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4A Wichita Falls Economic Development Minutes - 11/19/2020MINUTES OF THE WICHITA FALLS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION November 19, 2020 Present:. Leo Lane, President David Toogood, Vice -President Brent Hillery Darron Leiker Bobby Whiteley, Councilor at Large Paul Menzies. Assistant City Manager Blake Jurecek, Assistant Cite Manager R. Kinley Hegglund. Jr., City Attorney Russell Schreiber. Director of Public Works Terry Floyd, Director of Development Services Andrea Kidd. PIO Administrative Clerk Linda Merrill, Recording Secretary § WFEDC Members Mayor and Council City Administration 5 David Leezer, V.P, Business Attraction § CC[ Travis Haggard, V.P., Business Retention/Expansion § Karen Bivona, Office Manager S Kerry Maroney Jana Schmader Absent: Phyllis Cowling, Secretary -Treasurer 1. Call to Order Biggs & Mathews § DWFD S Member Leo Lane called the meeting to order at 2:34 p.m. 2. Strategic Discussion Karen Bivona said the Chamber had started the structure of the drop box files. Each Board member would have his/her own personal file. and there are project files holding, at minimum, the performance agreements. She inquired as to whether the Board agreed with this structure, or had suggestions. Mr. Lane envisioned this as a living/working item, and urged the Board members to contact Ms. Bivona with any requests for the file. 3. Discussion and possible action related to business park infrastructure 4. Award of design and engineering contract for the Business Park infrastructure project to Biggs & Mathews, Inc., in an amount not to exceed S995,000 5. Award of geotechnical contract for the Business Park infrastructure project to T'exoma Engineering Services, LLC, in an amount not to exceed $23,110 Items 3-5 were discussed together. David Leezer noted that the City Council had last month approved the upgrade to the Business Park. There are two contracts before the Board today that would, if granted, make the 535-acre industrial park more readily available for development. Russell Schreiber said the design and engineering contract with Biggs & Mathews would make the park a more shovel -ready site for industrial businesses. Kerry Maroney has been involved from the very beginning, and has determined the need for the looping of the water system and improvements to the lift station based on information from interested industries. The request is to move forward with a preliminary plat and final plat of Lots 7 and 8. There is not much of a plan currently; more of a rough sketch from the early 2000s. There is a need for a game plan to determine the location of future streets, how big each lot should be, and how water and sewer is provided. All of these items are addressed in the contemplated agreement with Biggs & Mathews. Mr. Maroney would have the projects ready to meet the deadlines given by the potential industries, and they will be packaged three bid packets: (1) utility project; (2) Fisher and Midwestern Parkway East; and (3) Hammon Road. Mr. Lane asked if the utilities could be bid separately, in order to allow more local contractors the opportunity to bid. Mr. Schreiber said the upgrades to the lift station will not be necessary if these industries do not choose to locate here. He noted that any local utility company could bid and build the whole project. He did note that having more than one contractor working on the roadway projects could be logistically challenging, unless, for example, Fisher Road was bid and Midwestern Parkway was delayed by a few months. He had not given this previous consideration. Mr. Leiker questioned whether the staging costs would be higher if these are bid separately, and Mr. Schreiber confirmed this would be true. The estimated cost for each project is as follows: • $1 million for lift station upgrades • $2 million for all utilities • $6 million for Fisher Road and Midwestern Parkway East • $2 million for Hammon Road Kerry Maroney said the bids could be structured as additional alternates to give local contractors a better opportunity. Mr. Leiker moved to approve the design en sink eeriniz contract with Biggs & Mathews at a cost not to exceed $995,000, Seconded by David Toogood, the motion carried 4-0. Mr. Leezer stated that two prospective industries had requested the geotechnical work. It would take about two months to complete, and would be a living document that lasts a long time. It would give confidence in the site to any prospective industry. Brent Hillery moved to award the geotechnical contract for the Busine�' _Purl: infrastructure project to Texoma Engineering Services, LLC in an amount not icy c sceccl_�1 ".1 1 ). Seconded by Darron Leiker. the motion carried 4-0. 6. Financial Projections The Board reviewed an Excel spreadsheet that showed how a proposed bond issuance would potentially affect the WFEDC. It was discussed that although the debt service would utilize a significant portion of tax revenue, that the importance of the project justified the cost. Additionally, it was stated that the remaining unencumbered tax revenue would still allow the board to fund future projects. Mr. Lane noted it would be a 20-year note, adding that the airport bond drops off in 8-10 years which would free up additional revenues thereafter.. 7. SAFB main gate project update Karen Montgomery -Gagne said the main gate will officially open on Saturday morning, November 21. It is 99% finished; they are waiting on the punch list of items and a final walkthrough. The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place in a week or so; the Board will be invited to attend. The final cost was S321.000, representing a 78% savings over the original budget of $1.5 million. This represents a good value for a federal/city/state partnership. 8. Discussion and possible action related to Panda Biotech The discussion of this item was deferred to the executive session. 9. Available sites and buildings review Mr. Leezer said the Chamber had a presentation regarding the LOIS national database program. However, he would prefer to delay this item until Ms. Cowling returns, as she had expressed interest in the program. The Board concurred. 10. Final approval of WFEDC by-laws David Toogood moved for final approval of the WFEDC bylaws. Seconded by Mr. Leiker, the motion carried 4-0. 11. Project Updates Jana Schmader said downtown business owners are experiencing declines in traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the coming of winter. She would like permission to reroute money already in DWFD's budget from marketing to retention. Mr. Toogood asked how to balance bringing people downtown with the dangers of the pandemic. Ms. Schmader said they are working on options, including online sales, gift cards, and holding sidewalk sales to help shoppers feel more comfortable. 12. Consent Agenda Mr. Toogood moved seconded by Mr. Hillery, to approve the consent agenda. The motion carried 4-0. 13. Executive Session Mr. Lane adjourned the meeting into executive session at 3:07 p.m. pursuant to Texas Government Code §§551.072 and 551.087. He recused himself from that portion of the executive session during which any discussions regarding Panda Biotech were held. He announced the meeting back into regular session at 3:59 p.m. The subjects posted in the Notice of Meeting were deliberated. and no votes or further action was taken on the items in executive session. 14. Bond Discussion Mr. Leiker said it was important to discuss the potential bond for infrastructure work in the Business Park. He noted that Paul Menzies has a timeline of the process, and based upon that timeline, work on the City's end with financial advisors needs to occur as soon as possible. The December board meeting would be the latest time in which to do this. Mr. Menzies agreed, in order to meet the fourth quarter 2022 deadline. He added that the engineering work should be completed by the spring. But in order to move forward with the bond sale in the spring and have the contract awarded by summer, the financial team and bond consultant need to do a lot of administrative work before the Board would take action in February to issue the revenue bonds. Mr. Lane said no action can be taken today, but the Board could express their opinions regarding moving forward. The regularly scheduled December meeting may need to be rescheduled due to the holidays. Mr. Leiker noted that one potential industry was lost because improvements had not been done and the Business Park was not shovel -ready. It is important to give the Chamber adequate tools to recruit for the Business Park. Mr. Toogood noted that the fourth quarter of 2022 is the same time that one of the industries need to be up and running. Is there a way to accommodate both operations? Mr. Leiker said them is a «ay to stage that to where all the roads would not be closed and water service %N ould still be m ui I.lhl�: . Mr. Schreiber acknowledged that if businesses were open and operating, it X\ ould be more diI'3icult to avoid disruption. 15. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 4:12 p.m. Leo Lane. President 4