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01/23/2018 MinutesPARIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MONTHLY MEETING Board Members Present: Richard Manning, Chairman Marion Hamill, Vice -Chairman Tim Hernandez, Secretary/Treasurer Derrick Hughes Ex -Officio Members Present: Legal Counsel: Stephanie Harris, City Attorney Call to Order. Community Room 1125 Bonham Street Paris, Texas 75460 Tuesday, January 23, 2018 5:15 O'CLOCK P.M. MINUTES Staff Present: Michael Paris, Executive Director Chris Stout, Economic Development Associate Paula Brownfield, Administrative Assistant Guest(s) Present: Mary Madewell, The Paris News Amanda Gohn, eParis Extra Skipper Steely, Citizen City Council Liaison: Paula Portugal Mr. Manning called the meeting of the Paris Economic Development Corporation to order at 5:15 p.m. on January 23, 2018. Citizens' Input Mr. Manning invited those present to speak during Citizens' Input. No one came forward and the Citizens' Input was closed. Discuss and possibly approve Minutes of the December 19, 2017, Monthly Meeting. Mr. Manning asked if there were any corrections to the minutes. No one from the Board had any changes. Mr. Hughes made a motion to accept the minutes from December 19, 2017. Mr. Hernandez seconded the motion. Vote was 4 -ayes to 0 -nays. Discuss and possibly approve December 2017 Financials. Mr. Hernandez stated the financials were in order. Mr. Paris pointed out that the Suddenlink bill has increased. This was due to an expired contract; we redid the contract and should see a decrease in the next bill. The City water bill looks excessive for this time of year. We will call the City to check on the water usage. Mr. Manning suggested having the City put a device on the water meter that shows how much water is used and when it is being used. Mr. Paris asked Ms. Brownfield to go over the Capital One charges. Ms. Brownfield started with Office Supplies — desk calendars from Office Depot; PEDC Board Meeting Minutes January 23, 2018 Page 2 of 4 Postage — FedEx charges to ship documents to Campbell's to be signed; Miscellaneous — late payment charge because of holidays; Marketing — Red River Valley Authority Conference in Wichita Falls, hotel charges EAIC Conference in Frisco, bolt cutters from Gifford's, Project Wind Cave was Subway sandwiches for their lunch, Project Orange Fire was Subway for their lunch while touring Paris, Constant Contact we prepay for email marketing blasts; Depot Operations — paper towels for the Caddo Museum bathrooms. She also pointed out under Depot Operations it shows The Paris News which is the yearly cost of the newspaper. Advanced Alarm is also a yearly charge. Mr. Paris said that the Braun Intertec was the first wetlands study done for Project Orange Fire. Mr. Hughes made a motion to accept the financials for December 2017. Mr. Hamill seconded the motion. Vote was 4 -ayes to 0 -nays. Discuss the possibility of future Office Space. Mr. Paris asked for a discussion on the possibility of future office space for the PEDC. He went on to say that the PEDC and the Chamber were located in the Depot up until 2010 or 2011. When the Depot was established with the Historical Society, it was anchored by the Genealogy Library. The Chamber was helping by being a tenant of the Depot. It had a contract with the City for the space. A contract or memorandum of understanding between the PEDC and the City does not exist for what our responsibilities are. Mr. Paris stated that this instead has been a "gentleman's agreement". The Depot is a beautiful space, but there are drawbacks on a daily basis. The "why" of relocating the PEDC is a matter of how we are perceived in this community. As guests are coming into the community we would like them to see the hustle and bustle of downtown, Collegiate or Lamar. When guests arrive at our office their first request is to use the restroom. This is what we do at that request: go through a small hallway, unlock a door, disarm the alarm, and take them through the Museum to men's' and women's' restrooms, and then relock and rearm when they are finished. The PEDC staff does that every day, but when having guests in the office it is unappealing to go through that process. We need to consider what impression we give our external and internal guests and maybe think about relocating ourselves. It might be better to be in the areas of activity, downtown or close to the Loop. We have the Community Room for larger meetings, but for smaller meetings we have a make -shift board room that is located in the kitchen and copier area. The PEDC would like to be more in the public view and to have a central presence in the community. Mr. Manning stated that he agreed with Mr. Paris and felt that our office is located in an out of the way area. He also stated the PEDC at the Depot is the Depot being used for the wrong purpose. Mr. Paris mentioned that we are paying all the overhead for the building, but we do not pay any rent to the City. Mr. Hernandez asked if the other entities would have to share the cost if we relocated. Ms. Harris answered that the City would pay the utilities, since the other two entities are on one dollar leases. Mr. Hernandez suggested that the City could rent it out. Ms. Harris stated that it was unlikely that someone would want rent the offices and pay utilities for the entire building. The building has been used for non -profits that pay $1 a year and the PEDC pays no rent, but pays all utilities for the building. Mr. Manning said the Chamber probably had the same idea as the PEDC. They left to be in a more visible area. Mr. Paris expressed that the PEDC has been