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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/22/1996 MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 22, 1996 6:30 p.m. CITY HALL CONFERENCE ROOM Present: Board Gary McClure, President Tommy Thompson, Vice President Ronnie Fischer, Treasurer Mary Watts, Council Member John Dillard, Council Member Rick Manser Others Tim House, Matthews Souhtwest David Leininger, Economic Research Associates Dean Kindy Staff Dennis Watson, Staff Liaison Absent Jerry Sebastian 1. CALL TO ORDER Mr. McClure called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL 3. PRESENTATION OF GOLF COURSE PROJECT Mr. McClure requested that Mr. House give the Board an update on where the Wynnewood Peninsula golf project stands. Mr. House stated that since the last time that he and Mr. Leininger had met with the Board that they have been moving forward with the project by talking to various golf course operators and trying to solicit interest in the golf course project. Mr. House presented a preliminary sketch of the Matthews Southwest property on the peninsula that his representatives had come up with. Mr. House said they are exploring an option of instead of having nine holes on the private property that was the originally planned, to possibly look at increasing that to 18 holes. The reason for this is that an 18 hole course would bring more amenity values to the entire community they are planning for the peninsula. Mr. House stated these preliminary plans still called for doing everything on the Corps. land that has always been proposed. Mr. House stated that lease negotiations would not affect the scenario they were proposing with this conceptual plan. He stated that he did not anticipate any problems with the lease negotiations and intended to move forward with plans that there would be golf on Corps. property. Ms. Watts asked Mr. House about what kind of bearing that a letter received from Farrell Properties would have on this project. Mr. House stated that the implication that the Wynnewood Peninsula project is on hold is incorrect. Mr. House stated that Matthews Southwest is moving forward and plans to continue working with the City on this project. Mr. Leininger handed out a memo regarding the status of the golf course project and a list of golf course operators that he has talked to. He has sent out information on the proposed project and the city to all of these operators. Mr. Leininger stated that the response he has received from operators who have geographical interest in the project has been favorable. Mr. Leininger stated that most operators focus on the lease and the lease terms and the structuring of the deal. Mr. Leininger stated that what they have asked for in return from these operators is a "statement of interest." Economics Research Associates (ERA) and Matthews Southwest did not want to continue to have correspondence with operators if they were not seriously interested in the project. Mr. Leininger stated that by the end of November they anticipate having proposals from firms that they believe are viable candidates. They will then be ready to take the negotiation process to the next step. Mr. Leininger then spoke about the open issue concerning the project. Mr. Leininger stated reasons why the length of the ground lease needed to be longer than 50 years. Mr. Leininger stated that the ideal lease term is 99 years because it provides a sufficient length to permit several different lenders and/or owners, over time to hold the property for a sufficient length of time to recover their investment and make an acceptable return on investment. An another open issue that his been brought up by potential operators is an assured source of non-potable water. Mr. Leininger asked the Board members if they knew whether the City had any withdrawal rights on non-potable water from Lake Lewisville. Mr. Dillard stated that this issue had come up before but he was not sure of the answer. Ms. Watts suggested that Pam Nelson, the Parks and Recreation Director would know the answer. Mr. Leininger stated that he would find out what the City of Dallas's policy is on accessing and withdrawal of water. He requested that staff research effluent agreements and what right the City has currently for taking water out of the lake for park purposes, etc. Basically he wants to know whether or not there is an agreement. Discussion followed on the water supplied to Stone Briar and what the City's agreement was with them. Ms. Watts asked the whether water for the parks and the golf course needs to be included in the negotiations for Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant. Ms. Watts asked that all parties involved in the negotiation process on the Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant be notified of the discussions regarding water supply to the golf course and the parks. Mr. House stated that Matthews Southwest has always intended to have a wastewater treatment plant on the peninsula that would serve their property as well as other parts of the peninsula. Application was made to the state. The state came responded by saying that the specific sight that had been shown was not appropriate and asked Matthews to resubmit their application. Matthews decided to withdraw the application until their planning process was further along in order to identify a specific sight. Mr. House addressed the lease issue. He stated Matthews is ready to move forward with lease negotiations. The first step would be that Matthews will provide the City with a letter stating what their wants and needs are regarding the lease, and the City would in turn forward this letter on to the Corps. representatives. Mr. House hoped after the letter had been provided to the Corps. that a meeting could be set up between the Corps., Matthews, and the City. Mr. House stated that he had spoken with the Mayor and let him know of his intentions. The Mayor has offered to be a part of the negotiating team. He stated that it would be important on how the team was structured. Ms. Watts informed Mr. House that the EDC had previously requested that a representative from the Board be included on any discussions regarding the lease agreement if they were going to be issuing revenue bonds for the project. Mr. House stated that the decision regarding the makeup of the team is up to the City. Mr. House suggested the date of November 