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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008/12/02-Minutes-HEDC CITY OF FORT WORTH CITY COUNCIL HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2, 2008 Present: Council Member Jungus Jordan, Chairman Council Member Carter Burdette, Vice Chairman Mayor Mike Moncrief Mayor Pro tem Kathleen Hicks Council Member Salvador Espino (arrived at 1:10 p.m.) Council Member Danny Scarth Council Member Frank Moss Council Member Joel Burns (arrived at 1:08 p.m.) City Staff: Tom Higgins, Assistant City Manager Peter Vaky, Senior Assistant City Attorney Marty Hendrix, City Secretary Jay Chapa, Director of Housing and Economic Development Department Shallah Hatch, Economic Development Specialist, Housing and Economic Development Department Other City Staff in Attendance: Dale Fisseler, City Manager(arrived at 1:35 p.m.) Joe Paniagua, First Assistant City Manager(arrived at 1:35 p.m.) Karen Montgomery, Assistant City Manager/CFO Jerome Walker, Assistant Director, Housing and Economic Development Department Lena Ellis, Finance Director Vicki Ganske, Senior Assistant City Attorney, Legal Department LeAnn Guzman, Assistant City Attorney, Legal Department Charlie Price, Planning Manager, Housing and Economic Development Department Ardina Washington, Economic Development Manager, Housing and Economic Development Department Mark Folden, Business Development Coordinator, Housing and Economic Development Department Cynthia Garcia, Community Development Manager, Housing and Economic Development Department Henry Day, Senior Management Analyst, Economic and Community Development Department Dolores Garza, Economic Development Specialist, Housing and Economic Development Department(arrived at 1:12 p.m.) Ossana Hermosillo, Business Development Coordinator, Economic & Community Development (arrived at 1:13 p.m.) CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2, 2008 Page 2 of 8 With a quorum of the committee members present, Chairman Jungus Jordan called the meeting of the Housing and Economic Development Committee (name change approved by the Council per Resolution No. 3674-11-2008 on November 11, 2008, from the Economic and Community Development Committee to the Housing and Economic Development Committee) to order at 1:08 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2, 2008, in the Pre-Council Chamber of the Fort Worth Municipal Building, 1000 Throckmorton, Fort Worth, Texas 76102. Approval of Minutes of the October 7, 2008, Economic and Community Development Committee (Agenda Item 2) Chairman Jordan opened the floor for a motion on the approval of the minutes. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Mayor Pro tem Hicks and seconded by Mayor Moncrief, the Committee Members voted unanimously six (6) "ayes" and zero (0) "nays", with Council Members Espino and Burns temporarily absent, to approve the minutes of the October 7, 2008, Economic and Community Development Committee (now the Housing and Economic Development Committee) meeting. The motion carried. Discussion Regarding a Proposed Nomination of DCFS YSA LLC as an Enterprise Proiect (Agenda Item 3) Shallah Hatch, Economic Development Specialist, Housing and Economic Development Department, spoke before the committee on the Texas Enterprise Zone Program. She advised that DCFS YSA LLC is the legal name for the company Daimler Financial Services Americas. Using a PowerPoint presentation, she reviewed the Texas Enterprise Zone Program and stated the objective was an economic development tool for local communities to partner with the State of Texas to promote job creation and capital investment in economically distressed areas of the state. She added that an enterprise project was a business that was nominated by a municipality or county and approved by the bank for state and local benefits. The state incentives included state sales and use tax benefits based on capital investment and jobs created and/or retained during the designation period. The state may designate up to 105 enterprise pr6jects each biennium. Ms. Hatch explained the enterprise project requirements as follows: CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2, 2008 Page 3 of 8 Discussion Regarding a Proposed Nomination of DCFS YSA LLC as an Enterprise Proiect (cont'd) (Agenda Item 3) • Projects were nominated by the City or county and application was made to the state. • The projects must have at least 35% of new/retained employees meet economically disadvantaged or enterprise zone residency requirements. • Jobs must provide employment of at least 1,820 hours annually. • Jobs must exist through the end of the designation period, or at least three years after the date on which a state benefit was received, whichever was later. Ms. Hatch provided an overview of the enterprise project benefits. She stated that the state sales and use tax refund could be applied to qualifying expenses. The level and amount of the refund was related to the capital investment and jobs created at