Odessa Development Corporation

ODESSA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MINUTES CITY OF ODESSA, TEXAS July 11, 2024 A regular meeting of the Odessa Development Corporation (ODC) was held on July 11, 2024, at 8:35 a.m. in the Council Chambers, 5th floor, City Hall, 411 W. 8th St. Odessa, Texas. Members present: David Boutin, Kris Crow, Tim Harry, Larry Robinson, James Kirk, and Jeff Russell. Members absent: Melanie Hollmann Others present: Dan Jones, City Attorney; Christina Buhnerkempe, Legal Assistant; John Beckmeyer, City Manager; Kaylie Banda, Director of Finance; Renee Earls, Odessa Chamber of Commerce; Tom Manskey, Office of Economic Development; Kathi Vaughn, Office of Economic Development; Lindsey Simpkins, Office of Economic Development; Chris Walker, Black Chamber of Commerce; and Others: and other interested citizens A quorum being present, Mr. Russell called the meeting to order, and the following proceedings were held: Mr. Harry gave the invocation. The Pledge of Allegiance and Texas Pledge were recited. Minutes of June 13, 2024, Mr. Boutin noted a change on page 3 of the minutes, the word redact should be changed to delete and on page 4, it says Orrex Plastics Company LLC qualifies for $2.2 million, it should state $2.1 million. Mr. Russell stated that it be clarified and added under the ODC Compliance Committee appointments that “Mr. Harry stated he would not withdraw his motion to appoint as the previous meeting the ODC Board had approved the motion by Mr. Boutin to approve a slate of reappointments of the Compliance Committee.´ Mr. Boutin stated to add his explanation that they don’t match up because they only had four reappointments not out of 11 or 12 applications. Motion was made by Mr. Boutin and seconded by Dr. Kirk to approve the minutes as amended. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Contractors’ reports: Economic Development Department, Current Media Partners, Black Chamber of Commerce, UTPB-America’s SBDC, MOTRAN, and City Administrative support: financials. Mr. Manskey reviewed the economic development activity report. Project Oasis went before the County Commissioners Court Tuesday, July 9th on the reinvestment zone vote. There will be a posting on the reinvestment zone and will go for a final vote at the first County Commissioners Court meeting in August. Project Oasis is a $200 million project ancillary to the 1PointFive project. They will get their own raw water and treat it. They will employee 25-30 FTE’s. ODC Minutes July 11, 2024 Page 2 The average salary for those employees will be $150,000. The current DAC for 1PointFive is over 90% complete and should be up and going in 2025. Project Molecule is another ancillary to 1PointFive and is an $80 million gas separation project. Project Molecule is Matheson Gas. Project Oasis and Project Molecule are projects 1PointFive had planned to do internally, part of their $810 million dollar proposal, however the project cost kept climbing so now they have reached out and have partners to help. Mr. Harry wanted to know if the ancillary projects are part of the $810 million 1PointFive investment? Mr. Manskey stated yes. Mr. Russell wanted to know how long before property tax revenues are seen out of these projects? Mr. Manskey responded that most of the abatement agreements are ten years. Mr. Manskey stated he has been working on the budget and will have a project list for the board at the next ODC meeting. Mr. Manskey is working on Project Cohort and handed out a draft agenda. This is for an event for a workforce project that will be called “Knowledge Without Borders”. This is to work with employers and citizens on proper pipelines to legally work. Working with LULAC, Odessa College, and PB Workforce Solutions to develop an Immigration Resource Center. The Governor’s Small Business Summit will be August 22nd. Additional event information will be provided at a later date. Mr. Russell wanted to know if there has been a response from Nacero in regard to refunding the grant money. Mr. Manskey stated that attorney Jeff Moore has sent a letter to Nacero. Mr. Russell requested a copy of the letter be emailed to the ODC Board. Mr. Walker presented the Black Chamber of Commerce report. The Black Chamber saw an increase of 3% in Instagram followers and 10% in Facebook activity. The boost was amplified by the promotion of the Juneteenth celebration, the Charitable Fund bowling tournament, and the First Friday event. The bowling tournament is to raise money for graduating seniors. The Woodson Boys & Girls club will have a ribbon cutting and grand opening on July 17th. Ten scholarships will be awarded to students through the Black Chamber of Commerce. The chamber partnered with the SBDC to help sponsor the “Marketing Plan” workshop. Ms. Banda reviewed the ODC May 2024 Financials. Local Government Pool balance is $70,445,937; CDs and CDARs $4,412,044; Municipal Securities $2,989,590, and Money Market $9,783,877. Total Assets $90,005,053. No changes in Fund Balance short term or long term reserved. There is still $7,000,000 in TXDOT assigned funds available, $11.5 million has been expended with $7 million left. Ms. Banda will identify which projects the $11.5 million expended are for. 4-A Sales Tax receipts for May totaled $1,314,716 and YTD $9,538,293 which is above budget. Total Revenues for the month totaled $1,710,805. Total Expenditures for May was $219,262. Ms. Banda reported no changes in the Reserve Fund Balance, no payments were issued. Mr. Russell asked when Nacero will be removed from the Reserved Fund Balance. Ms. Banda stated she is waiting on documentation that Nacero has been officially cancelled. Once she receives the documentation from the ODC attorney the $16,008,400 will adjust accordingly. Mr. Boutin had a question on the Expenditures regarding Insurance. Ms. Banda will investigate the Insurance item for clarification. Ms. Banda reviewed the Investment Summary pointing out the Changes in Fair Value and Interest for the CDs. The $16,496 collected in the month of May is $5,000 higher than what was reported in April because of the CD that matured at First Bank and Trust. It was renewed for 8 months at 5.22%, it was at little over 2%. Ms. Banda reviewed the Investments. The