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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDC Minutes 2008-04-09 RegularFriendswood Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes April 9, 2008 The Friendswood Community and Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, April 9, 2008, at 8:30 a.m, at the offices of Bay Area Houston economic Partnership, 2525 Bay Area Boulevard, Suite 640, Houston, Texas 77058, with the following members present: Chair Jamie Ballard, Brett Banfield, Claude McEwen, Pauline Moore, Bill Provenzano, Troy Waters, and Dr. Hilmar Zeissig. Also present were Friendswood Chamber of Commerce President Carol Jones, Friendswood Independent School District liaison Dr. Rebecca Hillenburg, City Council liaison Andy Rivera, and Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership representative Dan Seal. Staff member present was Karen Capps. 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. with a quorum present. 2. Discussion and possible action regarding the community and Economic Development Committee's 2008-09 strategic plan. Chair Ballard introduced Mr. Tom Linklater who facilitated the meeting. The committee reviewed their prior year's accomplishments. Three incentive grants were reviewed and recommended for City Council's approval. Tax forecast models were prepared by Dr. Jason Murasko, Professor of Economics, University of Houston Clear Lake. An economic development information presentation was created and placed on the city's municipal channel. CEDC hosted the 6t' annual Broker/Developer Day in coordination with the Friendswood Chamber of Commerce's annual golf tournament that drew approximately 50 attendees. Fifteen business visits and surveys were conducted. The CEDC mission statement was reviewed and discussed at length by the committee. A committee task force was created consisting of CEDC members Jamie Ballard, Troy Waters, and Pauline Moore to work on the mission statement. The committee discussed the development process. It was suggested that Frank Manigold attend the CEDC meetings. Jamie Ballard and Claude McEwen volunteered to the recommendations from previous development process review committees to see what has been implemented. Strategic goals were discussed focusing on areas of business recruitment for new primary business, business retention that includes business expansion, growth, and development, and retail development that includes working with brokers, identifying areas for retail development, identifying the right kind of retail, and working with the retailers. The committee discussed more public information and education. Brett Banfield will chair this taskforce with Jamie Ballard and Karen Capps. A business retention and expansion task force was formed that will include Troy Waters, Hilmar Zeissig, Carol Jones, and Pauline Moore. The goal is to visit 24 businesses annually. A retail business task force was created that will include Kirk Lippert and Claude McEwen. An incentives task force was created that includes Jamie Ballard, Brett Banfield, and Andy Rivera. The task forces will prepare recommendations to bring forward to the next CEDC meeting. 3. Discussion and possible action regarding economic incentives for downtown. Karen Capps briefed the committee on possible incentives for downtown including designating the downtown area as a neighborhood empowerment zone (NEZ). Ms. Capps explained that Chapter 378 of the Local Government Code allows municipalities to create a NEZ covering a geographical part of the city and discussed providing certain incentives within the zone such as waiving development and water/sewer impact fees and abating city property taxes with the NEZ. There was a general consensus to move forward with creating a NEZ for downtown. Jamie Ballard, Brett Banfield, and Andy Rivera volunteered to meet and discuss the NEZ and draft a recommendation from the CEDC to City Council. 4. Adiournment. The meeting was adjourned at 12:02 p.m.