03/03/1994 MINUTES18
MINUTES OF THE PARIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION March 3, 1994
The Paris Economic Development Corporation reconvened the
February 24, 1994, Regular meeting on Thursday, March 3, 1994,
at 4:00 P.M., in the City Hall, City Council Chambers, Paris,
Texas. Chairman Philip R. Cecil called the meeting to order
with the following board members present: Eric Clifford, Curtis
Fendley, Barney Bray, III and Leon Williams. Also present were
ex-officio board members, Ike Jewett (representing Gary
Cunningham) Michael E. Malone, City Manager,and T. K. Haynes,
City Attorney, as counselor.
Chairman Philip Cecil stated the first item on the agenda was
the administering of the oath of office for the Ex-Officio
"Members" no previously sworn, and City Attorney T. K. Haynes
advised there was none present at this time.
Chairman Cecil said this meeting was a continuation of the
February 24, 1994 meeting. He recognized Ike Jewett who
represented Gary Cunningham, an ex-officio "member", as his
designee. He also recognized Brenda Shull and John Lovorn, Jr.
of the Pace Group.
Chairman Cecil stated in order for the Board to reconsider the
naming of a consultant Item No. 3 on the agenda must be removed
from the table. Eric Clifford made a motion to remove the
matter from the table, and Leon Williams seconded. The motion
carried unanimously 5 ayes and 0 nays.
Chairman Cecil asked John Lovorn and Brenda Schull with the Pace
Group to make a presentation and to be available to answer
questions that any of the Board members might have. Mr. Lovorn
advised that Brenda Schull manages the Texas office in Ft.
Worth. Mr. Lovorn stated the Pace Group offers 100% client
satisfaction. If the Board is not satisfied with their work,
they will refund your money. He mentioned the benefits of
economic development for a community such as Paris. He stated
the key to their success has been consensus building. He stated
he had worked with Kimberly-Clark since 1977 on site location
work and currently is finishing an organization development
analysis in Corinth, Mississippi.
Mr. Lovorn stated in the alternate proposal, there is a visioning
process called Strategic Planning Retreat. He said these take
about four or five hours, and get the leaders along with other
citizens to set visions, goals and objectives. He said in the
alternate this is the third most important process to be
considered. He said even though this is one of the most
economical portions of their alternate proposal this is probably
one of the most important things to be done. He also
recommended a Flexible Incentive Program as one consideration to
have a guideline of what other communities are doing and how to
approach this. Mr. Lovorn said they would speak with each of
the board members to obtain their thoughts. He said they would
do an analysis of what other communities have done. He said he
has research with him of other incentive programs which are
being done all over the country. He said they would give some
guidelines to consider, based on cost benefit ratios and jobs,
with the recommendation of taking care of your existing industry
first.
Mr. Lovoron said the second portion would be Business Retention
and Expansion Portion which is outlined in their proposal. He
said they feel this is very important. He also stated the third
portion would be Visioning which he has already mentioned.
19
Chairman Cecil asked if any of the Board members had any
questions they would like to ask Mr. Lovorn. Board member
Fendley asked that in the Incentive Programs you developed does
Pace come back in the community two or three years down the line
to make sure the package is still competitive, and is that on a
reduced scale since the work is not as great as on the front
end. Mr. Lovorn said they look for long term partnerships in
communities and they would give the board a per day fee they
would be satisfied with. Mr. Lovoron said this information must
-- be constantly updated.
Chairman Cecil asked on page 19 of the alternate proposal in
Step Number 3, which is the Vision and Economic Summit if that
equates to Phase II totally. Dr. Lovorn agreed that it does.
Mr. Lovorn said that this is where you identify your vision,
your strengths and weaknesses, you set your strategic
directions, and you come up with a time line.
Mr. Cecil asked Mr. Lovorn that based on his experience if he
considered this portion of the strategic planning process to be
the crux of the whole matter. Mr. Lovorn answered the vision
and economic summit is probably the most important thing that
any community should do first.
Chairman Cecil asked for questions from the Board members.
Board member Bray asked that if on these phases they came back
at a later date and asked them to do Phase IV and V how long
would the prices be good. Mr. Lovorn said they would be good
one year from the date and he said he really didn't see them
going up much even after that. Mr. Bray asked that in
connection with the expenses could those be more explicit such
as a range or a not-to-exceed depending on how many phases the
Board asked the Pace Group to do. Mr. Bray said he would like
some kind of number. Mr. Lovorn said they could give the board
a range, and if it goes over a certain amount they would ask the
Board's permission.
Mr. Cecil said that he felt as the Board proceeds with this
meeting they would identify the tasks to be done and with that
information possibly could satisfy Mr. Bray's questions today.
Mr. Lovorn agreed.
Mr. Cecil said to all the members of the Board in anticipation
of John being here today and making this presentation they did
check some of the references in the back of the proposal. Mr.
Clifford stated he had checked some of them in Greenwood and Mr.
Lovorn received high recommendations and the quality of his work
was said to be good. Mr. Fendley said he talked with some
people in Georgia through the Power Company and got the same
response.
