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08-04-1999 (3 ■zk CITY OF EDGEWATER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD • REGULAR MEETING August 4, 1999 8:00 a.m. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Thomas Alcorn called to order a regular meeting of the Economic Development Board at 8:03 a.m., Wednesday, August 4, 1999, in the Community Center. ROLL CALL: Members present were Chairman Thomas Alcorn, Adelaide Carter, Nora Aly (arrived at 8:04 a.m.), Edward Keenan, Michael Wilson, and Roland Bazin. Also present were Planning Director Lynne Plaskett, Bert Fish Medical Center representative Arvin Lewis, and Board Coordinator Liz McBride. Donald Gillispe was excused, John Browning and Nancy Ridner were recorded absent. INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEMBER: Mr. Keenan, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Bazin introduced themselves. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes for July 7, 1999, were presented to the Board for approval. There being no corrections or changes, Ms. Carter moved to approve the minutes as presented, second by Mr. Wilson. Motion CARRIED 6 -0. AGENCY AND CITY REPORTS: 1. Volusia County Business Development Corporation (VCBDC) - Jerry Fox was unable to attend. Chairman Alcorn mentioned the number of business expansions, the number of jobs created and the total new dollar investments in Southeast Volusia County for 1998 and 1999. 2. Port Authority - Joe Young was not present, but Chairman Alcorn said Mr. Young was working on getting the "Lionfish" (the abandoned vessel) removed from the intracoastal waterway. 3. Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) - No representative was present. Chairman Alcorn said as a result of the last EDB meeting, Frankie Robert from ACA was making a proposal to her board to have a symposium dealing with how the arts can work with industry. He said the symposium would be at least national if not international in nature, and be held around the second week in December 2000. He said it would probably be limited to 100 people. Economic Development Board August 4, 1999 - Minutes ` Page -2- Agency and City Reports: 4. Bert Fish Medical Center - Arvin Lewis reported that ground was broken for the Florida Health Care (FHC) facility in Edgewater near the New Smyrna Beach line. He said it would house three to five primary health physicians and possibly some out - patience services. Mr. Lewis said FHC was looking to consolidate all of their operations into one building. He said Bert Fish currently offered services at locations on Indian River Boulevard and US 1, and was also in the process of consolidating those under one roof. Mr. Lewis said Bert Fish would be renting space adjacent to the YMCA in Riverside Plaza, and would like to take a more active role in economic development. He said they (Bert Fish) was particularly interested in the Edgewater market from the stand point of trying to determine exactly what services (hospital and physician) are going to be needed in the future. Ms. Aly asked if there was anything the EDB could do to help. Mr. Lewis said they would be looking for direction as to where the City felt the population was going to be and where the main access was going to be. He asked if the widening of Indian River Boulevard was going to change traffic flow. Mr. Lewis said the hospital definitely wanted to be in the right place before they started to spend dollars. Ms. Plaskett offered to help Mr. Lewis and suggested he meet with her. 6. City of Edgewater - Ms. Plaskett informed the Board that most of the building in Edgewater had been predominately residential. She said although commercial building had not been substantial, there had been a steady flow of commercial type development, mainly on US 1, with a great interest in medical facilities. 5. Daytona Beach Community College (DBCC) South Campus - Chairman Alcorn asked Planning Director Lynne Plaskett to elaborate on DBCC's tie -in with the FIND project. Ms. Plaskett displayed a lay -out of the FIND project, and indicated where the spoiled site (Phase I), industrial park area (Phase II), and DBCC were located. She said the City Council had approved the master plan for Phase I & II, and the contract Part B, which is to do all the design for infrastructure and improvements for Phase I, including the extension of Mango Tree Drive. She said DBCC is proposing to expand 35 acres into Phase II for marine related technical schooling to accommodate marine related activities in Southeast Volusia. Ms. Carter asked about the railroad crossing to access the site. Ms. Plaskett said FEC had given the permit for the crossing at Mango Tree Drive with provisions. CONTINUED BUSINESS: 1. F.I.N.D. Update - Covered previously. 2. Analyses of EDB Web -Site - Chairman Alcorn said Rusty Crawford, who was running the site for the EDB, asked him to see how many "hits" the site had received. He felt the linkage to the site (edgewaterfl.com) from other economic development agency addresses were important. Economic Development Board August 4, 1999 - Minutes ' Page -3- Continued Business: 3. Radio Station Update - Chairman Alcorn said the equipment was not in place, but the station should be up and running by the first of September. 