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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDC Minutes 2006-08-02 Regular (2)Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes August 2, 2006 The Community and Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, August 2, 2006, at 8 a.m., in the second floor conference room of City Hall, 910 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood, Texas, with the following members present: Chair Kirk Lippert, Jamie Ballard, Deirdre Brown, Karin Massicott, Ed Sebesta, and Hilmar Zeissig. Also present were FISD Superintendent Trish Hanks, Friendswood Chamber President Carol Jones, Planning and Zoning Chair Kevin Holland, Janet Stoney of Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, Jackie Hutto of Griffin Integrated Marketing, and Colleen O'Brien of the Friendswood Journal. Staff members present were Karen Capps and Nick Haby. Absent from the meeting were Pauline Moore, Jon Olansen, and Bill Provenzano. 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 8:10 a.m. with a quorum present. 2. Approval of Minutes. Deirdre Brown made a motion to approve the June 7, 2006 meeting minutes. The motion was seconded by Hilmar Zeissig and it passed unanimously in the committee. Deirdre Brown made a motion to approve the July 5, 2006 meeting minutes. The motion was seconded by Kirk Lippert and it passed unanimously in the committee. 3. Elect Chair and Vice Chair. Nominations were accepted, and Kirk Lippert made a motion to elect Deirdre Brown to serve as new Chair of the committee. The motion was seconded by Ed Sebesta and it passed unanimously in the committee. Deirdre Brown made a motion to elect Kirk Lippert to serve as Vice Chair of the committee. The motion was seconded by Hilmar Zeissig and it passed unanimously in the committee. 4. Presentation regarding school funding by Friendswood Independent School District Superintendent Trish Hanks. FISD Superintendent Trish Hanks gave a presentation on the history and current status of school funding. Ms. Hanks said there are two taxes for schools: 1) M&O — maintenance and operations which is set at $1.50 per $100 property tax valuation, and 2) debt service tax. She stated some schools can go over the $1.50 maximum M&O tax rate by holding an election. There are 1,100 school districts in Texas. There are three drivers in school finance: 1) student count which also includes enrollment and daily attendance, 2) property wealth, and 3) local taxing effort. This year the state reduced the M&O tax rate to $1.33 with an extra four penny option available by each ISD which could bring this year's rate to $1.37 per $100 valuation from last year's $1.50 rate. The state rewards local school districts for utilizing the optional four pennies available, otherwise without these extra four pennies, FISD would have to dip into reserves to balance the proposed budget for this year. FISD's total budget is approximately $35 million. Ms. Hanks estimated that 95 percent of the local property tax revenues for FISD are paid by homeowners. If the burden was spread out over more businesses and not so much on homeowners, the tax rate could be reduced. Ms. Hanks also announced that five out of six FISD schools earned the Exemplary rating this last school year (Cline, Windsong, Westwood, Bales, and Friendswood Junior High School.) Friendswood High School earned the Recognized rating. Total enrollment is up again for the approaching school year, she estimated over 5,900 total students in FISD for 06/07. Approximately 2,000 of those students are enrolled at the high school. Ms. Hanks also stated that all students in public schools in Texas will begin school on August 27 in next year's 2007-2008 school year. 5. Reports. Deirdre Brown gave a report on the P&Z meetings she attended during the month of July. Some of the items discussed were the Community Overlay District, the Tree Ordinance, the Heritage Tree Ordinance, exceptions for gas stations, and the comprehensive plan update. P&Z Chair Kevin Holland gave an update on work being done on the comprehensive plan by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Jackie Hutto of Griffin Integrated Marketing provided a marketing report. Marketing items discussed were the new tradeshow display being designed for future tradeshow events, advertising in the Houston Business Journal's commercial real estate section, and preparation underway to arrange for speakers and informational hand-outs for the Fourth Annual Broker/Developer Day that will be held in conjunction with the Chamber's Ninth Annual Golf Tournament. Karen Capps discussed work being done to provide more informational reports and tools on the City's website for business prospects and developers. A GIS module will be created for the website that will allow business prospects to search for available buildings and land sites in the city. Demographic reports and the Retail Opportunity Analysis Report will be uploaded to the City's website for access by potential business prospects. Karen Capps gave a report on business prospects and the status of developments underway or planned in the city. Updates were given on the Whitcomb project, a downtown project, a medical campus prospect, and several other business owners and developers she is working with. 6. Adiournment. The meeting was adjourned at 9: 52 a.m.