Beginning of the Month Local Government Pools were $70,944,900 and ended at $72,583,893. Money Market Investments $9,783.877 paying at 5.22%. Mr. Crow asked if there were any thoughts of moving part of the Money Market funds into TexPool accounts. Ms. Banda stated she will look into moving money but would like to check ODC Minutes July 11, 2024 Page 3 historical balances first. Mr. Crow suggested moving $5,000,000. Ms. Banda stated that next month they can look at options to purchase Municipal Securities. Sales Tax figures for the month of June, $1,198,870.92 received. ODC Committee and Officer reports: Partnership, Tax Incentive, Advertising, DOI Grants Design Review Board, and Compliance. Mr. Russell gave the Advertising report. Current Media has a good solid plan moving forward rolling out the new Only Odessa brand. ODC is getting some good editorial content/articles, placing ads in various places. Current Media will go over the Target Industry Survey in detail at the August 1st Budget meeting. The Target Industry Survey will help identify key areas to focus on. Mr. Robinson reported nothing is going on with the DOI Grants Design Review Board. He did receive positive feedback on the July 4th event from vendors who attended. Mr. Manskey reported a New Member Orientation was held for the newly appointed ODC Compliance Committee members. Three out of four of the new members were in attendance. Citizens’ Comments on non-agenda items. No comments. Discuss and consider authorizing ODC to enter into an Economic Development Agreement with Rental King LLC for the development of a new location in Odessa (Resolution). Mr. Manskey stated the ODC Board did approve a grant of $210,000 last month. Rental King LLC is proposing a new location in Odessa. They have already bought property across the interstate from the Family Dollar Distribution Center. They had requested the specific amount of $210,000 to help with an SBA loan. Chris Vore was made aware that they qualified for more grant money. They have changed the grant request in their application to $636,000, that is $900 less than what they qualified for. The Compliance Committee reviewed and approved the application. Mr. Crow asked if there was an increase in FTEs or an increase in capital investment. Mr. Manskey stated Mr. Vore made him aware that they did not utilize their personal purchases for equipment. The increase is based on what the matrix showed he qualified for the first time. Mr. Russell stated he was concerned about having a deal in place. Rental King was happy, and nothing has changed as far as the project goes. Mr. Crow stated ODC is not in the business of just giving away money and ODC is not a philanthropic organization. Mr. Crow stated that he did not care for the new agreement and stated he was for sticking with the original agreement. Mr. Harry wanted to know the proper procedures for counseling prospects, did we fail in that? Mr. Manskey stated the prospect is counselled on the application and the process. Mr. Manskey stated he asked Mr. Vore what the $210,000 request represented, and he stated they had applied for an SBA Loan. The second request came about because he was made aware that the matrix showed a higher dollar level he could have qualified for. Mr. Boutin recommended revisiting with the Compliance Committee that the matrix information is kept confidential. Mr. Harry stated when he was serving on the ODC Compliance Committee he was made aware of the confidentiality of information. Mr. Boutin stated it could be that the grantee in the open ODC meeting was made aware they qualified for more money when the report was being presented. Mr. Russell stated he prefers that in the open session ODC meeting to not state they qualify for more grant money. ODC Minutes July 11, 2024 Page 4 After much discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Russell with a second by Mr. Robinson to decline the additional grant request from Rental King LLC. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Mr. Boutin wanted to convey to Rental King LLC the reason it was declined was because nothing changed in the application. Resolution No. ODC-2024R-13 – Discuss and consider Compliance Monitoring Report for Select Energy Services, LLC (Resolution) Mr. Manskey stated that the Compliance Committee reviewed and found Select Energy to be in compliance with regard to number of jobs, but out of compliance with regard to payroll for the 2022 reporting period and is recommending a seventy-five percent (75%) payment in the amount of $13,780.65. Select has previously been paid $69,821.92 under the Agreement. The payment of $13,780.65 will bring the total paid under the Agreement to $83,602.61. A motion was made by Dr. Kirk with a second by Mr. Russell to approve a seventy-five percent (75%) payment in the amount of $13,780.65. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. Closed Session the board may recess into Executive Session in compliance with section 551.001 et. Seq. Texas Government Code in accordance with: a. Section 551.071. Consultation with Attorney b. Section 551.072. Deliberation regarding real property: the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property, c. Section 551.087. Deliberation regarding Economic Development negotiations. No action. Reconvene into Regular Session and take any necessary action as a result of the closed session. No action. Citizens comments on non-agenda items. No comment. Upcoming dates for future ODC Board meetings. Mr. Crow stated the next ODC Board meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, August 8, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. A Special ODC Meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, August 1, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. to review / discuss proposed 2024-2025 General Development Plan, Contractor Proposal’s and Budget. Prepare to meet most of the morning. Motion was made by Dr. Kirk and seconded by Mr. Russell to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. The meeting was adjourned at 9:53 a.m. ODC Minutes July 11, 2024 Page 5 PREPARED BY: APPROVED: Kathi Vaughn Jeff Russell Economic Development Specialist Vice President ATTEST: Norma Aguilar, TRMC, CMC City Secretary