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03-06-1986 ~... u '-J CITY OF EDGEWATER INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT BOARD REGULAR MEETING MARCH 6, 1986 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES Chairman Doris Massey called to order a regular meeting of the Industrial Development Board at 7:00 P.M., March 6, 1986 in the Community Center. KOLL CALL Members present were Ralph Racca, Clarence Gnau, John Vazquez, Darwin Schneider and Doris Massey. Also present was Jan Morris, Secretary. Member Caryl Middleton was excused and Member Edward Siconolfi as absent. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of February 6, 1986 were presented for approval. Mr. Gnau made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Motion was seconded by Mr. Racca. Motion CARRIED 5-0. OLD BUSINESS INDUSTRIAL APPRECIATION FAIR Mrs. Massey reported on the Industrial Appreciation Fair. She said a letter had been sent to Council asking that $600.00 be allocated for the fair. She also said the Board had a copy of a letter from Lt. Governor Wayne Mixson regarding the Industrial Appreciation Week to be held September 15 through 19. She stated that someone had inquired about a budget for the Industrial Board at the last meeting. and they had a copy of a letter where the Board had requested a budget of $1,300.00. She added she had not received an answer of approval but since it was marked she assumed they had approved a budget for the Industrial Board. She said the $600.00 requested for the Industrial Fair would be a part of the $1,300.00 budget. Mrs. Massey stated we need to set a date for the Appreciation Fair. She said there were two weekends when it could be scheduled. She also said she had mentioned to J. Roland Smith of New Smyrna that we would like to have our fair on a different weekend than New Smyrna so that people could tour both cities. She added we would have the opportunity to invite the people of New Smyrna. Mrs. Massey stated we do need to reserve the community center immediately. Mr. Vazquez asked if she was talking about the weekends of September 13th and 20th to which Mrs. Massey replied, "yes". Mr. Schneider said he perferred the second of the two because you gain from the exposure and don't really lose much of the new. Mr. Vazquez agreed and said if we provided New Smyrna with a sign or pamph~t to let the people know that the following week Edgewater will be doing the same thing. The Board agreed that they preferred the second Saturday but that it would depend on what New Smyrna does since we are using their transportation system. Mrs. Massey said they would have to plan for the displays in the building and letters need to be sent to the industries asking what they wish to participate in, either the displays, tours or nothing. The Board discussed sending out a letter to the industries and if they do not reply follow:: it up with a postcard as a reminder. Mrs. Massey told the Board if we are going to have tours we will need to make arrangements for the buses as soon as we have a date and plan the tour route. Mrs. Massey stated this year we might consider having coffee and doughnuts in the morning and as the day progresses to have sandwiches or something for the people who are here and the Board. Mrs. Massey said another part of the fair is the reception and the invitations should be sent to those who would be expected to attend. It is one of those things that would be attended by the people participating in the fair, the Council and Mayor. ; ~ u ~ Advertisment on the back of the utility bills was discussed. Mrs. Massey said certificates of appreciation should be ordered and ready for the people who participate. She acided if they are not on the tour or have a display, they should still be acknowledged just for being a part of the community. Mrs. Massey said other things that need to be arranged are the industrial speaker, printing of the program and you might want to have a breakfast or luncheon. She added you might want to consider Mike Bobroff with the Department of Commerce or Lt. Governor Wayne Mixson as the industrial speaker. The Board discussed getting more information than they had last year on the places they would be touring. Mrs. Massey said the forms will be coming out soon for the nomination of the industry in our area, therefore we need to be considering who we would like to nominate. She added we were very proud last year to have someone from Edgewater nominated in the top ten. Mr. Schneider said the revitalization of the truss plant is going to be a boom to the local economy. A company started from scratch two years ago and now they run eighteen hours a day in a larger restored facility. Mr. Schneider added I think they would be an excellent choice for the nomination. Mrs. Massey said some of things that are to be considered are the number of employees, participation in community activities and things like that. She added we need to take those type of things in consideration and be thinking about who we would like to nominate. The question was brought up about some places of businesses being closed on Saturday afternoons, for example like Tropical Blossom. The Board discussed this and thought if they talked to the owners they would be happy to stay open for another hour or so for the tour. The Board discussed going out of the City limits during the tour. Mr. Schneider suggested we have the prestress plant on the tour. He added the prestress plant employs sixty some people and two years ago they were not operating. Mrs. Massey suggested including Watercraft on the tour. NEW BUSINESS AMENDMENTS TO RESOLUTION 79-5-39 - - Mrs. Massey said we have amendments to Resolution 79-5-39 (approved 4-2-79) She said under membership it says the Board shall consists of not more than ten members who shall be appointed by the City Council, to be eligible for appointmerra member should be a resident of the City of Edgewater. She added there are two things we want to consider under membership. One would be the number of members, we presently have changed that to seven since there was not a need for ten. Mr. Racca asked if they wanted a specific number of members? The Board discussed the number of members that should be on the Board and decided seven had been working fine. Mrs. Massey said it would be my understanding that you are saying that under membership the Board shall consist of seven members who shall be appointed by the City Council. She asked is that correct, do I have a motion to that effect? Mr. Gnau said why don't you get