03-B PEDC (06-16-2004)MINU"I,E'S Ol,"I'1-IE REGULAR MI:ETING OF THE PARIS F('ONOMl('
DEVCLOPMC{,NT CORPORATION
Junc 16, 2004
"I'hc 1'aris l;conomic Development Corporation met in regular session on
Wcdiicsday, Junc 15, 2004, 4:00 1'.M., at Naris J1-mior C'ollcgc, E3obhy R.
Waltcrs npplicd "I'cchnology Buil(iing, Room 1206, 2400 Clarl<svillc St., Naris,
'I'cxas. [)ircctor Mil<c Dunn called the meeting to order with thc lollowing
[)irectors present: Sims Norment, Richard Severson and Rodney l3ass. nlso
present were l'_'xecutive DiY-ector Gaiy Vest, Assistant Dir-ector, I?ril< IZoddy,
Mayor ('urtis F'endley, Tanis Hager, Intcrim City Manager- "I'erry "I'ownsend,
City Attoi-ney I,arry Schenlc and Assistant C'ity Clerl< Sherian Dixon.
i)ircctOr I)Imn called foi- appr-oval of'the minutes fi-om the May 19, 2004 PFDC
mcctin(1,. Uircctor Norment made a motion lo approve the minutes, which was
sccondcci by I)irector F3ass. 'I'he motion carried unanimously.
I)irector [)unn called foi- the iinancial report and Gene Anderson, Finance
I)irector (or thc C'ity ofi Paris, camc forward. Mr. Anderson stated the sales tax
was up slightly in Jw1e and had becn up foi- the past 5 months which was agood
economic indicator. I[e stated that the sales tax was up over all 1`%o over last
year. l le said in the Cash Flow Statement, there were no unusual itcl»s to
rcporl. I)irector Severson made a motion to accept the Financial IZcport.
I)irector f3ass seconded the riiotion and it passed unanimously.
[)ircctor Dunn called foi- the Director's report and Executive Director, Gary
Vcst, came iorward. He indicated that he and Ei-il< Roddy met with Jim Gage,
thc Sati-a [,ce plant manager, last weel< and learned that thcrc will bc an
cxpansion at thc plant which will cmploy about 108 peoplc. }-Ic continucd that
there wil( also be a one million dollar expansion of the physical, brick and
mortar part of the plant foi- needed space foi- a particular line thcy arc adding.
l ic i-cminded them that Sara Lee was the second largest employer in Paris.
Mr. Vcst said they had also been meeting with We Pacl<, who is lookin-p, to acld
a possihlc hwidred thousand squarc foot to thcir plant on thc Loop. I lc saici thcy
have been cxploring the loans funds tllat PEDC has access to, C'hapman
IZcv0lvin~ I,oan I"und that does a maximum loan of $250,000 ancl thc l~,cuno~~>>c
Ocvclopmcnt Administration Rcvolving Loan Fund that is also $250,000. Ilc
saici thcy have tlle applications for these loans and are waiting for I)avici Owens
o[' Wc Pacl< to let them 1<now ifi thcy want to pul-sue that.
I Ic and l;ril< have also tall<ed again with Olivia Johnston ot'E3riggston-McGill
ihat camc to the meeting. Mr. Guest said they have not reccived any financials
ancl are waiting [or fiinancials before they go ahead with anything, so that project
is still on hold.
Mr. Vcst said thcy will be meeting with Loss Mitigation Serviccs, who are
intcrcstcd in possibly building a warchouse in thc Industrial Parl<. I Ic; rclatcd
that "I'odc1 Stephens said they will be poring concrete for the strccts in lhe
Industrial Parl<, next weel<. He inciicated they have had sevcral mcctings with
"1'XU on getting the electricity in, now that the TXU has done thc cniiincering
worl<. Mr. Vest said tlley have had sevet-al meeting with Soutllwestern Bell
about glctting the telephone servicc in. He did say the only onc hc was not
mal<ing progress with was TXU Gas, but thcy were trying to get that clone.
Mr. Vcst mentioned that C-Tech has contacted several builders in the area and
are sccl<ing to awar-d that bid very quicl<ly.
1 Ic rcmindcd thc C'ommission about the joint mceting with thc C'ity and (`ounty
conccrningI Iighway 271. Hc submittcd a formal proposal to 'I,xDO'I' about tllc
icasibility of' 1-Iighway 271 being toll viable. Mr. Vest tall<cc1 to f3ohby
Littlcliclcl o1''1'xD0T about the project.
