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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/24/1996 MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BOARD MEETING SEPTEMBER 24, 1996 6:30 p.m. CITY HALL CLASS ROOM Present: Board Gary McClure, President John Dillard, Council Member Mary Watts, Council Member Ronnie Fischer Rick Manser Tommy Thompson Consultant Worth Blake, Worth Blake & Associates Staff Dennis Watson, Staff Liaison Absent Jerry Sebastian 1. CALL TO ORDER Mr. McClure called the meeting to order at 6:36 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 8/27,9/10, AND 9/17 EDC MEETINGS Ms. Watts made a motion to approve the Minutes of the 9/10 and 9/17 meetings, and postpone approval of 8/27 Minutes subject to her review of the tape of that meeting. 4. ELECTION OF VICE PRESIDENT OF THE EDC BOARD Ms. Watts nominated Tommy Thompson. The nomination was seconded and approved unanimously by the Board. 5. CONFIRMATION OF EDC BOARD'S RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY MANAGER FOR SECURING A 99-YEAR LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE CORP. AND THE EDC BOARD'S INVOLVEMENT IN THE PROCESS Ms. Watts stated that if the EDC Board was to be involved in issuing revenue bonds it would be in the best interest of the city to secure a 99-year lease. Without the revenue bonds it would be in the best interest of the project, because it adds another layer of financial stability to the project. Ms. Watts stated that she would like to put in writing that any meeting in which the golf course or the lease agreement is discussed there be a member of the Board be present. Mr. McClure stated that at meeting on August 27, he did not believe that definite direction was given on securing a 99-year lease. The purpose of this agenda item is to give the City Manager final direction on securing a 99-year lease and to have a member of the Board present at all fixture meetings regarding the negotiation of the lease agreement and the golf course project. Ms. Watts stated that if the Board is going to be proactive they must find a way for at least one of the seven Board members to attend the negotiations. Mr. Watson asked what role the Board envisioned Matthews Southwest playing this process? Mr. McClure stated that any conversation from this point forward should be focused on securing a 99-year lease. Mr. Manser stated that his understanding was that anything over a 25-year lease would have to be cleared through Washington DC Mr. Manser stated that maybe the Board is not talking to the right people. Ms. Watts stated that this has been her contention for the past three years. The City has repeatedly attempted to work with the Fort Worth office of the Corps. to implement economic development policies on the lake, and the City has consistently been frustrated in their efforts. She suggested meeting with Representative Armey's office here and meeting with Corps. representatives in Washington in order to accomplish goals. Ms. Watts stated that the EDC needs to go in and negotiate from a position of strength and request the maximum lease term from the beginning. Mr. Manser agreed with working through Representative Armey's office, but he did not think it would be wise to take a confrontational approach with the Corps. He suggested letting Corps. representatives know that the EDC is aware that there is nothing prohibiting the Corps. from agreeing to a 99-year lease. Mr. McClure stated that the way he would go about the process is to allow the City Manager to do his job and to give him clear direction as to the length of lease that they would like to secure; have the City Manager develop a plan to obtain a 99-year lease and if that includes going to Washington then he will agree. Ms. Watts stated that she believed that if the issue concerned EDC issued revenue bonds, then the EDC and not the City Manager should do the negotiating. Discussion on this issue followed. Mr. McClure asked the question if the EDC can negotiate the length of the lease, what is prohibiting Matthews Southwest from negotiating the length the lease? Isn't a municipality required to secure a lease of this nature? Mr. McClure stated that the Corps. would have to deal with the City and not the EDC. Mr. McClure stated that the EDC should be present at any meetings, giving their suggestions and inputs but the City should be ones doing the negotiating. Ms. Watts suggested that if the City will be negotiating then perhaps the Mayor should be the lead negotiator. Mr. McClure stated that this was a possibility, but he did not have a problem with the City Manager representing the City in the negotiation process. Mr. Thompson stated that somewhere along the line there has been some miscommunication. He stated that the Board wants to ensure what they believe they need and what is being negotiated is the same thing. Ms. Watts stated that this is the last chance to negotiate a long term lease with the Corps. Mr. Thompson agreed and stated the Board is afraid that they will be locked into a 50-year lease agreement and this may be the death of the entire project. Ms. Watts stated again that if the Fort Worth office of the Corps. is unable to provide the City with a long term lease agreement that she did not feel the Board should be working through them. Mr. McClure stated that he was unsure of the policies and procedures to follow when dealing with the Corps. Mr. McClure wanted to know if the Board should alienate the Fort Worth office of the Corps. in its negotiation process. Mr. Manser suggested first pursuing the issue through the Fort Worth office and if they could not make a long term lease agreement happen, then ask them what is the next step in the process. Mr. Fischer stated that the Board should be careful in how it handles the situation because there will be other things the Board may want from the Fort Worth office