1996-11-20-Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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273 President Fendley stated that there would not be a President's Report given at this time. President Fendley asked Mr. Vest to give the Director's Report. Mr. Vest advised that due to advertising they had received fifty-seven responses since the last meeting. He stated that he had met last week with several people from Campbell Soup, and they had discussed the Skills Development Fund under the Texas Workforce Commission which was approved this week. He said this fund will go to Paris Junior College to be used primarily in buying equipment and providing training for workers at Campbell Soup. He said that Campbell Soup also has a Smart Jobs Application that is about ninety percent complete and that amount will flow directly to Campbell Soup. President Fendley called for questions concerning Mr. Vest's report and there were none. President Fendley asked the City Engineer to discuss the next item on the agenda concerning Cox Field. Mr. Smith said that the taxiway improvements, drainage improvements, navigational aids and terminal reconstruction is currently a project in the preliminary design phase. He said the preliminary design is complete and based on our approval, it will be forwarded to the Texas Department of Transportation for their approval prior to initiating final design. He said there is a meeting scheduled with TxDOT on December 17, 1996, at which time they will schedule advertisement for bids some time in the Spring. He said that this project had been presented to the Board at an earlier date. President Fendley called for questions concerning this agenda item. The Board discussed their contribution to the project and TxDOT's contribution to the project. City Engineer Earl Smith discussed the various stages of the project. Mr. Smith stated the next project in Agenda Item 6-B is a large project with an estimated cost of two point four million dollars which is TxDOT's estimate. He said we are in the process of selecting a consulting engineer to do this work. President Fendley called for questions concerning this information. City Manager Malone stated that TxDOT has a multi-year plan and that basically, as long as you participate in their plan and carry through year-after-year, then you stay in the program. If you ever opt out of program then they go past you and give the funds to someone else. City Manager Malone said this was probably the largest grant that we will receive for some time. He said that he didn't believe that they would see an expenditure of this magnitude for many years. He said there will probably be subsequent grant amounts, but they will be smaller projects: He sald that this project is basically a rebuild and maintenance effort on the primary runways, taxiways, lighting system and all the items needed for jet traffic. He said it was not something that the City could do and would just have to let the project go if the Board did not participate. Boardmember Amis stated that he had some concerns in relation to the project being in the gray area of being economic development. City Manager Malone stated he could not think of any reason to have an airport unless it was to meet the transportation needs for industry in Paris. President Fendley there would be an action item later in the agenda, but the Board could discuss this item at this time. Boardmember Bray said he was concerned about expending these funds and the amount that would remain if we needed to do a large infrastructure job or funds were needed in the relocation of a new industry to Paris. Boardmember Rhodes questioned our initial commitment to Cox Field. He stated that he thought our initial commitment to Cox Field was well founded and certainly within the scope of our authority. Boardmember Bray questioned the