the qualified business site. Ms. Hatch provided an overview of the DCFS USA LLC organization. She advised that the parent company was Daimier AG, a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines, which dated back more than a century. DCFS USA LLC was headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan and provided financing for Mercedes-Benz automotive dealers' inventories and their retail customers. Ms. Hatch continued her presentation with the key information as follows: DCFS USA LLC was situated just west of Interstate 35W off of Heritage Parkway in the Alliance Airport area. • The company was located in Council District 2. • The company just opened anew 164,000 sq. ft. facility. • There were 663 employees with total payroll of$36,031.627.00. She referenced a photograph of their three-story building, which opened in October 2008. Ms. Hatch advised of the benefit to the City of Fort Worth as follows: CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2, 2008 Page 4 of 8 Discussion Regarding a Proposed Nomination of DCFS YSA LLC as an Enterprise Proiect (cont'd) (Agenda Item 3) DCFS USA LLC had consolidated in Fort Worth. • Investments were: • Buildings $5,600,000.00 • Machinery& Equipment $9,447,500.00 • Other $2,512,000.00 Total: $17,559,500.00 • There would be 500 jobs retained with payroll of$27.2 million. • The company would submit the necessary annual paperwork to the state to receive benefits. • The subject request required no fiscal obligation from City of Fort Worth Ms. Hatch spoke about their potential state incentive. She stated that the process was competitive. She added if DCFS USA LLC invested $17.6 million and retained 500 jobs, they would be eligible for a maximum refund of$1,250,000.00 for state sales and use tax. Ms. Hatch advised that the next steps in the process were to: • City staff would place a resolution of support on December 9, 2008, Council Agenda. • City staff would submit resolution to the state. Ms. Hatch concluded her presentation with another photograph of their building and recognized the following individuals that were present in the audience: David Trebing, with DCFS USA LLC Vincent Warren, Tax Specialist at DCFS USA LLC Jubal Smith, with Price Waterhouse Coopers Chairman Jordan opened the floor for comments and/or discussion. CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2, 2008 Page 5 of 8 Discussion Regarding a Proposed Nomination of DCFS YSA LLC as an Enterprise Project (cont'd) (Agenda Item 3) Council Member Espino spoke about the difficult economic conditions that were going on throughout the country. He stated that one of the success stories that was going on in Fort Worth was the continued strength of the Alliance Corridor and to see this project coming forward. He felt that it made sense to go ahead and take affirmative action on the proposed resolution to support this project for the Texas Enterprise Zone Program. He stated that this process had been done before. In conjunction with this program, he talked about greeting Texas Secretary of State Esperanza "Hope" Andrade at the TRV offices yesterday and that their conversation had been about how Fort Worth continued to do well in terms of economic development and that it was due to projects like the one just presented and the spirit of cooperation. He talked about the Alliance Corridor being a great jewel in the City. He added that the Secretary of State was traveling up to see the Alliance Corridor and over to see the 7`h Street projects and take a tour of the City. He encouraged the Council to move forward with this process and he expressed appreciation to the Housing and Economic Development Department staff for their work in this regard. Mayor Moncrief indicated that he also supported it and that to him it was a "no brainer". He pointed out that while there was competition, he was confident that the City could withstand most of the competition given the City's unique economic climate. Chairman Jordan directed the City staff to move forward, unless there were objections from the other committee members. No objections were noted. Discussion Regarding Written Reports (Agenda Item 4) • Proposed Public Improvement District (PID) Number Fourteen (Trinity Bluff PID) Chairman Jordan advised that the written report had been provided as a matter of information to the committee. He pointed out that a petition and application fee had been received for the creation of Public Improvement District No. 14, to be known as the Trinity Bluff PID. Council Member Burns advised that there was a great deal of activity going on along the bluff and Samuels Avenue. He stated that this would help the developers take care of some of the landscaping issues and maintenance of the streetscape infrastructure. He indicated his support for this PID. CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2, 2008 Page 6 of 8 Discussion Regarding Written Reports (cont'd) (Agenda Item 4) • Proposed Public Improvement District (PID) Number Fourteen (Trinity Bluff PID) Mayor