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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDC Minutes 2008-02-06 RegularFriendswood Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes February 6, 2008 The Friendswood Community and Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, February 6, 2008, at 8:00 a.m., in the second floor conference room of City Hall, 910 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood, Texas, with the following members present: Chair: Jamie Ballard, Vice Chair Kirk Lippert, Brett Banfield, Claude McEwen, and Pauline Moore. Liaisons present were Planning and Zoning representative Hassan Moghaddam, Friendswood Chamber President Carol Jones, Griffin Integrated Marketing representative Deanna Wilke, Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership representative Dan Seal, and the Galveston County Economic Alliance President Don Gartman. Also present were resident B.J. Thomas and Amy Burkett of the Friendswood Journal. Staff members present were Karen Capps and Bo McDaniel. CEDC members absent from the meeting were Bill Provenzano, Ed Sebesta, and Dr. Hilmar Zeissig. 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 8:06 a.m. with a quorum present. 2. Roll Call. Roll Call was made. 3. Approval of Minutes. The January meeting minutes were not approved as the item was not posted. 4. Discussion and possible action regarding the following Action Item reports, including, but not limited to: A. Comprehensive Plan update Chair Ballard reported on a Comprehensive Plan meeting that was held on January 24, 2008. The City Planner is finalizing the draft proposed land use map which outlines proposed future land uses and includes special study areas with an emphasis of commercial, office, or commercial with light industrial use. A smaller group is working on writing short paragraph descriptions regarding what type of development is targeted for the special study areas. The timeline for providing this information to the public was discussed. There will be a joint work session with City Council, Planning and Zoning, and CEDC on February 18 to discuss the plan and timeline for gathering feedback and input from the public. B. Business visits Karen Capps reported on two businesses that were visited during the month, one was a bank and the other a retail business. She stated that two other businesses are scheduled to visit in the next week. Chair Ballard asked members to help with these visits by scheduling visits. C. Annual Report from CEDC Chair to City Council Chair Ballard discussed what he may include in his annual report to City Council regarding economic incentive grants approved, business visits attended and their feedback and CEDC's input and involvement with updating the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Committee members suggested a CEDC annual goal setting retreat be held in April. This will be discussed at the March meeting. 5. Reports: A. Planning and Zoning — It was reported that City Council denied P&Z's recommendation to charge $500. for commercial site plans. The City currently does not charge a fee for commercial site plan reviews, which will continue unchanged. It was also reported that the property owner of land located on Winding Way was denied their rezoning request from single-family residential to office park district. B. Liaisons — Carol Jones reported that the Chamber's annual F.I.G. Festival & 4th Annual Auto & Bike Extravaganza will be held on Saturday, April 19, 2008. She also reported that the Mayor's annual State of the City address will be held on February 7. Dan Seal reported on NASA's budget is $17.2 billion annually which represents .68 percent of the federal budget. Approximately $3 billion is earmarked for JSC, which is among ten centers in the U.S. Mr. Seal also reported on BAHEP's annual banquet that was recently held where Dr. William Staples, President of University of Houston Clear Lake, was awarded BAHEP's annual Quasar Award. C. Marketing Deanna Wilke provided a marketing report. The City's 3rd incentive grant press release was printed in several local and regional newspapers and placed as an insert in the Chamber's monthly newsletter. It was reported that the State Comptroller's Office interview Karen Capps regarding downtown revitalization and beautification efforts which should run in the April 2008 Texas Rising publication. The Texas Real Estate Business magazine interviewed Karen Capps for a piece on how economic development organizations attract and retain businesses in their communities. This editorial piece should print in April. Karen Capps reported there will be a booth and a CEDC reserved table at the Mayor's annual State of the City address that is hosted by the Chamber. D. City Staff City Manager, Bo McDaniel, reported on the City's water purchase that will allow businesses to expand and develop in Friendswood. In the future, only cities that have sufficient water supply that have properly planned for future growth capacity will be able to attract businesses to their towns. E. Project Status updates Karen Capps reported that she met with two businesses during the last month that inquired about the municipal grant program. She also reported that she is working on amending the economic development agreement between the City and HomeTown Center to extend the construction commencement and completion dates of the project. Also reported were other prospective businesses and new businesses in the city. 9. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:35 am.