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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEDA 2010-02-11 MinutesCity of North Richland Hills Economic Development Advisory Committee City of North Richland Hills Council Workroom Thursday, February 11, 2010 MINUTES Board Members Present: Mr. Jim Makens, The Makens Company Mr. Randy Moresi, North Hills Hospital Mr. John Hunter, HealthMarkets Mr. Thomas Hervey, Allen Samuels Dodge Hyundai Ms. Janet Golightly, Golightly's Gallery Mr. Dan Quinto, Roaring Brook Development Board Members Absent: Mr. Mike Rigby, Liberty Bank Mr. Kevin Sutherland, Home Depot Mr. Mark Sanders, Bates Container Ms. Cindy Brewington, Edward Jones Staff Present: Mr. Mark Hindman, City Manager, City of NRH Mr. Jared Miller, Assistant City Manager, City of NRH Mr. Elizabeth Reining, Assistant to the City Manager, City of NRH Mr. Craig Hulse, Economic Development Director, City of NRH Ms. Kristin Weegar, Marketing and Research Coordinator, City of NRH Ms. Phyl Baloga, Administrative Secretary, City of NRH Mr. Makens, President of the Economic Development Advisory Committee called the meeting to order at 11:55 a.m. Previous minutes were approved unanimously at which point President Makens turned the meeting over to Mr. Hulse. Mr. Hulse welcomed the group and introduced the City's new City Manager, Mr. Mark Hindman. Mr. Hindman mentioned his appreciation for this committee and spoke briefly. Mr. Hulse then proceeded to welcome back from Iraq Assistant Manager Jared Miller. Mr. Miller also addressed the committee briefly. After the welcome and introductions, Mr. Hulse turned the first portion of the EDAC meeting over to Elizabeth Reining to discuss the upcoming 2010 Census. Information on the UDcomina 2010 Census Ms. Reining stressed the importance of everyone taking the time to fill out the 2010 Census forms. Forms will be sent out in mid March and due back by April 1st. The current census form will be the shortest census form in it's history with only 10 questions. Due to the simplicity of this form and the tremendous monetary result to our City everyone is encouraged to return their census and encourage family, friends and employees to do the same. Upcomina Plans and Proarams Shop NRH o Shop NRH is a new program where the City of North Richland Hills is partnering with a new company called SKEDS, formerly known as Funimation. SKEDS is offering the City free online scheduling to get businesses to sign up and also to promote citizens to Shop NRH. o The program will be advertised and promoted through our quarterly newsletters, on the NRH website, Citicable, News and Notes in water bills and the SKEDS website. 71.3% of our citizens have visited this website Shop NRH provides businesses easy access to sign up. It's a great way for a business to market their services and provide discounts and coupons. o The new program will be launched after March 8th. Economic Development Strateaic Plan The Economic Development Strategic Plan will be done in -house and will be facilitated by stakeholders in NRH, specifically the Economic Development Advisory Board. A retreat is being considered to solicit feedback. The Economic Development Strategic Plan has not been updated since 2003 and is overdue. The Buxton Group The City has commissioned the Buxton Company to complete a comprehensive community ID Study. The City has identified five retail hubs that the Buxton Group will target. Those areas are: West Loop 820, Calloway Creek Commercial Area, 121/183 Gateway, HomeTown/ Smithfield, and the North Tarrant Parkway area. These five areas cover over 85% of the retail within the City. The study will provide the City of North Richland Hills up to 20 retailers suited for our community, profile citizens dining and shopping habits, provide information to retailers that ultimately make location decisions and zero in on our five main retail hubs. The information received can be given to retailer contacts and /or brokers, however, the City will use discretion as to who should have these reports. Business & Proiect Update Transportation Proiect Updates: North Tarrant Express. Rufe Snow Drive and North Tarrant Parkwav North Tarrant Express The North Tarrant Express project is still on schedule to start in the fourth quarter of 2010. It is believed this project will start where NTE has the most cleared right -of -way which would be along the Haltom City /NRH border. City staff will be a part of three committees. Those committees are; Aesthetic, Transportation and Utility Coordination. The Aesthetic Committee will be