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PEDC Board Meeting Minutes September 17, 2019 Page 4 of 5 through approval of every little item. Ms. Portugal went on to say that she did her own research of cities and found that Sulphur Springs can spend up to $850,000.00. She mentioned that Mr. Schwab did comment that most EDCs did have their own attorneys so there is no conflict and he sees no reason that this would be challenged because so many cities in Texas are allowed to spend some amount. She stated that an Attorney General's opinion is not necessary. Mr. Hernandez agrees that our system is not broken and the PEDC has been very transparent and does not need more oversight. Mr. Pankaj said he does not agree with and is not in favor of a change to our bylaws. He does believe in transparency and would like a time to discuss this with City Council. Ms. Harris stated that this is a discussion and a possible action item; she wanted the PEDC to discuss before it was on a Council agenda. Dr. Hashmi emphasized that this is not just a board, but a corporation. Ms. Harris agreed and said that all EDCs in Texas are unique in being statutory creations. The question is what the bylaws need to say in order to comply with the state. The Board has not always gone before the Council on projects that were more than $400,000.00. Mr. Paris stated that there were two $400,000.00 performance agreements: one agreement had a claw -back that we received money back; the second agreement was fulfilled of jobs on the performance agreement. There was not any. misuse or misguidance of the funds; there was due diligence and Board approval. He feels that the bylaws and how the City Council and the Board work together seem to be amicable. The way the bylaws are designed help Paris work together as a community. There are checks and balances: sharing the City Attorney, having Ex-Officios. Mr. Pankaj says that transparency is most important and the Board wants to work with City Council to look forward to growth and a bright future. Mr. Hernandez stated there were no further discussions and closed the matter. Discuss and L)essiblr�ove the Final Agreement for Iluhtamailu Rail Develo °went. Mr. Paris explained that this is the performance agreement to help establish the rail spur from the North/South rail to the Huhtamaki plant. This agreement retains 220 employees in return for $100,000.00 for the rail. Dr. Hashmi asked if that was the total number that they have. Mr. Paris stated it was and that the rail will make them more competitive with their competition. Mr. Pankaj made a motion to approve the final agreement for Huhtamaki rail development. Dr. Hashmi seconded the motion. Vote was 3 -ayes to 0 -nays. American S �iralWeld Pi ;�e U:�date: • Construction. Progress on construction is going well for American SpiralWeld. Pier drilling is being done on the site. A piece of equipment is being brought here from Europe and is so heavy that over 100 piers are needed to hold it up. • Demolition of the Brownfield. The demo is complete. A tank on the Superior Switch site was dug up and the soil was replaced. On the Oliver Rubber site the soil testing is finished and the site will be excavated and leveled. We are working with the City on tree removal and tree burning on the site. a Phase II Transfer of the Brownfield in October to ASW. October the 16a' is the transfer date and it looks like everything is in order to keep the date. The TCEQ/VCP process is taking place as we do the cleanup on the site. This may keep going after the October 16'" date, but it will not interfere with the transfer. Once the transfer is completed the construction crews will start moving soil on to the site. • Phase III Wetlands Progress. American is looking into other ideas on handling the Wetlands. Their ideas could eliminate some of the PEDC costs. This would also lower our timeline.