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5-02-2017 Minutes SEDC Board-CC Joint Reg MtgSCII[]C]RZr1j['7L ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MINUTES CITY OF SCHERTZ JOINT MEETING CITY COUNCIL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017 A Joint Meeting with the Economic Development Corporation and Regular Meeting was held by the Schertz City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas, on May 2, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. in the Hal Baldwin Municipal Complex Council Chambers, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Building #4, Schertz, Texas. The following members present to -wit: Mayor Michael Carpenter Councilmembers: Mayor Pro -Tem Cedric Edwards Mark Davis Scott Larson Angelina Kiser SEDC Board of Directors: Tim Brown - President Gary Howell — Vice President Paul Macaluso — Secretary /Treasurer Staff Present: John Kessel - City Manager Brian James -Executive Director Dudley Wait - Executive Director Charles Zech - City Attorney Brenda Dennis - City Secretary Call to Order — Joint Workshop Session Ralph Gutierrez Robin Thompson Bert Crawford Roy Richard Mark Tew Katie Chain Sarah Gonzalez - Assistant to City Manager Kyle Kinateder — SEDC Executive Director Patty Horan — Executive Assistant - ED Jennifer Kolbe — Business Retention Manager James Walters — Director of Finance 1. Call meeting to order A. Schertz City Council Mayor Carpenter called the City Council Joint meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. B. Schertz Economic Development Corporation EDC Chair Tim Brown called the Schertz Economic Development Corporation Joint meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. Page 1 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 Opening Prayer and Pledges of Allegiance to the Flags of the United States and State of Texas. (Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards) Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards provided the opening prayer followed by the pledges of allegiance to the flags of the United States and the State of Texas. Mayor Carpenter moved to the discussion section to Item 3. Discussion Items 3. Resolution No. 17 -R -31 — Conduct a Public Hearing and consideration and /or action approving a PH Resolution authorizing the program and expenditures of the City of Schertz Economic Development Corporation as provided for in the Economic Development Incentive Agreement between Evestra, Inc., and the City of Schertz Economic Development Corporation. Q. Kessel /K. Kinateder) The following was read into record: RESOLUTION NO. 17 -R -31 A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS AUTHORIZING A PROGRAM AND EXPENDITURES AS PROVIDED FOR IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF SCHERTZ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND EVESTRA, INCORPORATED; AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH Mayor Carpenter recognized EDC Director Kyle Kinateder who stated the City of Schertz Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) has established a Small Business Grant which may be offered to businesses with fewer than 50 full -time jobs or annual sales less than $10 million. The SEDC has allocated $500,000 to be used each year for the retention or attraction of small businesses to the City of Schertz. The SEDC elects to use this program to attract Evestra to the City of Schertz. Evestra, Inc. ( Evestra) is an emerging biopharmaceutical research and development company with a therapeutic focus in women's healthcare. Evestra's competitive advantage is based on its founders' extensive experience in pharmaceutical R &D, combined with a proven track record in commercializing women's healthcare products. Evestra launched in 2008 as a spin -off from Texas Biomedical Research Institute, the largest private biomedical research institute in Texas. Evestra seeks to expand and relocate its corporate headquarters, manufacturing operations, and scientific research and development services at an existing facility located at 6410 Tri County Parkway. Evestra seeks a Small Business Grant to offset associated expansion costs. As part of the economic development performance agreement, Evestra must commence operations for its corporate headquarters and manufacturing operations with six employees during the 2017 calendar year. During the 2018 calendar year, Evestra will increase to 10 employees with an annual payroll of $775,000. During the 2019 calendar year, and throughout the remainder of the agreement, Evestra will expand its Page 2 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 operations by adding six employees and their scientific research and development services operations. In total, Evestra will maintain 16 employees with an annual payroll of 1,225,000. Lastly, commencing in the 2018 calendar year, Evestra must maintain $2,684,513 in cumulative Real and Personal Property which is $1,900,000 increase in taxable value. In consideration, Evestra will receive a $200,000 Small Business Grant upon receipt of the certificate of occupancy and commencement of operations in Schertz. Evestra must maintain its compliance to the agreement until 2022. If Evestra defaults on the agreement, they will repay the Small Business Grant plus interest. The $200,000 Small Business Grant will be paid from the SEDC Small Business Grant fund which has an annual balance of $500,000. The Small Business Grant will be paid to Evestra once they have met the requirements outlined in the agreement. Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the program and expenditures as listed in the Agreement. Mayor Carpenter opened the public hearing and as no one spoke; Mayor Carpenter closed the public hearing. Mayor Carpenter recognized President, CEO and Director Ze'ev Shaked, PhD. who came forward providing a brief biography of himself and background on the business coming to Schertz. He thanked the Economic Development Corporation and Council for the opportunity and looks forward to working with everyone. Mayor Carpenter recognized Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards who thanked Mr. Shaked for coming to Schertz and to the Economic Development Corporation team for their work. EDC Chair Brown recognized Board Director Chain who moved, seconded by Board Director Macaluso to approve Resolution 17 -R -31. The vote was unanimous with EDC Board Directors Brown, Tew, Richard, Macaluso, Chain and Howell voting for and no one voting no. Motion Passed. Mayor Carpenter moved, seconded by Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards to approve Resolution No. 17 -R -31. The vote was unanimous with Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards, Councilmembers Davis, Gutierrez, Larson, Thompson, Kiser and Crawford voting for and no one voting no. Motion Passed. EDCDirectorPaul Macaluso left the meeting at 7-00p.m. 2. Resolution No. 17 -R -30 Consideration and /or action approving a Resolution by the City Council to approve and authorizing the new Schertz Incentive Policy to be effective immediately; and other matters in connection therewith. a. Kessel /K. Kinateder) The following was read into record: RESOLUTION NO. 17 -R -30 A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS AUTHORIZING AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE POLICY; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH Mayor Carpenter recognized EDC Director Kyle Kinateder who said the City Council, on March 7, 2017 reviewed the draft Schertz Incentive Policy during a workshop item. The policy was developed with input Page 3 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 from Schertz businesses, The Chamber, the City of Schertz Economic Development Corporation (the "SEDC ") Board of Directors, and the Economic Development Department Staff. The proposed Schertz Incentive Policy (the "Policy ") seeks to establish programs and guidelines for the City of Schertz' Chapter 380 program and the use of the SEDC funds. • The proposed Policy provides a unified approach for business retention and attraction by the City of Schertz and the SEDC. • The policy clarifies the difference between the incentives offered by the City and the SEDC and establish parameters for when each program will be used. • The policy places greater demand on the SEDC for economic development incentives while providing alignment with the council for the strategic use of SEDC funds. The Policy has three major programs: The Assistance Center, SEDC Incentive Policy, and Chapter 380 Incentive Policy. The first two programs are managed by the SEDC and will utilize SEDC funds. The Chapter 380 Incentive Policy will utilize the City's General Fund. During the March 7, 2017 City Council Workshop to discuss the proposed Schertz Incentive Policy, Council made a recommendation to lower the minimum number of years from 5 to 3 that an existing Business must have been in operations to be considered for the grant. At the March 23, 2017 SEDC Board Meeting, the SEDC Board accepted the recommendation. The proposed Schertz Incentive Policy was discussed and approved with the current changes by the SEDC Board of Directors during their Regular Monthly Meeting held on March 23' as follows: A Motion to approve the Schertz Incentive Policy with the proposed changes recommended by City Council during their meeting on Feb. 28th was made by Mr. P. Macaluso. Seconded by Mr. G. Howell. Motion passed unanimously. There are no immediate expenditures associated with the approval of the Policy. All future incentives will be review by the SEDC and City Council and approved at their discretion. Staff recommends approval by City Council. Mayor Carpenter recognized Councilmember Thompson who moved, seconded by Councilmember Kiser to approve Resolution No. 17 -R -30. The vote was unanimous with Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards, Councilmembers Davis, Gutierrez, Larson, Thompson, Kiser and Crawford voting for and no one voting no. Motion Passed. Roll Call Vote Confirmation Mayor Carpenter recognized City Secretary Brenda Dennis who provided the roll call confirmation on items 2 & 3 of the Joint Workshop Session. Mayor Carpenter moved back to the Workshop section of the agenda. Workshop Items Page 4 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 • Schertz Economic Profile (requested by Councilmember Davis) Q. Kessel /K. Kinateder) Mayor Carpenter recognized Executive Director Brian James and Executive Director Kyle Kinateder who stated that Mr. James and he will be tag teaming on this as when putting these together the workshop items are inter - related and one of the reasons having both present is he, Kyle, represents Economic Development Corporation and Brian, who represents the city in covering both ends of the spectrum as the Economic Development Corporation provides funds for Economic Development through the EDC and the city provides funds for economic development through the general fund. One of the requests was to get a snapshot of our local economy and looking at the different sectors. Because we are not a large city that takes in a whole region they pulled the below economic profile from the jobs that are currently within the city. By the graphic you can see where they are