Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN JULY 19 1994 REGULAR SESSION CITY COUNCIL - CITY OF BEAUMONT HELD JULY 19, 1994 - 1:30 P.M. BE IT REMEMBERED that the City Council of the City of Beaumont, Texas, met in regular session this the 19th day of July, 1994, with the following present: HONORABLE: David W. Moore Mayor John K. Davis Mayor Pro Tem. Councilman, Ward III Andrew P. Cokinos Councilman At Large Becky Ames Councilman At Large Lulu L. Smith Councilman, Ward I Guy N. Goodson Councilman, Ward II Calvin Williams Councilman, Ward IV Ray A. Riley City Manager Lane Nichols City Attorney Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -000- The Invocation was given by City Attorney Lane Nichols. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Cokinos. -000- Citizen comment was invited on the Consent and Main agendas. No one wished to address these subjects. -000- The following Consent Agenda items were considered: Approval of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held July 12 1994; Resolution No. 94-174 reappointing Norman Bellard to the Civil Service Commission for a term expiring March 22, 1996 (appointed by City Manager Ray Riley) ; Robert Leggington to the Library Commission, Audrey Simpson- Thompson and Darolyn Flood to the Senior Citizen Advisory Committee and Bob Hadley to the Sister City Commission for terms expiring July 18, 1996; and Resolution No. 94-175 authorizing a contract with the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) Cooperative Purchasing Program in the amount of $22,370. 12 to purchase four (4) additional mobile data terminals (MDT's) -171- July 19, 1994 ($5,592.53 each) to be mounted in police cruisers and linked to the host computer to provide immediate information to officers. The Consent Agenda was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Goodson. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 94-176 accepting the voluntary contribution payment of $250 ,000.00 for "in lieu of taxes" from Beaumont Methanol Corporation (purchaser of one of DuPont De Nemours' plants) and authorizing the City Manager to commence negotiations to formalize an industrial contract with Beaumont Methanol Corporation, effective next fiscal year, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Davis. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 94-177 authorizing application for and acceptance of a grant from the Automobile Theft Prevention Authority in the amount of $219, 383 .00 to fund the salary, equipment and operating expenses to employ a Crime Prevention Director for one year at the Police Department to work in conjunction with the Southeast Texas Auto Theft Task Force (officers from the Beaumont and Port Arthur Police Departments and Jefferson County Sheriff's Office) was approved on a motion made by Councilman Smith and seconded by Councilman Ames. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None Council discussion included past success of the program, continuation possibilities after expiration of the grant and future funding aspects. As an auto theft victim, Councilman Williams said that he is concerned a program be kept in place, if it successfully reduces auto theft. The City Manager restated that the degree of accomplishment currently is very good, and we might want to continue participation in this program. Mayor Moore recognized the presence of Officer Roberto Flores, Jr. and shared that Officer Flores has made a number of presentations at Neighborhood Association meetings with good interaction and positive results throughout the community and given tips to citizens about protecting themselves. -000- Resolution No. 94-178 authorizing a contract with the Texas Department of Transportation for the completion of water and sanitary sewer upgrades on the final phase of the Spur 380 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway) reconstruction project from Fannin Street to the IH-10 Westbound frontage roads in an approximate amount of $68,415. 12 was approved on a motion made by Councilman Smith and seconded by Councilman -172- July 19, 1994 Williams. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 94-179 authorizing acquisition of Parcel 2: Lot 15, Block 1, Broadway Place Addition, 4295 W. Broadway, from Mr. and Mrs. Jewel A. Hymel for the appraised value of $37,000.00 for the West Lucas Drive project from Phelan Boulevard to Delaware Street was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Goodson. Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Resolution No. 94-180 authorizing Change Order No. 2 in the amount of $20,892.90 (replacing 310.6 tons of stabilized sand at $16 per ton for a credit of $4,969.60 with 206.9 cubic yards of concrete at $125 per cubic yard at a cost of $25,862.50 to pour concrete pads extending the width of the fire training units in lieu of using stabilized sand) to the contract with Affolter Contracting, Inc. for remediation and drainage improvements for the Beaumont Fire Training Center, resulting in a revised contract amount of $1,001,574.60, was approved on a motion made by Councilman Cokinos and seconded by Councilman Williams Question: Ayes: All Nayes: None -000- Mayor Moore announced that an executive session will be held following the regular City Council meeting in compliance with Section 551 .071 of the Government Code to discuss contemplated or pending litigation: City of Port Arthur vs. Southwestern Bell and United States of America vs. Michael Siebe. -000- Councilman Williams said that he received a parking ticket. Knowing that Municipal Court