HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/14/09 EDC
CITY OF THE COLONY
DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS
OCTOBER 14, 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 14th day of October 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 Absent
David Smith Secretary Present
Femi Omonije Member at Large Present
Perry Schrag Council Liaison Present
Keri Samford Staff Present
Cindi Lane Staff Present
Greg Vick Interim Assistant City Manager 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: Ms. Samford first introduced the new Interim Assistant City
Manager, Greg Vick to the board. Then she said that according to the planning
department there are several business coming to The Colony. She listed Centro,
a Mexican restaurant, a television repair shop, an internet provider, an auto
repair shop, an air conditioning shop, a car audio installation shop, a promotions
store, and the New Hope Bariatrics medical company.
Board booklets on parliamentary procedure from City Secretary: Ms. Lane
handed each board member a copy of the Parliamentary Procedure. President
Tvardzik said that these are the Roberts Rules of Order and suggested that the
board look at their earliest convenience. Ms. Samford said there were a few
changes made to the board procedures that were handed out at last month's
meeting and she would make sure the latest changes were given to all board
members.
1 These items are strictly public service announcements. No action will be taken and no direction will be given regarding these
items.
List of current available properties: Ms. Samford explained that there is a listing
of properties available from the EDC website and in the EDC office. There is also
a portfolio of retail flyers that are brought to tradeshows attended by EDC staff.
President Tvardzik suggested having a listing available in a excel spreadsheet
format for board members and online.
Citizen Input: There was no citizen input.
2.0 CONSENT AGENDA
2.1 Acceptance of cash flow projection report
2.2 Acceptance of monthly % cent sales tax graph
2.3 Acceptance of tax allocation summary for September
2.4 Marketing update, website statistics, and print advertising
2.5 Approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting September 16, 2009
No items were pulled.
Mr. Smith made a motion to accept all items on the consent agenda as presented. Mr. Braby
seconded the motion and all members voted in favor.
3.0 REGULAR AGENDA
3.1 Discussion regarding communication model for the 4A Corporation Board (Samford):
Ms. Samford wanted the board to know that staff is here for open communication and
transparency. She said she wants the board to know what is going on every step of the
way. She will keep President Tvardzik up-to-date on everything that is happening and
will communicate to the board at their monthly meetings. If there is anything they want
to find out before the next meeting they are encouraged to either contact President
Tvardzik, Ms. Lane or herself. She will bring any projects currently being worked on to
each board meeting and discuss the negotiations in the executive session part of the
meeting. The 4A attorney agreed that this approach is legal. Mr. Smith said that he
appreciated receiving the Pizza Inn email from Ms. Samford and that it was nice to have
the information.
3.2 Discussion and presentation regarding retail marketing campaign (Samford): Ms.
Samford explained the marketing piece she created for her previous employer and said
that she was asked to do something similar for The Colony. She explained what the
retail marketing card is and that about 12,000 cards would go out to all homes and
businesses in The Colony in the water bill. The card is perforated and can be taken apart
as two business cards. The resident can pass the card to the manager of the retail
EDC Minutes October 14, 2009, Page 2
establishment that they would like to have in The Colony. She would like to have 15,000
cards printed so that there would be extra cards for distribution. She passed around a
mock-up card of what it would look like for The Colony. The Tribute and Austin Ranch
will allow their photos to be printed on the card. The cost would be about $2,000 to
print the cards plus up to $1,500 more if the additional weight would increase the
postage. President Tvardzik said he thought it would be a good idea to generate a
marketing card to market The Colony and let people know that the EDC is here and still
trying to bring businesses to the city. Ms. Samford said it also allows everyone to
become a part of the marketing effort if they chose to participate. There was discussion
about how to make it interesting and worthwhile for residents to participate. The
timeline for distributing the cards was also discussed. It was the consensus of the board
to move ahead with this project.
3.3 Discussion regarding the ICSC Conference and Trade Show Nov. 2-4 (Samford): Ms.
Samford announced that the EDC will have their booth at the trade show and it will be
assembled on Monday and the trade show will open on Tuesday, run all day, and half of
the day on Wednesday. Ms. Samford will participate in the Retailer Roundup, which
provides an opportunity to meet the retailers of businesses who are looking to expand
in Texas and pick up their business cards.
3.4 Update on status of DBSI property (Samford): Ms. Samford said that she talked to a
representative at Transwestern who is representing DBSI's sites in The Colony. DBSI has
filed Chapter 11 and has gone into bankruptcy. There are a total of three parcels and the
middle one is not in bankruptcy but the other two are. Transwestern said they have
brought eight offers to DBSI and all eight were refused. The code enforcement
department is also trying to find out who the trustee of the parcels are because of the
high weeds and other code violations but have been unsuccessful so far. They are in the
process of hiring a contractor to clean up the site, mow and level some of the mounds.
Mr. Vick explained how difficult it can be when a city tries to find the responsible party
for such a case but normally the city will lose the money spent on the clean up since it is
difficult to place a lien on the proper responsible party. President Tvardzik asked to be
kept informed on what happens with the site.
3.5 Update on status of permanent economic development director hiring process
(Samford): Ms. Samford said that the human resource department is handling the
advertising and the process of taking in the applications. She explained that the person
being hired will be a city employee. There is an ad currently running in the local paper,
on the city website, on the Texas Economic Development Council website, and the
Southern Economic Development Council website. There are 18 applications turned in
so far and most applicants are located within the State of Texas or the metroplex area.
The position will close on October 22"d. Mr. Omonije and Mr. Smith are on the
committee to review the applications and recommend their top five to seven to Mr.
Johnston. Mr. Omonije said he would like to have the weekend of October 24-25 to
review the applications before he meets with Mr. Smith. They plan to meet the week of
EDC Minutes October 14, 2009, Page 3
November 1-7 to narrow down the applications. They would like to bring the top
applications to the November board meeting.
4.1 Executive Session Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.087 Deliberation
regarding economic development incentive for:
Project CS, Project LLM, Project TF, Project GRI
The board went into executive session at 7:50 p.m.
Reconvene to Open Session
4.2 Action resulting from executive session regarding:
Project CS
Project LLM
Project TF
Project GRI
Reconvene to Open Session: The board came out of executive session at 8:12 p.m. There was
no action taken.
ADJOURNMENT:
President Tvardzik adjourned the meeting at 8:12 p.m.
Cindi Lane Tom`Tvardzik
Recording Secretary President
EDC Minutes October 14, 2009, Page 4