Mr. Vcst said he would be in Austin next weel< to attend some "1'exas l;conomic
l)evelopment Council meetings and, sincc the TxDnT Commission meets on
"1'111-Irsday, and "I'yler is mal<ing a formal presentation for a loop aroumd "1'yler,
Tom Mullins, his friend from 'I'ylcr, has asked him to stay over and attencl that
mecting. 1 Ic will then bc able to meet the two new commissioncrs, onc f'rom El
I'aso and onc fi-om the Valley. Bobby Littlcfield had also givcn Mr. Vcst the
hanciles all the toll ieasibilities and pass through tolls, and Phillip IZusscll, who
is in charge of the 'I,exas 'I'urnpil<c nuthority.
Mr. Vest admitted that the prospect activity had been a little slow, but it was
slow all ovcr 'I'exas right now.
Dircctor Dunn callcd for considcration of and action on approving the nnnual
Plan o[' Worl< outlining the activities, tasl<s, projects, and programs to be
undertal<cn by thc Board durillg the fiscal ycai- 2004-2005.
l"xecutive Director- Vest brought the PEDC's attention to the Annual Report.
Ilc inciicatcd therc was a good advcrtising campaign fior 2003-2004, which
generated quite a f'ew leads. 'I,he leads thcy got from tradc shows mostly camc
fi-om the Food & Pacl<aging 'l'radc Show. He said thcy also advcrtiscd in
difTcrent magazines. He explained this year, the PEDC will not advertise in any
ol'those publications, as a cost cuttingmcasure. He went on to say thcy will do
some direct mail campaigns and will continue to be in the busincss ~uides in
[)allas. I le reminded them that the billboard is still up on Interslate 30 anci thcy
plan to 1<cep that up 1or this next ycar.
Mr. Vcst rclated that he and Erik attended several trades shows on cii('fcrent
inclustrics and that thcy also belonged to several associations ancl groups that
thcy cjcal with on a regular basis.
Accorcling to the report, thei-e were seven (7) prospect Ieads which gencrated
thrce (3) visits. He indicated the report was just a summai-y of' 1<ist ycar"s
activity. I le mentioned some ofi the projects they came up with last year were
C-'fceh, ('ampbell's Soup, the Inciustrial Pai-lc, Hearne Street, anci the post card
mail ouL Iie explained that t11ey sent out about 20,000 post cards in a clirect
mail campaign, which generated quite a('ew leads.
M r. Vcst prescnted befiorc, during and after pictures ofi the progress on thc worl<
clone at the Industrial Pai-l< to date. He explained that because oi'somc C1i f'(iculty
in getting thc grades right fior t11e streets, the project has gone a litt(c slowcr than
it should, but the concrete is supposed to be poured next wecl<. E Ie continued
that whilc thc concrete is being poLired, they will be laying cc»ic1«it ~1nd PV('
(31'(3e tor ihc elcctrical and telephonc.
1 Iearne Street, which is the entrance into Rogers & Wade, he mentioncc1 is Onc
ofthc big projects they havc been worl<ing on for some time. I le said the streel
was cut and the fiuel tanl< they found has been tal<en care of'propcrly.
In the executive summary, Mr. Vest called their attention to the uncmplOymcnt
rate at 5.9%, which is the lowest its been in quite somc time. IIe iilclicatcd that
thc tax rcvcnuc 11ad stabilized ai1d is moving in a positive dircction. I Ic saici
thcy havc had livc (5) months of' incrcase, and although it has bccn agrcat
incrcasc, it is an Upward ti-cnd which is an indication o1' the cconomy
S11-CllgthClllllg.
Mr. Vest speculated that in 2005, the unemployment rate will continue to
decline and the sales tax will improve. He said the [ildustrial Narl< is moving
alonp, wcll and thcy expect Phase 1 to be finished by the cnd ot'thc summcr. 1 Ic
citeci thc cooperative efifort with the City of Paris has fiacilitatccl this. l Ic statcd
that ("-'I,cch was rcady to start construction in the Industrial Parl<. I Ic saici t11c
builciing will bc about 60,000 square feet, which will be the lirst builciint" to go
ull in the [ndustrial Pai-I<.