would be closed on July 4th, he waited until July 5th to pay the fine and discovered that the five-day period allowed for payment did not mean working days, and he was assessed another $3 .00. He suggested that consideration be given to allowing five working days for payment and/or notification on the ticket that a night depository is available for receipt of payment. After discussion, Council concurred that five working days would be a more reasonable time for payment and requested the City Attorney communicate with the Judge regarding the possibility of rewording the ticket. Because of the previous subject matter, Mayor Moore announced that he plans to hold a community forum on August 11th on a variety of public safety issues, including the curfew for youth, and could add parking ticket information to the agenda. -173- July 19, 1994 Councilman Goodson said that while he was in Austin yesterday attending a Texas Municipal League Legislative Committee meeting on Finance and Administration to review proposed legislation, discussion diverted to economic development and seating of Economic Development Strategy Committees between Chambers of Commerce, City Council, and other governmental officials to look at long-term strategies. He said there were about 50 people from over the state at this meeting, and this seems to be a growing economic development cooperative method. Also, he said that one city's representative said "one of the best things they had done for economic development was to remove all of their downtown parking meters. " He said another bill that is to be suggested for presentation is to change a number of traffic violations from Class C misdemeanors to civil actions to eliminate the drain of time on Municipal Court, and said it was a very interesting meeting. Mayor Moore thanked Councilman Goodson for taking time from his business to represent Beaumont in Austin, and said it is one of the sacrifices Councilmembers make on behalf of the citizenry. Councilman Smith verified with Mayor Moore that the recent ordinance passed establishing a youth curfew would be discussed at the August 11th forum. Councilman Smith said there is a lot of discussion in the community about the 11:00 p.m. curfew on Friday and Saturday night and thinks Council should rethink changing of the curfew. Mayor Moore said he would like to ask Councilmembers to poll Neighborhood Associations or their leadership for input and reaction. Councilman Smith added that the curfew is not meant to be punitive, but a "cooperative, collaborative effort between the Police Department, the City and parents and young people. " She said there needs to be some rhetoric with the public, and thinks Council wants to establish rapport with neighborhoods, parents and children. Councilman Goodson announced that he just received notice the Tyrrell Park Neighborhood Association will meet on August 10th. Councilman Goodson said he has received about a dozen telephone calls and that all support the curfew, but each one raised concerns about the Friday and Saturday curfew. Mayor Moore acknowledged that a "Concert in the Park" was held at Alice Keith Park and was a nice affair. He suggested to the City Manager that next year something special be done (special announcements) for rain-out concerts. -000- Attorney Brent W. Coon, 6850 Westgate, an associate with the Provost and Humphrey Law Firm, addressed Council pro bono for the residents on Midford Drive regarding a vacant, run-down residence. Mr. Coon said the -174- July 19, 1994 structure burned about five years ago, the owner did some exterior repairs, but has not renovated the interior of the structure, does not keep the grass mowed regularly, and the structure has become an eyesore to the neighborhood and they feel it has reduced the value of the homes. He relayed to Council that the neighbors are disheartened and have exhausted their efforts to improve the situation and asked Council for assistance and direction. Council told Mr. Coon they are familiar with the residence and would ask that the structure be reinspected for violation of our dangerous structure ordinance. -000- Ms. Sharon Eaves addressed Council on behalf of the students she has worked with this past year at the Education Division of the Stiles Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She said the unit will soon be celebrating its first birthday, and today there are 66 graduates in the GED program heading toward the college prep program and 123 graduates in the vocational segment. She told about an awesome and inspiring speech delivered by former mayor, Evelyn Lord, and about Mayor Moore speaking to the men in connection with a CHANGES graduation. She explained that CHANGES is a program that works directly with the men on social skills. She said that one of the students who has made a 360 degree turn-around has started writing acronym poems and usually writes one for special guests, but did not do so for Mayor Moore when he was there because he was involved in working on the birthday celebration. She said the student was greatly disturbed because he didn't present a poem to Mayor Moore, so he volunteered to bring a poem to Mayor Moore if he chose to write one. On behalf of the student, she present a poem to Mayor Moore and presented each Councilmember with a copy of The Winds of Windham, a newspaper the men write. She said the newspaper is part of her curriculum that encourages creative writing and an avenue to show the community that some of the men do care and do not want to return to prison. Mayor Moore said that he was very