Okay. 6:03 we'll call the economic development corporation regular meeting for tuesday, May 19th,
2026 to order. We'll start with roll call. Mike thompson.
present. Sesame morrison. Present. Joshua harrell. Present. Albert lott. Present. James miller. Present.
deshawyna walker not here. And then allen. Present.
let me make sure I get that right. Thank you. Our invocation. Heavenly father, we thank you for the the responsibility and the privilege of serving Princeton community as a as we gather for this meeting,
grant us the wisdom to make thoughtful decisions to consider every perspective fairly and Humbly serve others in
our community. May our efforts encourage responsibility, Growth, strengthen our community,
and promote opportunities that benefit future generations. Guide us to lead with integrity and mutual respect of in all that we do.
amen. Pledge of allegiance.
and we'll move to public appearance. Members of the public are allowed five minutes to Speak.
the economic development corporation is unable to respond or to discuss any of the issues That are brought up during this section that are not on the agenda,
other than to make statements of specific factual information in response to public Inquiry,
or to recite existing policy in response to any inquiry.
and we do not have anyone, so we'll move to the public report items.
next regular meeting is june 16th, 2026 at 6 p.m..
next regular pcdc meeting is june 17th, 2026 at 6 p.m..
next city council meeting is may 26th, 2026 and june 8th, 2026.
staff report items. Our financial report and tax update will be presented by allison.
correct. Yes. Yes. I'm here. Chris is going to help me pull up the balance sheet detail For us.
oh, there we go. Okay. So I had our kelly wilson our finance ceo help
with some of the encumbrances and cash position. So we went through that just so that we would have those totals right now for fund 7.
so as you see, I have the assets in the liability and even the equity.
and this is similar to what you all see each month. However you scroll down just a tad bit. Chris.
I do have highlighted or kelly does the cash position.
so the cash in the bank and then you see the 1.0 $5,000,000.
99 vision that's over a lifetime. So it will be paid off in 2029 pay to us.
so it's not 1 million in the bank today. So I just wanted to make sure we're showing the Cash position and then our commitments over time.
so we have project 41 and project queen. So those are encumbered because those are Projects that we approved for cash grants.
so the total encumbered commitments are 1.3 million.
so our total net equity 10 million. It's very strong.
we got a lot of cash. And I have a lot of ideas how to spend it. If you spent time with me you know that so I can help you with that problem.
but the total equity and current surplus is 12.5.
and so we did the 12.5 minus the ten to show the variance of 2.4.
and if you have any questions. Basically I'm saying last year we did a deal for 2 large Big box.
so those are the encumbrances. And so those actually come out when those deals make.
but for now we still have to encumber the funds. We encumber the 500,000 and the 800,000. So there's a fence around it.
it's restricted. And I can move to the next detail unless you have questions on this one.
just one curiosity question. Are we at a point since it's been in the paper that we can Say what those projects actually are,
or should we keep them as a project like that? When we're discussing it in here, we have a public standpoint.
I would ask I'll ask the companies, but we've signed the agreements and those agreements Are public.
it was it was in the paper. That's why I asked. Yeah. It's no secret. It's home depot and kroger and it's all over social media.
yeah. But again, that is an open meetings. That is that's not privileged information Anymore.
it was for a time. So it's just part of the princeton town center. Just a thought. Okay. Thanks. Okay. And then the next one.
chris. Okey dokey. So this is
similar to what you all see as well each time. So I just kept the similarity for fund 7 with the revenue and the expenses.
so this is the account summary. And this talks about some of the revenue that we get in The door.
the, the obvious one is a sales tax revenue. We also have a little interest revenue from a Land deal we did years ago.
and then we just have interest revenue from our fund balance.
and then the sale of the land that was the princeton business park with the first medical Office building.
so that's that line detail. And then of course, The expenses and and all the fun things that you all see each month.
so I don't have too many things to show there, But I do have some more things with the sales tax report.
and I do have a new sale. I have a secondary sales tax report. So I have one that y'all are used to seeing. And then a new version for tonight.
so. Okay. Alrighty. The hdl companies miss wilson started subscribing to this a few months Ago.
and so this is just a snapshot of sales tax. And if you see on the, The far left, it says fiscal year total 8.8
million for the city that really tracks because the 2 boards get about 2 million each last Year,
a little over that. And this is the non-confidential piece that I can show.
the other pages I cannot show, but you can show ranges and you can show names, But you can't show names with the exact dollars and things of that nature.
so this is the public facing page of documents that we have basically to show trends.
