4B Board (Street Improvement Economic Development Corporation)

STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF TARRANT § CITY OF BEDFORD § The Board of Directors of the City of Bedford Street Improvement Economic Development Corporation, Bedford, Texas, met at 6:00 p.m. in Meeting Room North of the Bedford Library, 2424 Forest Ridge Drive, Bedford, on the 15th day of July, 2014 with the following members present: Roy W. Turner President Jim Davisson Roger Fisher Steve Farco Ronald Jenkins Richard Adams Matthew Smith Constituting a quorum. Also present were: Clifford Blackwell Director of Administrative Services/Treasurer Tom Hoover Public Works Director David Miller Deputy City Manager Beverly Griffith City Manager/Executive Director Meg Jakubik Assistant to the City Manager/Strategic Services Amanda Jacobs Assistant City Secretary/Assistant Secretary Mirenda McQuagge-Walden Managing Director CALL TO ORDER President Turner called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 1. Administer Statement of Elected Officer and Oath of Office to newly appointed members. Amanda Jacobs administered the Statement of Elected Officer and Oath of Office to Roger Fisher and Steve Farco. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 2. Approval of the January 21, 2014 meeting minutes. Motioned by Director Davisson, seconded by Director Adams to approve the minutes of the January 21, 2014 meeting. Motion passed 7-0-0. President Brown declared the motion carried. NEW BUSINESS 3. Consider and act upon appointment of a Vice President to the Street Improvement Economic Development Corporation. Roger Fisher was nominated and accepted the position of Vice President. Motioned by Director Davisson and Seconded by Director Farco to approve the appointment as nominated. Motion passed 7-0-0. President Turner declared the motion carried. 4. Receive financial status report. Treasurer Clifford Blackwell gave the financial status report. There will be an interest payment of $125,187.50 for Debt Service made on August 1, 2014. Given the current economic climate, staff will continue to monitor sales tax revenue. Sales tax receipts through June are up 2.14% above last year’s total for the same time period. There was discussion on alcohol sales being subject to sales tax, that the total sales tax for June 2014 was $802,303 and that 25% of that goes into the 4B fund, that TXI is paying sales tax to the City and that the increase in collection could be due to that. No action was required on this item. 5. Staff Report to the Street Improvement Economic Development Corporation (SIEDC) Board on the status of Fiscal Year 2013-14 projects. Listed below is the status of projects for FY 2013-14.  Crack Routing & Sealing at various locations is complete.  Striping & Traffic Marking at various locations is complete  Asphalt Mill & Overlay on Martin Drive (Park Avenue - Cummings Drive) and Cummings Drive (SH 157-SH 121) is complete.  Asphalt Mill & Overlay: Harwood Road/Forest Ridge intersection – Construction will begin after accessible ramps are completed that are associated with the Meadow Park Trail extension. The ramp improvements are necessary to bring into compliance with State regulations. This project should be complete in this fiscal year.  Concrete Panel Replacement: Design is almost complete and staff anticipates accepting bids next month. This project should be complete in this fiscal year. 6. Consider approval of the Fiscal Year 2014-15 Budget for the City of Bedford Street Improvement Economic Development Corporation (SIEDC). Staff proposes the following improvements for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014-15:  Crack Routing & Sealing at various locations in the City. This budget will be doubled as projects are getting behind schedule due to lack of funding.  Striping & Traffic Markings at various locations in the City will continue to the next phase. The plan is to start with the arterials and move to the smaller streets.  Carolyn Asphalt Mill / Overlay from Hurst City Limit to Brown Trail.  Schumac Lane Asphalt Mill / Overlay from Forest Ridge Drive to Central Drive.  Concrete Panel Replacements at various locations in the City.  Harwood Road Conceptual Design from Hurst City Limit to Euless City Limit. Public Works Director Tom Hoover stated that in order to apply for funding through Northeast Tarrant Council of Governments (NETCOG) conceptual designs are required. An engineering survey is needed for a project to be placed on the NETCOG list and that he anticipates funding in 2017 or 2019. $450,000 has been budgeted for design work for Harwood Road from Hurst City limit to Euless City Limit project and 35% of that will go to the conceptual design.  Bedford Road Design from Somerset Terrace to Brown Trail.  Bedford Road Construction from Somerset Terrace to Brown Trail. In answer to questions from the board, regarding the Harwood Road Conceptual Design project, State law prohibits going out for bid for professional services and RFQ’s will go to area engineering firms. Harwood has various problems to correct, traffic, ADA compliance, traffic projections, bike lanes and signalization. There was discussion on various pieces of equipment in the proposed budget. Kenny Overstreet, Assistant Public Works Director stated that the gas powered generator will be used for drills, jackhammers, water pump, lights, etc. and that a generator from Northern Tool would be under-powered. It was stated that the City currently does not own a snowplow, that NTE used a snowplow during icy conditions this year and that it would be used to go places that a sander could now and without damage to property and it would be used to scrape ice. It was discussed that unit 681, from the Water Division, would be replaced with a freightliner, that it is in bad shape and will no longer pull a trailer and that it would go to auction. A motion was made by Director Adams to approve the Fiscal Year 2014-15 Budget for the Bedford Street Improvement Economic Development Corporation, seconded by Director Smith. Motion passed 7-0-0. President Turner declared the motion carried. 7. Overview of the history of the Street Improvement Economic Development Corporation and the authorized expenditures and exclusions. Executive Director Beverly Griffith gave a presentation on the history of the Street Improvement Economic Development Corporation. She stated that it is a valuable tool to the City to keep the streets in good condition, that developing a 4B failed on the ballot twice and was finally approved in 1997. A strategy used to get approval in 1997 was to narrow the scope of things that the 4B tax could be used for. It’s proceeds are limited to street and road related improvements, no salary/benefits to City employees actually doing the work. Questions have come up in the past regarding sidewalks, streetlights, medians and landscaping unless they are new and part of a new street project you cannot use 4B funds for it based on how the ballot was structured. In order to expand the scope of 4B, it would go to the voters and ask for the authorized use of the funds to be amended. It would have to be within the overall scope of what legislation says that you can and cannot do. In 2005, the legislature allowed cities to go to the voters and ask for those changes without sacrificing what you currently have, which was a big deal for any entity that has 4B. In response to questions from the Board, it was stated that 4B has about $2.5M per year in revenue now and if you wanted to do what the City did in 1998/99, which was sell $19M in bonds to fix 85% of the streets in Bedford in one year, if you put every bit of what the board brings in in one year towards debt service you are looking at between $30-35M worth of work and you’ve got to figure how to continue to do street maintenance. It was stated that if the economy continues to grow and we continue to get good economic development and are strategic about prioritizing, in a couple of years 4B will have the capacity because debt service is going down. Director Fisher inquired about how the board feels about expanding the scope of 4B’s capabilities and having the freedom to asthetically improve intersections, and adding new language to a proposition to present to the City Council to present to the voters. There was a concensus of the Board to place this item on a future Council agenda. ADJOURNMENT President Turner adjourned the meeting at 6:58 p.m. ____________________________ Roy Turner, President ATTEST: ________________________________ Amanda Jacobs Assistant City Secretary