concerned with colors, symbols, stars. The Aesthetic Committee does not have a large budget but this is an important committee. The Transportation Committee will have the bulk of the work when construction is in progress. This committee will be in the know regarding lane closures, open lanes and length of time lanes are available. This information will be made available daily which should prove to be highly valuable during a difficult time. Bluebonnet Construction company, the contractor, will be required to adhere to a lane closure schedule and if they exceed lane closures per this schedulethen a steep penalty per hour will incur. There is additional space for temporary lanes to the right on either side of the freeway so that the maximum number of lanes will be open during peak traffic times. There will be five lanes of traffic each direction. Substantial completion is scheduled for 2015. North Tarrant Express is a private company and will be receiving the funds for the toll roads. Rufe Snow Drive Rufe Snow is considered the second most congested in Texas and 11 in the nation. The good news is that the bridge is done. This is a NRH/Watauga project and will extend from Mid Cities Boulevard to Ridgetop Road which is approximately 1.25 miles. The increase from a 5- lane undivided roadway to a 7 -lane undivided roadway will alleviate some of the congestion, improve turning movements, prepare for future volumes and improve existing pavement. Acquisition of the right -of -way should be complete by the fourth quarter of 2010 with construction beginning the fourth quarter of 2011 and completed the first quarter of 2013. The funding of this project was budgeted for and is allocated under a CIP or Capital Improvement Project with the City of Watauga. Funds have been already allocated. North Tarrant Parkwav The extension of North Tarrant Parkway will begin at Davis Boulevard and end at Whitley Road in Keller approximately 3 Y2 miles. It will end just before 377. It is currently a two lane divided roadway and will expand to a six lane divided roadway. This will help alleviate congestion, volume and safety. This project is cosponsored by North Richland Hills, Keller and the County. The extension was started in March 2010 and will be completed by October 2011. Lacy Construction has been awarded the contract. There is a small glitch between Cat Mountain Trail and Meadow Park which is residential and there is an agreement with the residents that the mile stretch of road will be striped for a 4 -lane but be constructed as a 6 -lane. The City of Keller and the City of NRH have satisfied the set backs and the residents concerns have been satisfied. NRH Recreation Center The new recreation center will be located in HomeTown. Just recently the City firmed up the specific placement of the recreation center. The center will have connectivity with the library, Walker Creek elementary and a future performing arts center. The square footage will be approximately 85,000 sf with a cost of $21 million. The center will include a gymnasium, indoor pool, fitness center, track, banquet hall, multi purpose room, senior facility and a roof top terrace. The architect selected is Brinkley Sargaent and will begin in the fourth quarter of this year and be completed in the first quarter of 2012. Burn Construction has been issued the bid for construction. Callowav Creek Commercial Area In 2009 Michael Kest did settle with Burk Collins. The City partnered with Michael Kest and the pedestrian bridge is now complete. This property is zoned commercially and the City will be working with Buxton as to what type of brands would work on this are. The City and Kest have also been working on a strategy to make the land more aesthetically pleasing. The completion of the hike and bike trail will be completed in the fall of 2010 and the pedestrian bridge is a large part of the trail. Prestige Ameritech Over a three week period in 2009, the Star - Telegram and CNN Health both published articles about the urgency for masks in time for the swine flu epidemic. Prestige Ameritech quickly became the largest domestic manufacturer of masks in the US. Because of their fast growth they required much for space and they purchased the old Kimberly Clark building with 225,000 sf. They have committed to the City 500 jobs by 2015 but they believe it will be more like 1,000. Governor Perry is going to attend their ribbon cutting on March 29 They started their company in 2006 with 10 employees and in January of 2010 were at 250 employees. Jim Makens adjourned the meeting at 1:15 p.m. 9