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12/20/2016 MINUTESPARIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MONTHLY MEETING Paris City Council Chambers 107 East Kaufman St. Paris, Texas 75460 Tuesday, December 20, 2016 4:00 O'CLOCK P.M. MINUTES Board Members Present: Staff Present: Richard Manning, Chairman Michael Paris, Executive Director John Brockman, Vice -Chair Paula Brownfield, Administrative Assistant Don Wilson, Secretary /Treasurer Chris Stout, Office Assistant Ray Banks Derrick Hughes Ex- Officio Members Present: Ken Higdon, Lamar County Chamber Legal Counsel: Call to Order. Guest(s) Present: Michael Glatfelter, Citizen Kelsey McLaughlin, Paris News City Council Liaison: Billy Trenado Mr. Manning called the meeting of the Paris Economic Development Corporation to order at 4:00 p.m. on December 20, 2016. Citizens' Input. Mr. Manning invited those present to speak during Citizens' Input. No one came forward and Citizens' Input was closed. Discuss and possibly approve Minutes of the November 15, 2016, Monthly Meetina. Mr. Manning asked for any comments or changes to the minutes from the November 15, 2016, meeting. The Board Members did not have any comments or changes. Mr. Wilson made a motion to approve the minutes from the November 15, 2016, meeting. A second was received from Mr. Banks. Vote was 5 -ayes and 0 -nays. Discuss and possibly approve October 2016 Financials and November 2016 Financials. Mr. Wilson inquired whether everyone had studied the financials for October and November. Mr. Paris highlighted that in October the PEDC reimbursed him $1,000 for Medical Insurance. In November he was surprised by an increase in his insurance cost from $1,006 a month to $1,600 a month, 60% more than he was paying before. He cancelled the policy immediately because of the added expense. After doing more PEDC Board Meeting Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 2 of 4 research, he found a policy that was more affordable. There is not an insurance reimbursement request in November, but December will have an insurance reimbursement request. Mr. Wilson said if we look at the last page of the financials, we would see that our cash balance moved up about $100,000. That would be $100,000 more than we spent. Mr. Wilson moved that the Financials for October 2016 and November 2016 be approved. Mr. Brockman seconded the motion. Vote was 5 -ayes and 0 -nays. Discuss and possibly approve funding for the Park Street Proiect. The discussion opened with Mr. Paris recapping the December 8th Board Meeting. In that meeting the Board voted to accept Wheeler Construction's bid for $56,922.00. At that time we were looking at a Public/Private partnership with the PEDC, Aequs and Potters sharing the cost of this project. Since the bids came in lower than expected, we are proposing that the PEDC take on the cost of the Park Street Project. Mr. Paris did point out that both industries are participating in the revitalization in other ways: Aequs will be expanding their entrance off of Park Street; Potters will be building a concrete street across Park Street to a new building they are constructing. The City will participate in the Park Street Project by cleaning out the ditch and applying the chipseal to the top of the street once our contractor has fmished his part. Mr. Paris recommended that the funds be approved for Wheeler Construction to continue the project. The PEDC can take on the cost of this project under the 501 Local Government Code that allows us to participate in the infrastructure and the road repair for our industries: Aequs, Potters, Powder. Mr. Banks was concerned about how long the new surface on Park Street would last. Mr. Wilson said soil cement is being used with specifications identical to the Texas Highway Department's specifications. Mr. Brockman moved that the PEDC spend the $56,922.00 for Wheeler Construction as intended on the Park Street Project; finding the expenditure necessary to promote, develop retention and expanded business enterprises with these two companies that are key players in our economy. Mr. Hughes seconded the motion. Vote was 5 -ayes and 0 -nays. Discuss and possibly approve prorating deliverables in good faith as given by the Incentive Agreement for Daisy Dairy. Mr. Paris began the discussion saying May 30`h of 2011 was the date Daisy Dairy's Incentive Agreement became active. On June 1, 2011, the Water Supply Agreement between the City of Paris and Daisy Dairy was signed stating that Daisy Dairy would use a million gallons of water daily or 365 million gallons of water annually. At the start of the agreement the water rate was $1.20 per 1000 gallons. The first benchmark for Daisy Dairy was set to 100 employees by June 1, 2016; this was the end of year five. There is a secondary rate period, which is the next five years of the agreement. On Daisy Dairy's employee listing for May, 31, 2016, they had 92 employees. Mr. Paris noted that in previous reports their employee count has been up to 102 and currently, Daisy Dairy's employee count is 108. He comments further that this incentive agreement can be interpreted in different ways. Mr. Paris recommends that we review this initial rate period only as a benchmark since no funds are required of us. He has communicated with Daisy Dairy about Year Six; telling them the employee count needs to be at 110 to be reimbursed by the PEDC. Mr. Banks asked why their employee numbers are closer to 92 than to 100. He also asked if it was because they were not building barns. Mr. Wilson said that the dairy herd has been growing and they have been adding to their infrastructure. The agreement provides credit for additional investment in the form of new equipment or new improvements. Mr. Paris recommended that we allow the benchmark