20 for the meeting with the Corps. Ms. Watts stated that she had spoken with Jean Campbell from Dick Armey's office and she requested that she be copied on any correspondences to the Corps., with a cover letter directly to Dick Armey stating any assistance the Congressman could provide would be appreciated. Mr. House addressed the issue of establishing a Public Improvement District (PID) on Wynnewood Peninsula. He stated that Matthews would be working to get the PID established by the end of the year. Mr. McClure asked Mr. House was it still the intent to have the EDC to issue revenue bonds. Mr. House stated that whether or not there will be a need for municipal revenue bonds will depend on how Matthews structures their deal. Mr. House stated that Matthews intent would be to put the City in the position that if any municipal bond financing was required, the City would not feel like it was in a very liable situation. Mr. Leininger interjected saying there may be the need for some additional equity over and above what the operator is putting up. The exact amount depends whether it is an 18 or 36-hole course. Another factor would be the structuring of the deal. Matthews Southwest would help in facilitating raising this additional equity. If any debt is required, then this debt would be taxable rather than tax exempt. Mr. Leininger went on to explain the differences between taxable City issued versus privately issued debt. Mr. stated there may not need to be a golf course revenue bond at all. There may need to be a private mortgage put on the course. Mr. Leininger stated in another scenario that there may not be the need for any on the debt course. Some investors are putting all equity in up front and refinancing after approximately three years. Mr. Leininger stated that he is currently anticipating that the City will not be required to issue revenue bonds for the golf project. Mr. House stated that optimistcally he hoped to begin construction on the course by the first or second quarter of next year. 4. PRESENTATION ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT BUDGET Tony Johnston, the Finance Director, explained the difference between the Economic Development Department's and the Economic Development Corporation's budget. One of the questions the Board had was that if this was an Economic Development Department budget, why does the Board have to make decisions on some budget allocations. Mr. Johnston stated that ideally there should be two budgets: the Economic Development Department and the Economic Development Corporation. The Economic Development Department's budget would come from the General Fund and advelorem taxes the Economic Development Corporation's would come from the generation of a 1/2 cents sales tax or perhaps a donation of some kind. Since the EDC did not have any funds in it's budget, the City has attempted to come up with some expenses to assist in paying for certain expenditures such as feasibility studies that the EDC may require funds for. Discussion followed on how the budget of the EDC would be handled once the Corporation started generating revenues from a 1/2 cents sales tax, either as a cost center of the City or a separate budget on its own. Mr. Johnston also explained to the Board why at one point during the year there was a deficit in the Economic Development department budget and how he has attempted to correct that problem so that in the future it would not occur. 5. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL ON STAGGERED TERMS FOR EDC BOARD MEMBERS The Board voted unanimously to take the resolution received from attorney Leroy Grawunder on recommendation of staggered terms for Board members to the City Council for approval. The Board also wanted included in the recommendation the lots that the Board members drew at an earlier meeting. 6. UPDATE ON PROSPECT FOR ENTERTAINMENT FACILITY IN THE COLONY Mr. Watson stated that he had spoken with Mr. William Rudd, the gentleman interested in building an entertainment facility in The Colony. Mr. Rudd agreed to meet with Mr. Watson on Friday, November 1, at 12:00 p.m. for further discussion on this opportunity. Mr. Watson invited any interested Board member the opportunity to sit in on the meeting. Mr. Watson stated that he had spoken with the Real Estate Manager from Lowe's, a hard ware store, interested in a store location in Northeast Dallas. The Real Estate Manager informed Mr. Watson that they had just closed on a property in Plano, but they were very interested in the mall being built along SH 121 and Preston and future development along SH 121. Mr. Watson stated that he was sending the individual information on The Colony along with contacts for the mall location. Mr. Watson informed the Board he would be following up further on this issue. 7. DISCUSSION ON POSSIBILITY OF STAGING 1/2 CENTS SALES TAX CAMPAIGN The Board entertained the idea of staging a 1/2 cents sales tax campaign for economic development purposes. Some of the ideas that came out of the discussion were the possibility of a January election. A January election would have several possible advantages including a low voter turnout and it would take out the politics that you may encounter in a May election. The Board discussed the possibility of specifically targeting the voting community for this election. The Board asked Mr. Watson if he could obtain from the City Secretary calendar time frames for posting the election. The Board agreed that they had to come up with the key issues of how the money would be used. The Board agreed to meet next week in a work session to brain storm further on this issue. 8. OTHER BUSINESS Jim Barnes was present to discuss with the Board the idea and opportunity of starting an official city newspaper. Mr. Barnes stated that he was working with a party that currently runs a newspaper for the cities of Little Elm and Salina. Mr. Barnes stated that he would like The Colony to be a part of the paper. Mr. Barnes is in the process of attempting to secure advertising for the paper. He stated that he has had favorable response from various community leaders on this idea. Mr. Barnes stated that he would like the EDC's support in this effort both by spreading F word by word-of-mouth and in angther areas they could assist in this effort. There being no forth r business the meeting was adjo ed at 9:15 p.m.8 r Respectfully Submitted, Dennis Wa saw"Staff Liaison