impressed that after speaking to the men in the morning, he received a stack of faxed thank-yous at his office the same day before he returned at 1:00 p.m. -000- Mr. Jim Stokes, representing the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and SET, Inc. addressed Council to report on economic development activities as required by their contracts. Mr. Stokes introduced Mr. Dean Robinson, Chairman of the Board of SET, Inc. , and Mr. Kevin Smith, Vice President of SET, Inc. Mr. Robinson explained the development of a Task Force Committees that are being developed. He said there are approximately 13 or 14 committees that encompass a wide scope of study from back-office operations to tourism and marketing our area. Mr. Robinson said "we are dealing now not on competition on a city or a state basis, but on a global basis. We must sharpen our tools, we must be ready for -175- July 19, 1994 everything. " Mr. Smith then reviewed three specific, successful projects: the Postal Service Encoding facility, a project that is in the making that utilizes a petrochemical company's by-product for their own production and the Tyson Company's chicken facility. Mr. Stokes concluded the presentation by enumerating the various committees on which they serve for development in the community, explained the Wetland Mitigation Bank and the Air Emission Credit Bank, and suggested that Council consider establishment of a Business Climate Assessment Committee to assess the strengths and liabilities of the communities. Police Sergeant James Clay, Coordinator and Field Supervisor for the Southeast Texas Auto Task Force, addressed Council to explain the history, development, operation, funding and success of the program. Sergeant Clay said that from September 1, 1993 through May 31, 1994, there has been a 21% reduction in auto theft in Jefferson County, compared to that same nine-month period in the previous year. Sergeant Clay reported that the special project grant funding that was approved today is 100% funded, and the main focus for the Crime Prevention Director for the coming year will be public awareness and crime prevention. He complimented Officer Roberto Flores' success in prevention programs, said the Director will work with and continue Officer Flores' efforts, and said would like to see a full-time person committed to media relations. Mayor Moore told Ms. Sharon Eaves that he has had opportunity to look at the poem and art work she presented to him earlier for Mr. Joseph and asked her to extend his thanks and appreciation to Mr. Joseph and tell him he will hang it in his office. Mr. Henry Dannenbaum, 2880 Grand, addressed Council on various subjects and expressed appreciation to Councilmembers Cokinos and Ames for their involvement on the task force committee relative to a homeless shelter. -000- There being no other business, the regular session of City Council was recessed to reconvene in executive session. -000- I, Rosemarie Chiappetta, City Clerk of the City of Beaumont, Texas, certify that the above is a true copy of the Minutes of the regular City Council session held July 19, 1994. Rosemarie Chiappetta City Clerk -176- July 19, 1994 EXCERPT JULY 19, 1994 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND SET, INC. Mr. Jim Stokes : I 'm Jim Stokes, and I'm representing the Chamber of Commerce and Southeast Texas, Inc . As most of you know, each of those organizations has a contract for economic development with the city, and part of that contract is a reporting requirement, and that is what we' re fulfilling today, that requirement to let you know what we' re doing. I will at the end report on Chamber activities . To begin with Dean Robinson, who is Chairman of the Board of SET, Inc . will report to you, and then he' ll be followed by Kevin Smith, who is Vice-President of SET, Inc . , and then, as I said, I will follow up at the end. The activities of these two organizations for economic development is now integrated, and I think that' ll come through to you in the presentation. Without further adieu, let me introduce Dean Robinson from Silsbee, Chairman of the Board of SET, Inc . Dean Robinson: Thank you, Jim. Appreciate the opportunity of coming, and on behalf of the Southeast Texas, Inc . , we would just like to thank the Council for their support, and it means a lot to our Board to have Beaumont as a part of our regional effort . And, you know, our mission is jobs, and that' s not only to keep what we have, but also to diversify and get other jobs coming into our area. And, of course, we' re shooting for those value-added jobs that really would make a difference in our economy. Now, in order to accomplish all that we, we've envisioned, we've set up various committees, and what we call task force . Now this is something that we've been developing over time . You know, we've been an organization for almost nine years now. We have approximately 13 or 14 committees that we have set up, and they would encompass areas such as back-office operations, image, small business, wood and paper products, finance, Lamar University resource committee, marketing of our area, tourism, and a big one that' s been split into various committees-- retention and expansion. Now, I think what' s probably more important than just setting up these task force, is that we have 70, approximately 70 volunteers that are helping us with our economic development . Now, as a Board, we' re a small group. There' s only so much you can get done on a individual basis . The really true test is getting everybody involved in economic