4. Need for Full Time Economic Development Manager - Chairman Alcorn felt there was much that could be done to bring industry to Edgewater if there were someone to devote more than just part time. Because of the activities currently going on in the area and the people he had talked to, Chairman Alcorn said he could make a full time job out of nothing but economic development for the City of Edgewater. He felt someone needed to be here (City of Edgewater) to coordinate efforts and work with the City to attract that economic base. The Chairman referred to information obtained from the Internet which indicated 83.5 percent of the property value in Edgewater was residential. Ms. Plaskett informed the Board that Florida Shores was the second largest subdivision in Volusia County, and the current City Council was highly in favor of making the economic base more industrial than residential so homeowners wouldn't have to carry the burden of high taxes. (The Chairman touched on the County Council meeting to discuss impact fees on new development.) Chairman Alcorn thought the total costs for an economic development manager would be approximately $75- $85,000, which would include the manager's salary, support services, office space, and technology equipment. He asked for the Board's thoughts, and said this could be the EDB's recommendation to City Council. Mr. Bazin asked how this would relate to how New Smyrna Beach does it with their relationship with the Chamber of Commerce doing some of their ground work. The Chairman said the Southeast Volusia Chamber serves as the economic development board for the City of New Smyrna Beach, but it wasn't a full time job for them. He said he met with the city manager and had showed him a satchel loaded with studies on everything which included studies on marine industry, golf courses, nursing homes, FIND, etc. He said if there were no one to carry it further than just a study, nothing happens, and that is why a full time manager is needed. Ms. Aly said the EDB needed some frame work, such as a job description, what is expected of that person and what are the qualifications we are seeking. Ms. Carter felt the Board should vote if they wanted to pursue Edgewater having a separate person, if so, develop the qualifications, requirements, and salary. Chairman Alcorn asked the Board, do we really need or want a full time economic development manager, or do we want to table this to think about. Mr. Bazin asked if such a thing was going on in any of the cities in Volusia County. Ms Plaskett said some cities hire consultants, and believed New Smyrna Beach had contracted with previous Edgewater City Manager Kevin Grace. The Chairman asked the Board to think about how to approach this, and the subject would be discussed at the next meeting. Chairman Alcorn said he would be taking to City Council the Board's recommendations from the July 7, 1999, meeting regarding annexation, establishing an Emergency Identification System and looking into tax increment financing (TIF). The Chairman and Ms. Plaskett explained TIF to Ms. Aly. Nov Economic Development Board August 4, 1999 - Minutes Page -4- ' NEW BUSINESS: 1. Budget for Coming Year (continued from July 7, 1999) - Chairman Alcorn reviewed the history of previous years budgets. He said he did not see any big projects the Board would be working on in the fiscal year 1999 -00. Chairman Alcorn recommended that the EDB ask the City Council for the same budget for the coming year ($2, 750). Mr. Bazin so moved, second by Ms. Carter. Motion CARRIED 6 -0. 2. Review By -Laws (continued from July 7, 1999) - Chairman Alcorn said the by -laws were reviewed and some changes were made when the Board was having attendance problems. He asked the Board to review the by -laws for possible changes and they would discuss this at the next meeting. Chairman Alcorn said according to the by -laws, if a member has three unexcused absences, they forfeit their seat. Ms. McBride was asked who had three unexcused absences. One member was identified and the Chairman asked Ms. McBride to send a letter to that person notifying them of their termination as a EDB member. He asked the Board if they had anyone interested in filling the vacancy, to please have them fill out an application. CHAIRMAN AND BOARD MEMBERS REPORTS: Ms. Aly said Doris Massey had gotten back with her regarding the Industrial Appreciation Week and said New Smyrna would not be participating. She said if Edgewater wanted to continue to plan something, she said maybe the City could honor someone with a luncheon. Ms. Aly said she wanted to know if the Board wanted to do this, and keep the initial date of September 23, 1999. Chairman Alcorn thought it was a good idea. Mr. Keenan said he would work with Ms. Aly on the planning. The Board discussed who to honor. Ms. Plaskett said she would forward a list of businesses for the Board to choose from. Ms. Carter said she visited the City's parks with the Recreation and Cultural Services Board. She said the tour was to give everyone an idea what was available and what was needed. She said the Board was still working on various projects to continue to beautify and make people more aware of the historical buildings within the community. Mr. Keenan presented three (3) copies of "Forbes" magazine and said there were a million business names in them. He said a "shotgun approach" of sending letters apprising them of what the area has to offer could be done. Chairman Alcorn said we still have the problem of where to put them. Mr. Keenan mentioned listing empty buildings or store fronts so we would know what we had to offer. The Chairman said VCBDC had a list of available industrial buildings and how much space was available, but not the small buildings. h... Nay Economic Development Board • August 4, 1999 - Minutes • Page -5- Chairman and Board Members Reports: Ms. Aly recommended listing some of Edgewater's attributes on the web -site and information on the FIND project, and then being able to e -mail it to the companies. Mr. Keenan felt the Board needed to try different ways to bring in businesses. Mr. Lewis suggested linking the EDB with Bert Fish's wed -site, which he said was very active. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Board, a motion was made and approved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:13 a.m. Minutes respectfully submitted by: Elizabeth J. McBride, Board Coordinator Economic Development Board c: \edb\minutes \080499.reg