Mr. Cecil said he felt that the way to proceed now was to try to
identify the tasks, either all or part of the proposal the board
is going to ask to be done. He said he felt he had a suggestion
to make, and if the board would like to expand or detract from
it to feel free to do so. He thinks the Board should ask that
the Business and Retention Program be done which is part of
Phase I. He felt a large part of the information that would be
-- developed in Phase I is already available here through the
Chamber of Commerce and other sources. He said he realized that
the information might be a little bit out of date, but he felt
that part of Phase I at this stage is really all that is
needed. What he suggested is that we do the Business and
Retention Program, the Flexible Incentive Program and the
Visioning and Economic Summit which is Phase II; and the meat of
the entire Strategic Planning Process. He suggested the Board
proceed on those three tasks. He asked for the Board's
agreement, and this was the consensus of the Board.
20
Board member Clifford made a motion to retain the Pace Group and
authorize 1, 2, and 3 option under the alternative proposal.
Chairman Cecil suggested they split this and agree on how much
is to done. Board member Clifford made a motion, seconded by
Mr. Curtis Fendley,that they define the tasks as the Flexible
Incentive Program, Business and Retention Program, and the
Vision and Economic Summit, which carried unanimously 5 ayes and
0 nays.
Mr. Cecil asked that Mr. Lovorn knowing the parameters of what
needs to be done, see if he could give the Board an answer
regarding the expenses. Mr. Bray stated that in view of the
firm having an office in Ft. Worth all of the mileage should be
out of Ft. Worth. Mr. Lovorn advised that he needed to be in
Paris a lot, and his mileage is for him to drive not fly. Mr.
Lovorn advised that he felt on Phase I (Flexible Incentive
Program) expenses should not go over $5,000.00. He said on the
Existing Business Retention the amount is not going to be over
$2,000.00 because when interviewing top twenty firms it will be
done in one trip. He said in connection with the Visioning and
Economic Sum~nit the cost would not be over $2,000.00. He said
he thought the total expenses on all of these items would be
less than $10,000.00, and they would provide actual invoices of
expenses.
Chairman Cecil asked if there were other questions. Mr. Cecil
outlined what he felt were their options at this point. He
advised he felt the Board had agreed at the last meeting that
the proposal from Cornerstone Group was not going to fill their
needs. He said that leaves two proposals, one from Day &
Associates and one from the Pace Group. He stated the Board
members had copies of the proposal from Day & Associates as to
how it would break down in cost if the Board picked and chose.
At this point, Mr. Cecil advised he would entertain a motion
about the Board's desires in this matter.
Board member Eric Clifford made a motion that the Board retain
the Pace Group, with Curtis Fendley seconding the motion.
Chairman Cecil asked if there were any questions. Board member
Bray asked for Mr. Haynes to clarify the Board's position as to
the low bid.
Mr. Haynes advised the process the Board is using is not a bid
process, although it had the appearance of being in that form
because of the request from the Board to be price sensitive and
to have price connected with different phases of the work that
could be selected. Mr. Haynes said State Law states that it is
against the law to bid for professional services, so this is not
a bid for professional services. He also said State Law says
when hiring a professional for professional services, the award
will be based upon demonstrated competence and qualifications to
perform the services, and for fair and reasonable price. He
said the cost is important and the qualifications is important.
Mr. Haynes said the Charter states in the selection process for
us to obtain the lowest and best bid, but does not instruct as
to how to hire a professional service person, so we follow the
State Law which says bids may not be taken. Mr. Haynes felt the
Board should be sensitive to the two primary items considered
that the cost be reasonable, and the other item is the
qualifications of the person/firm providing the service. He
stated if there is a significant difference in the price that
you are able to hire two consultants then you should justify the
difference.
21
Mr. Cecil stated that if you add the three numbers from Day &
Associates without regard to any expenses you get $26,000.00. If
you add the numbers up from the Pace Group, the amount is
$36,500.00. After discussion with the members of the Board
regarding Day & Associates and the Pace Group comparison, Board
member Clifford stated you look at qualifications as well as
price. Mr. Clifford said you need to look at the fact of the
qualifications and experience of the individuals. He said you
-- are not looking at apples-to-apples was the reason he made the
motion. He said when looking at the two proposals before the
Board at this time, the Pace Group is basically head and
shoulders in experience, and education above the other
proposal. Chairman Cecil asked if he felt that was worth paying
some premium for. Mr. Clifford said he felt reasonably
comfortable with the Pace Group's ability to do the job with a
good work product that will be useful to the community and to
the corporation.
Chairman Cecil stated they had a motion on the floor with a
second, and the motion carried unanimously with Chairman Cecil
voting aye.
Chairman Cecil stated this is the Board's recommendation to the
City Council, but the City Council will actually make the
contract with the Pace Group. He asked City Manager Malone to
ask John Lovorn to forward to them the proposed contract Mr.
Malone stated this would be appropriate. City Attorney Haynes
stated that just a letter of understanding including the three
areas the Board has recommended and the price would be
sufficient. Mr. Lovorn stated he understood the action of the
Board and would forward a letter to the City Manager Malone with
the price and other items involved. Mr. Cecil stated he would
like for this to be an item at the next Council meeting, and Mr.
Malone agreed this item would be on March 10, 1994. Mr. Lovorn
stated he would have the information to Mr. Malone and all the
Board members prior to the March 10, 1994 Council meeting for
the Board members review.
Chairman Cecil asked if there was any other business and there
being none he declared the board meeting adjourned.
CHAIRMAN PHILIP R. CECIL
ATTEST:
ASSISTANT CITY CLERK, BARBARA DENNY