2004-02-23 PEARLAND ECONCOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 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, FEBRUARY 23, 2004, 5:00 P.M., IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY
HALL, 3519 LIBERTY DRIVE, PEARLAND, TEXAS.
The meeting was called to order at 5:07 p.m. with the following present:
BOARD MEMBERS
Chairman Randy Ferguson
Secretary Lucy Stevener
Board member Helen Beckman
Board member Felicia Kyle
Board member Steve Saboe
Board member George Sandars
Board member Ed Thompson
(Board member Felicia Kyle was not present at the start of the meeting, but arrived at
5:45 p.m.)
EX -OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS
City of Pearland Bill Eisen
Chamber of Commerce Carol Artz
Not in attendance: Due to a conflict in schedule, Mayor Tom Reid and Chamber of
Commerce Chairman Gary Idoux were not present.
STAFF MEMBERS
Executive Director Fred Welch
Marketing Manager Will Benson
Administrative Assistant Janice Vega
Minutes of a Regular Meeting
February 23, 2004
Page 2
II. Approval of Minutes: Board member Helen Beckman made the motion, seconded by
Board Member George Sandars to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of
November 24, 2003.
Motion Passed: 6 - 0
Secretary Lucy Stevener made the motion, seconded by Board Member Helen Beckman
to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 15, 2003.
Motion Passed: 6 — 0
Board Member Helen Beckman made the motion, seconded by Secretary Lucy Stevener
to approve the minutes of the Special Meeting of January 15, 2004.
Motion Passed: 6 - 0
III. Board Member Reports: Board Members Helen Beckman and George Sandars
commented on their attendance at the Realtors Breakfast and the Chamber of Commerce
Monthly Luncheon.
IV. Monthly Financial Report: Reports not available from the Finance Department.
V. Executive Director's Report: Carol Artz, President of the Pearland Area Chamber of
Commerce gave a quarterly report from the Chamber.
The draft annual plan has been mailed to all board members after our January retreat.
We have an 85% answer to our strategic plan that needs a bit more dialogue from our
Board. Enclosed is a copy of the document to be compared with the five goals as set out
in the planning document. My questions to the PEDC Board deal with the resources
allocated both in personnel, time and money towards some of the areas such as the
Town Center and the Retail attraction strategy. The Board Retreat and the work of the
strategic plan have shown a clear intent for PEDC to continue work in targeting
knowledge based industries such as bio tech and nano tech and our efforts with business
retention and attraction. The action areas in the strategic plan are listed below. As we
adopt this plan and evolve the work plan the documents will be posted on our web site.
Strategic Plan Goals from the TIP consultant work:
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
Minutes of a Regular Meeting
February 23, 2004
Page 3
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.
TIP will be presenting the findings of the strategic plan at a Business After Hours function
with the Pearland Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday March 25, 2004 from 5:00
PM until 7:00 PM. The event will be held at the Golf Crest Country Club. I would like for
the Board to create an Operations Committee of two or three board members work with
staff on the proposed plan of work and present a final recommendation to the PEDC
Board in March.
K/RBY ROAD Extension at The Spectrum
The other significant activity for Board review is the Preliminary Engineering Report from
Turner, Collie and Braden on the Kirby Road extension for The Spectrum. Staff has been
reviewing the document along with the Traffic Impact Analysis to determine which
alignment is most appropriate to move the project forward. There is quite a bit of
difference in costs to construct depending upon whether an existing ditch along the road
alignment stays intact or is covered up and large box culverts installed to handle the water
flow. Two meetings have been held with LNR Properties to review the findings and work
on the drainage/detention issues.
I do not want to take action on this item to authorize final design for the project until all
parties are satisfied as to the requirements for right of way, drainage and participation in
the construction of the road.
Pearland Area Chamber of Commerce Amended Contract
The contract with the Pearland Area Chamber of Commerce was set up on a fiscal year
instead of a calendar year. Additionally, there is a cap of the greater of 5% of our
revenues or $120,000 per year on the contract. In November of 2003 and in December of
2003 checks were issued to the chamber, which put them over by approximately $26,000
in terms of money received.
Since our revenues are now high enough to insure a steady monthly check to the
chamber instead of the 5% figure our finance office and PEDC staff are suggesting a
modification to the contract to make the amount received by the Pearland Chamber
Minutes of a Regular Meeting
February 23, 2004
Page 4
$120,000 per year based on 12 installments of $10,000 per month. The December 2003
check was reduced when the overage was detected so that for calendar year 2004 there
remains an overpayment of $24,000 to the chamber. The PEDC would pay a reduced
amount of $8000 per month in this calendar year to bring our contract back into balance
and not cause a burden upon the Chamber to pay the city back excess funds.
This revised contract will run through December 31, 2004 and then be renewed by both
the chamber and the PEDC under terms to be negotiated. The Pearland Chamber Board
of Directors met on Friday February 201h and approved the revised contract.
