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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_EDAB_07.17.2003MINUTES OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2003 Members Present: Henry Carr-Vice Chair, Ralph Nayman, Tom Crawford, Rick Smith, Joe Pondrom, Kathy Heidemann, Henry Boecker Members Absent: Dr. Ronald Swain-Chair, Russ Peterman - Secretary, Ed O’Rourke, Davidica Blum Staff Present: Paul Brandenburg, Tina Dunbar Guests Present: Rebecca Robbins – Williamson County Sun A. Call to order - A quorum being present the meeting was called to order at 6:32 p.m. B. Discussion and possible action regarding the minutes of the June 19, 2003, meeting. Minutes for the June 19, 2003 meeting were unanimously approved (7-0) (MOTION by Pondrom, seconded by Boecker) C. Discussion and possible action regarding the minutes of the June 27, 2003, special meeting. Minutes for the June 27, 2003 special meeting were unanimously approved (7-0) subject to corrections (MOTION by Pondrom, seconded by Smith) D. Comments from the Chair. Acting Chair Carr introduced the City Manager, Paul Brandenburg, who discussed staff planning to fund the Downtown Plan for FY 03-04. Brandenburg solicited support from the Commission to support his recommendation to the City Council to fund the Downtown plan with up to $350,000 from the city's general fund. This funding will possibly be spent for improvements in the areas of streets, curbs, sidewalks, buried utilities, and parking. The discussion by the Commission showed total support for the initiative. E. Section 551.087 Deliberation Regarding Economic Development – no executive session. F. Action from executive session. No action taken. G. Discussion and possible action regarding the draft economic development action plan – Paul Brandenburg City Manager Brandenburg discussed the status and plan to complete his Draft Economic Development Action Plan. He solicited any changes the Commission members might have and requested they send them to Tina Dunbar as soon as possible. The Plan is beyond the scope of submitted FY 03-04 budget funding for the Economic Development Department, but the Plan will be used to help the Commission and City Staff analyze what can be accomplished with increased funding. H. Creation of Subcommittee to plan workshop on 4A Corporation: Katherine Heidemann A Council Workshop Subcommittee was formed by unanimous approval (7-0) of a MOTION by Heidemann, second by Pondrom. Subcommittee members are Kathy Heidemann - Chair, Rick Smith, Ron Swain, Henry Boecker, and Henry Carr. The scope of activities to prepare a Council Workshop is to include all aspects of what Georgetown needs to do to be successful in managing economic development. This might include but not be limited to economic development from a global perspective, the city’s competition, city activities needed for success, methods by successful cities in the region, funding required, barriers to success, and possible sources of funding. The preparation for the Workshop is to be closely coordinated with the city manager. I. Creation of Subcommittee to develop a strategy on the Freeport Exemptions: Tom Crawford A Freeport Subcommittee was formed by unanimous approval (7-0) of a MOTION by Crawford, second by Pondrom. Subcommittee members are Tom Crawford - Chair, Ed O'Rourke, Joe Pondrom, and Ralph Nayman. The scope of activities includes consideration of all aspects of the need and feasibility of having triple Freeport status to support the recruitment efforts in the city and county. J. Brief and discuss the subject of the TXDOT study: Ed O’Rourke A report on a TxDOT study for a regional airport was deferred to a future meeting. K. Status report on GTEC activity: Henry Carr Henry Carr discussed information from a recent GTEC Board of Directors meeting. He focused on the amount of funding available to GTEC for supporting transportation improvements, and on the number and variety of projects being considered for possible inclusion in the FY 03-04 plan. L. Economic Development update: Paul Brandenburg City Manager Brandenburg gave a status report on the recent work of the city's Economic Development Department. He reported on the follow-up and coordination of email messages, telephone inquiries, regional economic development organization meetings, Toyota supplier strategy groups, and other activities formerly supported by the resigned manager of the department. Tina Dunbar and Brandenburg are directly coordinating all these responses. The City Manager may request Chair Swain to obtain voluntary help from commissioners to assist in attending important meetings and responding to prospects who may contact the city. The city's marketing brochure is nearing completion and is planned to be available in production quality during August. Brandenburg stated that all work assignments and reports by TIP Strategies had been delivered as their contract was recently being terminated at the city's convenience. M. Discussion on replacement of Economic Development Director: Paul Brandenburg Brandenburg discussed the recruiting program underway to hire a Director of Economic Development for the city’s ED department. He described the job requirements, the process to obtain candidates by early August, the filtering according to qualifications, and the selection of finalist candidates. N. Discussion and possible action regarding future meeting dates and agenda items. The Commission discussed possible agenda items for future meetings. The next regular Commission meeting is scheduled for the third Thursday evening of August. Possible agenda topics to be added to the normal topics are 1) Opportunities for obtaining economic development grants (Tom Crawford), 2) Report on the Williamson County Alliance meetings (Rick Smith). O. Adjourn - Upon unanimous approval (7-0) of a MOTION by Tom Crawford, second by Joe Pondrom, the meeting was adjourned at 8:14 p.m.