Odessa Development Corporation

ODESSA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION CITY OF ODESSA, TEXAS January 9, 2020 A regular meeting of the Odessa Development Corporation (ODC) was held on January 9, 2020 at 2:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers, fifth floor, City Hall, 411 W. 8th St., Odessa, Texas. Members present: Tim Edgmon, Gene Collins, Melanie Hollmann, David Boutin and Chris Cole. Member absent: Mayor David R. Turner, ex-officio. Others present: City Staff: Norma Aguilar-Grimaldo, City Secretary; Natasha Brooks, City Attorney; Robert Carroll, Assistant City Attorney; Cindy Muncy, Interim Assistant City Manager; ODC Contractors: Craig Van Amburgh, CVA; Wesley Burnett, Economic Development; Tyler Patton, UTPB-SBDC; Bryan Bierwirth, UTPB-SBDC; Tracy Jones, Chamber of Commerce; Sandra Woodley, UTPB; and Others: Council members Peggy Dean, Tom Sprawls, Malcolm Hamilton, and Mari Willis and other interested citizens. A quorum being present, Mr. Edgmon called the meeting to order and the following proceedings were held: Mr. Collins gave the invocation. Presentation to Betsy Triplett-Hurt and Ted Tuminowski. Mayor Pro Tem Dean expressed appreciation to the out-going members for their service. A plaque was presented to Ted Tuminowski and Betsy Triplett-Hurt. Mrs. Triplett-Hurt thanked the Board members and staff for working with her. Mr. Tuminowski was thankful for the time served and challenged others to get involved. November 14, 2019 minutes. Motion was made by Mr. Collins and seconded by Ms. Hollmann to approve the minutes. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Appointment of Officers. Motion was made by Ms. Hollmann and seconded by Mr. Cole to appoint Tim Edgmon as President. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Motion was made by Mr. Edgmon and seconded by Ms. Hollmann to appoint David Boutin as Vice President. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Motion was made by Mr. Collins and seconded by Mr. Cole to appoint Melanie Hollmann as Secretary and Treasurer. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Contractors report: Economic Development: Odessa Chamber, CVA Advertising and Marketing, UTPB-America’s SBDC, MOTRAN, and City Administrative support. Mr. Burnett was waiting on incentive applications. There was an interest in the Odessa market. ODC Minutes January 9, 2020 Page 2 Mr. Van Amburgh reported on November’s advertising activity. The podcast, Spirit of Odessa news segment and the Investing at Home continued. There were television spots that ran on sports channels for business retention. A trade publication ad was placed in the Texas Real Estate Business magazine. Website updates were made. Mr. Patton reported on SBDC’s November and December’s activity. November’s capitalization was over $3 million and $3,265,000 for Odessa with 11 new businesses. December had $1 million in capitalization with two new businesses. There would be two seminars for January. He stated the numbers would exceed expected goals. He stated that clients were from 60% bank referrals and the 40% was from other clients or SBDCs. Mr. Collins asked that the reach be expanded. Mr. Bierwirth reported that the Business Challenge orientation was next week. Three orientations would be held on January 14, 15 and 16th. He invited the board to attend. Mrs. Muncy explained that the City was under a new conversion software program and would have financials at the next meeting. She handed out the ODC budget. She reported that the audit was underway. There was a decrease in sales tax for the first quarter. She reviewed October and November expenditures. The investment report reported $60.5 million for the end of November. Discuss UTPB Impact Study prepared by Ray Perryman. Dr. Woodley thanked the board for funding the Economic Impact Study. She highlighted areas of the study. She explained the study methodology that was used which was the US Multi-Regional Impact Assessment System. She reviewed the economic drivers that included expenditures, gross product, personal income and employment. Dr. Woodley provided the numbers for the economic drivers related to UTPB with operations, student and visitor spending; recent and ongoing construction projects; research activity; and employed graduates. Fiscal benefits of UTPB had $13.6 million for ongoing effects of operation and visitors. Areas for strategic planning were underway to increase the economic impact