APRIL 14, 1998
SCHERTZ DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
JIIlNUTES
April 14, 1998
Denny's Restaurant
ITEM # 1 CALL TO ORDER:
Chairperson Jackie Jones called the meeting of the Schertz Development
Foundation Board of Directors to order at 8:00 a.m.
Those Present:
Staff:
Jackie Jones, Chairperson
Don Jeffreys
Lew Borgfeld
Kerry R. Sweatt
Guest:
Executive Director Mark Marquez-
Margaret Boyd-Recording Secretary
John F. Reid
IT'EM #2: APPROVAL OF MINUTES.
Minutes were not approved. Ms. Jones said that the minutes needed to be
reviewed for grammar and other errors.
Item #3: DISCUSSION/ACTION OF SALE OF WT 19:
Mr. Marquez introduced Mr. Reid who wants to buy lot 19.
Mr. Reid went over what type of building he would be building and the
estimated cost per sq. ft. He submitted a ruff drawing for the design of the
building. He said it would be a cement block building. The building would be
used as a dental lab i.e. making crowns, bridges & false teeth.
Ms. Jones asked where she's currently located. Mr. Reid said they are
currently located on Walzem & Old Austin Highway where they have been in
business since 1983.
Mr. Marquez asked how many people would the lab employee. Mr. Reid said it
would be only his daughter. He said her business would only take up about
300-sq. ft. of space. He said his son-in-law would be using part of the building
to store a Wells Fargo covered trailer in which he has water softener repairs
and parts in it which he works with on the weekend.
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Mr. Sweatt said the dental lab is only a small part of the building. Mr. Reid
said that's the only business that will be there except for his son & law who will
park his trailer inside.
Ms. Jones asked who's owns lots 20 & 21. Mr. Marquez said they are already
sold to SeIV-pro. Mr. Jeffreys asked if lot 18 had been sold. Mr. Marquez said
it was still open. He said that the only lots available now are 7, 18, 19, and 22
and if Mr. Reid buys lot 19 we're down to three.
Ms. Jones asked if the committee had anymore questions. Mr. Sweatt asked
for a motion to approve the sale of lot 19 and to accept the earnest money
contract.
Mr. Marquez said the covenant states you must spend a least $2,400 in order
to buy a lot. He said he would have to check the covenant on the size of
structure that has to be built. He said he believed there's no minimum
building cost requirement. He said that before the deal closed he would fmd
out. Ms. Jones asked if we could vote on it if we don't know.
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Mr. Marquez said we could vote on it and if itV'not large enoughjwould have to
cancel the earnest contract. Mr. Reid said he was looking at a larger building
but didn't have the turning space. He said he didn't see minimum size when
he was reading the covenants. He said it talked a lot about landscaping. He
said if the board needed a bigger building let him know he may change it to an
CL" shape but would still need to be able to get into it.
Mr. Marquez said as he recalls there wasn't any minimum building size on
anyone of those lots.
Mr. Borgfeld said the Schertz Development Foundation was formed to bring in
employment. Mr. Reid said the building has to be built and that's employment
and it has to be maintained and that's services. He said it's not going to have
five or six jobs generated for City of Schertz people. He said he hadn't asked
for tax abatement.
Ms. Jones asked Mr. Reid if he knew he had to go through the architectural
committee. Mr. Reid said he knew in order to get the permits. Mr. Marquez
said there's an architectural review committee who would review and approve
the plans for the building.
Mr. Sweatt made a motion to approve the earnest contract; Mr. Borgfeld
seconded the motion to approve the earnest contract. Mr. Sweatt said it's
contingent upon the approval of the architectural committee.
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ITEM #4: COMMENTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS:
~_ Mar~ said the Schertz Development Foundation assets is around
"\ ~-!OOO.OV He said we have cash and that the foundations out going
expenses are very s_h. Ms. Jones explained to Mr. Borgfeld what we
discussed last montlik"r~~t .t:.9. do with the foundation assets. Such as build
another building or inv~~~ IJ.' more land.
He said build a building and lease' ut would be great i and would
generate con . ued revenue for the foundati He said the interes tes are
as low as you're . g to see it to borrow money.
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Mr. Borgfeld said to build a building and lease it out would be a great idea and
would generate continued revenue for the foundation. He said the interest
rates are as low as you're going to see it to borrow money.
Mr. Borgfeld asked to be taken off the committee for a while. He said he has a
recommendation for some else. He said he would assist when ever possible.
Mr. Sweatt said he would still like continued input from Mr. Borgfeld. Mr.
Borgfeld said he would be happy to assist whenever needed. He said he would
like to do that in a non-official capacity. Mr. Borgfeld gave a recommendation
for a new committee member. He said he spoke to Mr. Roy Richards about
taking over.
Mr. Sweatt asked Mr. Marquez to explain the by-laws of the Schertz
Development Foundation could we vote someone in or does the council have to
approve it. Mr. Marquez said he would have tq review the by-laws..
