Loading...
08/16/2016 MINUTESPARIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MONTHLY MEETING Paris City Council Chambers 107 East Kaufman St. Paris, Texas 75460 Tuesday, August 16, 2016 4:00 O'CLOCK P.M. Board Members Present: John Brockman, Vice -Chair Don Wilson, Secretary /Treasurer Ray Banks Derrick Hughes Ex- Officio Members Present: Mayor Hashmi, City of Paris Stephen Gerrald, Chamber of Commerce John Godwin, City Manager Legal Counsel: None Call to Order. MINUTES Staff Present: Michael Paris, Executive Director Paula Brownfield, Administrative Assistant Chris Stout, Office Assistant Guest(s) Present: Amanda Gohn, The Paris News City Council Liaison: Billy Trenado, City Council Mr. Brockman called the meeting of the Paris Economic Development Corporation to order at 4:00 p.m. on August 16, 2016. Citizens' Input The first agenda item was Citizens' Input and Mr. Brockman asked if anyone wanted to speak. No one came forward; so with that, Citizens' Input was closed. Discuss and possibly approve Minutes of the July 13, 2016, Special Meeting, the July 21, 2016, Monthly Meeting and the July 29, 2016, Special Meeting. Next on the agenda was approval of minutes from the three meetings held in July. Mr. Brockman asked if the Board wanted to vote on each set of minutes separately or all three as a group. Mr. Banks made a motion that all three be approved together as presented. Mr. Wilson seconded the motion. A vote was taken 4 -ayes and 0 -nays. Mr. Paris said that the 2016 -2017 Budget sheet we just passed out is the Budget that was approved by us at the July 29, 2016, meeting and by the Paris City Council at their August 8, 2016 meeting. Mr. Wilson clarified that it was supposed to go in the July 29, 2016, Minutes because the Board had approved it at that meeting. PEDC Board Meeting Minutes August 16, 2016 Page 2 of 4 Discuss and possibly approve July 2016 Financials. Mr. Brockman asked if there were any questions on the July Financials. Mr. Wilson mentioned that we were working on the revised budget for the end of the fiscal year. Mr. Wilson works with Mr. Anderson, City Finance Director, to make sure that none of the line items are negative when there are surplus funds left in other line items that could be moved to make all line items have a positive balance. Our auditor asks for a clean budget, so we follow the same process the City of Paris does to prepare for the end of the fiscal year. We approve the last revisions to our Budget at the September meeting and then present it to City Council at their last meeting in September to approve. This will be our final budget revision before the fiscal year ends and the budget the auditor receives. Mr. Banks moved to accept the financials for July. Mr. Hughes seconded the motion. The vote was 4 -ayes and 0- nays. Open sealed request for bids and discussion — Reference to possible construction at 2305 NW Loop 286. Mr. Paris started the conversation by stating that the PEDC has been criticized in the public for working on the spec building covertly. Going back in time we see how transparent the PEDC has been about the spec building. May 12, 2015, there was a discussion in the Board Meeting about buying or building a spec building. By August 2015 the Board voted to make an offer for real estate that would be the spec building. This was a unanimous vote and our City Council Liaison, Sue Lancaster, was present. September 8, 2015, the Board authorized the purchase of the Oliver Rubber Building and its 28 acres of land for $240,000. This again was a unanimous vote and our City Council Liaison, Sue Lancaster, was present. The October 2015 meeting discussed writing the RFP for the demolition and disposal of the building itself. Mr. Wilson reminded us that when we revised the budget in January of 2016 and sent it to City Council, they passed our budget with the extra $50,000 for the demolition of the spec building. (It passed on February 8, 2016.) Mr. Paris went on to say that on June 30, 2016, the Board setup the Request for Bids for the construction of the shell building. In the PEDC Board's discussion of the purpose of the property, there are three main points they identified: 1) the property has a higher value in its current state than when it was purchased, 2) potential businesses are preferring the availability of spec buildings over other types of properties, and 3) improvement of the building and the land is good for our community. The Texas Economic Development Council has said that over 75% of the businesses moving to Texas are looking for existing properties. At this moment we have no inventory in spaces that are zoned heavy industry. Our new building at 2305 NW Loop is zoned heavy industrial. The NW Business Park is light industrial. We also have 700 W. Center, 42,000 sq. ft. and it is zoned light industrial. Another space that we are marketing is 1110 W, Washington, 50,000 sq. ft. warehouse space, also zoned light industrial. Also, we are marketing 3808 Highway 271, 11,000 sq. ft. warehouse and it is zoned commercial. With nothing at the moment in heavy industry we are