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EDC 05-18-2000 . ~ '. . SCHERTZ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES 18 MAY 2000 SCHERTZ MUNICIPAL COMPLEX ITEM =1# 1 CALL TO ORDER Mr. Arnold Barrett called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. THOSE PRESENT: STAFF: Arnold Barrett, Vice-Chairperson Wanda Jean Sweatt Byron Williams Harty Richburg John Torres Dinah Heilmann Kerry Sweatt Mark Marquez Donna Dykes, Rec. Sec ITEM =1#2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES (16 March 2000) Mr. Harry Richburg made a motion to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Byron Williams and carried unanimously. . ITEM =1#3 WELCOME NEW MEMBERS The commission welcomed its new member Ms. Dinah Heilmann. Mr. Barrett asked about Mr. Bobby Bennett. The commission was advised that Mr. Bennett has declined his nomination due to opening a new store. Ms. Sweatt nominated Mr. Walter Vestal for recommendation to the city council. The motion was seconded by Harty Richburg and carried unanimously. ITEM =1#4 REVIEW, DISCUSSION, ACTION ON TAX ABATEMENT REQUEST FROM METRO AMBULANCE Mr. Arnold Barrett advised that Metro Ambulance is planning to move to Commercial Place. He commented that Ms. Susan Beck did an excellent job in putting together this tax abatement package. Mr. Marquez briefed the commission on the terms of the tax abatement, capital improvements, payroll and other requirements. . Ms. Sweatt asked if Cen-Tex was under the umbrella of Metro Ambulance. She expressed a concern that Cen- Tex might later ask for it's own tax abatement as a separate company. 1 . . . . ). Mr. Marquez advised that this tax abatement covers both buildings and the whole property. Another abatement on this property would not be considered. Mr. Marquez reviewed the evaluation of the tax abatement for the benefit of the commission. The return on investment is well above the floor of 1:5 to 1. He commented that this is a company worthy of recommendation to the council for approval. Since this area is not in a reinvestment zone, there will be a public hearing required in order to create a reinvestment zone before council can act on the actual abatement. He did not try to do anything with the public hearing until this commission has gone through its deliberations and formalized its recommendations to the city council. If that does occur, then he will start the process for the public hearing. John Torres made a motion to recommend approval to the City Council of this tax abatement. The motion was seconded by Ms. Sweatt and carried unanimously. ITEM =1#5 DISCUSS FOURTH OF JULY ACTIVITIES This is just a reminder. The Economic Development Commission plans on having a booth at the Fourth of July Jubilee. The process is that commission members are asked to donate an hour to host the booth. If there are six volunteers, then it is only costs an hour and they can have some fun down at the pavilion as well. This is just to alert the commission members and ask that they make their plans accordingly if they plan to volunteer their time. Of course volunteers will receive a free hat and T-shirt. Ms. Sweatt asked if anything needed to be ordered. Mr. Marquez advised that T-shirts have already been ordered and there are hats on stock. Ms. Sweatt suggested that Ms. Dykes provide a sign-up sheet for the booth at the next EDC meeting. Mr Marquez informed the commission that it starts at 12:00 noon and the schedule is arranged to accommodate special requirements. ITEM =1#6 UPDATE ON ED ACTIVITY Mr. Marquez advised the commission that there are major projects in the works. 1. Block Distributing: He has talked with Mr. Steve Hughes for a cost estimate. Thus Mr. Hughes now has his architect gathering cost estimates to enable them to come in for their abatement. They are going to do something this year. The building is 300,000 plus, it is huge. The final build out is expected to be 475,000 square feet. 2 1> . 2. Embry Partners: They are in the final portions of their due diligence. They are supposed to close in the next few weeks on a large tract. They are planning two buildings, one is 172,000 square feet and the other one is 50,000 square feet. One is going to be primarily office/warehouse and the other is going to be warehouse. They are well known developers. Ms. Sweatt commented on the Graebel Movers Open House and ribbon cutting. The commission discussed invitations. The Commission discussed the progress of the new Cal- Tex building. They are still working on the sewer line requirements. Mr. Marquez briefed that Technos is planning on expanding again. They have bought the property behind them. Walter Vestal sold them some property on Red Iron. Thus they will have access from Red Iron and 3009. He has a meeting set up with them sometime next week. He also has a meeting set up with the Hardin group who have the 86 acres between the railroad tracks. They want to meet again to see what can be done. There are also Forbes properties and there are meetings planned with them as well. ITEM =1#7 OLD BUSINESS/NEW BUSINESS . Mr. Barrett commented that it seems that much of the ED Update was about old business and asked if there was any other old business to discuss. There was none. He asked for any new business to discuss. There was none. ITEM =1#8 COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS Ms. Sweatt commented that she has been talking for the last several months with Pat Gardner, who is the owner of Dutch Boy. He has quickly rented out all of his spaces and now he is looking up on 3009 to put in another place where one can just drop off clothes and pick them up. She has put his in touch with Mr. Huddleston who is in charge of AAA storage. Hopefully, they can work out something where he can get the anchor place with his business so he can have another dry cleaners. There will be another ribbon cutting once they get everything built on the East side in a couple of weeks. ITEM =1#9 COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIRMAN Mr. Barrett commented again on welcoming Ms. Dinah Heilmann. ITEM =1#10 COMMENTS FROM THE STAFF Mr. Sweatt wanted to touch base on three things quickly to bring the commission up to date. . 1. He commented that the water project for the Schertz-Seguin local government corporation is as important of an economic development activity as 3 anything we have all been involved in over the last number of years. This is going to bring a 50 year dependable water supply to this community that will be as near drought resistant as we can find. It is progressing well. The corporation now owns well over 3,000 acres of land. We are going to need about 5,000 acres of land to meet the first full year of operations projected demand. That doesn't necessarily have to be owned land. However, it is in the best interest of the two communities and the corporation to own as much land as they can because then there isn't the worry about future lease payments. They met as late as today, and bought some additional land. The engineering is moving along. There was some problems with right of entry on some of the properties. He then described the 40 mile pipeline route. It will terminate in the Schertz million gallon ground storage facility off of Live Oak road. The target is to have that completed in mid 2002. 2. The sewer project on FM 3009 is alive and well. This was a bootstrap project and many people have worked hard to make this happen. It is a joint project that will open up a lot more property along 3009 Fall the way out to the city limits. 3. The new public safety buildings are complete. All three departments have moved in and are operating out of there. There will be a formal opening in early to mid-June. The commission is welcome to come by for a guided tour. Mr. Harry Richburg asked to come out some time next week to see the new buildings. He suggested that others might like to come out at the same time. It was suggested that perhaps a tour for the commission could be coordinated. Mr. Barrett commented that the water project is going to really help to build Schertz and thanked our City Manager and all the other folks who have worked so hard to make this happen. ITEM # 11 SET THE NEXT MEETING DATE The next meeting is set for June 15,2000. ITEM # 12 MEETING ADJOURNED AT 07:45. Mr. Harry Richburg moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Byron Williams and carried unanimously. Arnold Barrett, Vice-Chairperson Donna Dykes, Recording Secretary 4