and you can show the industry segment that were heavy on retail trade. And you know that when you drive 380 and you drive around town and then you have 16% for Other.
but we do have some manufacturing and construction and utilities, But then we have the other excel spreadsheet.
chris, if you'll show that I know y'all are used to seeing this.
jim showed this to you last month when we were 13% up. So at the end of march, we're 6% of an increase.
so we finished at 239,074. It's still up month over month of the 2 to prior fiscal years.
so the difference is 14,000. So it's still trending in the right direction.
thank you allison. Thank you. Also just note deshaun arrived at 608 and we'll move to the Board report items.
edc board of directors report about items of community interest in which no action will be Taken.
anybody has anything? Oh, I have an update. I don't have the details yet, But the the event that I brought to the board a few months ago,
the soul patrol event, they were able to secure a rest stop here in princeton.
they worked worked it out with the city. So if anybody wants to come and volunteer on that Day, it's on saturday, june 20th. I'll come, I'll send an email with all the details.
I don't have it with me right now, but it will be cool to have some members of the board Come and show a presence out there.
okay. All right. Thank you. That's great news. Congratulations. We'll move to the consent agenda.
consent agenda items are listed are considered to be routine by the economic development Corporation and will be enacted by one motion.
there will be no separate discussion of these items unless a board member. So requests in Which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered as normal
sequence on the agenda. We have the financial statements and financial statement in the Minutes from our previous meeting,
and we'll just need a motion, a second to approve that. Mr. Chair I'd like to see if we could approve our financial statement, Have it brought back for may only
because it was not included in the agenda packet. And to make sure that as a board, we are doing our due diligence and actually reviewing it Ourselves.
sure. So I guess that's a motion. I'd like to make a motion to remove the pedc financial Statement
from the consent agenda, and have it returned on the may 2026 agenda for approval.
I have a point of clarity. I didn't see it attached to the last one, So I didn't attach it.
do y'all usually have it in a link on it on here? Yes we do, so that we can review it before we actually approve it.
I thought so, but I couldn't find any past agendas. That's okay. I will do it. Go ahead. I'll second the motion.
motion. So the motion was to remove the pedc financial statement from the consent agenda.
have it returned for approval on the may 2026 agenda?
and my apologies. I'd like to approve the consent agenda with the removal of the pedc Financial statement.
I second.
and that passes with 5 in favor, 1 abstained.
so we'll move to the regular agenda. Very good.
you're looking puzzled at me. Yeah.
james, your vote didn't take. It didn't take.
you have to redo it. So do it again. Okay.
it's approved. 6 to 1. Abstain. And we'll move to the regular agenda.
item number item 2026-001. Economic development corporation benchmark discussion.
discussion on benchmark analysis of economic development corporation's for municipalities North of 121.
okay, so I put this as a title. It was a request from the board.
and miss walker, do you want to discuss what you want to see? I know you sent this in april to the edc staff, But do you want to expand on more?
okay. Absolutely, mr. Chair. It's. I have quite a bit to say, But I feel like this is very
important for the board to know and understand.
so I requested that this agenda item be added for discussion, Because it is one of those conversations that's easy to put off and hard to
recover from if we wait too long. Economic development is not just a land transaction Exercise where we acquire sites,
attract developers or businesses. Cut the ribbon and then it's done.
we need business attraction, retention and expansion. We also need redevelopment throughout the city and especially in our downtown area.
we have or had the main street membership. But how are we putting that membership to good Use in the city?
we all saw what happened with market street. That development agreement was executed and It was supposed to be a done deal and finally a win for the city and our residents.
and even though it was no fault of theirs, until these groundbreakings occur, As a corporation,
we need to know that these things are not set in stone, And we need to have staff that is continuously planning and pursuing businesses and
opportunities every single day, as if we have nothing.
we must start moving to where we are placing our city in a space that makes us competitive For talent.
our edc and cdc are significantly understaffed when it comes to our projected growth Trajectory.
at this stage, we should have between 3 and 5 specialized employees working on behalf of The edc,
cdc, and city to get us where we need to be. Selena has a staff of 6 specialized Professionals an executive director,
a director of marketing and tourism, a director of community development and downtown Service,
a special projects manager, a business development associate, And a business intelligence analyst.
just for their edc corporation. This is a great example of having a well resourced team to Achieve the goals set forth by the corporation and the
city. The city of anna has both an economic and community development corporation, And they have 3 staff members a director and assistant
director and an economic development manager.