employed and the sectors. The largest sector is the educational sector; next we pull in the food related sector and services as we see the development along FM 3009 and IH 35; this creates a lot of jobs. The next sector is the product that we see throughout Tri County and the Industrial Parks where it picks up wholesale trade, like Amazon. Retail trade is going to pull in Wal -Mart and HEB as well as other retailers throughout the IH -35 corridor down FM 3009 and some along FM 78. We have another cluster in manufacturing which is larger than our construction cluster. These two brings in diversity and a lot of jobs. Kyle continued discussing the graphic below. Schertz Economy (by jobs) Public Administration Professional, Sc Technical S 3% Other Services I Public Admini 4% Administrati Support, Wi Managemeni Remediatic Transportatioi Warehousi 5% Kyle stated that what he wanted to mention on this side, Economic Development is something that they have focused on at the EDC Board level quite a bit. One thing in setting up this small business fund in Page 5 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 some of the incentive programs allows us to be more strategic in diversifying are overall portfolio we have within the City of Schertz. Job Inflow /Outflow Analysis The above slide shows the inflow and outflow of jobs and workers within the City of Schertz. A couple of take aways on this slide. First, we see in the City of Schertz, on the circle, 1,604 those are residents that stay and work within the City of Schertz. The next number that jumps out there are a lot of jobs that people come from other cities and are employed in the City of Schertz. The largest number, the real character of or community, is that the majority of our residents are leaving the City of Schertz and are being employed elsewhere. We can think about this as we think about our neighbors, the strong connection we have with our military and other medical users and people working in those areas. That takes up the other major category of people who are leaving. One of the things to notice there is that separation between residents and jobs that are produced in our community. This is a positive thing and it can also be a negative thing, but something to watch. Some of those jobs we were able to bring to our area but not all of them. We would use as an example, the military, we do not have a military base within the City of Schertz. Mr. James stated keep in mind what we often hear from folks, a little that came out of the citizen survey we have a lot of folks that say Schertz is a really great place to live. I work in the area, I need to decide where to live and the picked Schertz and wanted to live there. It is not a bad thing that the numbers are different because it is indicative the fact that we have such a high quality of life for residents is partly why. Some of the things we hear why folks like living here is it's because we don't have some of the congestion and other Page 6 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 things going on that may come with those other jobs and employment. This is making sure why and where you want to be. Largest Schertz Employers SCUC Independent School District* 1,877 67 Amazon. corn.kydc, LLC. 1,256 183 Sysco Central Texas, Inc. 815 -22 GE Oil & Gas, Inc. 552 -48 FedEx Corporation (FedEx Ground) 500 200 HVHC, Inc. 420 20 Republic National Distribution Company, LLC. 408 26 The Brandt Companies, LLC. 396 -41 City of Schertz 351 11 Wal -Mart Stores, Inc. 350 27 HEB Grocery Company, LP 350 0 Lowe's Company, Inc. 185 15 Caterpillar, Inc. 159 4 Manco Structures, Inc. 118 4 CalTex Protective Coatings, Inc. 117 NA PSP Industries, Inc. 110 NA Kyle stated that the last slide (above) is employers that employ over 100 employees. Those that are shaded in the light orange are primary jobs. We start to see that the focus on primary jobs is starting to put a name with some of those companies that create those jobs within our community. Mr. James stated that is a factor because those primary jobs have special allowances in state law for how some of the things economic development does. Kyle concurred stating primary jobs and one of the reasons we focus on that is that economic development corporation and the way they are allowed to spend some of EDC money is associated with the attraction of the primary jobs in our community. The philosophy and theory behind this is that with the creation of primary jobs to out community it then brings new money into our city and into our region so then new people are going to move and relocate to out community but also, we have more demand for those secondary jobs and services that our residents need and help to employ and further grow our economy. • Comparison of Neighboring City Incentive Programs (requested by Mayor Pro -Tem Edwards) (J. Kessel /K. Kinateder) Page 7 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 Mr. Kinateder stated that the next section we want to go over is that we had a request to do a comparison with our local incentives and compare that with other programs that are available at some of our neighboring cities. Before we discuss that, he wanted to go over some of the things Economic Development Corporation has done in setting up their policy that up until this year they have kept with the same policy and moved it forward. Economic Development Focus • Growing the tax base • Primary Jobs • Retention of existing businesses • Diversifying our business make up Mr. Kinateder stated the main focus that Economic Development has had, and shared with the City through their policies have been the above. Growing