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06-19-2019 (WEDC) Minutes Minutes Wylie Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors Meeting Wednesday, June 19, 2019— 6:30 A.M. WEDC Offices—Conference Room 250 South Highway 78—Wylie, Texas CALL TO 0 ' I ER Announce the presence of a Quorum President Bryan Brokaw called the meeting to order at 6:32 a.m. Board Members present were Demond Dawkins, John Yeager, and Marvin Fuller. Mayor Eric Hogue and City Manager Chris Hoisted were present. WEDC staff present was Assistant Director Jason Greiner and Senior Assistant Angel Wygant. INVOCATION & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Board Member Dawkins gave an invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION President Brokaw welcomed Mr. Gino Mulliqi who was recently appointed by Council to serve on the WEDC Board of Directors. Mr. Mulliqi begins his term effective July 1, 2019 and stated he was looking forward to joining the WEDC Board of Directors. ACTION ITEMS ITEM NO. 1 — Consider and act upon approval of the June 6, 2019 Minutes of the Wylie Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) Board of Directors Meeting. MOTION: A motion was made by Marvin Fuller and seconded by John Yeager to approve the June 6, 2019 Minutes of the Wylie Economic Development Corporation. The WEDC Board voted 4—FOR and 0—AGAINST in favor of the motion. ITEM NO.2—Consider and act upon approval of the May 2019 WEDC Treasurer's Report Staff reviewed the Treasurers Report and called the Board's attention to the following highlights: Sales tax receipts for June were 17.4% higher than 2018 receipts for the same period. For FY 2018-2019 sales tax receipts are up 17.3% overall. Notable expenses for the month include the demolition of the former Hillcrest Nursing home and muffler shop in the amount of$103,000, Land purchases of$257,246 for the purchase of 204 N. WEDC—Minutes June 19, 2019 Page 2 of 5 2nd Street and earnest money payments for the 503 S. Ballard and KCS property along State Highway 78. MOTION: A motion was made by Marvin Fuller and seconded by John Yeager to approve the May 2019 WEDC Treasurer's Report. The WEDC Board voted 4—FOR and 0—AGAINST in favor of the motion. DISCUSSION ITEMS ITEM NO. 3—Discuss issues surrounding Resolution 2019-17(R). President Brokaw informed the Board that the Wylie City Council approved a Resolution at the June 11, 2019 City Council Meeting requiring all WEDC projects to be approved by City Council prior to executing third-party Performance Agreements. This Resolution was placed on the Agenda at the direction of Councilman Matthew Porter and seconded by Councilman David Duke. Brokaw stated he does not have a full understanding yet of what the Resolution means to the operation of the WEDC. President Brokaw indicated that he became aware of the Resolution shortly before it was publicly posted and attended the Council Meeting with the anticipation of participating in discussions surrounding the purpose or reasoning behind the need for this Resolution. Brokaw reported that Councilman Porter, who introduced the Resolution, stated that after attending a TML training course he believed this was a best practice that he would like to implement in Wylie. Further, Councilman Duke, while not citing any specific examples, indicated he had citizens who had expressed frustrations about the transparency of the WEDC. President Brokaw expressed a level of frustration that the Resolution was placed on the Agenda prior to any discussion between Council Members and WEDC Board Members to communicate specific concerns that may exist or suggestions they might have. He thanked Board Member Fuller for reaching out to Councilmembers for feedback once he became aware this Resolution was on the Council Agenda. The Board as a whole further believed in order to have an effective and efficient EDC, it was important to work closely with Council in a teamwork approach for the benefit of the citizens of Wylie. Brokaw asked Board Members if they had any comments or questions about this issue and suggested that perhaps a joint meeting with Council to discuss the relationship moving forward would be in order. Board Member Fuller asked to comment before opening the floor for discussion and/or questions. He informed the Board that he attended the Council meeting and during the meeting accepted the Mayor's invitation to be heard on this issue. Fuller requested that the minutes reflect his opinion that he had let the Board down and was unable to express to Council the importance of the autonomous decision making afforded to the majority if not all EDC's in Collin County. Further, without local examples of the need for additional Council oversight of the WEDC it was difficult to understand the need for the proposed resolution. Fuller believed there were other points he WEDC —Minutes June 19, 2019 Page 3 of 5 could have made to Council to help them understand but obviously was unable to communicate that position effectively. Fuller and Brokaw reported that the key point Councilman Porter voiced in presenting this Resolution was that he wanted to implement 'best practices'. Board Member Fuller stated that while it was hard to argue with 'best practices' as vaguely presented, he apologized to the Board that he did not comment to Council that a best practice in this circumstance may have been to hold a work-session and review a full range of input prior to approving a Resolution of this type. Fuller indicated that he asked Council not to approve the Resolution but felt he should have also requested that Council table this action out of respect for the WEDC Board and especially the WEDC Executive Director being unable to attend this Council meeting. This delay would have provided time to allow the Executive Director to make Council fully aware of the pros, cons, and benefits associated with the WEDC's practices/procedures, and to examine a full range of relevant information including the WEDC By-laws,minutes,practices of other EDCs and so forth. He felt a work-session would allow for more extensive input rather than relying solely on a conversation at a TML training session. Mayor Hogue provided a brief