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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998/04/22-Minutes-HEDC Highlights of the Wednesday, April 22, 1998 Economic Development Committee Meeting I. Standing Items None H. New Business A. Status of the Intel Fab 16 Project Bruce Sohn, Intel Fab 16 Plant Manager made a formal request to the Economic Development Committee to amend the tax abatement agreement between the City and Intel Corp. He requested that an amendment be added to the agreement to change the construction timeline for the project from 24 months to 60 months. Mr. Sohn explained that Intel plans to restart the construction of the facility in the year 2000 and that plans call for the operation to manufacture a completely different technology not yet developed. He stated that Intel believes that it is appropriate that the amendment to the agreement be done now instead of later. He explained that the change in the development of the project was due to global {: fluctuations in the company's marketplace. He stated that the company has been moving toward meeting all commitments made in the tax abatement agreement. With 10% of construction complete, construction contracting with local companies has already reached 31%of the committed amount and M/WBE construction contracting is over 170% of the committed amount when construction was halted. Additionally, Intel has been working with the City, Chamber of Commerce and local area companies to develop a system in which contracting with M/WBE and local companies will be more easily accomplished. Other issues associated with the project are being addressed by Intel, including the payment of principle and interest on bonds issued by the City for infrastructure requirements at the development. Mr. Sohn also gave an overview of the amount of taxes to be paid to the City during the delay and explained that it is well above the amount that was collected by the City prior to Intel buying the property. He explained that several partnerships have been established including those with Fort Worth ISD and TCJC. He stated that Intel is committed to Fort Worth and that Fort Worth will get the project,jobs and all socioeconomic benefits associated with the development. The Committee requested that Intel give a written report on all the information ( � provided in their briefing. They asked Intel to highlight the amount and type of contributions that have been made to the educational system and to explain the numbers associated with the amount of taxes to be collected from Intel during the project's delay and during term of the tax abatement agreement. Councilmember Hirt asked what the next step in the process would be for considering this request. Chairman Wentworth explained that he would like to provide Intel a timely response and that he would prefer that this issue be presented to the full City Council at its May 5`n meeting for discussion. The other committee members agreed and directed staff to schedule this issue for May 5 th B. Overview of Renewal of Contract with Convention & Visitors Bureau Doug Harman gave an overview of the packet of information distributed to the committee. He explained that the packet includes information on the budget and reports created and distributed by the CVB. In his presentation he explained that promotional efforts are the main portions of what the CVB does and he gave an overview of the hotel occupancy, convention center use and amount of tourism found in Fort Worth. The presentation also detailed how the CVB's infrastructure is organized and the make-up of its budget. Chairman Wentworth asked that City staff begin to meet with CVB staff to start to lay the groundwork for the development of a contract. He asked that a conceptual plan be developed and brought back to the EDC from which a contract can emerge. Additionally, he asked that City staff begin to put together a preliminary scope of work for the rehab of the convention center. Buzz Brightbill from the CVB stated that they are willing to help the City in any way possible with information relating to the type of improvements that must be made to the convention center. He stated that the CVB has been analyzing that situation for a long time. C.Update of Tax Abatement Policy Revisions Tom Higgins, Economic Development Director gave an overview of the proposed changes to the City's current tax abatement policy. He explained that an effort was made to keep the policy flexible while providing for a built-in mechanism to address non-compliance of commitments by companies. After a brief discussion, the committee recommended that the proposed policy be presented to the full City Council for discussion at its May 5`n workshop. D.Update on Commercial Corridors Jay Chapa, Economic Development Coordinator, explained that staff continues to develop a complete study of the four target corridors. He explained that other departments in the City have done a tremendous amount of study and research on these corridors. As this information is collected, the process of developing economic development action plans for these corridors has become more complicated. He explained that staff is working to provide the committee information that will allow them to make policy decisions on how to address the obstacles found that hinder development in each corridor. The committee directed staff to continue to develop this information and the meeting was adjourned.