2003-11-24 PEARLAND ECONCOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTESMINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE PEARLAND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION ("PEDC") BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS,
HELD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2003, 4:00 P.M., IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY
HALL, 3519 LIBERTY DRIVE, PEARLAND, TEXAS.
The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m. with the following present:
BOARD MEMBERS
Chairman
Secretary
Board member
Board member
Board member
Randy Ferguson
Lucy Stevener
Helen Beckman
Steve Saboe
George Sandars
Not in attendance: Due to a conflict in schedule, Board member Felecia Kyle was
unable to attend.
EX -OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS
City of Pearland Bill Eisen
City of Pearland Mayor Tom Reid
Chamber of Commerce Carol Artz
STAFF MEMBERS
Executive Director Fred Welch
Marketing Manager Will Benson
Manager, Business
Retention & Expansion Karen Dickson
Administrative Assistant Janice Vega
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of
November 24, 2003
Page 2
II. Approval of Minutes: Board member George Sandars made the motion, seconded by
Secretary Lucy Stevener to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of October 27,
2003.
Motion Passed: 5 — 0
III. Board Member Reports: Board member Helen Beckman commented on her attendance
at the Chamber of Commerce Monthly luncheon. Secretary Lucy Stevener also attend
the Chamber luncheon, as well as the Highway 518 presentation.
IV. Monthly Financial Report: Executive Director Fred Welch gave an oral report and one
was submitted to file.
V. Executive Director's Report:
Prior to the Executive Director's Report, a presentation and plaque were presented to the
Frauenberger family in honor of the late Dennis Frauenberger. Also, presentations were
made to former Board members Charles Philipp and Bill Chase.
Earlier this month, each board member was mailed a copy of the draft strategic plan as
developed by TIP Strategies. The quick summary of what was written is the defining of
five strategies for PEDC to follow to keep Pearland as the "Quality of Place" to attract an
educated workforce. These strategies include:
1. Attraction of Knowledge Industries — Action to foster the development of
knowledge industries, particularly biomedical in Pearland. Strengthening the
city's relationship with the Texas Medical Center, and facilitating the Spectrum
development should be among PEDC's top priorities.
2. Business Climate — PEDC should continue to address issues related to attraction
of new business and retention and expansion of existing businesses. Gaining a
clear understanding of the needs of current business owners and the factors that
influence location decisions of targeted industries is critical to success.
3. Town Center — The consultants believe that the long term development of a
Town Center — be it the Old Town site or other location — is an important piece of
enhancing Pearland's competitive position. While such a project falls under the
purview of the City of Pearland staff, PEDC can play an important role by
participating in the creation of a downtown development organization,
development of potential sites and identifying appropriate retailers to target.
4. Retail Attraction — Retail is increasingly seen as an important part of the amenity
package offered by a community. Retail development follows close behind
population growth, in the absence of a specific retail strategy; rapidly growing
communities are typically beset by poorly designed strip centers and big box
retail. The PEDC should work with the city to identify appropriate retail targets
and to ensure that developments already proposed are positioned to attract
higher -end retail to help keep Pearland's sales dollars from going to Houston
retailers.
5. Communication — Successful economic development occurs when the citizens,
the city, the chamber, and the media are all in concert with the efforts of the
PEDC. This can be achieved through specific actions that include a media
strategy coordinated public input, and a link to the marketing and image.
These are not new ideas but they represent the input from numerous groups contacted
over the past several months.
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of
November 24, 2003
Page 3
Several other activities have taken place over the past four weeks:
Burlington Northern Railroad — BNSF has invited PEDC staff to tour one of their rail
facilities in Fort Worth on December 8. There is continued interest by the railroad to assist
with a feasibility study for a rail served logistics center in the Pearland area. Staff needs to
study this further to determine what kind of products would be suited for such a park,
amount of land needed, etc., and determine how this might best fit into our
comprehensive land plan.