such as the Bay Marina.' Discussion on this issue followed. Mr. Watson asked in the scenario that the Board is proposing who would take the lead role? Mr. McClure stated that he felt the lease negotiation process should be conducted with the City. He did not feel that the EDC should circumvent the City. Ms. Watts stated that this should be a joint effort between the EDC and the City. Mr. McClure stated that the EDC should take the lead in pushing the City along in the process. Ms. Watts stated that she would be in favor of a tandem approach, because the lease has to be through the City; but the issuing of revenue bonds would be the responsibility of the EDC. Mr. Thompson stated that because of the lengthy discussion that has occurred on this issue and the Board not knowing all the details of the negotiation process, he believed Mr. Watson and Mr. Smith would be in the best position to jointly come up with a letter from the City to the Corps; Mr. Watson knowing what the Board is looking for and passing this information on to Mr. Smith. Mr. Watson suggested a meeting with himself, Mr. Smith and a Board member to avoid the problem of miscommunication and to allow the Board to relay all its concerns. Ms. Watts stated that she felt Mr. Smith should be in attendance to answer the questions the Board has raised. She stated the Board would be agreeable to meeting with Mr. Smith to discuss the Board's request. Ms. Watts stated that to avoid miscommunication she felt that the Board's requests should be in writing with very definitive parameters. The Board felt that in order to move along the process of the lease negotiation at a more accelerated pace there should be two letters written; one by the EDC addressed to the Mayor to inform the City of the EDC's desires based on the discussion in this meeting and one by the City addressed to the Corps. Ms. Watts felt that the letter from the EDC should be written by a member of the EDC and be signed by the President of the Board. Mr. Manser suggested following the letters up with timely scheduled meetings, even if in an informal setting to discuss any action that needs to be taken. He again suggested following the chain of command when dealing with the Corps. Mr. McClure asked for direction from the Board on the content of the letter. Mr. Dillard stated that the letter contain the following elements: *That the negotiation process should be a joint effort between the City Manager and the EDC Board *The Board would like the City to request a 99-year lease *Submit a schedule to the City Manager to achieve this lease in a timely manner *Request a meeting with the Corps. sometime within the next month *State why it is important to obtain a 99-year lease (David Leininger presentation) A discussion followed on the subject of revenue bonds and the Boards involvement in the negotiation process. 6. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON APPROVING ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT BEING CONDUCTED BY CURA Mr. McClure stated that as he understood it, CURA was appropriated funds to complete an environmental assessment and now they are requesting for additional funds a bald-eagle habitat assessment. He wanted to be sure that this assessment was mandatory and that the agency would not continually request funds from the Board for unnecessary work to be performed. Mr. Watson stated that he had spoken with Dick Record, the CURA project manager and the assessment was required by regulatory agencies. Mr. Dillard asked which agencies had requested the additional assessments and recommended cutting the check and holding the funds until there was confirmation from CURA on the specific agencies that had requested the additional assessments. Mr. Dillard made a motion to authorize the City Manager to prepare a check to pay these additional funds but to hold the check until there is confirmation as to the federal or state agencies that are requiring these additional tests. The motion was approved unanimously. 7. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON WHAT DIRECTION TO GIVE ATTORNEY REGARDING AMENDING THE ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION The Board voted to request the attorney amending the Articles of Incorporation to create staggered terms for EDC Board Members with the term expiration date remaining on 12/01. The Board decided against the option of changing the expiration dates of Board Members terms' to coincide with City Council Members terms' expiration dates. The Board members elected to draw lots for places and term limits for citizen members for the upcoming terms in order to set up staggered terms, results were as follows: Place 1 - Tommy Thompson - 1 year term Place 2 - Rick Manser - 1 year term Place 3 - Ronnie Fischer - 1 year term Place 4 - Jerry Sebastian - 2 year term Place 5 - Gary McClure - 2 year term 8. REVIEW OF STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND THREATS ANALYSIS AND LINKING THEM INTO A VISION STATEMENT Mr. Blake gave the Board a progress report as to where he was on completing the economic development portion of the comprehensive plan. He informed the group that his work with the Board is approximately 50% completed. Mr. Blake reviewed the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of The Colony that the Board had compiled at earlier meetings. He asked the EDC to think of the strengths as a marketing pitch that they would want to present to a prospect. He requested that each Board member rank from the list what they felt the strengths were in order of importance. Each member had slightly varying rankings, but for the most part there was consensus that emphasis should be placed on SH 121 and FM 423. Further discussion on ranking the strengths followed. ;Th re being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:5.5 p.m. R se pectfully Submitted, Dennis Watson, Staff Liaison