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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - Economic Development Corporation - 2008 - 07/16 - RegularI I 0 ALLEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (AEDC) BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2008 Board Kurt Kizer Tim Wood Carl Clemencich Gary Caplinger Maxine Sweet Staff Robert Winningham Jennifer Grimm Daniel Bowman Call to Order and Announce a Ouomm Present. Guests Pete Smith Peter Vargas Joey Herald Lee Battle Tina Burnside Cathy Dunkel Dan Anderson Meredith Smith AI Blaine Adam Davis With a quorum of the Board present, the Regular Meeting of the Allen Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) was called to order by President Kurt Kizer at 6:07 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at the AEDC Office. 1. Approval of Minutes of the May 14, 2008 Special Called Meeting On a motion by Maxine Sweet, seconded by Carl Clemencich, the Board unanimously approved the minutes of the May 14, 2008 Special Called Meeting as presented. 2. Approval of Minutes of the June 10, 2008 Special Called Meeting On a motion by Carl Clemencich, seconded by Gary Caplinger, the Board unanimously approved the minutes of the June 10, 2008 Special Called Meeting as presented. 3 Convene into Closed Executive Session: The Board convened into closed executive session at 6:13 p.m. to deliberate commercial and financial information and economic incentives for the following: • Amended and Restated Economic Development Agreement with Greenstreet Properties of Texas, LLC • Recruitment of Project Simple • Recruitment of Project Bell • Recruitment of Project Arbitrator Reconvene in Open Session The Board reconvened into regular session at 7,48 p.m. AEDC Board of Directors Regutar Meeting July 16, 2008 - Page 2 4. Consider and Take Action Regarding the Economic Development Agreement with Greenstreet Properties of Texas. LLC iNo action was taken on this item. 5. Consider and Take Action for the Recruitment of Project Simple No action was taken on this item. 6. Consider and Take Action for the Recruitment of Proiect Bell No action was taken on this item. 7 Consider and Take Action for the Recruitment of Project Arbitrator No action was taken on this item. 8. Consider and Take Action for Approval of the First Amendment to Declaration of Protective Covenants for Allen Central Business Park (Now Known as Millennium Business Park) Maxine Sweet updated the Board on the recent meeting of the Millennium Technology Park Property Owners Association (POA) that she attended. Stream Realty is considering leasing space at 505 Millennium Drive to a church. This information was presented to the POA Board of Directors and the reaction of POA Board members was mixed, with some supporting the lease and some objecting to the lease. It was noted that certain businesses represented on the POA Board have chemicals that could be harmful to people attending church at 505 Millennium Drive, especially children. Peter Vargas recommended that in the future, AEDC economic development agreements should explicitly state that any company receiving incentives to construct a building must ensure that after constructed, the facility will be used only for a specified use. Daniel Bowman stated that the companies that are members of the POA do not have an incentive to sign the Amendment to Declaration of Protective Covenants because doing so would restrict the allowable uses on their properties and would not provide any additional benefits. In addition, the amended agreement will only apply to those property owners that sign the agreement. Robert Winningham mentioned that he spoke with Stream representatives recently regarding the AEDC's desire to see a commercial business locate to 505 Millennium Drive. On a motion by Maxine Sweet, seconded by Gary Caplinger, the Board unanimously approved the First Amendment to Declaration of Protective Covenants for Allen Central Business Park (Now Known as Millennium Business Park) as presented. 9. Approval of AFDC Financial Reports Daniel Bowman presented the AEDC Financial Reports. On a motion by Carl Clemencich, seconded by Tim Wood, the Board unanimously approved the Financial Reports as submitted. AEDC Board of Direciors Regular Meeting ✓ufv 16, 2008 - Page 3 10. Briefing on Open Meetings Act by AEDC Attorney Pete Smith, AEDC Attorney, presented information on the Open Meetings Act to the Board. Every city official is required to take Open Meetings Act Training or Public Information Act Training. Smith noted that every governmental meeting is open to the public, with the exception of advisory boards that do not make final decisions The Open Meetings Act also applies to committees of government bodies that meet to discuss public business and make a recommendation to a public body A meeting must be posted and made public if two or more members of the AEDC Board meet to discuss public business and make a decision that will be "rubber stamped' by the AEDC Board. Board