scrutinized on how we spend our money and in what way we can spend our money. The PEDC code could be read that the bills the PEDC pays should go specifically to PEDC expenses. Ms. Harris interjected "you are not paying rent". Mr. Paris stated that he talked to Peoples' Bank about the lobby downtown. We could rent the space for $300 a month which includes utilities. Other ideas would be areas around the Loop, Lamar or Collegiate. Ms. Harris mentioned a conference room space needs to be confidential. Mr. Hamill said a drawback to downtown is the parking. Mr. Paris asked for a two - person committee to look into our options. Mr. Hughes asked about the cost of moving the computer PEDC Board Meeting Minutes January 23, 2018 Page 3 of 4 system. Mr. Stout stated that we do not have a server onsite, so that would keep costs down. Mr. Hamill reminded everyone that the political side of this will need to be addressed. Mr. Paris suggested having a couple of public sessions. Mr. Hughes asked about making the restrooms more accessible to our office. Ms. Brownfield saw blueprints showing plans for two bathrooms in our office space. We looked into turning the file room into a bathroom. Mr. Paris told us the Historical Society has conditions to follow in order to do renovations. The discussion ended with the PEDC looking at all its options. Discuss and possibly approve an Economic Impact Study beginning in 1993 to present day. Mr. Paris said that during to election we found that projects from the beginning of the PEDC had not been researched to show the impact the PEDC has had on the City of Paris. We would like to start at 1993 going through 2017. Frisco just completed a study from when they began to see the overall impact of their economic development and have been using a template of the study to show the current impact on a yearly basis. A study for the PEDC would be used to report to the citizens of Paris how their tax dollars are used and the impact to Paris. The first prospect suggested to do an impact study is Insight Research Corporation who has done work for both Frisco and Alliance Airport. The packet has a list of clients Insight Research has worked with. Elizabeth Morris is the CEO and Chief Economist for the firm. The second prospect is Impact DataSource from Austin. A principal of the company is Jerry Walker, Economist. This group was offered to us by Oncor to do the economic impact of American SpiralWeld we submitted to the Texas Enterprise Fund. Mr. Paris would recommend Insight Research; either company would do a good job. Mr. Manning asked if this could be used to show the public what impact we have on a yearly basis in terms of jobs and money. Mr. Paris answered that it could. There are three Cost Elements: 1. the EDC's impact since 1993; 2. the 2017 impact which would have a template to use in the coming years; 3. a Project template that shows the value of the project in relation to jobs and incentives. An impact study would give us a bar to work with. Mr. Paris asked the Board if he could talk to Insight Research about the costs and negotiate with them. The Board would like to have a formal presentation at the next Board Meeting. Mr. Paris said he would invite Insight Research to talk to the Board. No motion needed to be made at this time. Executive Director's Monthly Report. • PAVED was held today at Love Civic Center for business, minority-owned business or woman -owned business to learn about bidding on local projects in and around Lamar County. 50+ attended the TxDot event highlighting upcoming subcontracting opportunities for highway and building construction in Northeast Texas. • Plastec Conference will be February 6d' -8d' in Anaheim, California. Oncor invited us to participate with them. • TEDC Winter Conference will be held February 21" -23rd in San Antonio. • Evaluating properties for future industrial development. If American takes most of the Business Park, we will need to look for future industrial space. • Phase I environmental is complete on the NW corner of the Industrial Park. We are working on the biotechnical now. One thing we have found is that we need to be more site ready with ground ready to break. 0 Travel schedule for 2018 Team Texas events. Will have this for the next meeting. PEDC Board Meeting Minutes January 23, 2018 Page 4 of 4 Convene into Executive Session: a) Section 551.087; Deliberation of Economic Development Negotiations to deliberate Commercial and Financial Information and Economic Incentives relating to the following: Commercial real-estate development. 1) Discuss Land Purchase 2) Project Wind Cave 3) Project American SpiralWeld 4) Project Iron Rod 5) Project Sun Bird b) Pursuant to Section 551.074 of the Texas Government Code: 1) to deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee: or 2) to hear a complaint to charge against an officer or employee. • Executive Director Performance Evaluation Chairman Manning convened the Board into Executive Session at 6:07 p.m. Reconvene into Open Session and possibly take action on item(s) discussed in Executive Session. Chairman Manning reconvened the Board into open session at 7:02 p.m. Mr. Hughes made a motion to make an offer with an option on both properties. Mr. Hernandez seconded the motion. Vote was 4 -ayes to 0 -nays. Discuss Future Agenda Items. No future agenda items were discussed. Adiourn Mr. Hamill made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Hughes seconded the motion. Vote was 4 -ayes to 0 -nays. The meeting was adjourned at 7:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Paula Brownfield Administrative Assistant Paris Economic Development Corporation