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Regular Council Meeting <br />August 28, 2017 <br />Page 7 <br />Higdon said there were items in the current budget they needed to begin working on pretty <br />quickly. Mayor Clifford said he just received this information and he would have liked to gotten <br />it last week, but did not. Mayor Clifford said a Motion to table this had been made and he <br />seconded the Motion. Council Member Drake wanted to know when he needed this budget <br />approved and Mr. Higdon said that was up to the Council. Council Member Knox said she had <br />read the agreement between the City and Chamber and it said they had to present their budget by <br />August 1, along with a plan of program of work which she did not see. <br />There being no further discussion, Mayor Clifford called for a vote. Motion carried, 4 <br />ayes — 2 nays, with Council Members Drake and Portugal casting the dissenting votes. Mayor <br />Clifford said he would forward the information he received to the rest of the City Council. <br />19. Discuss and act on Paris Economic Development Corporation's FY 2017-18 budget. <br />PEDC Director Michael Paris said Council Member Knox had requested an itemized <br />budget, and he presented to City Council the PEDC budget reflecting line item expenses and <br />descriptions. Mr. Paris said Council Member Knox specifically asked about salaries, to which he <br />explained the increase was due to the two temporary employees going to full-time. He said there <br />were three employees, including him. Council Member Drake inquired about his retirement <br />plan. Mr. Paris said he had a 401k, the two staff members did not have retirement, but insurance <br />was budgeted for all three employees. Mr. Paris explained the categorizations of Depot <br />Operations. Council Member Knox inquired about the Paris News expense and Mr. Paris said it <br />was for a subscription to the newspaper. Mr. Paris said PEDC increased legal fees, due to the <br />Council taking PEDC to a vote and that Ms. Harris might have a conflict of interest. Mayor <br />Clifford disagreed with the increase of legal fees and said the city attorney should be consulted <br />as to whether or not a conflict existed. He said he wanted that zeroed out of the current budget <br />and the upcoming budget. Mr. Paris reviewed items under the Industrial Park, Lamar County <br />Days and marketing for the airport. Mayor Clifford inquired if any of the money for marketing <br />was being spent in Paris and Mr. Paris said it was not. Mayor Clifford said he would like it to be <br />spent in more than a fifty mile radius in order to attract business and people to Paris. Mr. Paris <br />also covered business incentives and debt service. Council Member Knox inquired about Paris <br />Lakes, including the $250,000 set aside for infrastructure. Mr. Paris said the $250,000 was not a <br />reoccurring expense and is still there, because Paris Lakes had five years to complete the <br />infrastructure and they had not done so. Mr. Paris said it was to help them but they had not <br />completed construction, which was required as part of the agreement. Mr. Paris said they were <br />in their last year to complete it and that June 1, 2018 was the deadline. Mayor Clifford <br />confirmed that nothing had been spent. Council Member Knox asked if this if was the <br />construction on the Southeast Loop that was to be an upscale hospital, upscale shopping center <br />and so forth. Mr. Paris said it was for the construction on the Southeast Loop and understood <br />that the plans had changed three times. Council Member Knox confirmed with Mr. Paris that the <br />incentives had not changed. Mr. Paris said it was specific to the roads that were to be built out <br />there. <br />Following the presentation, Mayor Clifford inquired of Mr. Paris how much money they <br />were setting aside for the $4.7 million dollars remaining on the loan guarantee. Mr. Paris said <br />