the tax base. Bringing in new money into our community through primary jobs. And recently we have changed and introduced that our existing companies also have access to those incentives when they grow and expand and add taxable value to our community just as those other companies do that we are also seeing in the community. Then there is the focus of helping to diversify the type of businesses that we have. Mayor Carpenter stated that we have a well- blended tax base a balance between our commercial and residential base; do you knowwhat that ratio is; in answer it is 53/47, 53 commercial to 47 residential. Mayor Carpenter stated that we have been working with that for decades. It is one of the things that was called out in the 1972 Base Strategic Plan that was done under Mayor Richard and that Council. We talked about needing that balance. To get to that place where we are having more taxes coming from the businesses that participate here in the city then we do from our residents which takes the burden off of us and it makes sure we are in a diversified portfolio and allows us to maintain balance in the burden we have as a residential tax payer. There is a city to the south of us, whose first letter of their city is "K" they don't have that balance and their tax rate is somewhere at 78 per 100 dollars for valuation. That is 150% of what our tax is here and one of the reasons they are in that position is the lack of balance between a commercial and residential tax base. Mayor Carpenter just wanted to point that out and congratulate both you (Kyle), staff and the Economic Development Corporation and thank those for getting us to that position; it is something we identified literally in 1972, even as early as 1966 and over the 40 plus years we have gotten there. Community Focus — what we're hearing • "Local Flavor' • Incubators • Main Street Mr. James stated that as you can see on the slide above is that Economic Development has been growing that tax base in the focus of growing primary jobs. Mr. Kinateder stated that as we see in the proposed policy that in the past we really worked together in offering incentives. A lot of that burden in the past has been born by the city in general funds. Economic Development has also participated, and other EDC associated costs that they have changed over time to help really direct and to identify those funds so that Page 8 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 we can use them for these focus areas that they have identified. We have pulled some of those items that we helped out of the general fund, been able to build up a reserve fund that was not possible before five years ago, which now allows us at the Economic Development Corporation side to now have those reserves so that our Economic Development Corporation can on their own stand up and promote incentives 100% in line with the state law with what's required and allowed. Mr. James stated that we want to touch on and reiterate that historically the focus was on growing that tax base of primary jobs, again, as the Mayor asked for the percentages, the percentage results of that focus has been primary jobs as state law dictates this is what economic development can focus on and then as we have moved over time the need to adjust to changing times, one of the things that we want to focus on which is part of the policy is retention of those existing businesses. We want to have the ability to, through economic development assist those existing businesses in their growth and expansion, to keep them here and not have them move elsewhere. Another focus as we saw tonight, how do we diversify our business base so were not relying on all residential. We don't want to put all our eggs in one basket from a commercial standpoint. If you look what is happening in other communities when auto manufacturing goes down when Telecom Industry up in Richardson goes down, they really suffer because they had too much focus in one area. Part of the goal with this is to diversify that as we go forward and do other things. Mr. James stated that what we want to understand is all the pots of money, all the resources we can draw from. As Mr. Kinateder was saying we utilize those pots of money in a very thoughtful manner to maximize the benefit we have of all of those pots of money. We don't want to take a fund that has very limited use, and instead of using that limited fund, we take a fund that has a broad use and put it there and then we say what are we going to use that money, we can't spend it on anything. That is what Mr. Kinateder was speaking about earlier, part of the changes of EDC effectively funding these agreements that use to be funded by the city, Amazon for example. Mr. Kinateder stated that as we shifted to the Economic Development Corporation which has that specific targeted focus for primary jobs and bringing new money into our community, it then frees up money that in the past the city through the general fund was doing, so that the city who has more flexibility is able to participate in some of these other programs. An example of that would be some of the other items we see and hearing interest in for local flavor of some of the local businesses that have heard from in the last couple of weeks come in and wanted participation. Under the Economic Development Corporation, we are not able to provide incentive programs for them. However, the city and some of the programs they have has more flexibility which then opens up other opportunities. Some of the things that we are hearing from the community are these local flavor items of, things that add quality of life to our