the city of richardson, which I would like to mention, Is fully landlocked, but they currently have a population of what princeton is projected
to be. That is between 100,000 and 120 000 residents.
that is where we are headed. So knowing our projected numbers, We need to get ahead of this and start planning for it now because we are already behind.
they created their edc department in 2022. 4 years ago, Because they had the insight to know that they needed to course correct by
2024. In just 2 years, more than 4000 jobs were created or retained, And more than 30 relocations,
expansions and property transactions totaling over $225 million in new capital investments Were generated.
they did this through staff intensive activities like redevelopment reinvestment and Relationship management.
and those are things that one person alone cannot handle, No matter how many years of experience you have.
things will eventually fall through the cracks.
sales tax revenue generated by the cdc is one of the primary tools the city has to keep Property taxes low for residents.
every business we fail to attract, retain, or expand is revenue that either doesn't Materialize or shifts on to homeowners.
the question is not whether we can afford to grow our staff. The question is whether we can afford not to.
I am requesting that this board consider directing our ceo to bring back a staffing and Organizational structure recommendation informed by what comparable and
aspirational edc's in our region look like. We have so many examples out here.
and so that we can make an informed decision as a board about how to invest in our own Capacity.
our ceo is, is excellent. You know, you can't deny that. But it is not our ceo's job to set strategic direction for this corporation that is ours.
that is our responsibility. Staff executes and as a corporation we provide direction.
I would also like to continue this discussion moving forward and consider adding dedicated Positions in marketing and business attraction,
business retention and expansion, downtown community redevelopment, And possibly a data analytics or even a dedicated main street
professional. If we partner with the cdc, as we've done so many times in the past, I believe that we can make this happen.
I think that was an eloquent presentation and on time.
and I think this these are things that this board has been discussing ongoing for some Time now.
and I'm sure you're aware of this. I think the infrastructure that they, That we need to put in place in order to make princeton grow is going to be
paramount. And I think that part of this whole process was the first was the hiring of a Director to put us on track.
I, and I'm speaking from my limited perspective here.
I, I think that basically we are, we have a director he seems to be, From my perspective,
doing a decent job. We need to tell him those same things.
I direct him to look into those particular things that you just mentioned.
I know the main street manager is something that we've been talking about for a long time.
right? As princeton grows, I think we need to put in place the infrastructure that also Reflects
our population growth. I think we need to be I'm trying to find the right words here.
I think we need to be very we need to exercise serious, Our serious due diligence in trying to
make sure that we spend taxpayers money in a very prudent manner, One that will speak
to the things that you have put forth here. Miss walker and, You know do what is necessary to move the community forward.
I think, I think your observations in your presentation has merit, And I think it needs to be discussed.
it needs to be analyzed and looked at and where possible and feasible, Implemented.
it's my thoughts. So I totally
agree. Miss walker I think we, we, I think we have the, The mind, the mind power
here. I think we also have the willpower to make those things fruition.
we understand the population growth. We understand, You know, our future projections, we understand what princeton is going.
so making everything you just said a friction is, Is I think it's a must.
it's a need. It's not a, it should be a suggestion. It's not a want. You know, I think that's something that we need to move forward with and Start having serious discussions about that as well.
as a board, of course. It is my understanding that we're supposed to have some type of Strategic mapping meeting coming up.
yes. No, maybe. Yeah. With the council. Do we have a confirmed date?
you know, we had asked to do it ourselves initially to just get our center balance, But that was shot down by the mayor,
I believe. And we're supposed to wait till they have theirs and do it all together.
okay. Because I was going to say I wholeheartedly agree with everything that miss walker Said.
and I know that a lot of times we use these bigger cities to like, You know, in comparison I really do believe that as long as we continue to have people who
want what's best for princeton we have to make sure that that overrides the noise. Right. And so one thing that is kind of like shaky.
we're all here. We're all like minded. We all want to move princeton forward, But we can't even get a date settled for a strategic mapping meeting,
which is something that we could absolutely discuss, Which is all the ideas that miss walker is bringing forth.
so I think for me is just like, I don't know who we need to talk to. I guess this meeting is recorded so people will see it, But hopefully we can get whoever needs to approve that meeting to happen to happen.
and then therefore, we can start putting into motion the things that miss walker and a lot Of us are thinking and bringing up.
but as a corporation, we don't have to wait. We can have our meeting and continue these Discussions
and implement things on behalf of the board. That is the purpose of us being designated as A corporation.
so if this is something that the board agrees on.
then we need to move forward with it. We cannot take action on it tonight, But we can bring it back for action,
discussion and possible action at the next meeting. Okay. Sounds like a plan. Yeah, that's what I was going to ask because I would be Interested in knowing,
you know what? We have the actual power to execute and do.