development, and that' s what we' re attempting to do. Now, we are just now, setting up some of the committees . We have some that have already met and set up some goals . We have budget amounts for each committee, but I think you' re going to see some good results coming out of this . Another thing that' s probably more important than that, is that we are pulling together communities through a three-county area. Now, you know as well as I do, it' s, it' s hard enough working with a city and a county, then you throw all these cities in there, and you've really got a problem because we've all been competing for the same businesses . And, so, the regional aspect of economic development is more important now that it has ever been before . We are dealing now not on competition on a city or state basis, but on a global basis . We must sharpen our tools . We must be ready for everything, and in our visits with the Texas Department of Commerce, PAGE 2 EXCERPT July 19, 1994 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND SET, INC. they are telling us that our organization that we have in our region, Southeast Texas, Inc . , is one of the finest organizations they have seen and very productive . So, I just want to make you aware that we are attempting to do everything we can to bring jobs and to solidify the jobs that we have in our area, and we' re going to look to you, though, to help Beaumont . Guy was talking about funds for economic development . In Silsbee, we' re attempting to get a half-cent sales tax for economic development . You don' t have that avenue to go. You probably need to do something to set funds aside for economic development . Businesses that come in do not want to look at a raw piece of land. They want to see a industrial building. They want to see industrial park. It takes money. So, for Beaumont' s growth economically, you need to start setting some money aside for these kind of efforts . That way, when we have a prospect, we can show them a building; we can show them utilities to that building. So, it' s very important that we all work as a team, and we have Board meetings, and you as Council people are more than welcome to come to our Board meetings to see what we' re talking about, what we' re trying to accomplish. We do have advisors that come from municipalities and counties come to our meetings, and you' re more than welcome to come . Now, a lot of our most recent success has a lot to do with Kevin Smith. He' s our Vice-President . He' s very enthusiastic . He works very hard at what he' s doing, and at this point, I'm going to turn it over to Kevin and let him tell you about some specific projects we've been working on. Thank you. Kevin Smith: Thank you. What I thought I ' d do is just take three examples of some projects that we've been working on recently. One of the examples is the Postal Service, the Remote Encoding facility, which I'm sure you' re all very well aware of . Originally, that project started about two years ago. There was a private company called Lockhead that contracted with the Postal Service to provide such remote and encoding services, and the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce began working with the Lockhead Co. to recruit them into this area, and actually, they got as far as, as being a final site selection when the Union, the Postal Union, had kind of an issue which, which eliminated any of the communities from continuing with the remote encoding facility on a privatization basis . Two years later, the Postal Service worked out a deal in which they picked up this service in-house, using Union Postal employees and hiring part-time employees, as well . And, so they've picked up right where Lockhead had left off and actually they came back to the City of Beaumont, met with the Mayor, and she referred them to the Chamber and to SET, Inc . , and when they came back we were able to work with them and help them in developing the facility here downtown, working together with the City and with the County, everybody working together to make this deal happen. Two items were brought to our attention, really, or to the Postal Service' attention, on a national basis because of this project . Item Number 1, they had over 7, 000 applicants for the potential 1, 000 employees, of which they were just starting out at roughly around 300 . Seven thousand applicants compared to the other 15 PAGE 3 EXCERPT JULY 19, 1994 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND SET, INC. sites in the United States that they were in the process of, had an average of about 2 , 000 applicants, and so that really opened their eyes there as to the rich resource that we have of a hungry labor force wanting jobs . The other thing that was brought to our attention by the U. S . Postal Service was the gratitude and appreciation that the people that had received jobs so far, the feedback that they had gotten--the Postal Service had received as far as gratitude and appreciation of these individuals . Whereas, they had explained to us that in other areas, such as Ohio or Arkansas and so forth, people acted like, "you owe it to me, and it' s no big deal, " and they kind of just expected a job and the appreciation really wasn' t there or as felt as much as it is here in the Beaumont area, and they appreciated that . The goal is to go after a thousand jobs with this facility. At this time, they are training employees . They plan by September to have 400 employees in operation, and by this time next year, they hope to have Baton Rouge and New Orleans as service areas come on