residents, add that unique charm and create more of a since of place to the City of Schertz. Also adding incubators and helping in other ways to promote entrepreneurism and bring new businesses to the city, also with a target to Main Street and the businesses along there and furthering and creating opportunity. Those are areas we are challenged with in our traditional economic development approach through the Economic Development Corporation and in previous economic development policies for the city. Page 9 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 Specific Program Primary Job General Fund General (case -by -case) Schertz, Universal City, Schertz, Universal City, Cibolo, Seguin, Converse, Cibolo, Seguin, Converse, New Braunfels, Selma, Live New Braunfels, Selma, Live Oak Oak Entrepreneurship New Braunfels PROPOSED Small Business Schertz, Universal City, PROPOSED Cibolo Existing Business Schertz, Universal City, PROPOSED Cibolo, Live Oak, New Braunfels Target Area (i.e. Main Street) Universal City, Cibolo Universal City, Cibolo, Seguin PROPOSED Retail Universal City, Cibolo, Schertz, Cibolo, Selma Converse Mr. Kinateder stated that as requested he has created the chart above as the different programs that are used by our neighboring cities. `There it says primary jobs, those are Economic Development Corporation incentives. Where it says, "general fund" those are city as a whole general funds. Some of the things that we see, some of the communities have provided specific programs that we as staff would not be as comfortable in recommending. The Economic Development board who has the responsibility of the programs that we set forth and the legality of them, and Council the same way. Even with our proposed policy we start to see some gaps. There are areas that we have not been able to identify that specific program and opportunity for us that we wanted to discuss. Mr. James explained the type of incentives, and which will be handled through the different funds. In looking at Entrepreneurship, Small Business, Existing Business, we could target Main Street or target areas in South Schertz which is the major reason to have the joint EDC and Council meeting. Mr. Kinateder explained the two (2) separate Policies: (1) EDC Policy, (2) Local Flavor Policy. Mr. Kinateder as you can see is what we are proposing is we have the Economic Development Policy that was presented the Schertz Incentive policy but we see the need for a separate policy which then adds to the Economic Development policy in ways that the general fund would be able to contribute. As you see below we have separated the two policies: "EDC Policy" "Local Flavor Policy" We want to make it very clear that as far a staff as they have gone forward, and Mr. James and he have discussed the different programs. What we are hearing from Council, what we are hearing from the Economic Development Board and really being able to create a vibrant city and community that we want, Page 10 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 but also within the framework that is allowed by the different statutes is very important to us. Please note that we are proposing two separate policies be created. We have presented one of them that you have that is the Schertz Incentive Policy. The second one we are loosely calling it Local Flavor which opens it up to an area we historically haven't operated in, but also to be very specific and to consider and be very careful to what pots of money, using the example by Mr. James earlier, those programs they are pulled from. Mr. James stated to touch on that from a city's perspective and to tag on to what Mr. Ki.nateder mentioned. We have looked at some things that we have been hearing from folks saying we really should get involved in. We have heard about micro loans, very small loans to small businesses. We heard about how to we incent those small businesses coming in, it may those restaurants, it may be a brew pub, a coffee shop or something like that. We have talked about those things and how do we do redevelopment in those particular areas. We had an option to roll all this into the EDC policy but our recommendation is to not do that. It's more appropriate for EDC to focus on their core mission, which really is what state law sets up the use of your funds for, that board can do that and then we establish a separate policy for those other things. This has a couple of advantages, one is there is not confusion as to which entity is dealing with what for which funds that can be used and the other we are not splitting our attention from one entity into two different areas. Often you deal with the most pressing things, the biggest project up front, so we don't to do it a disservice to some of those local quality of life things with regards to small businesses going forward. We also want them to move at separate and distinct speeds. If one program is up and going and we want to move quick we want to be able to do that. If we are having to spend a little more time on the ground we can do that. To be clear we are recommending some modifications to the EDC policy that Mr. Kinateder has laid out. We are creating separate policy which right now we are calling it Local Flavor policy which his unique places to Schertz, unique areas to Schertz and small business incentives which we have heard about that we will handle in a different way. These will be handled with a different funding mechanism or different set of funds. To be clear as EDC has said we will take on more responsibility of those core projects and funding of those and it not coming out of the city, the city in turn can free