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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009/02/03-Minutes-HEDC CITY OF FORT WORTH CITY COUNCIL HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 3, 2009 Present: Council Member Jungus Jordan, Chairman Council Member Carter Burdette, Vice Chairman Mayor Pro tem Kathleen Hicks Council Member Salvador Espino Council Member Danny Scarth Council Member Frank Moss Council Member Joel Burns Absent: Mayor Mike Moncrief City Staff: Tom Higgins, Assistant City Manager Peter Vaky, Assistant City Attorney Marty Hendrix, City Secretary Jay Chapa, Director of Housing and Economic Development Department Ardina Washington, Economic Development Manager, Housing and Economic Development Department Other City Staff in Attendance: Dale Fisseler, City Manager Karen Montgomery, Assistant City Manager Carl Smart, Executive Assistant to the City Manager Lena Ellis, Finance Director Vicki Ganske, Senior Assistant City Attorney, Legal Department LeAnn Guzman, Assistant City Attorney, Legal Department Jerome Walker, Assistant Director, Housing and Economic Development Department Cynthia Garcia, Assistant Director, Housing and Economic Development Department Henry Day, Senior Management Analyst, Housing and Economic Development Department Ossana Hermosillo, Business Development Coordinator, Housing and Economic Development Department Dolores Garza, Economic Development Specialist, Housing and Economic Development Department Mark Folden, Business Development Coordinator, Housing and Economic Development Department Charlie Pricc, Planning 'Manager, Housing and Economic Development Department CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 3, 2009 Page 2 of 9 Guest: David Berzina, with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce With a quorum of the committee members present, Chairman Jungus Jordan called the meeting of the Housing and Economic Committee to order at 1:05 p.m., on Tuesday, February 3, 2009, in the Pre-Council Chamber of the Fort Worth Municipal Building, 1000 Throckmorton, Fort Worth, Texas 76102. Approval of Minutes of the December 2, 2008, Housing and Economic 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 Council Member Espino and seconded by Burdette, the Committee Members voted seven (7) "ayes" and zero (0) "nays", with Mayor Moncrief absent, to approve the minutes of the February 3, 2009, Housing and Economic Development Committee meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Discussion Regarding Proposed Amendment to City's Economic Development Program Authorized by Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code (Agenda Item 3) Chairman Jordan stated that he felt that this issue was somewhat of a benchmark in going forward and would help a lot of the Council Members with projects in their districts if the Council approved the proposal. Jay Chapa, Director of Housing and Economic Development Department spoke before the committee members regarding the proposal to expand the Chapter 380 Program. He advised that this was an opportunity to add another tool to the City's tool box for economic development opportunities. Using a PowerPoint Presentation, Mr. Chapa provided a summary of the Chapter 380 Program. He stated that the Chapter 380 was one of the most flexible tools available to Texas cities for economic development activities. It allows for local governments to make loans and grants for economic development. He pointed out that there were no time restrictions. Mr. Chapa provided a list of the companies where the City of Fort Worth had used the Chapter 380 agreements as follows: CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 3,2009 Page 3 of 9 Discussion Regarding Proposed Amendment to City's Economic Development Program Authorized by Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code (cont'd) (Agenda Item 3) Acme Brick Cabela's Cityplace La Gran Plaza Montgomery Plaza Museum Place Omni Hotel Pier One Poly/Wesleyan Renaissance Worthington Sheraton The Tower West Bend Mr. Chapa pointed out that it was typical for projects to earn a grant equivalent to a percentage of incremental new taxes depending on the achievement of commitments. He added that the other uses were a mechanism for utilization of economic development initiative (EDI) funds. Mr. Chapa reviewed the current incentives as follows: • Tax Abatement • Requires real property improvements except in special cases • Requires $250,000 minimum real property investment • Fee Waivers o Only available in NEZ (Neighborhood Empowerment Zone) unless negotiated as part of another incentive agreement • Never involves cash up front Mr. Chapa reviewed the ineligible projects as follows: ■ Projects considering existing buildings that need little or no work for move-in • Company relocating to Texas • l;p to 1200 jobs CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 3, 2009 Page 4 of 9 Discussion Regarding Proposed Amendment to City's Economic Development Program Authorized by Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code (cont'd) (Agenda Item 3) • $6 million investment in equipment • Little or no real property investment, so it does not quality ■ Existing retail/commercial center • Older