I in my mind, I would imagine that everything is subject to the approval by council, But I just want to,
I guess, find out more information on that. Mr.
chairman, could I just one more observation, Please, if I could.
and also, I think that will be important to understand how we work in concert with the Other board.
you know, I mean, there are some things that I think are specifically designated for the Edc into the put in place.
and you mentioned a litany of things okay, to to look at, And I would be interested in trying to understand which
ones are uniquely appropriate for this board and which would be uniquely appropriate for The cdc board,
because we don't want to step on each other's toes. And it seems to me that we have forged a good working relationship with both of the Boards,
and we all seem to be going toward the same working toward the same goal.
so I, you know, I don't want to, you know, you know, Fall into that trap, if you will, mr.
chairman. Oh, I'm sorry. So I understand that concern.
edc and cdc are created to work cohesively together to bring in businesses.
one is business focused, which is us. And cdc is quality of life.
and on top of that there was an election held.
not sure. I think it was like 96 or something, Maybe 2006, where the cdc, it was approved by the voters to allow the cdc
to take on cdc projects also. So not only can they do quality of life projects, But they can do whatever we can do.
so, you know, we're interchangeable in that manner. And so I think if we meet, you know, if it's approved, That we can meet together and strategically plan,
but these employees are multifaceted. They can work edc and cdc.
I've been in these circles. I know my peers. And so it wouldn't be anything that would Hinder the work of the edc.
I mean, of the cdc to where it wouldn't get done and everything would be focused on us.
it would be a cohesive. Just a just a
couple of thoughts. I was thinking, I believe our bylaws said that the ceo has to bring These things forward.
so without him right now, as far as the manpower additions, So we could look at, I would like to if we were going to do it.
I mean, it makes sense what you're saying, but I think we need to see what the other Cities are doing and then also benchmark it with population and tax revenue.
because if our tax revenue is not going up, then we we want to make sure we're making Fiscally responsible decisions when we add a headcount and adding them
one at a time versus, you know, getting some of the things like you're talking about with Salina,
we're not going to compete with salina, but that's a different, Different animal. We're, we're looking at cities that are more like this city and where
we're located and what we're where we're going to be able to accommodate. Then also are we're at a point where we don't have a lot of commercial real estate left, So we have to take into all those things into account.
our downtown's not real big, so we start adding a staff person for a city block that That's the stuff we need to analyze and see which place is better
for some of those people. And we need data. I think that's where I really where I was Going with that.
so. Why don't we wrap it up by having staff do an analysis of the population
and the revenue and all the like kind comparable could be north texas, It could be whatnot.
and then we start to see, because if you ask me, Absolutely, I always want more staff because I want more hands on deck.
I don't always get them, but I certainly always want them. So I think that'd be good Analysis to have of how we stack up.
and then our projections for our population in the next 5 years, 5 to 10 years.
and then what would be a plan? Make a plan. But it would start with the data.
we don't have a edc admin right this second, But we are working on getting one.
and jim should be back in 3 weeks so y'all won't see me.
but the work can get done. We'll find a way to do it. And I think this summer, if we can have a deliverable of the data, Then the board can deliberate on what you think.
and then jim will be back and he can figure it out.
sound like I'm passing the buck, don't I? Thank you.
so we'll move on to the next one. Good everybody. Any other comments before we go? Okay. We'll move to 2026-002 tdc conference discuss Upcoming tdc or
texas economic development council conference registration and sponsorship opportunities.
now I'll pass to you, chris, that tedc agenda if you'll pull that up.
I just wanted to put this on the agenda because it's coming up fairly quickly in june and It's local,
it's in dfw. And so and this is part of the emails that I sent out, And I think some of y'all went last year and in the past,
but if you can't make it, because I know it's weekday wednesday, Thursday, friday, and, but just consider going,
you don't have to go to all of them or the full day. But if you want to go to a half day We can help register you.
so I just wanted the agenda to be top of mind and to know the cdc mid-year conference is Important because there's a lot of just,
there are good classes or good sessions. It's networking. You get to meet other people that are volunteering in your capacity and professionals in Your capacity.
so it's, it's always a fruitful thing. And then they have their annual one in the fall.
but this one's on the heels. And then they have the sales tax one in richardson in September.
and if anyone is out of town on the 18th of september, They'll have a virtual one in december.
but they usually try to get everyone in person. And they have some other in-person ones are just not in dfw for sales tax.
but this is a fruitful one. This is where it has a legislative session.
it has everything from site selection to meeting consultants.
and then you'll be sold every kind of technology application you can imagine.