up those funds to be used for some of these things that frankly we feel like EDC has precluded from. Lastly, while we don't want to be overly conservative and say we can't spend money on this, or that to the fact that we are tying our hands with things. To be blunt we don't want to play fast and be too loose with that. One is because in keeping with the cities mantra that we have and what we have laid out as our vision and core values, but for frankly a pragmatic standpoint, it is very bad for a City and Economic Development Corporation to get called out on spending funds inappropriately. We don't want any doubt on how we are spending our funds to everyone and don't want to run a foul and damage our reputation. Mr. Kinateder and Mr. James continued the dialogue explaining the new and separate policy. Going back to the slide below there are a lot of areas, like the general kind of things that we handle on a case by case basis as most communities do as a primary job effort, but we also get some things such as small business that not a lot of the benchmark cities are doing with the general fund, but some are. We feel like we can do those things to which is why you see "proposed" we just wouldn't necessary tap EDC funds to do that, we think there is a better way. Page 11 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 What we are proposing with this separate policy really look at Entrepreneurship and how we grow them. The other thing is small businesses, it may not be with the city to assist, like Cibolo they partner with a nonprofit group, we may find a group that it is their expertise that we could look to, to provide seed money for to start that business off, but again they have to make that sustainable and they would need to recoup the money going forward. There are things with the existing business we can do to help them grow. We can target some geographical areas, as we have talked about Main Street, but we have also heard from folks down south. Again, picking which is the appropriate fund and again we want to develop those policies, talk about those in detail. We have an item on the agenda tonight, the main street committee which will help in giving direction on that project. Specific Program Primary Job General Fund General (case -by -case) Schertz, Universal City, Schertz, Universal City, Cibolo, Seguin, Converse, Cibolo, Seguin, Converse, New Braunfels, Selma, Live New Braunfels, Selma, Live Oak Oak Entrepreneurship New Braunfels PROPOSED Small Business Schertz, Universal City, PROPOSED Cibolo Existing Business Schertz, Universal City, PROPOSED Cibolo, Live Oak, New Braunfels Target Area (i.e. Main Street) Universal City, Cibolo Universal City, Cibolo, Seguin PROPOSED Retail Universal City, Cibolo, Schertz, Cibolo, Selma Converse Mr. James and Mr. Kinateder took questions from council and provided their comments on the proposal. The Economic Development Corporation board members had no questions as they were comfortable with the information provided. As recap of the Schertz incentive policy graphic is below: Page 12 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 Schertz Incentive Policy 4 4 ; 4 ; 4 ; ; Assistance Center Other Authorized Projects Local Flavor Policy \I (General Fund) Gross Sales &Use Tax Mr. James explained the proposed policy, he indicated that they would not need another board or commission, but need to establish clear goals, get expertise from individuals, get feedback from council, utilize the expertise from the EDC. We are recommending outsourcing to nonprofits and partners that can do some of these things better than us. Regarding other supporting information that we are proposing we do have other cities programs and information on what they use. What we anticipate is if Council says we are in the right direction, and get a nod from Council and start with small business, entrepreneurship and once you will see since we are done with Council orientation, likely every meeting we will bring background information on what other cities are doing, best practices and then have a work session with Council to vet it that way. Mr. Kinateder stated that to be clear by separating these two policies we have the Schertz Incentive Policy which is typically our EDC policy that we have as the next time on the agenda for approval we would stay the course with that and then add a separate policy as Mr. James mentioned and bring in individuals with expertise in setting up these programs, where we have studied and looked at other communities, those are most always run by a separate non -profit entity, they're not run by the city or by the Economic Development Corporation. We will pick a topic, give you background and start talking about it that way. Page 13 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 In answer to Councilmember Crawford of how many cities do what we are proposing, they cannot give a specific number however, he will mention that by separating them into these two policies, we are unique in creating an Economic Development Corporation policy and one of the reasons doing this is that it clarifies and adds alignment between the City Council and the Economic Development Board for the use of economic development funds. There are other communities that partner with local non - profits to add some of these other programs. Like New Braunfels who partners with a non -profit that provides these micro loans to New Braunfels businesses. Mr. James stated that we can give a list to Council of those cities that give small business assistance or micro loans, we can get you a list of a particular area. The funds that are being proposed