Moncrief stated that Trinity Bluff was a unique product with unique challenges. He stated that it was tools, like the PIDs, that help address some of the challenges. He also indicated his support for the presentation. Council Member Burdette requested clarification as to what would happen next procedurally. Jay Chapa; Director of Housing and Economic Development Department, advised that the City staff would be bringing forward an M & C to the Council in the next six (6) months that would create the PID and create the associated budget and it would not be effective until 2009. The discussion was concluded on this agenda item. Chairman Jordan adjourned the called — special session of the Housing and Economic Development Committee into Executive Session at 1:17 p.m. in accordance with the requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Executive Session (Agenda Item 5) Chairman Jordan called to order the Executive Session at 1:17 p.m. in order to discuss the following items: A. Seek the advice of its attorneys concerning the following items that were exempt from public disclosure under Article X, Section 9 of the Texas State Bar Rules, as authorized by Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code: (i) legal issues concerning the Museum Place Economic Development Program Agreement with Museum Place Holdings, LLC (City Secretary Contract No. 36482); (ii) legal issues concerning the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Review of the City's use of federal funds; and (iii) any current agenda items; B. Discuss the purchase, sale, lease or value of real property, as authorized by Section 551.072 of the Texas Government Code. Deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the City in negotiations with a third party; and, C. Discuss or deliberate negotiations relating to any economic development negotiations, as authorized by Section 551.087 of the Texas Government Code. CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2, 2008 Page 7 of 8 Chairman Jordan adjourned the Executive Session at 2:38 p.m. Chairman Jordan reconvened the called — special session of the Housing and Economic Development Committee at 2:38 p.m. Request for Future Agenda Items (Agenda Item 6) Chairman Jordan referenced the last committee meeting and the discussions held regarding the Federal Program for Mortgage Relief Act. He added that there was discussion from the floor regarding the $20,000.00 cap for the mortgage program. He requested City staff to make a presentation on this subject and requested that the City staff come back with a recommendation as to whether that cap needed to be increased to $30,000.00 or$35,000.00. Council Member Espino spoke about Congresswoman Kay Granger's Hispanic Advisory Committee and that they recently had a workshop on housing issues. He stated that the federal government had a program for dealing with distressed homeowners who are on the verge of loosing their homes. He stated that he wanted to get briefed on that program and to see if the Housing and Economic Development Department could serve as a portal to programs to help distressed property owners; perhaps to those who have not been foreclosed on yet to be able to link them to different agencies and programs. He then talked about some of the private lenders that were willing to work out loans and he felt this needed to be shown on the City's web site. He also talked about the City taking public comments on the public stabilization grants and whether this was still going on and the need on the City's web page to have this information for the property owners; the number of telephone calls that he had received on this topic; the Hope for Homeowners Program and stated that individuals could still get loans if they met the credit criteria under the FHA Program. He reiterated the need to help the homeowners with links to these programs or agencies. Chairman Jordan pointed out that he thought that the public stabilization grants had to be posted by November 15, 2008. He added that the Council was requesting a presentation on the program and whether there were any amendments forthcoming. He pointed out some recommendations that had been brought forward from the Greater Fort Worth Board of Realtors. He requested that the City staff bring back an agenda item for the next meeting on this issue. Date of Next Regular Meeting— January 6, 2009 (Agenda Item 7) Chairman Jordan advised that the next regular meeting of the Housing and Economic Development Committee would be held on Tuesday, January 6, 2009. CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2, 2008 Page 8 of 8 Adiourn (Agenda Item 8) With no further presentations or discussions, Chairman Jordan adjourned the regular meeting of the Housing and Economic Development Committee at 2:41 p.m., on Tuesday, December 2, 2008. These minutes approved by the Housing and Economic Development Committee on the 6th day of January, 2009. APPROVED: qJgus TJdan, airman Minutes Prepared by and Attest: Marty Hendrix, ity Secretary,