centers, contemplating updating appearance, but not enough real property investment to quality • Not in NEZ Council Member Danny Scarth requested clarification as to whether there were any incentives in the Governor's Business Development Fund that were jobs oriented and whether that could be utilized. Mr. Chapa indicated that there were funds; however, there were also a lot of preconditions, a lot of competition for those funds and the City would have to get the preapproval of the Governor, the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor. Mr. Chapa added that it could be a long drawn out process so it could be an issue of timing and turn around to get the funding. He provided examples of how the process would work and some of the road blocks to getting the funding based upon the number of jobs and how long property was leased for a business. Mr. Chapa explained that the proposal was to modify the language in Resolution No. 2704 as follows: ".....the business or entity shall enter into a binding contract with the City under which (i) the business or entity is required to make specific and verifiable (delete word infrastructure), employment and other commitments that serve the public purposes as overseen by the City's Economic Development Office ....." Mr. Chapa advised that this proposal removed "infrastructure" as a required verifiable commitment. Mr. Chapa provided a chart showing the pros and cons of this change. He advised that the pros were: • Fills gaps in current incentive menu • Continues requirement tur commitments as appropriate CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 3, 2009 Page 5 of 9 Discussion Regarding Proposed Amendment to City's Economic Development Program Authorized by Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code (cont'd) (Agenda Item 3) o Fort Worth jobs o Central City jobs o Fort Worth contracting o Fort Worth-Minority Women's Business Enterprise contracting Mr. Chapa indicated that the con would be more projects applying, thus additional administration and monitoring would be necessary. Mr. Chapa pointed out that the City staff felt this change would be worthwhile. He explained that there had been six (6) projects in the last two months that fell into the category of less than $10,000,000.00 and they did not have to make an infrastructure investment. They could have applied for this program if the proposal was changed. He recognized David Berzina, with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, who was in the audience. Mr. Chapa added that the next steps in this process would be to receive feedback from the Committee; if approved by the committee, then the City staff would prepare an appropriate resolution and place a Mayor and Council Communication on a future City Council agenda for consideration to approve the resolution. Chairman Jordan interjected that he felt that nothing destroyed a neighborhood quicker than a vacant retail strip center. He stated that there was no tool available to address that type of issue. He pointed out that this was not a giveaway program. He added that it was a business proposition to be able to hang onto the strip centers that are located in the neighborhoods. Chairman Jordan indicated that this would be a tool in the City's tool box to be able to bring the strip centers back to modern standards and to be able to entice businesses to continue to operate, particularly in bad economic times. Mr. Chapa added that this change would allow the City staff to be more creative on how to address some of the smaller players. He talked about how a partnership could be created with the strip center owner to reface the center and make the investment on their part less risky. He added this would allow them to keep tenants there and to attract new tenants. CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 3, 2009 Page 6 of 9 Discussion Regarding Proposed Amendment to City's Economic Development Program Authorized by Chapter 380 of the Texas Local Government Code (cont'd) (Agenda Item 3) Council Member Burdette indicated that he felt it was a good proposition. He pointed out that the City was facing some economic downturns. He stated that fortunately for Fort Worth it had not been as bad as in some parts of the country. He spoke about this necessary tool in order to attract businesses or companies that may want to relocate to Fort Worth from other parts of the country. He requested clarification as to whether these types of incentive agreements would come before the Council for approval. Mr. Chapa indicated that all incentive agreements would still come before the Council. Chairman Jordan directed the City staff to move forward unless there were objections. There were no objections stated. Discussion Regarding Amendment to the Budget of Public Improvement District No. 8 (Camp Bowie PID) (Agenda Item 4) Ardina Washington, Economic Development Manager, Housing and Economic Development Department spoke before the committee on an amendment to the budget for Public Improvement District No. 8 (Camp Bowie PID). Using a PowerPoint Presentation, Ms. Washington advised that the presentation objectives were to review the adopted budget for PID No. 8, discuss the revised budget request and