are not part of the or being paid from Economic Development Corporation, they are separate funds, this was in answer to Councilmember Crawford question. Councilmember Crawford asked with regard to the local flavor policy, where were we going to get the rules to operate by and who is going to be the approval authority on the money we use and how we get it back. Mr. James answered as we come forward with each element of the local flavor policy, so micro loan, that's where Council will approve the policy that will establish who decides how those monies are spent. Likely it will be Council to make those decisions, but we will decide those on an area by area basis. Mayor Carpenter stated that with regard to the local flavor policy we have a number of go no go decisions in front of us, this council will have to set up those policies and understand what other communities are doing, it will be an iterative exercise and takes some time. City Manager John Kessel stated one thing to be helpful and to be thinking is that Council will need to decide or think about what number they would be comfortable with out of the general fund as a general perimeter. There is not a right or wrong number as much as you are to start thinking about what kind of investment level you want, which may shape what we are able to do and want to do. Mayor Carpenter stated that would think that they would want to establish some clear goals for the program as well as what does local flavor mean. How do we want to have that look, how aggressive over time and what resources do we have, so setting that number may be late in the game. There is a lot of work to do in the front to get to this. Mr. James indicated that once the research has been competed, they will come back to council with a policy to approve, after that each case will be brought to council for approval. Mr. James explained about other possible partnering funding sources that could also be utilized for small businesses, i.e., Small business loans, non -profit organizations, volunteer organizations and so forth. Again, Mr. James and Mr. Kinateder addressed further questions from Council. • Hotel Occupancy Tax Funds Discussion - Main Street (B. James) Executive Director Brian James stated that this a portion of money, a tax that is added on anytime someone rents a hotel room in the city of Schertz. If you look at your bill that is 13 %. The city gets 7% and the state of Texas gets 6 %, The city can accumulate that year by year. We estimated last year we would collect about $600,000 in HOT tax funds. It's a big pot of money that we can grow. We expect to spend a little less than half of that annually as well. An as he mentioned earlier we use to use it for a wide array of things, but as we again looked more closely with that we came to the conclusion we don't have a comfort level of spending Page 14 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 that on some of the things we were spending it on, so we pull back and used the general fund. Right now, we collect more than we spend and that created a decision point for us. He stated this is a 2 Part Test: - 1 St Criteria: o Directly promote tourism ■ Tourism: guiding or managing individuals who are traveling to a different city, state, or country o Directly promote the hotel and convention industry ■ Must be a program, event, or facility like to cause an increase in hotel or convention activity 2 Part Test 2nd Criteria: o Must meet one of 9 categories ■ Funding establishment or operations of visitor's centers or convention centers ■ Administrative costs for conventions registration ■ Advertising to attract tourists ■ Expenditures to promote the Arts (our festivals etc.) ■ Historic Preservation ■ Sporting events ■ Upgrading sports facilities that are going to be used for tournaments ■ Transportation for tourists and signage directing tourists Because of this some of the things we have talked about is we feel we have not done as good a job really bringing in those key stakeholders. So what we are recommending is that twice a year we sit down with the Hotels and ask what is it we could we be doing, or how could we be using these funds to drive more business their way. Also, to understand where are they seeing increased stays based on events we are funding. We are also recommending we talk to those sports organizations to see how we can utilize some of those funds. Having these communications, we believe we can do a better job. Another thing we need to decide is are we trying to save up those funds to do a big project. Something like a sports complex or an expansion. What we recommend we do, given the discussion we just had about using the appropriate pot of money to fund things, that we develop the policy on HOT funds while we are developing the local flavor policy on what do we want to accomplish, how we want to accomplish this. We can have those clear discussions. We can start with the stakeholders and start having those conversations now to get better communication and coordination and begin developing the policy of the use of those funds. Adjourn Special Joint Workshop Meeting A. Schertz City Council Mayor Carpenter adjourned the joint workshop meeting at 7:13 p.m. B. Schertz Economic Development Corporation Page 15 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 EDC Chair Brown recognized EDC Director Richard who move to adjourned, seconded by EDC Director Chain, EDC Joint workshop meeting was adjourned at 7:13 p.m. MINUTES PASSED AND APPROVED THIS 25 DAY OF MAY 2017 Page 16 of 16 Schertz Economic Development Corporation Minutes 3 -23 -2017 Paul Macaluso — Treasurer / Secretary