Staff has participated in several other activities since the Board Retreat:
Beltway 8 Water Project — Karen has had a follow on meeting with four firms interested in
possible water and sewer service on the land at Beltway 8 and 288 on the East side of the
road. This includes Turbo Care, Industrial Polymers, Speed Shore and A fourth Company.
Water and sewer would come from the Water Control Improvement District (number 18)
servicing that part of Harris County.
Coordination with STP — South Texas Properties requested assistance to obtain a utility
easement for the electrical lines needed to service their property. The proposed
easement would be at their property line and adjacent to the Old Settlers Cemetery in
Pearland. Staff assisted in determining that the city was indeed the owner of the cemetery
and through contact with the historical society that there would be no grave sites (platted)
to be disturbed by a four -foot aerial easement over the property. The proposed easement
is being platted and presented to the city for review and hopefully approval. This should
be one of the final items needing to be cleared up to allow this project to move forward.
FAA/AST conference — I attended the annual Federal Aviation Administration conference
for commercial space on behalf of the Gulf Coast Regional Spaceport in early February.
With all of the proposed changes in the space program it appears that there may be more
funding coming available at the Federal level to support commercial space flight
operations in the US. At least two states besides Texas are working with the FAA for a
commercial launch license. I have since met with County Judge John Willy. Together we
are working on a strategy to move this project from my desk to a project coordinator who
will work out of the county offices or the office of the Brazoria County Economic
Development Alliance. I will remain on the Board for another term.
While in Washington DC I was able to meet with the staffs of Congressman DeLay and
Senator Cornyn to discuss our EDA grant status for The Spectrum. Congressman DeLay
has pledged his support to assist PEDC in obtaining funding for the Phase I construction
of Kirby Road. We still have to receive the money through EDA or another agency.
Congressman DeLay's local staff and Washington staff are working the issue for us.
Realtor Breakfast Feb 98, 2004 — About 25 realtors showed up for a breakfast on
February 18. The meeting that followed consisted of a presentation by Tobin Maples on
the revisions to the city of Pearland's comprehensive plan and a demonstration of the
Minutes of a Regular Meeting
February 23, 2004
Page 5
Pearland Prospector web site by Karen Dickson. We continue to grow and add new
listings to the site. Web statistics are included as a part of your packet.
Project Summary — Staff has enclosed a project summary for both retention and
expansion projects being worked by PEDC. Summary is attached and will be reviewed
during the meeting.
Upcoming events
• NAM — Karen is attending the National Association of Manufacturers Trade show
in Chicago this week. This is one of the largest concentrations of manufacturers in
the country. We are sharing space through Center Point Energy with about six
other communities in the Houston region.
■ SAE — The Society of Automotive Engineers will hold their annual conference in
Detroit in early March. Staff is scheduled to attend this event March 6-11.
■ HAR — The Houston Association of Realtors will hold their annual meeting in
Houston on April 20. PEDC will have a presence at that event to network with the
commercial realtors and brokers who bring the majority of our deals in commercial
real estate to Pearland.
■ Industrial Broker Day — The annual Industrial Broker Day is set for May 6, 2004 at
Southwyck Golf Course. We will start the day off with a short breakfast and
community presentation followed by a bus tour that will highlight development
activity in Pearland. Golf teams are being set up for a golf scramble in the
afternoon.
■ ICSC — PEDC staff, members of the Pearland Area Chamber and city officials will
be present the 2004 International Council of Shopping Centers Conference in mid-
May. This event is the one major event we use to market Pearland to prospective
retail chains and mall and site developers. This has proven to be a tremendous
marketing tool to present Pearland to the development community
VI. Public Comments: None
VII. New Business
A. Chamber of Commerce Contract: Secretary Lucy Stevener made the motion,
seconded by Board Member Helen Beckman to amend the contract between the
Pearland Economic Development Corporation and the Pearland Area Chamber of
Commerce. The amendment is to reduce monthly payments to $10,000.00, due to an
overpayment in the prior year. Contract to expire December 31, 2004.
Motion Passed: 7 — 0
Minutes of a Regular Meeting
February 23, 2004
Page 6
B. Engineering Report for The Spectrum: Jim Keller with Turner, Collie & Braden
gave an update.
C. PEDC Annual Plan
1. Operations Committee: Chairman Randy Ferguson appointed Board Members
Felicia Kyle, George Sandars, and Ed Thompson to a committee to work with the
PEDC staff on making recommendations for the Annual Plan.
Vill. Adjournment: Board member Ed Thompson made the motion, seconded by Board
Member George Sandars to adjourn the meeting.
Motion Passed: 7 - 0
TIME: 6:14 p.m.
Minutes approved as submitted and/or corrected this -2 day of
1, le C if , A.D., 2004. ---,
ATTEST:
Janic Vega, Administritive Assistant