I've bought some before. Some are great, some are not. So it's just really fun to see it. It's fun to go and it's fun to kind of gel as a group.
so just consider it. And you can email me individually if you want to go and we'll Register you one thought if I might last year,
jim and I and several cdc board members went to the tax course. And I think it's, we talked about, it's a, something we were going to teach in house, But if you haven't yet,
at least try to make a plan to do the virtual one. So it's great to be there because there were a lot of different cities from close by that We got to meet a lot of people.
so and obviously the edc picks up the registration.
okay. And good point. They did. I think I sent it. They do have some sponsorship opportunities if y'all want that for june.
but if you don't have this on your agenda, not planning to go, Just consider it and let me know in the next week.
it starts from 1500 all the way up to 3000, 4000 for sponsorship opportunities to get the City,
the brand out there at tdc, at the conference, Other cities. See the logo? It's just it's a good thing to do.
and we certainly have the fund balance. So I told you I'd help you spend money.
so y'all let me know. Any thoughts on sponsorship. Anyone. This line item doesn't have action on it.
oh yeah, y'all can email me. I have the sponsorship teed up. But I don't I mean, we can it's it's in the operating budget, I can just purchase it like a office supply,
I think. I think that would have to be done publicly. I don't think we can make a decision. Well, we bought the samaritan end table and some Other things,
you know, because it's just part of the operating budget, Like marketing. So I can because I think it's under a certain amount because we don't come
for all of the purchasing for the operating budget, Right? So the operating budget for office supplies, Anything below a certain amount.
but if you it's up, up to y'all. And I was just curious when I asked, That is if anybody had an opinion on whether we should get involved in it,
and then we could go from there. If nobody really feels strongly, Then that's not an issue.
but y'all could do that because I think we I think we gave the money for the chamber last Time.
that wasn't on the agenda, I believe. Well, I was going to say as far as the sponsorship Is concerned,
I mean, I understand it's like putting a name out there. Do we have to have a Representative present for all 3 sessions?
like, how does that work? Well, there was a breakfast sponsorship and it wouldn't hurt for Someone to show up at the breakfast.
so if y'all don't want to do it, they'll have another conference in the year to go.
but keep it top of mind because tdc is an important part of just meeting.
the reason why I'm asking is just because I feel like if we know the time commitment, You know what I'm saying? Then like I wouldn't mind being able to set up and being there,
being present, being at the table. As long as I know I don't have to go all 3 days, All day.
right. So the way that it works. I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry, but the way that it works is they'll have,
like, breakfast set up, right? There'll be bagels or, Or muffins and orange juice, and there'll be a big sign there
that says sponsored by the princeton edc. I've never seen anyone man those tables.
you know, they'll have staff if it if it's at the hotel, They'll come out and they'll refill as needed.
but I wouldn't like, dedicate your day to going and being there because it's just a setup Where people,
you know, take as you want, basically. Okay. Thank you so much for clarifying.
I mean, I think sponsorship is always a good thing. Anytime we get our name out there and See,
let people see us especially with the, the big news of us being the fastest growing city And things like that.
that's a good idea. I would love to see, you know, Some board members there.
of course you know, not all day people, you know, But, you know, one day here, one day there,
you know, a few hours here, a few hours there. I would love to see it myself, But I think sponsorship is always a great thing,
especially if we got it. I know we've done the gala with boys and girls club.
the samaritan was new this year. For for everyone.
and I know there's some others. I just can't think of them. But it's, It's fruitful and it's just something I'll keep in your inbox and keep top of
mind. So this is not a agenda that we need to vote on.
no, no, no. But I just wanted to bring it to your attention.
it's not an action item, but it's just normal things for eco devo office to buy a Breakfast sponsor or something,
something of that nature. So, but if y'all want to let me know if anyone wants to go, That would be step one.
do you have the agenda? Let me know. Your calendars look like, Even if it's just that thursday afternoon so we can make sure we get you registered and if
not, absolutely no pressure. There will be another one.
there will be another one, specifically september 18th.
I was going to say, I think summer is a little easier because once the school year starts, it's kind of like, so yeah, we'll email you. Good.