by UTPB. Areas included doubling number of graduates, double research enterprise, a 10-year capital plan for projects was in process. Capital projects included mixed-use space/housing/arena, tournament destination, housing and improve quality of life. There was also a Center for business and economic analysis and the workforce training center and Business Incubator for UTPB, Odessa College and Midland College. She thanked the board for its support. Mr. Edgmon stated a meeting would be held with Dr. Perryman and looked forward to continue the partnership with UTPB. Discuss economic development agreement auditing and payment process and amending economic development agreements to reflect potential changes. Ms. Brooks stated that the Legal Department was moving forward in standardizing the audits. Legal recommended that Weaver would handle the compliance and audit process with the grantees. Dan Graves, Weaver, was aware of the delays and would work directly to get the information from the grant recipients. The reports would be returned in a timely manner for payment to be made. Ms. Hollmann suggested that for the protection of City staff, the Compliance Committee should approve the audit if no findings and/or discrepancies were found. She did not think it was a good idea to leave the Compliance Committee out of the process. Mr. Cole agreed, as it was a level of transparency through the taxpayers. Mrs. Muncy stated that Weaver was an independent group and all contracts would go through Weaver. Weaver had direct contact with the grantee. Mr. Burnett wanted to be informed of the ODC Minutes January 9, 2020 Page 3 status of the audit in progress. Mr. Boutin suggested providing the Compliance Committee a report of the audit. This item will be discussed at the next meeting. Resolution No. ODC-2020R-01 - Odessa College third and fourth incentive payments based on compliance with the economic development agreement. Mr. Carroll stated the City completed its review of the documentation. Weaver reviewed the report and there were no discrepancies. He recommended that Odessa College receive its spring and fall 2019 payments. The spring payment was for $2,689,909.35 and the fall payment was $2,210,829.91. Mrs. Muncy stated that the spring 19 payment was not made due to the delay of receiving the invoice and all the documentation. Motion was made by Mr. Cole and seconded by Mr. Collins to approve the resolution. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Discuss potential nominees for Compliance Committee. Mr. Boutin recommended Phil Padilla, CFO and former banker to serve on the Compliance Committee. Mr. Cole recommended Blake Batte, President of OCC. Ms. Hollmann recommended Betsy Triplett-Hurt. Mr. Collins recommended Ted Tuminowski to serve on the Compliance Committee. There were four recommended names and only three positions available. The board would consider each name. Motion was made by Mr. Boutin and seconded by Ms. Hollmann to appoint Phil Padilla. Mr. Collins objected to the process of appointment. The board would vote through a ballot process. Discuss appointments to ODC Board Committees: Partnership, Tax Incentive, Advertising, and DOI Design. Motion was made by Mr. Collins and seconded by Mr. Cole that the following appointments be made: Partnership - Mr. Edgmon; Tax Incentive - Ms. Hollmann and Mr. Boutin; Advertising - Mr. Collins and Mr. Edgmon; and DOI Design - Mr. Cole and Mr. Collins. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Discuss potential nominees for Compliance Committee. A ballot was provided and the board members nominated three names. Mrs. Grimaldo reported that the following names had the most votes: Phil Padilla, Blake Batte, and Betsy Triplett-Hurt. Motion was made by Mr. Cole and seconded by Mr. Boutin to appoint Phil Padilla, Blake Batte, and Betsy Triplett-Hurt and reappoint Maribea Merritt and Daniel Harper to the Compliance Committee. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. ODC Committee and Officer Reports. Mr. Collins requested a workshop with the Council for priorities. Mr. Edgmon would reach out to the Council. Mr. Collins asked if there were going to be smoking receptacles in Downtown. Staff will research. Mr. Edgmon welcomed the new ODC members, as they would be a great addition to the board. The meeting adjourned at 3:17 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: Norma Aguilar-Grimaldo, TRMC, CMC Tim Edgmon City Secretary President