HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDC Minutes 2014-06-11 RegularFriendswood Community and Economic Development Committee
Meeting Minutes
June 11, 2014
The Friendswood Community and Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, June
11, 2014 at 8:30 a.m., in the second floor conference room of City Hall, 910 S. Friendswood
Drive, Friendswood, Texas, with the following members present: Chair Pauline Moore, Brett
Banfield, Mark Conrad, Jeremy Magnuson, and Bill Provenzano. Liaisons present were Dan Seal
of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership and Bix Rathburn of the Galveston County
Economic Alliance.
Absent from the meeting were Tony Annan, Skip Evans, Marcus Perry, and Hilmar Zeissig.
Staff members present were Karen Capps and Nick Haby.
1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 8:37 a.m. by Chair Pauline Moore with a
quorum present.
2. Roll Call. Roll call was made.
3. Approval of Minutes.
A motion was made by Jeremey Magnuson to approve the May 7, 2014 meeting minutes. The
motion was seconded by Mark Conrad and it passed unanimously in the committee.
4. Discussion and possible action regarding changes to the permitted use table for NAICS
236 General Contractors and 238 Specialty Trade Contractors.
At CEDC's request, City Planning Manager - Nick Haby provided information about how other
cities permit and screen businesses of NAICS 236 and 238. After some discussion, at was decided
that Jeremy will contact the P&Z Chair to further discuss on how to move forward. Jeremy will
also draft a proposal to be considered by the CEDC at their next meeting in order to possibly
formalize the committee's consensus on this topic.
5. Discussion and possible action regarding the development of policies pertaining to
economic development.
The status of committee work was discussed. City Council liaison Carl Gustafson will provide a
status update on what has been accomplished to City Council at the June 21 City Council retreat.
The sub -committees will continue to work on an economic development policy to report back to
Council with a projected date of September.
6. Reports:
City Staff
Karen Capps gave a report on prospects that she is working with and stating that activity and
inquiries have increased. There are several tracts under contract for commercial developments
with several DRCs and meetings that have been held. She also reported on the proposed changes
to the downtown district requirements that P&Z and City Council are considering. Karen will
attend the Texas Economic Development Council mid -year conference in San Antonio this week.
Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership
Dan Seal reported that the Citizens for Space Exploration trip to Washington, D.C. that took place
in the latter part of May was successful. There were 110 travelers that went to D.C. to advocate
funding for NASA's budget which included 256 meetings that were held in two days. Dan also
reported on a recent $1 billion announcement for an INEOS plant in La Porte. An update was
given on storm surge protection and Dan suggested that everyone visit www.bacpaorg for more
information.
Galveston County Economic Alliance
New Galveston County Economic Alliance President, Bix Rathbum, was introduced earlier in the
meeting. Bix reported that he was working on a very large project for Galveston County. He will
also meet with the County Judge to discuss and help move forward an overall economic
development plan for the county.
7. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 10:20 a.m.