in good faith; that the average employee count is around 99 and that in good faith we will continue on with this agreement. Daisy Dairy is a quality employer that employs many Paris residents. Mr. Brockman made a motion to accept Mr. Paris' recommendation that in good faith we will continue on with the Daisy Dairy agreement. Mr. Banks seconded the motion. Vote was 5 -ayes and 0 -nays. PEDC Board Meeting Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 3 of 4 Discuss and gain direction to implement employee benefits at PEDC. Mr. Paris opened the conversation by referring to the PEDC Employee Manual that shows the benefits package for full -time employees to include medical insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, and vision. In his research he talked to the City of Paris about participating in the City plan, but was told the PEDC could not because the City did not have good experiences with other entities being on the City Plan. He contacted the Texas Municipal League which sent us plans with different options on coverage. The Plan H85- 250 -30 -A is a high deductible plan that has low monthly costs. With the high deductible plan, some employers contribute to the employees HSA Plans to help with the deductibles. We would like to place Chris in a full -time position with benefits and we should be able to justify this cost with the extra amount we pay to the temp agency. Mr. Wilson asked about the Executive Director's contract and if it would affect how the benefits would work. Mr. Paris said that it would not affect any benefits. Mr. Manning asked if we would be able to stay within our budget and provide benefits for all employees. Mr. Paris reminded the Board that before he came aboard there was a wonderful benefits program offered by the PEDC and that we needed to get back into that thinking again. Mr. Paris asked for direction from the Board, whether they wanted him to continue to pursue this, and if they would like him to create a spreadsheet to show how to fit this into our budget. The Board was in agreement to have Mr. Paris come back with a spreadsheet that assesses whether the PEDC can afford the insurance benefits. Executive Director's Monthly Report. • We met with some of the experts from our local TxDot District. Working with Ken Higdon and the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce we are evaluating what is important to take with us Lamar County Days. What is important for the long term growth of Paris? The highlights are: Highway 82 "the Super 2s" have plans to be expanded to 4 -lanes but this is an unfunded plan. There is a $70 million dollar a year budget for District #1 which is the Paris District and Highway 82 is not on it. TxDot has a scoring system for highway plans to be moved up the list. Commissioner Austin out of the Tyler area would like to see Highway 271 become a 4 -lane highway. When you take Highway 271 from Paris into Oklahoma you have access to the Indian Turnpike to reach Interstate 40. The problem: the state of Texas doesn't like that the Turnpike is a toll road, but does like that there is access to Interstate 40. The discussion with TxDot also gave us the reasons why Highway 271 is being promoted. Transportation routes between Houston and Dallas are congested and finding other routes that bypass the traffic are being considered. The next question was whether Loop 286 would handle more traffic and it was decided that we would highlight the Loop at Lamar County Days. Hudson Old publishes the East Texas Journal and is the Titus County representative for the Northeast Texas RMA. Mr. Old is working to get resolutions signed regarding Highway 271 and Commissioner Austin will get those signed resolutions in front of the other Commissioners. • We are consistently sending out emails with Constant Contact. Attendee names are added after each event that we have participated in. One of the names we added from the Fab -Tech show received our email and has contacted us. PEDC Board Meeting Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 4 of 4 • The ads for our Build -to -Suit property are running for December and will be running again in January. We will hold on February ads until we see some movement. • A board sign will be out at the Build -to -Suit site. It will have a big picture of the rendering of the building. • TEAM Texas has just come out with their new travel schedule and we will present you with our new travel schedule at a future meeting. • Our old phone system will need to be updated soon, so we will be researching a new system to fit our needs and our budget. • We purchased flowers for Paula's father's funeral. Convene into Executive Session: At 4:59 p.m. the Board convened into Executive Session. Reconvene into Open Session and possibly take action on item(s) discussed in Executive Session. The Board reconvened into open session at 5:35 p.m. No action was taken on any items discussed in Executive Session. Discuss Future Agenda Items. • Mr. Banks asked that in the next meeting there be a discussion of the last twelve months. He also asked for Mr. Paris to prepare a written handout: o His assessment of the PEDC when he arrived. • Actions he has taken to improve the PEDC in the last twelve months. • How have those actions benefited the City of Paris and its citizens? • Mr. Banks requested the insurance spreadsheet that was referred to earlier in the meeting. • Mr. Banks asked that there be an Executive Session for Personnel at the next meeting. Adi ourn Mr. Wilson made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Banks seconded the motion. Vote was 5 -ayes to 0 -nays. The meeting was adjourned at 5:38 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Paula Brownfield Administrative Assistant Paris Economic Development Corporation