recap of the process that led to the Resolution being placed on the Agenda. A Councilmember may make a request that an item be placed on an Agenda and then it must be seconded. In this case, Councilman Porter made the request and Councilman Duke was the second. The Mayor thanked Marvin Fuller and Jason Greiner for their comments during Council discussion of the item. Board Member Fuller commented that it would have been hard to argue that tabling the Item until the Executive Director could provide input was not a 'best practice' for Council. Out of respect alone, this step would have been warranted. He added that a Councilperson did approach him following the meeting and encouraged the WEDC to come back to Council and request the Resolution be amended. Fuller however did express confidence that the WEDC Board and staff would find a way to work within the constraints of the Resolution and felt strongly that the Board served a valuable role in serving the community regardless of the possibly unintended perception being presented that the WEDC needs additional oversight to correct best practices that have not been followed in the past. Incoming Board Member Mulliqi, in attendance as a citizen prior to assuming his duties on the Board in July, indicated he didn't understand the point, or purpose behind the Resolution and was eager to get more information from Council as to what the role of the Board is going forward. The Mayor reiterated that Council has always been informed about projects and the Executive Director regularly updates council on the status of those projects, albeit usually in Executive Session due to the need to preserve confidentiality. In response to a question about the reporting structure of the other Boards, the Mayor explained that the WEDC was different from other Boards in the City. The WEDC is a separate corporation of the City of Wylie, voted into existence by the voters. The WEDC Board hires the Executive WEDC —Minutes June 19, 2019 Page 4 of 5 Director which is different from other Boards. Council has no authority to perform reviews, discipline, hire or fire staff. Their role is one of general oversight and appointment of the Board of Directors. Board Member Yeager added that when the WEDC was created 30 years ago, it was designed to have distinct and functional separation from the City. Council is charged with providing oversight, which they should do, but to have operations remain autonomous. Board Member Dawkins added that he was out of town when he learned that this Item was on the Council Agenda. His was disappointed with the decision-making process because it gives the hint that the WEDC Board is not transparent and is out of sync with the Council. Dawkins continued that he believed this was unfortunately more of a 'political issue' rather than a 'best practices' issue and adamantly wanted the record to reflect his consternation as to why Council did not want to communicate directly with the Board Members prior to this action or at a minimum seek out input from the WEDC Executive Director. President Brokaw thanked everyone for their comments and apologized that he was not able to reach out to everyone prior to the meeting. Brokaw committed to follow up with Board Member Wintters to update him on the matter and seek his input. City Manager Holsted felt it would be valuable to hold a work-session with Council. Mayor Hogue directed City Manager Hoisted to work with the WEDC Executive Director to get a joint work-session scheduled in the near future. ITEM NO. 4—Discuss issues surrounding the FY 2019-2020 WEDC Budget. Staff presented the FY 2019 -2020 WEDC Budget to the Board for additional comment and input prior to presentation to Council. Staff informed the Board that it was initially anticipated that the full $4.5 mm from the 78/Brown loan would be drawn within 6-months but that the property acquisition process has been delayed somewhat. American National Bank (ANB) has expressed a willingness to extend interest-only payments for an additional 6-months to give the WEDC time to complete the purchases associated with this loan. The Board appreciated ANB's willingness to adjust to current conditions and directed staff to work with ANB to effectuate the extension and make the necessary adjustments to debt service. ITEM NO. 5 - Review issues surrounding WEDC Performance Agreement Summary, Hotel Occupancy Tax, environmental activity summary, 78/Brown redevelopment update, ICSC RECon 2019, active project summary, and regional housing starts. Staff updated the Board on WEDC projects and activities noting that year-over-year sales tax receipts received in May were down over 2018 receipts with Woodbridge Crossing shopping center 2.7% down over the prior year and Woodbridge Centre down 6% over the same period. The WEDC is now under contract with KCS for the purchase of 2.563 acres and is working with Collin County to acquire 1.226 acres adjacent to the KCS tract. WEDC—Minutes June 19, 2019 Page 5 of 5 Staff attended the Annual ICSC Recon conference May 18 — 22 and report that there were productive meetings held with follow-up on the same currently underway. New Housing starts remain strong with forty new homes permitted in Wylie during May. EXECUTIVE SESSION Recess into Closed Session at 8:02 a.m. in compliance with Section 551.001, et. seq. Texas Government Code, to wit: Section 551.072 (Real Estate) of the Local Government Code, Vernon's Texas Code Annotated (Open Meetings Act). Consider the sale or acquisition of properties located at: * State Highway 78 & 5th Street Section 551.087(Economic Development) of the Local Government Code,Vernon's Texas Code Annotated(Open Meetings Act). Deliberation regarding commercial or financial information that the WEDC has received from a business prospect and to discuss the offer of incentives for: • Project 2019-6a * Project 2019-613 ' CONVENE INTO OPEN MEETING Take any action as a result from Executive Session The WEDC Board of Directors reconvened into open session at 8:30 a.m. and took no action. JOU MENT With no further business, President Brokaw adjourned the WEDC Board meeting at 8:30 a.m. / // 7 Bryaltrokawl President ATTEST: Samuel Satterwhite, Director