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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - Economic Development Corporation - 2009 - 08/19 - RegularALLEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (AEDC) BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2009 Board Tim Wood Carl Clemencich Susan Bartlemay Maxine Sweet - Absent Gary Caplinger - Absent Staff Robert Winningham Jennifer Grimm Daniel Bowman Call to Order and Announce a Ouorum Present. Guests Pete Smith Bo Bass Tyrone Wilson Peter Vargas With a quorum of the Board present, the Regular Meeting of the Allen Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) was called to order by President Tim Wood at 6:28 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at the AEDC Office, I Introduction of Susan Bartlemay, AEDC Board of Directors Place 3 Robert Winningham introduced Susan Bartlemay as a Director serving on the AEDC Board of Directors. 2. Approval of Minutes of the July IS 2009 Regular Meeting On a motion by Carl Clemencich, seconded by Susan Bartlemay, the Board unanimously approved the minutes of the July 15, 2009 Regular Meeting as presented. 3. Approval of Minutes of the July 28 2009 Special Called Meeting with the Allen Cit Council On a motion by Cut Clemencich, seconded by Susan Bartlemay, the Board unanimously approved the minutes of the July 28, 2009 Special Called Meeting with the Allen City Council. 4. Consider and Take Action Regarding Possible Non-Comoliance with AEDC Economic Development Agreements by Local Companies Daniel Bowman updated the Board on the status of two Allen companies that appear to be in violation of their economic development agreements, based on information that has been received by AEDC staff. AFDC Board of Diieciori Regular Meeting August 19, 2009 - Page 2 Bowman indicated that the economic development agreement with Graphic Converting requires that the company maintain $5 million in taxable business personal property. The company has approximately $3.5 million in taxable business personal property for tax year 2009 The company has indicated that an economic downturn in their industry has made it impossible for them to meet the $5 million requirement for 2009 The company does not plan to request the $200,000 grant that was scheduled to be paid to them in 2009 Graphic Converting has requested that the AEDC Board refrain from requiring the company to repay the incentives grants that were paid to the company in the past. The Board discussed the company's request. Tim Wood indicated that the company has received approximately 70 -percent of the total grant authorized under the economic development agreement, and has fulfilled approximately 70 -percent of the employment and taxable value requirements specified in the agreement. Therefore, it appears that the company's performance is commensurate to the grant paid. On a motion by Susan Bartlemay, seconded by Carl Clemencich, the Board unanimously approved authorizing the AEDC Executive Director to amend the Economic Development Agreement with Graphic Converting to allow the company to have one additional year to meet the taxable value and employment requirements specified in the agreement. Bowman also explained that Brooks Instrument, a flow measurement/control company headquartered in Pennsylvania, recently acquired the Celerity assets located in Allen. Brooks is planning to relocate the approximately 140 Allen employees to Pennsylvania within 9-12 months and will ultimately shut down the Allen facility Celerity employed as many as 440 people in Allen in 2007 The Economic Development Agreement with Celerity requires that the company continuously lease and occupy the building (or another facility in Allen) and maintain business operations at such location until June 1, 2012. Celerity no longer owns assets or has any employees in Allen. On a motion by Carl Clemencich, seconded by Susan Bartlemay, the Board unanimously approved authorizing the AEDC Executive Director to send a letter to Celerity indicating that the company is in violation of their Economic Development Agreement and requesting repayment of the grant. 5. Convene into Closed Executive Session - The Board convened into closed executive session at 6:45 p.m. to deliberate commercial and financial information and economic incentives for the following: • Consider Incentives for the Recruitment of Project Coyote • Consider Incentives for the Retention and Expansion of Local Business 0 Consider Incentives for the Recruitment of Project Main AFDC Board of Directors Regular Meeivig August 19, 2009 - Page 3 Reconvene in Open Session The Board reconvened into regular session at 7.48 p.m. 6. Actions Resulting from Executive Session On a motion by Susan Bartlemay, seconded by Carl Clemencich, the Board unanimously approved the terms of an incentive package for Project Coyote outlined in the letter presented to the Board and authorized the AEDC Executed Director to negotiate an agreement based on those terms. 7 Consider Approval of Design Study to Support the Recruitment of a Data Center to 415 Century Parkway Daniel Bowman described the proposed study to the Board. The AEDC has been working in partnership with JSC Realty to market 415 Century Parkway to data center users over the last several years. The budding already contains many of the components required to support a data center. Carl Clemencich inquired as to why the proposed study is necessary Bowman indicated that 1 one of the challenges in marketing the 415 Century Parkway building is the lack of available information on how a developer could retrofit the building to serve as a data center. AEDC staff is proposing that Clearview, an Information Technology outsourcing firm with extensive experience in managing, operating, and retrofitting data centers, complete an in-depth study to provide a technical assessment on the building and explore repurposing the facility into a data center. The end result of this study would be a set of recommendations, drawings and diagrams that would enable the facility to stand out among prospective facilities under consideration by data