I think it's great if we if we register 2 or 3 people, Then people can trade off.
you said maybe we have to register individually with your name so you'll have a name tag And just a thought.
okay. Okay. Any other thoughts? No. Okay, good.
we'll move to 2026-003. Pdc attorney request for proposal.
provide status update on pdc attorney request for proposal rfp.
so our procurement officer, she put on may 14th a request for qualifications for the 2 Boards to have an attorney.
and she also reached out to 19 law firms. So it's from may 14th to may 28th and we can Extend if needed,
but it's on bed net and the statewide portal and all the normal places. So just y'all know, we'll at some point bring that forward.
and we'll move to 2026-004 future agenda items, Consider consider approving a request for items to be placed on a future agenda and not
for discussion of these requests. Does anybody have anything?
sorry. Can we have this come back in may? It's it's worded
incorrectly. So we never had this. Well, we did previously, But we don't currently have this on our agenda.
and so the reason that I asked for this and the way that I wanted it to come back was Discussion and possible
action to add a future agenda line item to our agenda.
yes. Because correct. I cannot make that determination. But I did have a concern because I was told That,
you know, usually the way that it was working was someone would reach out and ask if we Had any items for the agenda.
but I never received an email like that. And so knowing that all items that we're Requesting to
be added to the agenda should be public business not through email, Text, facebook or anything like that.
all discussion should be had here on the dais. And if we do have future agenda items, they should be stated publicly.
so if we could bring that back for discussion with the board or just approval or not Approval I would appreciate it.
well, I got your email. I copy and pasted the council language so we can just kind of lock It in that field and it can just keep coming back.
that's what you're saying, right? Just keep it coming back. We want the future agenda items. But no, I, I requested that, But the board never approved it.
do you know what I'm saying? So it was not a an a regular item on our agenda.
so I myself cannot say, hey, I want this to be a permanent item going forward.
that has to be determined by the board as a whole. I cannot do that. So in this was not something that the board approved or, You know, said no to.
so it has to come back for discussion and possible action.
okay. I just put it as a regular agenda item. So are you wanting it to come back as a regular agenda item?
is that what you're saying? Yes. For approval to it be for it to be added as an agenda Item.
I mean, we can just add it. I can just add the field. Kevin, do you have a problem? I don't. First of all, I don't think there's that level of formality is required.
secondly you know, the ceo or the staff can actually add items to the agenda.
it doesn't require board action to add each item, The agenda. So this is, this is fine. There's no really no formal vote that needs to be taken to add This unless,
unless the board, you know, the council or the board as a consensus just says, We want to have this,
you know, just put it on there. We can do that. I mean, there's so in the future, if I say I want an agenda line item added where our ceo Gives us an update at every meeting on
all of the projects and things that we have done. I don't have to run that through the board. No, I think it would be probably a good idea to mention that to the board.
if that's something the board as a whole wants to take up the time and have ceo prepare For,
you know, for each meeting, because that's if as a and what you're talking about, There is a regular agenda item that would be a monthly report that you would be
requesting, which would be obviously staff time, Board agenda time to do that as opposed to one off type of one off type of agenda items,
which is what this is really designed to, to do primarily, At least in most instances where I've seen it.
so, you know, if the board as a whole wants to go ahead as kind of as consensus without Any really formal action,
say, direct the ceo to have a monthly report on, You know, on pending projects, then so be it.
you can do that. Okay.
typically bree would send us an email and we would make suggestions. There was no bree this time. So that's the reason why you didn't get the email was nothing Outside of that.
it was it was just that. So we, we typically let, I mean, anybody that wanted to add something to the agenda,
we've always added it. It's not like we had a lot of things. So we've been pretty, pretty good with that. So I just, I just did not want to be the determining factor as to whether this was a line item
on our agenda going forward. So since it's city council has it, It's fine.
I mean, obviously, but let's, let's just say you didn't say it right now.
that doesn't mean between now and the next meeting, You couldn't add something, right? Right. So it doesn't necessarily have to be done right
now or at this line. So we could have this or not have this. You could still do it, right? Absolutely. Okay.
all right. So I want to make sure I understand. I'm saying it to get clarification.
good. All right. We'll move forward to I have a question.
concern question I don't know. Can we go back to agenda j 1, Please? I kind of want to kind of dive deeper in depth to that.
is there any way we can I guess put this on the agenda for, I guess maybe not tonight,
but sometimes in the near future for us to discuss and put in action to it to make this Move forward other than something that we're going to not saying,
shrug it off, we're not shrugging it off. But I mean, Instead of just saying, pushing to forward to,
you know, to the future, to this fall, whatever to actually start working on this as soon As possible.