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Mr. Sweatt said with Mr. Bof'gfeld's resignation the board would end up with
two vacancies. He asked if any of the board knew where Mr. John Sheridan of
DSI lived. Mr. Marquez said he lives in this area. He said he might live
towards Garden Ridge or Canyon Lake.
Ms. Jones said it's not a requirement that they live here as long as they have a
business here within the City of Schertz.
Ms. Jones asked for a motion to accept Mr. Borgfelds resignation. Mr. Jeffreys
moved to accept Mr. Borgfeld resignation, seconded by Mr. Sweatt, motion
carried unanimously.
Ms. Jones said she felt the committee was a little reluctant to approve Mr.
Reid's building this ~of!..1ipg. She said might want to establish some guidelines
among this committRer-lVneri something like this comes to Mr. Marquez the
committee doesn't even have to go this far.
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Ms. Jones said that this is the first time since being on the committee ~t we
have gotten blue prints on notebook paper.
Mr. Marquez said the plan is just an offer to buy he's not obliged to have
anything more in-depth. He said he asked Mr. Reid to come and ~~ what
he was doing. He said that he made a comment several years ago ~he would
not on his own approve a sale of any property without the S9mnllssion
reviewing it first. He said he had some second thoughts about thisfalid wanted
the board to hear what this guy was saying and have the cominission make
their own jUdgement about how it should be. Mr. Borgfeld said that in essence
he's building a garage on that lot. Mr. Marquez said that when he and Mr.
Reid talked and he left his check his building was much larger it was about
2,400 sq. ft.
Ms. Jones said would it be feasible to make some guidelines as far as if anyone
else approaches the committee. Mr. Marquez said he doesn't believe there is a
square foot requirement for the size of the building anywhere in the document.
Mr. Jeffreys said it would probably be better to vote after they've left to have
time to review if there were any question.
Mr. Sweatt said that for the interim until the committee meets again to
consider a temporary policy, w~oul~jnstruct Mr. Marquez not to bring a
prospective sell to the committee"ft's~~ore than a 2,000 sq. ft. building and a
minimum of six employees. Mr. Marquez said he would suggest even a larger
building if we maintain the property at that price. He said maybe consider the
building to be at least 3,000 - 4,000 sq. ft.
Mr. Marquez suggested we're down to three lots and the issue of what we're
going to do with our money is also part of it. He said the committee might not
want to sale anymore lots. ~.. ommittee might want to build some spec
buildings. (.j;
Mr. Marquez said that since w' nly three lots left would the committee want to
raise the price of the lots. He said we're still at 40 cents per sq. ft our market
is closer to 50 or 60 cents a sq. ft. in this area.
Ms. Jones asked if the lots that are left big enough to accommodate a larger
building as suggested. Mr. Marquez said lot 7 is one of the larger ones, it has
an easement on one side. He said lot 18 is about the same size as lot 19 and
lot 22 is a little larger it has an 80 ft. frontage and lot 18 has a 75 as well.
Mr. Jeffreys asked if the committee was suggesting writing this in as a general
I rule only pertain~ t~ m-e\1Ja~ three lots. Mr.\ Marquez said that yes J
~struction, to him,~' anl6ne corhing in ~an~~p .to by any of the three lots. w7J-vP-
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Ms-J:6fles 8:3ked if Mr. Sweatt f:ts~~ a motion, to temporarily change the
requirements of the building to nC)t: less than 2,0. 00 sq. ft. and employment of a
minimum of six employees, 'second by Mr. Borgfel<7 motion carried
unanimously. <.:)/lJ/' ..w.,l-< t{ 'Htfc 4- W ".1 ~ flu"" w )
Mr. Marquez said some of the other options for use of our funds is to buy back
some of the other lots and start the process again. Mr. Sweatt said he would
like to buy back the lots from Kountry Ceramics. Mr. Jeffreys asked if they
were up for sale. Mr. Sweatt said he believes that at one time they had
indicated they wanted to sale. He asked Mr. Marquez if he had received a letter
stating they are not going to build. Mr. Sweatt said the time has expired in
buying them back at the sale price that we sold them at.
Mr. Sweatt said committee would now have to go out and negotiate for the price
of it. Mr. Marquez said he believes they bought them at 35 cents per sq. ft.
Ms. Jones said they might want to sale them back at the same price per sq. ft.
Mr. Marquez said he thought they might not mind getting the financial burden
off their back. He asked if Schertz Bank and Trust fmance it for them. Mr.
Borgfeld said yes.
Mr. Sweatt asked what the dollar cost would be at 35 cent per sq. ft. Mr.
Marquez gave an estimate of about $40,000.00. He said he would have to go
back a check the sq. footage. He said one of the lots is about 40,000 sq. ft.
Se.t-lJleJ
Mr. Sweatt said he would like to get this issue st_ kd before Mr. Borgfeld
leaves the committee. He said because the new board members would not
know what the committee is talking about.
Mr. Sweatt asked for a motion that the committee authorize Ms. Jones
Chairperson and Mr. Marquez to contact the owners of Kountry Ceramics and
begin negotiations towards the purchase of these lots and to start with the sale
price that we sold them for, seconded by Mr. Jeffreys, motion carried
unanimously.