Mr. Vest [orecasted that the PEDC will place much of their markcting and
aclvertising cmphasis on the Industrial Parl< in the coming year. I Ic mcntioiied
hc would lil<e lor Phase I to fill up, then there will be a need to start Phasc ll in
2005. I Ic also said the Hcarne Strcet project will be linished by the cnci ol'thc
summcr.
I lc emphasizeci that transportation continued to be a big goal f-or NLl)('. IIc
calleci their attention to Goal #4 in the Program of Worl<, which is to partncr
with 'I'xl)O"l' to complete the Southwest Loop, which turns into two-lane just
past Kimhcrly ('larl< at Highway 137. I Ie con[essed that part of thc holcl up was
duc te> hc and [)on Wall not wanting to tal<e up the railroad tracl<. l lc citc(i thc
propcrty as bcing an outstanding sitc, having great loop acccss ancl gc>uc1 g;as anci
clccti-ic scrvice on site and also the i-ail access. He explained that "I'x[)OT
wantcd tO tal<c out the overpass and bring the loop down to grade and talcc out
the railroad tracl<s. PEDC asked them not to do that. He sugbestcci that l'l:l)('
could partner with TxDOT to get this completed. Bobby Littletield ~~tl~ ~ ther
said hc lil<ed the idea of partnering. Mr. Vest said maybe tn~~ a~~~~~~~ ~~~1 thc
ovcrpass put in, I<eep the railroad tracl<s and have a toui la
way bacl< up to II ighway 82.
Mr. Vcst citcd the goals for PEDC as bein~; retention and expansion ol~c~:isting
businesscs, rccruitrnent ofi new p►-imaiy employers, start up businesses ancl small
business cicvclopment and infirastructure and training.
( Ic mcntioned PI:DC had added two action items Lmder Goal #2, one bcing to
(icvcloE) advcrtising material for thc Paris Industr-ial Parl<, and the othcr bein0,
Fril< crcating a virtual tou1- on the PI~,DC website of available industrial siles.
1[c statcd that L'ril< was worl<ing on that and it should be ready in a lew months.
I Ic cxplained that Goal #4, Infi-astructurc, included the worl< on thc Soutllwcst
I.oop and Phasc 11 of the Industrial I'ai-I<.
Mr. Vest called PEDC's attention to the Financial Statement, whcre thcy would
fincj thc current budget and the rcvenuc statemcnt. I Ic estimated ihe PI",I)C's
cash position would be around $483,000.00 by the end of thc ycar and foi- next
ycar, around $940,000.
I lc rcminclcd thcm about thc changc in owncrship ofi Pal-is Packaging tllis year,
but incjicatcd that would not affect thcir payment to thc PED(' as thc contract
was madc with thc corpor-ation.
! Ie projccteci that the total resources lor next year should be ar01-111d $I.R million,
with the commitment ofi arowid $1 million, which will leavc with
$770,000.00 f~or projects.
For the expcnsc sidc, he explained they tool< the $770,000.00 and dividcd it
cyually l)ctwccn cxisting and new projccts.
For hucigets items,llc said most remained the same as last ycar c>r wcre reduced.
Ilc brOu~ht their attention to compensation, where there was a 3`%0 raisc
proposcci for Mr. Vest and a 5°No raise 1-or I?ril<. 'I,he administration icc f'>r thc
('hamber covered them writing checl<s for the PEDC and for all the uther thin(Ys
the C'hamber did. Hc did mentioii thc audit fec went up.
On a qucstion about the $388,000.00, Mr. Vest explained it is the amount that
is availableto help fund improvemcnts and expansion ofexisting industrics. I Ic
did say thc money was divided equally into new and existing projects and cotild
be movc within these two categorics as nceded.
Mr. Vest said hc needed the approvcci budget and program of worl< by July so
it coulcl be included in the budget meetings of the City of Paris.
L)irector [)unn called foi- fui-ther discussion ol'the Annual Plan of'Worl<. '1,11cre
hcing nonc, he called for a motion to approve. Director Severson maclc a
motion to approve. It was seconded by Director Bass and passed unanimously.
Uirector Dunn call for further discussion of the Annual Budget fior the liscal
ycar 2004-2005. "I'here being none, he called for a motion to approvc. [)irector
Eiass maclc thc motion, which was sccondcd by Dircctor Noi-ment. "I'hc motion
passccj unanimously.
'1'hcrc bcing no [-urther business, thc meeting was adjourned.
MIKE DUNN, DIRECTOR
A'1"IT',5'I':
SI1FR[AN l)[XON, ASST. GITY CLERK