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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_MSTAB_12.19.2002 CITY OF GEORGETOWN BOARD MEETING FOR THE GEORGETOWN MAIN STREET ADVISORY BOARD Conference Room at City Offices 103 W. 7th Street, Georgetown, Texas Thursday, December 19, 2002 at 8:00 a.m.: Attending: Patty Eason, Bryant Boyd, Virginia Stubbs, Glenda Overfelt Absent: Joshua McClure, Judith Manriquez, Ellie Skross Staff Present: Charlie Walker, Verna Browning Guests Present: Mark Silverstone I. Call to order – Meeting was called to order at 8:20 a.m. II. Discussion and possible action regarding approval of November 21, 2002, minutes – Minutes approved as presented. (Motion by Stubbs, seconded by Boyd.) III. Discussion and possible action regarding Council Workshop follow-up issues: There was discussion of having a Southwestern student do research needed for the ordinance to create a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District. Walker noted he is going to meet with Joe Pondrom (County Deputy Tax Assessor) to determine if he might have GIS software that would help. The Board agreed that they need to talk to the County Commissioners Court about participation in the TIF. Motion by Boyd and seconded by Stubbs that the Board request Walker to establish a workshop/agenda item with the County to discuss the TIF. Motion passed. It was agreed that Walker or Board members will have informal meetings with members of the Court to let them know what is happening, then Walker will talk to the Judge about getting an item on the Court agenda. The Board discussed having a special scheduled meeting in January and requesting that a County Commissioner attend. III. Discussion and possible action regarding work to be completed by January 2003: a. Plans for establishment of Development Corporation  Mark Silverstone discussed his research on TIFs and development corporations. He reviewed the statutes on TIFs, explained the process and legal requirements. He reported that the law allows public bodies to establish TIFs and the TIF Board can then contract with a “Local Government Corporation” rather than a development corporation. He noted he is concerned that there may be difficulties in finding ways to have the corporation do everything the group would like for it to do. Silverstone explained the TIF Board make-up, and that if the TIF is initiated by the City versus petitions of property owners, then each taxing unit is allowed to appoint one member with not more than 10 members on the Board. Members must be a qualified voter in the municipality or an owner of property in the district. There was discussion about the importance of having the School District pass a resolution to not participate and to decline to appoint a member to the board. There was also discussion about having the City set aside a certain number of seats for people who own property in the zone. There was discussion about the positives and negatives of the TIF Board contracting with a local government corporation to manage the zone or implement the project plan or financing plan. Silverstone explained that the Local Government Corporation is created by the governing body of the municipality, under the Transportation Code. He agreed to do more research on the powers of the corporation. The group agreed that now issues to be determined are: 1) does the TIF Board handle all the issues itself, or 2) does the TIF Board contract with professionals or a Local Government Corporation. The group needs to decide the best way to accomplish the work to be done. The group agreed that they want Silverstone to research how the TIF Board limits the Local Government Corporation. Walker noted that the report Nore Winter is preparing should become the project plan. Walker agreed to arrange a meeting with the City Attorney and Silverstone, to review the questions and determine what the ordinance should look like. Boyd also noted that there might need to be some changes to the State law, and if that is the case, the Board might need to make some recommendations for that. It was agreed that the next steps would be:  Walker will establish a meeting with some of the County Commissioners  Board members will talk to individual members of the County Commissioners Court  Walker will work with the County Attorney and Silverstone to clarify issues discussed  Walker will work with the County Attorney to prepare an ordinance.  The target date for taking the ordinance to the City Council will be January 21st. b. Plans for 2003 Red Poppy Festival Overfelt reported on the status of festival planning. A new “Diamond” sponsor has been recruited – Wells Fargo, who is contributing $5,000. The planning and work is on target at this point. Meetings will increase to twice monthly beginning in January. c. Solicitation of Façade Fund applications with all 2003 applications to be received by end of December Discussion of application process. One application received to date, from Dennis and Barbara Falcone, who own the 8th Street building next to Alvins. Browning to provide all applications to Boyd at end of December. Selection item to be on agenda for January. d. Provision of education and technical assistance services Browning reported that no action has taken place on this project, following the submittal of a proposal to host the TDA’s mid-year conference. Our proposal was not selected (the conference will be in Huntsville), although the annual conference will be in Austin and that might present some training opportunities. e. Development of business recruitment assistance information McClure was not present to report. V. Staff Report Browning reported that the Texas Historical Commission has notified us that they are sending out the 2003 agreement to continue to be in the Main Street Program as a graduate city. Stubbs moved, Overfelt seconded, and the Board passed a motion to recommend that the City Manager sign the agreement and continue the program. Walker reported that since Browning is retiring at the end of December, sample job descriptions from other Main Street cities have been solicited, and he is working on a redesign of the distribution of duties in the division. There was discussion about having a celebration lunch for Browning, and the group agreed to set January 27th as the date for this lunch. Browning reported that the Council is taking applications through the end of the year for appointments to the Boards and Commissions for new terms. Members discussed the status of current members terms. The Texas Historic Commission is holding manager and board member training in January and February. The group discussed the value of attending. Browning noted that Georgetown will again host the new managers for a reception on January 6th, and all Board members are encouraged to attend. VI. Discussion and possible action regarding agenda items for the next meeting of the Board. Discussion and possible action regarding TIF issues. Discussion of guidelines for banners. The group agreed to change the meeting time to 8:30 a.m. IX. Adjourn The next meeting is scheduled for January 16, 2003 at 8:30a.m. at the Conference Room at City Offices, 103 W. 7th Street, Georgetown, Texas. The meeting adjourned at about 10:10 a.m.