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Regular Council Meeting <br />October 27, 2014 <br />Page 4 <br />expert and if he says it doesn't need prosecuting then it doesn't need prosecuting. Council <br />Member Pickle said the FBI and the AG declined this. Council Member Hashmi said the AG did <br />not decline this but said they were not the investigatory authority, and then asked that the letter <br />from Captain Lewis be read aloud. Mayor Frierson read the letter received from the Attorney <br />General's Office. <br />Council Member Grossnickle said the Council was focusing on the negative instead of <br />PEDC's accomplishments over the years. He then compared the PEDC to a fisherman who buys <br />better bait in order to catch better and bigger fish. Council Member Grossnickle presented <br />PEDC statistics and successes under Steve Gilbert's tenure, including awards given to PEDC, <br />creation of jobs, retention of jobs, widening of 19/24, dollars received from the Texas Enterprise <br />Fund, industry expansion and the addition of Skinner Bakery. He said changes had been made at <br />PEDC, in that documentation of the manner in which taxpayer money was spent and credit card <br />usage was tightened up and policies were reformed. Council Member Grossnickle said these <br />were good changes and it seemed that the course taken by the new PEDC Board would now be <br />returned to its mission of creating economic and job growth while attracting new and retaining <br />existing companies. <br />Council Member Hashmi questioned the statistical information presented by Council <br />Member Grossnickle and the local unemployment rate. Council Member Hashmi also <br />questioned why policies were put into place that tightened credit card usage, as well as other <br />expenditures and why all of the other changes were made if there was nothing wrong at PEDC. <br />He said they got nowhere with Steve Gilbert when these problems were brought to Mr. Gilbert's <br />attention. Council Member Hashmi said these changes were made only as a result of the <br />presentations made about the problems found. He said Council Member Grossnickle opposed <br />those presentations at the time they were made and that he should be accurate when presenting <br />statistics and information. <br />Mayor Frierson asked for a vote on the Motion. Motion carried, 4 ayes, 2 nays, 1 <br />abstention, with Mayor Frierson and Council Member Grossnickle casting the dissenting votes, <br />and Council Member Pickle abstaining from the vote. Mr. Godwin confirmed that the only item <br />to be sent to the District Attorney's Office was the final Defenbaugh report. <br />15. Discuss and act on a grant application to the Texas Historical Commission Certified <br />Local Government Grant Program for a historical survey and update of the current <br />downtown design guidelines. <br />City Engineer Shawn Napier said if the City was awarded this grant that staff was <br />proposing to have a historic survey completed of the historic district and an update of the <br />Downtown Design Guidelines. He said the grant was for a maximum amount of $15,000 and <br />required a 50% match for a total budget of $30,000. Council Member Lancaster inquired about <br />the boundaries. Mr. Napier said it would cover the Historic District as far East as CVS and as far <br />West as Forrest Street, as well as the Church Street Historic District. <br />