a second or additional store in The Colony. He asked the board to think about how they can work with and communicate with other boards. He said that the council will partner with the 4A board to help become successful. The mayor emphasized that he would like to see the staff within the planning and EDC departments work together to make it more streamlined for the incoming business. Council member Schrag said that historically the EDC staff has helped the incoming company, step by step through the process. Mr. Terrall said that he normally meets with the planner and discusses a potential company to make sure the correct zoning is in place and the company is a good fit for a particular site they are seeking. Mayor McCourry also discussed the changeover process of hiring a new city manager and economic development director. He asked the board to think about looking at the EDC Minutes July 8, 2009, Page 2 job description and qualifications to see if anything should be tweaked and he would like the board to be an integral part of the changeover process. He said that Tony Johnston is spearheading the effort and may use a recruiting firm since there are three major positions open. Council member Schrag said that he thought it would be best for the EDC director to come from within Texas with a vast knowledge of the Texas 4A rules and regulations. Mayor McCourry said that by January there could be a lot of movement because many city managers are getting ready to retire. He would rather have someone from within surrounding communities but that may not pan out. A professional head hunter would have the resources and know who would be qualified outside the area. President Tvardzik thanked Mayor McCourry for his input and guidance. 3.2 Treasurer report (Peerson): Mr. Peerson explained the Statement of Revenues and Expenditures for the quarter ending March 30, 2009. He discussed the year to date percentages and said that most of them were in line with the fiscal year except for two line items, the Transfers to U.F. Spec Cap and the Transfers to General Fund Special Cap. He had asked Mr. Terrall about it and found out that the budget numbers were changed due to the payment of $1.6 million for the Austin Ranch infrastructure and the median cut and left turn into the Wal-Mart parking lot. Mr. Peerson said that the budget shows the EDC to spend $3.5 million and that is what is getting spent. Also attached was the balance sheet. The board had no questions. Mr. Smith made a motion to accept the report as presented, Mr. eraby seconded the motion and all members voted in favor. 3.3 Discussion and appropriate action regarding the approval of The Colony Economic Development Corporation 2009-2010 budget (Terrall): Mr. Terrall explained the memo regarding the amount of money used for the Austin Ranch infrastructure that was in this year's budget but not next year's. He also explained that revenue items come from the finance department and go to the city council. He said he had not received any questions from the board regarding the budget prior to this meeting. There are not any significant changes from last year to this year and historically the budget is not reviewed at the board meetings line by line. He also explained that extra dollars are budgeted in case an opportunity comes up during the year that was not known during the budget process, but just because money is budgeted does not mean that is necessarily used. If it is not used then the dollars go to the bottom line and stay in place for the future. This budget has been reviewed by the city manager and both Mr. Terrall and Mr. Cheatham recommend that it be approved by the 4A board and taken to council for approval as presented. Mr. Terrall also explained the 10% marketing rule and reserve for the marketing line. Mr. Peerson made a motion to accept the budget as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Smith and the motion passed with all members voting in favor. EDC Minutes July 8, 2009, Page 3 3.4 Update of economic development discussion which took place at the June 17, 2009 council work session (Terrall): Mr. Terrall said that Mayor McCourry said earlier in the meeting that he wanted to challenge the board and staff of economic development to fill 10 commercial vacancies. Mr. Terrall said that he uses the Dallas Chamber, state of Texas, and many other events to focus brokers and developers attention toward The Colony. The EDC subscribes to a property database program called Xceligent that emails Dallas area brokers' requests for industrial, office and retail space. Mr. Terrall said he included in the council's packet a report on leads and a report from a survey he compiled of local shopping center landlords to find out what, if anything, the city could do to help improve their occupancy rates. Most landlords said that offering a tax abatement on personal property probably would not help in most cases. In general he received compliments on the work the EDC is doing to try to connect the tenants with the brokers/tenant representatives. They discussed the economy, lease rates and permitting process. Subsequent to the council meeting Mr. Braby emailed Mr. Terrall with an idea of structuring a tax abatement on occupancy percentage. The idea would need to be tweaked to fit a tracking process but Mr. Terrall thought it was an excellent idea. 3.5 Discussion of moving the September board meeting from September 9 to September 16 in order to attend NTCAR DFW Retail Trends Conference & Deal Making Session (Terrall): Mr. Terrall wanted the board to be aware of this conference and trade show happening the same day and early evening of the September board meeting. The board agreed that moving the September meeting one week later would be fine. 3.6 Approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting June 10, 2009 (Terrall): President Tvardzik moved this item down from the consent agenda in order for the board to approve the other consent agenda items since Mr. Peerson was not in attendance at the June meeting. Mr. eraby made a motion to accept this item as presented. David Smith seconded the motion and all members voted in favor except for Mr. Peerson who abstained. 4.1 Executive Session Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.087 Deliberation regarding economic development incentive for QuickTrip Convenience Store. President Tvardzik took the board into executive session at 7:52 p.m. 4.2 Action resulting from executive session: Approval of incentives offered to QuickTrip Convenience Store. President Tvardzik reconvened the meeting at 8:24 p.m. Mr. Peerson made a motion to approve drafting an agreement between The Colony Economic Development Corporation and QuickTrip Convenience Store to pay for a maximum of 50% of EDC Minutes July 8, 2009, Page 4 the actual cost of a traffic light and not to exceed $80,000. The motion was seconded by Mr. eraby. The motion carried with all members voting in favor except for President Tvardzik who was opposed. ADJOURNMENT: President Tvardzik adjourned the meeting at 8:27 p.m. Cindi Lane Tom Tvardzik Recording Secretary President EDC Minutes July 8, 2009, Page 5