members can congregate without having to post a public meeting as long as the number of Board members congregating does not constitute a quorum and the group of members does not make decisions during their meeting. Texas statute requires that notice of a public meeting be posted 72 hours in advance of the meeting. The public notice must be sufficiently descriptive to communicate the subject matter that will be discussed at the meeting. If an item is not included in the public notice, that item cannot be discussed at the public meeting. Carl Clemencich inquired as to the legal justification for using special code names to refer to pending economic development projects that are considering Allen. Smith replied that such names can be used if information pertaining to the company is confidential. Smith mentioned that the AEDC must post Board meeting agendas and the schedule of regular Board meetings on the AEDC website. The AEDC can have an emergency meeting with two hours notice, as long as it is for an emergency purpose. It is not legal for AEDC staff or Board members to poll Board members to determine how they plan to vote on a particular item that will be considered at a future public meeting. The general rule of thumb is that public bodies cannot have secret deliberations that deprive the public of seeing the public officials debate and approve public actions. Purely social gatherings, conventions, seminars, and other such meetings where no formal decisions are discussed are not subject to the Open Meetings Act. The AEDC Board cannot have a meeting by telephone, with the exception that the Board is allowed to call the AEDC attorney during a public meeting. Board members are not allowed to vote during closed executive session, but they can disclose bow they plan to vote in open session during executive session. It is required that the AEDC have a tape recording or a certified agenda for closed meetings. The certified agenda for closed meetings does not have to be released by the AEDC unless there is a court order. Closed sessions should only include persons necessary for the purpose of the executive session. Persons included cannot have interests that are adverse to the interests of the Board. There has not been a ruling to date regarding whether developers or other business prospects are allowed to give presentations in closed session. Frugal use of executive session is always best. If the discussion is public, it allows citizens to see what is happening and makes the organization more transparent. The AEDC Board is allowed to go into a closed executive session to consult their attorney, even if the closed session is not listed on the agenda for the meeting. As soon as the public entity has an executed agreement with a company, the information previously presented by that company in executive session is no longer confidential. AFDC Board of Directors Regular Meeting July 16, 2008 - Page 4 By law, the public has a right to videotape a public meeting. A public body can recess a meeting and reconvene the next day if needed. Individual Board members can be held individually liable for slander that takes place during public meetings. Robert Winningham noted that he would like to revamp the format of the AEDC Board agenda in order to elaborate more on the topics that will be addressed during AEDC meetings. The AEDC should clarify the items that are not extremely competitive. A good example of an extremely competitive project is the Allen Event Center, which had several local cities competing for the project at the time it was considered by the AEDC Board. 11. Administrative and Marketing Activities of the AEDC /Executive Director's Report Jennifer Grimm updated the Board on the marketing activities of the AEDC, noting that Duke Realty and the AEDC will co -host an open house event for brokers on September 5, 2008 at 700 S Central Expressway. Board members were invited to attend the arena groundbreaking event on July 24. 2008. Robert Winningham informed the Board that the AEDC is assisting the Allen Independent School District (AISD) in hosting a luncheon on July 17' to help create a business advisory committee for the AISD Career -Tech Center. The meeting will be held at noon at the AISD administration building. It was also noted that Congressman Sam Johnson will be hosting a reception for Economic Development representatives on August 14, 2008. Winningham welcomed Cathy Dunkel and Tina Burnside from the Princeton Economic Development Corporation. Daniel Bowman noted that the AEDC is working with a 50,000 square foot prospect for the Bradford building, which may appear on a future AEDC Board agenda. 12. Scheduling of Next AEDC Board of Directors Meeting The next Board meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 6'00 p.m. 13. Adioum On a motion by Maxine Sweet, seconded by Carl Clemencich, the meeting was officially adjourned at 8:55 p.m. These minutes approved this 201h day of August 2008. Kurt Kizer, PreYdent Carl Clemencich, Secretary I