I think you'll just need a staff member to do it is a problem. So you don't have an executive assistant. Right now we're working to get an interim.
so when that person comes, they can do the analysis and whenever they complete it, It just needs to go on an agenda.
so it shouldn't take too long for someone, but you need someone here.
so with this of course, I'm sure there's going to be some type of experience behind it and Help of course,
but with this person actually know what we are looking for, What type of data we're looking for specifically you know,
without any type of direction that she's got from us or he or she has gotten from us.
well, hopefully at the next meeting, that person will be seated. So if y'all want to put it there again with the same language and y'all can reiterate to The person exactly what you want the data to have while that person is going
ahead and trying to compile things, then you can have a productive conversation of where He or she is now in the project and what you want to maybe add to it.
but again, we are interviewing people to get an interim. So it's just this short time of when we have to post for june 18th, 19th, somewhere on there.
so it's a timing thing, but it's not, it's not like it's a difficult thing. It's just a timing thing. Okay. And then you eventually just figure it out and take Action.
okay. And vice chairman, just for clarification this situation that we're in right now is The reason why I
requested this, because if we have one specialized employee and an executive assistant and Something happens where they're
not available, we don't have anyone that can pick up and run with the ball.
so we need staff whether we like it or not. We need staff, Specialized staff that can continue whatever projects follow up,
phone calls. They can take meetings. We need staff.
yeah, I'm doing it right now and I'm pretty tired. I don't know what I was thinking. So I Told chief,
slap me next time. I think I can just pick up extra work. So we do we are actively working to free to fill bree's position.
okay. Yeah, I just wanted to clarify that because I get it, You know, but I just wanted to make sure that it's
something that we're not just kind of just moving through the agenda saying, Okay, we went through it, you know, I kind of want to start pushing,
pushing this and putting this into motion. This might be a good time for me to tell y'all,
I won't be here at the june meeting. Not that you're on the edge of your seat waiting for My june attendance.
but just so you know, I am moving on to another opportunity.
but you know, you stole my number. You still reach out to me, But I just won't be at the june meeting.
so I want to say I've gotten to know each y'all in different ways. And I've really enjoyed watching this this board come together and, And y'all work on projects and I've seen a lot of transition here.
so it's been good to, to watch it and to watch the town grow in my short, Short time.
so yeah, congrats. Congrats. Thank you. Congrats and good luck.
thank you, mr. Chairman. Can I ask a quick question, Please, sir?
and I'm asking this from a I'm trying to come a little bit lost here.
I'm trying to understand mr. Locke's question here.
okay. So we're talking about basically, and I'm trying to make this as simple as I Possibly can.
so excuse me if I stumble a minute. We were talking about doing is making an economic, I mean,
making an analysis of princeton's princeton's growth and where we are.
and we are located in north texas, and there are a lot of communities around us that are Comfortable to our size.
we want to look at those communities where they are, Look at their growth patterns, and we want to implement those successful
growth patterns in those cities, in our community.
we want to look at example would be if we have a police department that consists of
75 police officers and the police officers. I'm assuming that there is a formula that is Used to make that
analysis based upon the population. I think the same thing would be applicable to the Population of princeton.
if princeton has a population of 50,000 people, How many economic development professionals should be in place to support that
population? Is that what we're talking about? Is that what we mean? Is that what we're trying to go? I'm asking.
yeah. Yeah. It's to rationalize like with any business, A headcount, you know, typically you do it based on revenue and geography,
different things like that. But yeah, it's what you're saying is get that criteria because We need,
you need to have the criteria and the benchmarks and the things to know. Do you add somebody at this point or, you know, Where are you going to be?
because you can't, you want to be ahead of the curve, But not too far ahead of the curve. We don't want a lot of people sitting around and we want to also be.
we want to use technology as we look at this. Okay, it might not in all cases mean necessarily [inaudible].
it might mean looking at ai and how we can incorporate ai into our implementation process.
is that something that makes sense? Yeah. I think all those things have to be analyzed With when we put the data together and you know,
look at what's the best option for the city. Yes, We, we want, we all want the same thing.
it's just a matter of how do we get there the best way. Okay. All right. So mr. Lott is was that where you were?
I'm I'm trying to. Was that what you were trying to go, Sir? I mean, exactly what I was trying to go, so. Okay.