line . At this time, with the 400 employees, that' s just servicing the Houston area, and so, they hope to bring on Baton Rouge and New Orleans by this time next year, and we hope to have as much as a thousand employees by this time next year. One of the committees that Dean referred to that we have is called the Expansion Development Committee, and this is part of our business retention and expansion effort . And, this committee meets with the plant managers and with the existing industries . And, we started out with the plant managers to meet with them, not just to talk with them about existing concerns and problems, but to look to them as a resource to help us recruit downstream industries and companies . Companies that are their customers . It seems that we have a lot of raw development production going on, and it' s sent elsewhere for other geographic regions to have good employment and making final end products . And, so, in our efforts with them, we've received a lot of positive feedback and encouragement as they supply us with their customers' list and their willingness to work with us and help us to meet with their customers to talk them about opportunities of locating here . One example, and I can' t give you real detail specifics because this is an ongoing process right now, but there is a, a petrochemical company here in Beaumont that part of their by-product is carbon dioxide, co-2, which goes into the atmosphere and adds to the greenhouse effect . We were able to work with a company that is a supplier of co-2 for beer industries and soft drink industries, and we' re working with this petrochemical company right now in locating this supplier of co-2 . They' re interested in building a $3 million dollar facility at the site of this company. This company is willing to lease the property to them. They would hook up and put a pipe right into the wall of the existing business and be able to produce the co-2 into a food-grade material, and, therefore, we' re able to get more employment from that as well . Probably, the last example that I' d like to share with you represents our regional effort, and it' s the Tyson chicken project, which I'm sure you've probably heard a little bit about . This project goes actually even beyond our three county area because the Tyson chicken facility is such a large project it includes 600 chicken houses, as well as, a processing center, a hatchery, a feed mill . There' s an awful lot of employment coordination, and it PAGE 4 EXCERPT JULY 19 , 1994 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND SET, INC. really is more than what probably any one county or city can handle . Initially we went at this on a regional basis including other counties and other communities so that we could work together with their resources, and we have had a lot of good success . In fact, we've been notified that we are one of the three finalists in the state of Texas . We' re the only area outside their original perimeters, geographic perimeters, that is being considered, and it' s because we've been able to put together the right ingredients cost-wise to make it very financially efficient and effective for them to locate here . And, it' s given SET, Inc . and Beaumont, as well, a good name because it' s showing the other communities that we' re not selfish with our industrial recruitment, and that we' re willing to do whatever is necessary to help promote jobs and increase our economic basis on a regional basis, and this has been good public relations on our part and for Beaumont into the out, outer areas . At this time, I' ll go ahead and turn the time over to Jim Stokes, and I thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to share this with you. Jim Stokes : Kevin' s in the process of sending out letters to 4, 000 farmers in the area that he' s identified to see which of those might be interested in raising chickens . So, if any of you aren' t on his mailing list and are interested, just contact him separately. The Postal Service is probably the best example with, within many years of the ability of the city and the county and private business, SET, Inc . to work together for the benefit of the whole community. Judge LeBlanc, Robert Stroder at the County, Mayor and City Council and Ray Riley were innovative and aggressive in dealing with the Postal Service, and for that reason, there whole plan expanded, and I'm very confident that in that year' s time, that we will over a thousand employees there . But, it really was a model of cooperation. Industrial recruitment is clearly the high profile part of economic development, but there' s a lot else that goes into it, and I want to make you aware of some of that, that is done on the Chamber side in support of SET, Inc . ' s marketing operations . George Perrett is here, and he does several things in support of economic development . Not the least of which is small business assistance . During 1993 , he had 118 small businesses that came in and visited with him. It' s 148 already this year for information on permitting, for assistance in finding, identifying and finding appropriate location and for financial or other assistance referrals, be it out at John Gray Institute or Small Business Assistance loans or Revolving Loan Fund or whatever. He also does our economic development research, and that' s in much demand from both large businesses coming in, from continuing businesses, for demographics--such things as traffic counts . He also does the sites, the primary site selection work for SET, Inc . in that he keeps the inventory