05 - OCTOBER 26, 2015 MINUTES - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Regular Council Meeting October 26, 2015 Page 4 quality web -site that could be streamed out. Council Member Clifford said getting the information out would be good, but said he was not sure having a government access channel was the best way to do this. Mr. Godwin said a lot of people did not have internet. Council Members Frierson and Pickle favored the PEG and public information officer. It was a general consensus of the City Council to move forward with setup of a PEG channel and a public information officer. Council Member Clifford said if they were going to move forward with this, that he would still like to give it some thought of putting the content on the City web -site. He said that would give the citizens immediate access to the information and the City would be able to get the stats of how many people watch it on the web -site. 15. Receive presentation from Mayor Hashmi, discuss and act on a ground lease agreement with Paris Economic Development Corporation for the purpose of construction of hangars at Cox Field Airport. Mayor Hashmi gave a presentation regarding improvements to Cox Field Airport, citing that he did not think they had done a good job promoting the airport as an economic tool. He explained the possibilities of attracting businesses such as airplane repair shops, upholstery and paint shops, as well as shops for retrofitting private jets with medical facilities on board airplanes. Mayor Hashmi proposed that the City and PEDC work together to construct hangars at the airport, not for storage of airplanes, but for rental to companies that will develop hangars into shops for avionics, upholstery and paint shops for private jets. He said these hangars would generate revenue, create jobs for the community, and generate sales tax dollars, thus resulting in utilization of the airport for economic development. Mayor Hashmi further proposed that the City lease a part of the land demarcated by the Airport Board to the PEDC for a period of 30 -99 years for construction of two to three hangars, as deemed feasible and keep with the long -term airport plan. Airport Advisory Board Chair Dennis Ashby reported there were people who wanted to move to Paris and start airport type businesses, but there had not been aany opportunity to do so. Airport Manager Jerry Richey said this was definitely a good opportunity to expand the airport and people will come here if there is expansion. Airport Advisory Board Member Anna Spencer said she was excited that they might be able to expand the airport. PEDC Board Chair Richard Manning said he believed this was a good ideal and that he looked forward to presenting it to the Board. Council Members Lancaster, Jenkins and Plata expressed they thought this was a good opportunity and were in favor of creation of jobs and bringing growth to Paris. Council Member Clifford said he thought it was a real good ideal and would like to move forward with the boards discussing it and bringing something back to Council. Council Member Frierson agreed with Council Member Clifford, while expressing concern about the cost of building the hangars. He said if PEDC sees that this is doable, that he would be optimistic about it. Council Member Pickle said three or four years ago the Airport and PEDC were working together to try to grow the Airport and maybe the Airport Board and PEDC needed to get re- focused. Council Member Frierson inquired of Council Member Lancaster if any recommendations had come forward from