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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDC Minutes 2009-07-01 RegularFriendswood Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes July 1, 2009 The Friendswood Community and Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 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: Vice Chair Brett Banfield, Mark Conrad, Donald "Skip" Evans, Kirk Lippert, Pauline Moore, Troy Waters, and Dr. Hilmar Zeissig. Liaisons present were City Councilmember Mike Barker, FISD Superintendent Trish Hanks, Planning and Zoning Commissioner David O'Farrell, Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership representative Dan Seal, and Griffin Integrated Marketing representatives Deanna Wilke and Jamie Napoli. Also present was news reporter Jim Molony of the Friendswood Journal. Staff member present was Karen Capps. Absent from the meeting were Cody Owen and Bill Provenzano. 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 8:06 with a quorum present. 2. Roll Call. Roll call was made. 3. Approval of Minutes. Hilmar Zeissig made a motion to approve the June 3, 2009 meeting minutes. The motion was seconded by Kirk Lippert and it passed unanimously in the committee. 4. Discussion and possible action, but not limited to the Community and Economic Development Committee's 2009-10 goals and action items. A. Retail/Restaurant Attraction Kirk Lippert reported that the City will sponsor the Galveston County Restaurant Association's (GHRA) newsletter in August as a means to provide restaurant owners and brokers information about opportunities in Friendswood. Griffin Marketing is preparing a retail and restaurant attraction flyer. Once the flyer is complete, Kirk will begin contacting potential restaurant prospects. B. Communications and Marketing Deanna Wilke introduced Jamie Napoli who will be filling in for Deanna during maternity leave. The 2nd quarter e-newsletter was distributed which included a Live Here Work Here profile on Lynn Lary of Lary's Florist. The profile will also be placed on the City's website. Griffin worked on a Live Here Work Here theme script for the first Movies in the Park. Griffin is in the process of updating the marketing plan. C. Business Retention Visits Karen Capps reported on a business visit that she and Bill Provenzano made to Ace Hardware. 5. Reports: A. Planning and Zoning David O'Farrell reemphasized the need for required parking guidelines in order to ensure that developments are built with adequate parking for their tenants and customers. B. Liaisons City Council Mike Barker reported that he is pleased to continue to serve the CEDC as council liaison and will also be the liaison for BAHEP this year. Friendswood ISD Trish Hanks reported on the status of school construction projects. Construction of the junior high is on time and under budget. The swimming pool has been dug at the high school. Summer school is busy and in session. Friendswood High School won the 4A Lone Star cup award. FISD just completed hiring for the next school year and currently employs more than 700 persons. Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership BAHEP was named as one of the best places to work by the Houston Business Journal. Dan Seal reported on the status of Ellington Airport. A legislative breakfast will be held in August with the Secretary of Defense in attendance. Pete Olsen asked to meet with BAHEP's committee's including the small business development committee. BAHEP is hosting the next Houston Regional Economic Development Allies (HREDA) group in July. HREDA is an alliance of economic developers with representation from 35 regions. July's meeting will be held at Space Center Houston and will include an update from Dr. Bob Hodgins, economist at UHCL. Also, Dan Seal will speak about the proposed Ike Dike. Dan also said that new projects and companies are still looking to come to this region. C. Marketing The 2nd quarter e-newsletter has been drafted. The Live Here Work Here billboard will be placed as an ad preview on Movies in the Park which will begin on June 13. Griffin assisted with the press release regarding the EDA grant and distributed the release which resulted in several news media printing the release. D. City Staff Karen Capps reported that CNN Money Magazine requested pictures from the city which could mean that Friendswood will be named again as the top 100 best places to live. She reminded members of the July 3 Gathering event at Old City Park. A brief update was given on the status of the EDA grant. Other stimulus money is available but most of the money is for shovel ready projects or aimed for distressed communities. Ms. Capps briefly reported on the 81St Texas legislative session stating tax abatement was extended and that chambers and other business development organizations like BAHEP will now be tax exempt. Ms. Capps reported on a new office development project that is planned in the city. Other developments planned are two new banks, a medical office development, a hotel, and other projects that were mentioned in the last few meetings. She stated that Pam Summers of the Bay Area Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau will attend our next meeting and give a presentation about their organization. 6. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 9:32 am.