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McKinney Community Development Corporation
Regular Board Meeting
August 27, 2009
The McKinney Community Development Corporation (MCDC) met in regular session in the Dowdy conference room located at 321 N. Central Expressway, Suite 200, McKinney, Texas, at 8:00 A.M. on August 27, 2009.
Board members present were Chair Ray Eckenrode, Vice-chair Bill Campbell, Dr. Carrie Alfieri, Joe Maxey, T.J. Lane, Tracy Rath and council liaison Geralyn Kever. David Melton was absent. Staff present was Executive Director Mike Gibson and Administrative Assistant Connie Gibson. There were several guests present.
Mr. Eckenrode called the meeting to order at 8:00 A.M. He asked for discussion and action on the board minutes for July 30, 2009. There was no discussion. Bill Campbell made a motion to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by T.J. Lane. The motion was voted on and passed unanimously (6-0).
Jason Weeks brought the financial report. He reported that there is approximately 18.3 million dollars in cash. Sales tax receipts for July were $636,786. This is down approximately 6% from July, 2008. Sales tax receipts for August were $848,071. This is down just slightly (.8%) from August, 2008. The end of year projected sales tax revenues are $8.2 million.
Anna Folmsbee brought an update on the McKinney Vision television studio. The new studio is located in the old Cotton Mill. All the equipment has been moved in. Fifteen new shows have either been shot or are in the works. There are approximately 16,000 Time-Warner cable homes that have access to the broadcast, and 5,000 A T & T U-Verse homes. They will be able to monitor on-line viewing when the City website is finished with their updating.
Mike Gibson gave the Executive Directors report. He reported that the Dr Pepper StarCenter will be having their Grand Opening on September 19th. The MCDC budget will be presented to the City Council on September 15th and the budget will be adopted at that time. The MCDC meeting for September will be moved to the McKinney Performing Arts Center. Mr. Gibson stated that there are several organizations he has been meeting with. These groups may be bringing project funding requests in the near future.
Mr. Eckenrode announced that MCDC would hold a public hearing to discuss, consider and possibly act on an application submitted by North Collin County Habitat for Humanity requesting three hundred sixty-nine thousand dollars to build six houses for low income working families. Celeste Haiduk Faro, Executive Director, made a presentation to the board. She stated that the average price of a habitat home is sixty thousand dollars. Funds from the Texas Department of Housing will not be available until January, and the funds are very limited. Several home builders that have worked with Habitat in the past have been forced to leave the project due to the economy. Currently, there is one home builder working with Habitat. There are fourteen families qualified for a Habitat home at this time. Bill Campbell asked what the actual cost per house was. Ms. Faro stated that the cost is sixty thousand for the house, and ten thousand for the lot. There is not a shortage of labor to work on the houses. There is a large labor pool, but a lack of funds. Bill Campbell made a motion to close the public hearing. Tracy Rath seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (6-0). Mr. Eckenrode stated that the application would be discussed further in Executive Session.
Discussion and consideration of the 2009-2010 budget was the next item on the agenda. Mr. Gibson reviewed the proposed budget with the board. He stated that he recommended selling bonds for the aquatic center. The MPAC operating expenses will be reviewed by the Council committee. Mr. Gibson discussed the proposal to raise the Parks percentage in the budget to 35%. If the board chooses to adopt this change, he stated that the Parks department will receive less money. Mr. Gibson stated that he would like to maintain a cash reserve for emergency or other purposes, possibly four million dollars. Councilwoman Kever made the suggestion that the advertising and marketing done by MCDC, MEDC, MCVB, and the City could be consolidated. This would cut costs for all organizations. The board stated that each organization has a different audience they are attempting to target. Mr. Eckenrode made the suggestion to delay the budget items discussed until after the new board is in place. Bill Campbell made a motion to approve the budget with the condition that MCDC delay spending on the budget items discussed until after the new board members are in place. The motion was seconded by Joe Maxey. The motion was voted on and passed (5-1) with T.J. Lane opposing. Mr. Lane stated that he could not support the budget with the bonding included.
T.J. Lane brought the liaison report for Parks and Recreation. He reported the Parks master plan has been presented to council. A tour of area aquatic centers took place recently.
MEDC liaison report was given by Carrie Alfieri and Jim Young. There are several good projects in the works. Encore wire will be adding a Research and Development facility. This building will be LEED certified at the Gold level. Encore wire is the single largest user of copper in the United States. An Oklahoma printing company is looking to relocate to McKinney. MEDC is assisting a startup company that converts diesel engines to use cooking oil. The MEDC board will be increased from five members to seven, beginning in October. MEDC participated in the NTCAR Expo August 26th. The event was well attended, and the mood was upbeat.
Bill Campbell gave the Chamber of Commerce liaison report. He reported that a Chamber luncheon would be held that day (27th) beginning at 11:30. The Chamber has hired the new President. She will start on September 21st. The Chamber offices will be relocating to the Summit Building around October 1st. The space will be approximately 5,900 square feet.
Mr. Eckenrode called for a break at 9:23 A.M.
The meeting was reconvened at 9:31 A.M.
Mr. Eckenrode announced that the board would move into Executive Session at this time. He called the meeting into Executive Session at 9:32 A.M.
The meeting was called back into Open Session at 10:12 A.M.
Joe Maxey made the comment that the Habitat for Humanity request is a large amount of money per family. This is a large sum of money that affects so few people. Carrie Alfieri asked if there was any merit in buying lots. Geralyn Kever made the suggestion to fund sixty thousand for land purchase. Joe Maxey made a motion to table the request, and give Habitat for Humanity time to bring back a proposal for land purchase. Bill Campbell seconded the motion. Carrie Alfieri commented that she would prefer to deny the request. The motion was voted on and passed (5-1) with Dr. Alfieri opposing.
The Chairman asked if there were any citizen comments at this time. Bill Campbell stated that he notices people sitting on overturned Wal-Mart shopping carts at the CCART stop by his work. Would it be possible for MCDC to purchase benches for some CCART stops?
Mr. Eckenrode asked for a motion to adjourn. Bill Campbell made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Tracy Rath seconded the motion. The motion was voted on and passed unanimously (6-0). The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 A.M.
__________________________________________
RAY ECKENRODE - Chairman
Attest:
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Connie Gibson – Board Secretary
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