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Regular Council Meeting September 26, 2016 Page 3 Brockman said the property consisted of 18 acres and they did not have to use all of it for the spec building. He explained because the slab was in existence, it would cost $28.00 a square foot instead of $50.00 a square foot to construct the building. Council Member Clifford said the slab and utilities would still be in existence if they did not construct the spec building. He said the real question was whether or not they wanted to take this high risk with the tax payers' money. Council Member Clifford said he was opposed to using the tax payers' money to build a spec building. He explained he had done quite a bit of research and it was revealed that spec buildings were high risk, most set vacant for years, and advice was not to construct a spec building unless you lived close to an Interstate. He said that Paris, Tennessee still had a vacant spec building in their town that was built in 2004. Council Member Clifford also said that the Phillips Building stayed vacant for almost ten years, that C- Tech cost the Paris taxpayers over one million dollars, but the owners were able to retain it. In summary, Council Member Clifford said he was opposed to constructing a spec building because they should not risk the public's money. Council Member Trenado wanted to know if Mr. Paris had spoken to any companies who might want to lease the building if constructed and Mr. Paris said he had not. Mayor Pro -Tern Lancaster opposed the spec building, because she said there were vacant buildings around town, and dilapidated buildings that needed to be taken down, and there was much needed infrastructure. Board Member Hughes said while at the EDC Conference, he learned that the Board could not do some of the things Mayor Pro -Tern Lancaster referred to because PEDC was a Type A and it would be against the law. He also said if PEDC were a type AB or B, PEDC could spend money on some of the referenced projects. Board Member Hughes said he understood it was a high risk but without the building, they would not get an industry here. PEDC Director Paris inquired from City Council if there was anything they needed from PEDC or if there was anything they needed PEDC to do. Mayor Pro -Tern Lancaster said she would need to know that if someone was coming before she could support this. Council Member Drake said she would like some statistics in Texas about spec buildings that were constructed by EDCs that were similar in size to Paris. Council Member Clifford said he did a lot of research and on average a spec building sits vacant for five years. Mr. Paris said Council Member Clifford was correct. Council Member Clifford also said it would be next to impossible in getting the kind of information Council Member Drake is seeking, because Mt. Pleasant EDC was the only EDC he found similar to Paris that had constructed a spec building. Mr. Paris said PEDC would probably bring something back on this item in order to get an up or down vote for the project. 14. Discuss and act on budget amendments to Paris Economic Development's Budget FY 2015 -2016. Mr. Paris said amendments were needed for expenses that went over or under budget, but the budget was balanced. Mr. Anderson said the changes were necessitated by Depot Operation expenses and personnel changing from a contract labor position to a permanent position.