consider the next steps in the process. She provided background information on the process for the PID No. 8 re-establishment due to a recent audit. She indicated that the Council had approved the 10-year re-establishment in December of 2008, thus their budget was only for a partial year. She explained the need for a budget revision to provide for a full year of expenditures. Ms. Washington presented the adopted budget for PID No. 8 for 2009 as follows: Management Fee $54,625.00 Marketing/Events $94,000.00 Landscaping/Maintenance $56,800.00 CBW Development Plan $10,000.00 Development Standards $30,000.00 Insurance $4,100.00 Security $10,000.00 CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 3, 2009 Page 7 of 9 Discussion Regarding Amendment to the Budget of Public Improvement District No. 8 (Camp Bowie PID) (cont'd) (Agenda Item 4) Audit $5,000.00 Joint Venture Grant $65,223.00 Total $329,748.00 Ms. Washington presented the revised budget request for 2009 as follows: Management Fee $68,230.00 Marketing/Events $124,687.00 Landscaping/Maintenance $59,800.00 CBW Development Plan $15,000.00 Development Standards $50,845.00 Insurance $4,100.00 Security $18,834.00 Audit $5,000.00 Joint Venture Grant $70,223.00 Total $416,719.00 Ms. Washington advised that the next step was to place a Mayor and Council Communication to adopt the revised budget on the February 24, 2009, City Council agenda for consideration. Chairman Jordan opened the floor for discussion and/or comments. Council Member Burdette explained that he felt the revisions were appropriate due to the history identified by Ms. Washington. He referenced the City Council's agenda for the evening meeting and explained that the Council would be considering the approval of new standards and guidelines for PIDs in general. He stated that he had visited with the City's Law Department because one of the proposed amendments would restrict management fees to 20 percent of the total budget. He expressed his concerns for this particular PID because there were a lot of activities that took place that were not typically found in other PIDs created in the City. He pointed out that in the Camp Bowie PID they do a lot of promotional work for the businesses and commercial operations that are located along the Boulevard. He indicated that he felt there would be a short amendment to the proposed standards that would take this issue into account and make it clearer as to what the 20 percent applies to and what it would not apply to. He added he felt it would help with the operation of this particular PID and allow it to continue the good work that it had done historically. He reiterated that he felt the revised budget was appropriate and he supported it. CITY OF FORT WORTH HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 3, 2009 Page 8 of 9 Discussion Regarding Amendment to the Budget of Public Improvement District No. 8 (Camp Bowie PID) (cont'd) (Agenda Item 4) Mayor Pro tem Hicks requested clarification from the City staff was to whether at the Pre-Council meeting the 20 percent issue was going to be discussed by the City Council. City staff indicated that it would be at the Pre-Council meeting. Chairman Jordan directed the City staff to move forward unless there were objections from the committee members. No objections were stated. Chairman Jordan adjourned the called — special meeting of the Housing and Economic Development Committee into Executive Session at 1:24 p.m., in accordance with the requirements of the Texas Open Meeting Act. Executive Session (Agenda Item 5) Mayor Pro tem Hicks recused herself from the Executive Session due to a conflict of her services on the Board for the Fort Worth Partnership for Community Development and she left the room. Chairman Jordan called to order the Executive Session at 1:24 p.m., in order to discussion the following items: A. Seek the advice of its attorneys concerning the following items that are 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 related to contract with Fort Worth Partnership for Community Development (City Secretary Contract No. 36864); and (ii) legal issues related to 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 FEBRUARY 3, 2009 Page 9 of 9 Chairman Jordan adjourned the Executive Session at 1:55 p.m., on Tuesday, February 3, 2009. Chairman Jordan reconvened the called — special session of the Housing and Economic Development Committee at 1:55 p.m. (Mayor Pro tem Hicks returned to the meeting) Request for Future Agenda Items (Agenda Item 6) There were no future agenda items requested by the committee members. Date of Next Regular Meeting— March 3, 2009 (Agenda Item 7) Chairman Jordan advised that the next regular meeting of the Housing and Economic Development Committee would be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2009. Adiourn (Agenda Item 8) With no further presentations or discussions, Chairman Jordan adjourned the regular meeting of the Housing and Economic Development Committee at 1:58 p.m., on Tuesday, February 3, 2009. These minutes approved by the Economic and Community Development Committee on the 3rd day of March, 2009. APPROVED: (::: � qj-o--- Jun s Jo n, Ch ' an Minutes Prepared by and Attest: Marty Hcndr1k4 City Secretary