Houston Helicopter — CDS Market Research began work in early November for Mr. Baker
at Houston Helicopter. The purpose of the study is to assist in determining the best use
for the ultimate build out of the 80 plus acres that surround the Houston Helicopter site.
The study should be completed by the first week in December.
The Spectrum Business Park — We continue marketing efforts for the park. Turner, Collie
and Braden Engineering have been working on the Preliminary Engineering Report for
the park. Additionally, meetings have been held in Austin and Houston to begin
development of a plan at the state level for recruiting and training the workforce required
to support biomedical research and development and manufacturing. The City and
developer (LNR Properties) are working on a development agreement and the zoning
ordinance that will support a Class A business park.
Other events and activities:
State and Regional meetings — Meetings have been held over the past three weeks with
Congressman DeLay, Representatives Dawson and Bonnen, and the Office of the
Governor. All of these meetings have been informational concerning the Spectrum
Business Park and the over all growth in Pearland. Congressman DeLay is working with
the EDA to allow The City to reapply for an infrastructure grant to support our road
extension. Although nothing is guaranteed yet, it appears likely that some sort of
assistance will be provided on the extension of Kirby Drive.
State workforce Commission — The regional workforce development board is assisting
PEDC in determining what training requirements will be needed to support the biomedical
manufacturing industry in our region. This is one of the most critical issues that need to
be committed to by the state to attract technology-based investment.
Mayor's Committee on Higher Education — Further dialogue was held recently with the
President of the University of Houston at Clear Lake.
Spaceport Project — Presentations were made to the Brazoria County Commissioners
Court and the Economic Development Alliance for Brazoria County on work completed
with the project. We are still working with the state on how to gain needed funding for the
project.
PEDC update to the Chamber of Commerce — The annual PEDC update on activities was
presented to the membership of the Pearland Area Chamber of Commerce on November
12th.
Beltway 8 Water — three firms along Beltway 8 East of SH 288 have asked for a meeting
to determine how best to get water and sewer service to their location.
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of
November 24, 2003
Page 4
Upcoming events:
December 8 — Meeting with BNSF Rail officials in Fort Worth.
December 15 Final report due on Strategic Plan with Benchmarks
December 15 — Joint workshop with PEDC and City Council (A short business meeting for
PEDC will be held upon adjournment of the workshop. This will serve as our December
meeting)
Staff has been quite busy working on information related to our 2004 plan of work. Karen
is fully engaged with the business retention and expansion program and is coordinating
changes to our web site. A mailing to regional realtors and site selection consultants
about our Pearland Prospector Web Site was quite successful.
Will is fully engaged with many prospect visits and is coordinating visits with site
consultants during upcoming trade shows in California, Illinois and Michigan.
PEDC is both a developer and partner with
this project is in master planning the entire
utilities to support the ultimate build out.
VI. Public Comments: None
VII. Old Business
the Spectrum Development. The success of
1000 acres and planning and engineering the
A. The Board of Directors previously approved $80,000.00 for the Industrial Drive Water
Line Extension plus engineering and design. Board member Helen Beckman made
the motion, seconded by Board member Steve Saboe to approve the work concept
recommended by Project Director Joe Wertz to allow Kirst Engineering to proceed
and for the City's Public Works Department to do the construction. Total not to
exceed $100,000.00.
Motion Passed: 5 — 0
VI1. New Business
A. Mr. Mike Moore with Turner, Collie & Braden gave the board an update on the
Preliminary Engineering Report for Kirby Extension. Project progressing well and
report should be delivered to staff by early January.
B. Board member George Sandars made the motion, seconded by Secretary Lucy
Stevener to approve funding the Traffic Impact Analysis for The Spectrum, not to
exceed $36,280.00.
Motion Passed: 5 — 0
Minutes of a Regular Meeting of
November 24, 2003
Page 5
IX. Adjournment: Board member Steve Saboe made the motion, seconded by Board
member George Sandars to adjourn the meeting
Motion Passed: 5 — 0
TIME: 4:45 p.m.
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