center users. AEDC staff would use the study to market the building to end users directly. JSC Realty has indicated that they are willing to partner with the AEDC and share equally in the cost of this study. The total cost of the study would be $9,600, with the AEDC Board funding $4,800 and JSC funding the remaining $4,800. On a motion by Susan Bartlemay, seconded by Cad Clemencich, the Board unanimously approved providing $4,800 to complete a data center study related to 415 Century Parkway 8. Review and Ratification of the Budget of the Allen Central Park Property Owners Association Daniel Bowman presented the budget of the Allen Central Park Property Owners Association that was recently approved by the Board of Directors of the Association. AEDC staff worked to establish the Allen Central Park Property Owners Association for the propose of managing and maintaming the common areas in Allen Central Park. AFDC Board of Directors RegulaMeering August 19, 2009 - Page 4 The Board of Directors of the Association met on August 11, 2009 and formally approved a Management Agreement with Duke Realty for the maintenance of the common areas in the business park. The Management Agreement was executed and Duke Realty began managing the association on August 15, 2009 The Association Board also approved the Association Budget for the period from August 15, 2009 — December 31, 2009 The Budget only covers a 4 �/2 month period in order to allow the Board to approve a new budget at a later date for the 2010 calendar year. On a motion by Carl Clemencich, seconded by Susan Bartlemay, the Board unanimously ratified the Allen Central Park Property Owners Association Board of Director's action to approve the Association budget as presented. 9 Approval of AEDC Financial Reports Daniel Bowman presented the AEDC Financial Reports. Susan Bartlemay inquired as to whether the AEDC Board should be spending all of its revenue on an annual basis, or instead maintaining a positive fund balance from year-to-year. Tim Wood indicated that the projected fund balance may not be as large as it currently appears, once potential future grants are included. Wood also recommended that this be included as a discussion item on the agenda of a future hoard meeting. 1 Peter Vargas indicated that the decline in sales tax receipts for the current month is not related to a decline in any particular industry The economy is sluggish right now and many people are not willing to spend money. Vargas predicted that 2010 would be a tough year. For 2009, property appraisals went up by 4 -percent overall, but existing appraisals actually went down by 20 -percent. Andrews Distributing is in conversations with the City of Allen and recently submitted their proposed site plan. The Village at Allen is also doing well and is planning to additional restaurants, including a prominent barbeque chain. Watters Creek is working to implement new signage. The AEDC Board's efforts to support the Watters Creek development have helped significantly, and the apartments are now approximately 70 -percent leased. Vatgas indicated that the City was concerned about Watters Creek when the economic recession began because the retailers in the center carry mostly luxury items However, the development has done fairly well and continues to sign new tenants, such as Luke's Locker. On a motion by Carl Clemencich, seconded by Susan Bartlemay, the Board unanimously approved the AEDC Financial Reports as presented. 0 AEDC Board of Directors Regular Meering August 19,2009- Pug, 5 I10. Discuss Administrative and Marketing Activities of the AEDC and Upcoming Local Events Jennifer Grimm updated the Board on the marketing activities of the AEDC and described the new AEDC display booth. Grimm recently met with Karen Cromwell and representatives from the City of Allen Parks Department to discuss running an ad campaign in the Texas Monthly Magazme. The AEDC will have a booth at the upcoming NTCAR Expo on August 26" This is a major broker expo that will take place at the Sheraton Hotel in Dallas. Representatives from the Allen Americans Hockey Team will attend the expo and help represent Allen. Grimm presented the new AEDC marketing packet to the Board. AEDC Board members are invited to attend the upcoming Tech Titans event. ACH Direct has been nominated to receive an award at this event. Board members were also invited to attend the Taste of Watters Creek Event. 11. AEDC Executive Director's Report Regarding Office Industrial Data Center, and Retail Projects, and Local Partnerships Robert Winningham updated the Board on the status of various AEDC projects. Winningham ' and Mayor Terrell recently met with Representative Ken Paxton and his Chief of Staff to discuss education and workforce issues. Winningham requested that Paxton support the AISD Career and Technology Center in applying for and receiving grants from the State of Texas. They also discussed transportation issues and requested that Paxton support alternative light rail funding mechanisms Winningham requested that Paxton support big projects that are looking at Allen, including Project RG. The broker for Project RG has indicated that he should be able to tell AEDC staff more about the project in the next three weeks. 12 Scheduling of Next AEDC Board of Directors Meetm The next Regular Board meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. 13 Convene into Closed Executive Session: Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.074: Annual Performance Review of the Executive Director/CEO The Board did not convene into closed executive session to discuss the annual performance review of the AEDC Executive Director/CEO n AFDC Boa'd of Directory Regstar Meeting August /9, 2009 - Page 6 14. Consider and Take Action Relating to the Annual Performance Review of the Executive Directon(CEO This item was tabled until the September AEDC Board meeting. 15. Adjourn The meeting was officially adjourned on a motion by Susan Bartlemay, seconded by Carl Clemencich, at 8:36 p.m. These minutes approved this 161h ay of September 2009. w;_ - Tim Wood, President Carl Clemencich, Secretary/Treasurer