08/16/2016 MINUTES - Laserfiche WebLink

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PEDC Board Meeting Minutes August 16, 2016 Page 2 of 4 Discuss and possibly approve July 2016 Financials. Mr. Brockman asked if there were any questions on the July Financials. Mr. Wilson mentioned that we were working on the revised budget for the end of the fiscal year. Mr. Wilson works with Mr. Anderson, City Finance Director, to make sure that none of the line items are negative when there are surplus funds left in other line items that could be moved to make all line items have a positive balance. Our auditor asks for a clean budget, so we follow the same process the City of Paris does to prepare for the end of the fiscal year. We approve the last revisions to our Budget at the September meeting and then present it to City Council at their last meeting in September to approve. This will be our final budget revision before the fiscal year ends and the budget the auditor receives. Mr. Banks moved to accept the financials for July. Mr. Hughes seconded the motion. The vote was 4 -ayes and 0- nays. Open sealed request for bids and discussion — Reference to possible construction at 2305 NW Loop 286. Mr. Paris started the conversation by stating that the PEDC has been criticized in the public for working on the spec building covertly. Going back in time we see how transparent the PEDC has been about the spec building. May 12, 2015, there was a discussion in the Board Meeting about buying or building a spec building. By August 2015 the Board voted to make an offer for real estate that would be the spec building. This was a unanimous vote and our City Council Liaison, Sue Lancaster, was present. September 8, 2015, the Board authorized the purchase of the Oliver Rubber Building and its 28 acres of land for $240,000. This again was a unanimous vote and our City Council Liaison, Sue Lancaster, was present. The October 2015 meeting discussed writing the RFP for the demolition and disposal of the building itself. Mr. Wilson reminded us that when we revised the budget in January of 2016 and sent it to City Council, they passed our budget with the extra $50,000 for the demolition of the spec building. (It passed on February 8, 2016.) Mr. Paris went on to say that on June 30, 2016, the Board setup the Request for Bids for the construction of the shell building. In the PEDC Board's discussion of the purpose of the property, there are three main points they identified: 1) the property has a higher value in its current state than when it was purchased, 2) potential businesses are preferring the availability of spec buildings over other types of properties, and 3) improvement of the building and the land is good for our community. The Texas Economic Development Council has said that over 75% of the businesses moving to Texas are looking for existing properties. At this moment we have no inventory in spaces that are zoned heavy industry. Our new building at 2305 NW Loop is zoned heavy industrial. The NW Business Park is light industrial. We also have 700 W. Center, 42,000 sq. ft. and it is zoned light industrial. Another space that we are marketing is 1110 W, Washington, 50,000 sq. ft. warehouse space, also zoned light industrial. Also, we are marketing 3808 Highway 271, 11,000 sq. ft. warehouse and it is zoned commercial. With nothing at the moment in heavy industry we are competing with other properties in Sulphur Springs, Mount Pleasant, Greenville, Sherman, Denton, Texarkana, and Bonham. We are competing with at least 27 other buildings in these and other communities. Adding this quality asset zoned heavy industry at 2305 NW Loop 286 we will be able to compete with other EDCs. Paris and Lamar County have a major plus as far as our air quality; we are