competing with other properties in Sulphur Springs, Mount Pleasant, Greenville, Sherman, Denton, Texarkana, and Bonham. We are competing with at least 27 other buildings in these and other communities. Adding this quality asset zoned heavy industry at 2305 NW Loop 286 we will be able to compete with other EDCs. Paris and Lamar County have a major plus as far as our air quality; we are PEDC Board Meeting Minutes August 16, 2016 Page 3 of 4 in an Attainment Area that can handle heavy industry. The major cities have EPA restrictions that we don't have which could be a plus in our marketing. The advertisement in the Paris News was published on two Sundays; July 10 and July 17, 2016, as a Request for Bids to Increase Existing Concrete Slab and Construct Pre - Engineered Metal Building. Mr. Paris stated that he encouraged the Board to open the bids in public session, since the PEDC has been criticized for a lack of transparency. Bid Opening: Richard Drake Construction Slab Only $205,762.00 Beshirs Construction Slab Only $205,485.00 Bobby Smallwood Construction Slab & Metal Building $738,380.20 Smallwood & Archer Construction Slab & Metal Building $937,618.00 Mr. Paris finished opening and reading the bids. He then recommended that the PEDC staff perform due diligence on the bids and a meeting be set for next Tuesday to discuss and recommend how to move forward and present this to City Council. Discuss and possibly approve Travel and Marketine Budget to the end of 2016. Mr. Paris stated that TEAM Texas schedules their marketing activities through the end of the calendar year, so with our budget being on a different fiscal year we need to approve the travel and marketing through the end of 2016. Mr. Banks saw that on the expenses for the TEDC Annual Conference an expense for a Rental Car for $450 was listed and also Mileage for $125 was listed. Mr. Paris said he would change the amounts of the expenses. He was considering taking his own car to San Antonio for the conference, but had not made up his mind. Mr. Wilson asked if any of the Marketing Activities were going to interfere with PEDC meetings or City Council meetings. Mr. Paris stated that the Board has been flexible with PEDC meeting dates when he has been out of town for conferences, but he is not sure on the City Council's calendar. He did make it clear that travel would be cancelled if it's important for him to be at a meeting. Mr. Brockman asked Mr. Paris if he wanted to discuss any of the conferences. Mr. Paris stated the International Manufacturing Show in Chicago is going on about the same time as a consultant forum is taking place in Dallas. Most of TEAM Texas will be in Dallas for the forum. The International Manufacturing Show has the manufacturers we want to recruit to Paris; we do not have a booth, but will be "Cold Visiting ". Mr. Wilson asked about the leads Mr. Paris has received from the shows he has worked. Over 200 leads came from TEAM Texas Select USA event. Because of the food trade show this summer, over 100 more leads came through. Mr. Wilson said that he thinks that the Dallas trip to meet with site selector consultants will help us compete. Mr. Banks made a motion to accept with the changes substituting the Dallas show for the International Manufacturing Show in Chicago and the mileage and rental car changes on the TEDC Annual Conference. Mr. Wilson seconded the motion. Vote was 4 -ayes to 0 -nays. PEDC Board Meeting Minutes August 16, 2016 Page 4 of 4 Executive Director's Monthly Report. Mr. Paris reported that the City Council approved the 2016 -2017 Budget for the upcoming year on August 8, 2016. This was after it was rejected by them the first time it was presented and revised by the PEDC Board on July 29, 2016. Also, Kimberly Clark decided to pause their request to City Council for the Enterprise Zone ordinance until the fourth quarter of this year. James Alspaugh, Kimberly Clark plant manager, was excited to show those attending the Tour from City Council, City Staff, PEDC Board, and PEDC Staff why he and his employees are enthusiastic about Huggies diapers. A few Fun Facts: 1) in 1982 they could produce 200 Huggies a minute, now they can produce 1,200 a minute. 2) Huggies Pull ups were created right here in Paris, Texas. Those attending the tour were also told, that over the next five years retirement is coming for many original Kimberly Clark employees after 30 -40 years of employment with the company. This is good for those who are retiring and also for those just trained to start their careers. Discuss Future Agenda Items. Mr. Paris asked for the next meeting to be on August 23, 2016, after the staff has time to go through the bids making sure everything is in order. Mr. Banks asked that discussion of a car allowance for Ms. Brownfield be Future Agenda Item. Adiourn Mr. Banks made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Hughes seconded the motion. Vote was 4 -ayes to 0 -nays. The meeting was adjourned at 4:43 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Paula Brownfield Administrative Assistant Paris Economic Development Corporation