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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDC Minutes 2015-12-02 RegularFriendswood Community and Economic Development Committee Meeting Minutes December 2, 2015 The Friendswood Community and Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, December 2, 2015 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: Vice Chair Marcus Perry, Brett Banfield, Skip Evans, Gary Kay, Jeremy Magnuson, and Dr. Hilmar Zeissig. Liaisons present were City Councilmember Carl Gustafson, Planning and Zoning Commissioner Craig Lovell, Director of Economic Development of Galveston County - Bix Rathburn, Director of Special Initiatives for Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership - Dan Seal, and Carol Marcantel — President of the Friendswood Chamber of Commerce. Staff member present was Karen Capps. Absent from the meeting were Mark Conrad, Pauline Moore, and Bill Provenzano. 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order by Vice Chair Marcus Perry at 8:30 a.m. 2. Roll call was made. There was a quorum. 3. Approval of Minutes. Skip Evans made a motion to approve the November 4, 2015 meeting minutes. The motion was seconded by Gary Kay and it passed unanimously in the committee. 4. Discussion and possible action regarding: a. Economic Development Policy Action Items The committee reviewed the Economic Development Policy adopted by City Council at the beginning of the year. The committee discussed the outcome of the last few workshops and joint meeting retreats with City Council. The committee discussed having individual committee liaisons assigned to City Councilmembers as a way to provide direct communication and information as follows: Brett Banfield — Mayor Pro Tern Jim Hill, Marcus Perry, John Scott, Gary Kay — Steve Rockey, Pauline Moore — Kevin Holland, Skip Evans — Pat McGinnis, Jeremy Magnuson — Bill Enochs. Hilmar, Mark, and Bill will serve as replacements. Vice Chair Marcus Perry would like to have quarterly work sessions with City Council. Marcus will work on a report format to City Council. Dr. Hilmar Zeissig requested an update on the status of the Whitcomb property regarding future development and tax exempt status. He would also like to discuss and provide recommendation to City Council regarding the work session item about big box retail development and possible architectural controls. b. Downtown District Incentives Vice Chair Perry began the discussion stating that he recently met with Brett Banfield about downtown initiatives and there may be a need for additional City incentives. Karen Capps gave an overview regarding zoning, offsite detention, neighborhood empowerment zone in place for downtown, and the lower threshold eligibility requirement for the municipal grant program. The committee discussed sales tax and tax increment reinvestment zones as funding mechanisms for infrastructure and downtown improvements needed in the city. 5. Reports: Planning and Zoning P&Z Commissioner, Craig Lovell, gave an update on P&Z's recent discussions regarding eliminating gas stations as a permitted use in the downtown district, and downtown amenities, i.e. brick paver, lighting, and benches, having a uniform look. Committee Members Brett Banfield invited everyone to attend the Friends and Family in the Park event on December 5 at Stevenson Park. There will also be the Farmer's Market and Flap Jack Fun Run the same day. Brett reported on attending the Texas Downtown Association's annual conference in Waxahachie. Staff Karen Capps reported that she attended the ICSC Retail tradeshow and conference in Dallas on November 5-6 and helped man BAHEP's booth in the exhibit hall and is following up on several retail leads. A prospect report was given. City Council Carl Gustafson asked committee members to provide feedback prior to Monday's meeting regarding the big box ordinance and/or alcohol in the park. Friendswood Chamber Carol Marcantel report on the joint Chamber and Rotary luncheon being held tomorrow at the Green event Center, December I01h is the Chamber's Open House, December 12th is Santa in the Park, and January Wh is their Annual Gala at Space Center Houston. Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership Dan Seal said BAHEP will hold their quarterly prospect review meeting on December 3 in which Ace Schlameus of Colliers International will attend and provide a briefing on the Anatomy of an Office Deal. BAHEP recently attended the National business Aviation Association Conference where there were 1,100 exhibitor and 20,000 attendees. BAHEP was pitching sites at Ellington for aircraft manufacturing and assembly operation. A prospect report was provided. Houston recently hosted the SpaceCom Conference and Expo. This was the first year for Houston to host the conference and there were 1,700 attendees. Since Houston has one of the few cities to have the international spaceport designation, it was a good time to host the conference. Dan reported there are 33 active projects that BAHEP is working. Galveston County Bix Rathburn reported on the I" meeting of the Galveston County economic developers, and development opportunities in the region. He is currently working 17 active projects, one of these is valued at $200 million. Bix discussed scheduling an annual countywide broker developer day next year in October. 7. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.