it all done and do it all at once? Mrs. Massey said okay. The next item would be "to be eligible for appointment a member should be a resident of the City of Edgewater." She added when we brought this before the Attorney, he said should means the same as shall. Mr. Gnau said it doesn't mean the same to me and Mr. Racca said it doesn't mean the same as must be. Mr. Vazquez stated if you read underneath there it tells you he will be removed if he moves outside the City. Mrs. Massey said we can't change it but we can make a recommendation to the Council. Sometimes we do have people who are engaged in business in the City who do not reside here. -2- Industrial Development Board Minutes March 6, 1986 ~ u ~ Mr. Schneider said we are basically a rural community here. If your mailing address is Edgewater but is not in the City limits, are you are resident of Edgewater? He added I thL~k the issue is like the essence of the law but not the letter of the law. If a guy moves to North Carolina he has no vested interest in the City and we have no use for him on our Board. Mrs. Massey said what we are taking into consideration is we have a lot of people who work in the City, have businesses in the City and they may not necessarily reside within the City but they do have an interest in the City and are employed here. You have business here, you have land here at the present time, then should you be removed from the Board. The Attorney says that the should is a past tense of shall then we want to clear this up. What we want to do now is clarify it and say that they do not have to be a resident. Mr. Schneider said I think it should be clarified to say that a member of the Board should have a vested interest. Then we can have the Attorney to word it so that it gets the meaning across that he should either (a) be employed in the City, (b) operate a business in the City, (c) own property in the City, (d) be valuable in some way, shape or form. An interest for the betterment of the City and I would say that is for the Attorney to word. Mrs. Massey said let's have a motion for a recommendation to the Council. We will make a recommendation to them so that they can consider it for changing this. Mr. Schneider said let me make a motion we have the wording to indicate that a prospective Board member needs to have a vested interest in the City, be it property ownership, business ownership, employment or resident. Mrs. Massey asked would you like your motion to include the rest of that paragraph? Mr. Schneider added to his motion "should he fail to qualify for at least one of the above categories that his membership on the Board automatically come up for review before the Council. Mr. Gnau seconded the motion. Mr. Schneider clarified his motion for Mr. Racca. Mrs. Massey called for a vote on the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. Mr. Gnau made a motion that the Board shall consist of not more than seven members and a quorum shall consist of four. Mrs. Massey said she would like to handle a quorum separtely. Mr. Gnau agreed. Mr.Schneider seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. Mrs. Massey said on the notes it says a quorum shall be a majority of the entire membership. She added that is the Attorney General's opinion. Mr. Schneider said he thought the nUlnber four fit that statement. Mr. Gnau said if there is only three of them then two would be a quorum. Mr. Vazquez said you would still be able to function for a month of two even though a replacement had not been appointed if it reads a majority of the membership. Mr. Racca said the possibility always exist that you may show up at a meeting without a quorum that is why you specify before you can act on anything officially you must have a quorum. He added we decided a quorum is four not based on seven regardless of whether somebody is absent or drops out. Mr. Schneider said he didn't think we want to put any of the Board members in the position where they would be sharing more than twenty five percent of the blame~. He added I think that four is the magic number and we have not conflicted with the Attorney General's opinion that a quorum consist of a majority of the membership. Mr. Gnau made a motion to amend resolution 79-5-39 to read a quorum shall consist of four. Motion seconded by Mr. Schneider. Motion CARRIED 5-0. EXPIRATION OF BOARD MEMBERS TERMS AND REVIEW OF ABPLICANTS Mrs. Massey said April 8 was the termination of term for John Vazquez and herself. She asked Mr. Vazquez if he wanted to continue with his resignation or continue to serve on the Board? Mr. Vazquez stated he could not serve another term. -3- Industrial Development Board Minutes March 6, 1986 .--- u u Mrs. Massey said they had for review lette~of application to serve on the Board. Mrs. Massey said they did not have to act on the applications at this time since the term of service does not expire until after the April meeting. The Board discussed having a special meeting to interview the applicants. Mrs. Massey stated that we want people who can best promote industry with compatibility with the remaining members of the Board. Mr. Gnau said we want to see the City grow and people who will see it objectively as the rest of us. Mr. Schneider said I would like to make a motion that they be subjected to an interview from the existing Board prior to their recommendation. Mr. Vazquez said I would make a motion that we schedule the interviews and try to do it at a special meeting before the next meeting so that perhaps we can come to an agreement at our next scheduled meeting at the time that we are stepping down and hope that the Council might be ready to make a decision. Mr. Schneider withdrew his motion. He also suggested that we set up a meeting and interview no more than four people in one meeting. The Board discussed the time to have a special meeting and agreed it should be before the next regular meeting. The decided the meeting should be held March 25, 1986 at 7:00 P.M.. Mr. Schneider made a motion that we have a special meeting March 25, 1986 at 7:00 P.M. to interview the first three applicants and direct the Secretary to send them letters asking them to reply to City Hall for interview time. Mr. Racca seconded the motion. Motion CARRIED 5-0. The Board decided the interviews should be scheduled twenty minutes apart. There being no further business to come before the Board Mr. Racca made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8:20 P.M. Minutes respectively submitted by: Jan Morris -4- Industrial Development Board Minutes March 6, 1986