Mr. Sweatt said he believes it is the smart thing to do for the committee to have
ownership of those lots. He said just he doesn't believe the committee could go
wrong in having those lots back. He said he wouldn't think they would sale
them back at what they bought them for because they've paid taxes on them.
Ms. Jones said that the committee probably has learned a valuable lesson in
when the time is up we should have bought the lots back right then. She said
maybe we learned that if we do it again we'll handle it differently.
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Mr. Jeffreys asked if we're going to continue looking for lots or are we going to
just continue with what we have. Mr. Marquez said his view is the foundation
should never go away. It was designed for a long term gain and what the
committee is looking for at this point is some form of revenue stream that will
allow us to continue our operations and to have some funds that we could use
to work other issues the city maintains. He said buying the lots back probably
make sense do it gives the foundation flexibility. He said that if we can
workout the appropriate fmancing arrangements with GVEC or some other
banking operation, we could build the building and lease it out.
Mr. Sweatt said the property behind us would be good to have and that the city
owns some property along IH-35 even though the city will be building a fire
station down the road. He said there's a section that's still available and that
there the maybe some room for the foundation and the city to do a little project
there if the committee worked it correctly. He said it wouldn't be a big
industrial park but maybe a couple of lots to do something on. He said he
would encourage the foundation to continue.
Mr. Borgfeld said one area the Schertz Development Foundation could try to
develop is along IH-lO to get something generated out there. Mr. Sweatt said
the council asked him to' start looking at building a Water Treatment Plant
along IH-lO. He said that if the new highway SH-130 ever get developed it's
really going to start booming. Mr. Marquez said that's going to change the
whole IH-I0 operation.
Mr. Marquez said he was thinking about that idea and that there was a time
when he was checking on property values in that area. He said that several
years ago some of the land was going for $3,000.00 per acre. He said if the
land is still close to that it would be a good idea if the foundation invest down
stream a little bit.
Mr. Jeffreys said Cliff Johnson has some property across the road from where
he stays on 1518.
Mr. Jeffreys asked if any part of Cibolo Creek is Schertz responsibility and
could we go into some type joint of venture with Universal City. He said fIrst of
all to clean the creek out and secondly, to build some type of road going across
from the IH-35 side of Schertz to the Universal City sides. He said since he's
been here those two things have been such an eye sore. He said he knows it's
a touchy subject but someone has to start talking about it. Mr. Borgfeld said
it's all private property. Mr. Sweatt said unfortunately in Texas unless sold the
property owners rights go to the center of the creek.
Mr. Jeffreys asked if anyone had approached the property owners to see how
they feel about it. He said the bridge idea maybe out with that.
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Mr. Sweatt said there's no doubt that Schertz and Universal City would benefit
from a road anywhere around Weiderstien and Maske Road. Mr. Marquez said
at some point in time Maske Road will some how connect to Kitty Hawk. Mr.
Sweatt said it's really very expensive. He said when he first came here
someone told him they estimated a cost of about $12,000,000 for the road and
the bridge.
Mr. Marquez said Selma is doing something with their side of the creek. He
said they're building some type of Amphitheater and some people are
discussing turning the creek into something that looks like the Riverwalk.
Mr. Sweatt said that could be such a beautiful project to build a river scape
park from IH-35 to FM 78. He said the city has in its plans a gateway project
to do some landscaping and water sources when the highway department
fmishes with FM 78.
Mr. Jeffreys said that May 7, 1998 is the National Day of Prayer. He said he
would be holding prayer around 12:00 p.m. in front of the flag poll at city hall.
Mr. Sweatt since parking has become such a problem. He asked if Mr. Jeffreys
would encourage people to park in the church parking lot.
Mr. Sweatt said Sunday April 19, 1998 would be the dedication of the Gutierrez
Zeroscape Park at 2:00 p.m.
ITEM #5: COMMENTS FROM EXECTfflVE DIRECTOR:
NONE.
ITEM #6: COMMENTS FROM CHAIRMAN.
Ms. Jones asked if we needed a formal recommendation for the appointments
to the board. Mr. Marquez said he needs to review the by-laws.
Mr. Sweatt said what he suggest that the committee be prepared at the next
meeting whenever that maybe, have a report on what the by-laws requirements
are and to discuss Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Richard for consideration. He said
consideration being does the committee just act on it or do we take the names
to the City Council with a recommendation.
Ms. Jones asked that in the mean time if a something comes up that needs to
be voted on do we have a quorum with just the three-committee members.
Mr. Marquez said that yes the three of them would make a quorum including
ht:r. He said that if the foundation looses one more there is no quorum.
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ITEM # 10 SET NEXT MEETING DATE:
Next scheduled meeting will be held on May 12, 1998.
ITEM: # 11 ADJOURN:
Ms. Jones asked for a motion to adjourn. Mr. Sweatt made a motion, seconded
by Mr. Jeffreys, motion carried unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 9:30
a.m.
Jackie Jones
Chairperson
Margaret Boyd
Recording Secretary
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