I think what, you know, ultimately I don't want this to just kind of just kind of fall by The wayside.
yeah, yeah. I mean I believe that we as a board can do more.
but 1 needs to have, you know, we need people to be here.
t2, there's a lot of data. There's a lot of human knowledge as well that's out there that Understands the growth and the growth patterns and the things
that we would need as a board to make this city a better city, A to, to support the infrastructure that we are currently building as we go.
and so mike's point, you know, the revenue portion of it, The tax, the tax sales and things like that,
how can we make sure that, you know, we're not over budgeting or over overpaying or Whatever it may be?
you know, so it's different things that I think that we need to start actually looking at And really start to dig into this about because I mean,
right now, I'm not saying we, we're kind of sitting duck. I mean, We're making moves. You know, things are happening. But,
you know, I think we should be ahead of it, not behind it or right there with it.
I think we should be ahead of it. Planning forward and then again, Utilizing, like you said,
technology, ai data to make these things happen. So yes, absolutely. One monkey don't stop, no show.
I think, you know, just just speaking from experience, I, I've run a lot of sales teams, you know,
and, and like the biggest ones, $110 million. And, you know, the, the thing you want to do with a big company is you, You want to have the least manpower you need,
you want to have enough, but you don't want to have too much because you're just, Just because our competitor has all those people doesn't mean that we need all those
people. Same thing with the police force. You know, You can't say, well, I need all these officers and we really don't.
so sorry to bring you into it, but that's that's.
mr. Police officer. I didn't mean no disrespect. I was just saying.
yeah. Mr. Miller, just one thing to add to that. So when it comes to headcount, And obviously I can speak for all of us can speak from personal experience. It's it's
actually the goal is to have just a little bit less than what you need at all times.
and so everybody's working at a little bit higher percentage because the more mouths you Have to feed,
the more food you have to produce. So it's very important whenever we do headcount in any Organization that you actually have less so that then you don't have cutbacks if you grow
too much. And I'm probably going to break some news here that government tends to become Very inefficient.
okay. I don't think anybody's ever heard of that. But it tends to become very inefficient When you have headcount because then you get caught in bureaucracy.
it's clear when it when it looks at the edc, Like we're at like miss walker talked about earlier is it's extremely important that we
are recruiting and maintaining businesses. And I'll give you a good example. This is just My opinion.
I will guarantee you that we did a very good job recruiting home depot. We did a very good job recruiting. Who's at kroger.
right. Which is excellent. But there's only one home depot, One kroger. But if you look at it, it was brought up the last time. If you look at the
edc, a lot of times we miss that second and third tier of people just because flat out It's a manpower issue.
and so I think you said it best yesterday is a lot of times when excuse me, Last month when we saw that you said a lot of times when somebody reaches out,
it's already too late. And that's the key. And I'm seeing it right. We're seeing in our business, you can look north, South, east, west, and you're seeing doors lock. The reason is,
is there's 2 reasons. Number 1, capital is obviously very tough right now. But the other part is experience. A lot of people have great ideas, But they don't know how to implement their businesses. We see it coming into our center
all the time. So I am by far, I think I am by far one of the most conservative people when It comes to adding headcount.
but if we need it, because there is back to what we said, If there is a productivity issue,
excuse me, if there is a quantified milestones and benchmarks, Those people, by all means,
that's what we have to do, in my opinion. I thought I would just wrap it up.
you're probably like, please stop talking. So miss walker mentioned selena.
so selena has a good sized staff and they use the edc fund, But they also use a hotel occupancy tax fund because they have hospitality and hotels.
and so as we add that on here, that's a funding source where you can add a body.
and so that can be in your projections. If you know those years, You can roll that into, okay,
we're starting to get, we call it a hot fund. So the hot fund can fund only certain things.
it's very restricted. But that is something outside the cdc, Edc and those positions go simultaneously.
usually you're usually in the same suite. Food for thought for later and projections.
did anybody have anything to add to the agenda that that's where we started with this.
yeah. I'm sorry. No. You're good. Good. All right, All right. We'll move to executive session, executive executive session in accordance with chapter 551 of the texas government code,
the economic development corporation may enter into closed, Closed session or executive session to discuss any of the following texas government code.
551.071 consultation with city attorney. Texas government code section 551.072 discuss or Deliberate the
purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property project bag project I and then texas Government code section 551
project bread as well. And it's 6:59. We'll go to executive session.
at 7:25 we've returned from executive session. There's no action to be pertaining to executive session this evening.
so we'll move to item m adjournment. All those in favor of adjourning say aye.
aye. Aye. We're adjourned. 7:25.