of buildings and sites prepared, keeps printed material prepared on those, and for the prime buildings and sites in the area, even videos . He works with John Geis in the Economic Development Foundation which processes 504-SBA loans . He' s a Boardmember of the Southeast Texas Economic Development Corporation, which is a regional PAGE 5 EXCERPT JULY 19, 1994 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND SET, INC. planning commission entity established when there are EDA grants, Economic Development Administration grants, in the area. The existence of that corporation at the Regional Planning Commission enables those grants to be increased, I think, by 10% . So, that' s a new organization that he' s involved with, and he' s also a member of the Sister City Commission. As, Vice, Executive Vice-President of SET, Inc . , I a Boardmember of the Wetland Mitigation Bank, which is a new entity in the area. You all know from your own experiences here on City Council, when projects come up, I guess the most recent one that' s been in the paper is the Pleasure Island Commission. If wetlands are identified, that constrains development, and one of the ways around that that' s been established by law is to establish Mitigation Banks . So, you can enhance wetland, you can create wetland and put it in a bank, and then later, if you have some wetlands that you want to develop, in some instances you can then trade that, those wetlands that you have in the bank for the wetlands that you' re going to use . That organization is just getting started. It also comes under the Regional Planning Commission. I will be a Boardmember of the Air Emission Credit Bank, which hadn' t quite been formed yet, but as you know, the Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Texas, everyone' s trying to reduce air emissions . As part of that process, plants create emission credits when they voluntarily exceed requirements . They can then certify with the State that they have created, say 50 tons or 500 tons, of air emission credits, and then if some other entity comes in and wants to build a plant or these plants want to expand, the requirements for the air permit can be met by taking those air emission credits out of the bank. And, this is another Regional Planning Commission entity that was established by State law, and I will be on the Board of that . As Mayor Moore knows from his last weekend, I am the Mayor' s appointee, one of the Mayor' s appointees, to the Private Industry Council, which is the JTPA, job-funding organization. I have one recommendation that I' d like to leave with you, and Councilman Goodson and I had no prior conversations . I ' ll sound like I 'm picking up on what he was talking about, but I would like to recommend for your consideration, the creation, for lack of a name, a Business Climate Assessment Committee for the City of Beaumont . From time to time, it' s worth stepping back and for a community to assess its strengths and liabilities in terms of, of business climate . Mayor Ed Koch in New York City used to like to ask people on the street, "How'm I doing? , " and that' s what this process is about . How are we doing as a city? Is our permitting enhancing industrial development, or is it constraining industrial development? Are our building codes helping development or are they making development more expensive, and therefore, discouraging development? Are construction costs reasonable in the city of Beaumont? Somebody on the phone today, just in passing, said constructions costs were x percent higher in Beaumont than in other communities where he did business . I don' t know that, he just alleged that, but that' s something that from time to time we ought to stop and examine . Then there' s the matter of business assistance . Beaumont has had an active revolving loan fund for small business and a successful one . Recently the SBA has created what they call low-doc, which is low documentation, PAGE 6 EXCERPT JULY 19, 1994 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND SET, INC. loans generally up to $50, 000 . They can go up to $100 , 000 , but these are one-page application, small business loans initiated and forwarded directly from local banks, and it may well be, because the process is so much easier than those for revolving funds, that SBA will take away the revolving loan funds customers, and so be it . So, it might pay to relook at that revolving loan fund and see if it can be accessed easier, or if those funds might be used better in some other manner. 'The City Council a few years ago considered, and even took the first steps, toward developing a Community Development Corporation. That' s something that might need to be looked at again. Several cities in the state are creating Community Development Corporations for the purpose of economic development . There' s been talk over a number of years about a business incubator, an the John Gray Institute went pretty far forward with that process and then hung up for lack of funds . Is that something the City would like to be involved in? And, then one thing that Dean Robinson mentioned was an industrial park. Is that the sort of thing that the City would like to consider in terms of assisting economic development? All of these, and others that you could probably think of, are matters that might be considered by such a one-time committee to review the situation in Beaumont, and I would recommend it to you for your consideration. Appreciate your attention, look forward to coming back soon. Are there any questions? END OF EXCERPT