Copperas Cove EDC moving forward with community assessment, special meeting set for May 4

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Economic Development Corporation board of directors approved an engagement letter from Mike Barnes Group to move forward with providing a Community Assessment for the EDC during their regular meeting Wednesday afternoon.

CCEDC Executive Director Fred Welch explained that although this item had been on the agenda last month, the board had been unable to take formal action, so it was brought back this month.

The EDC looked into a number of firms to look at aspects of how to conduct a community type assessment in order to set a baseline regarding where the EDC and city is at as well as looking at factors such as: business climate, workforce and education, available buildings or sites, infrastructure or transportation needs that might be associated with that, as well as overall quality of life.

“These are these factors that affect how we basically present and market our community,” Welch said during Wednesday’s meeting.

EDC staff received two responses to Requests for Information and recommended the Mike Burnes Group.

“[Burnes] is an economist and economic development professional that has been doing this type of work in Texas for over 25 years, and he has presented a scope of work, which is in your packet there and I think was partially presented at the last meeting,” Welch said. “He would commence this work, as I said, May 11, and then would be finished up hopefully by the end of June, which would coincide with some work we're doing on a marketing communication strategy at the same time.”

The cost would be $25,000, to be allocated from the Fiscal Year 2022 budget.

Welch added that he would suggest a budget amendment sometime in June to move forward with for the rest of the year. He said that the EDC has the funds, but it is just a matter of moving them around.

He didn’t anticipate this requiring the EDC to dip into reserve accounts, which would require board and council approval, he said.

Welch also provided a brief update regarding EDC activity, stating that there had been a developer site visit to look at the Narrows Business and Technology Park as well as a visit with the consultant going across the community.

Welch added that the EDC has three working projects currently, two of which were discussed in Executive Session during Wednesday’s meeting. They are known as Project DC and Project Spring.

The EDC has a follow-up with a special meeting set for Wednesday, May 4 at noon, during which it will discuss the negotiated contract with Project Spring that it previously discussed in executive session last Wednesday. At that time, the EDC board’s recommendation was to accept that contract with an exception to amend the verbiage that allows for first right of refusal of undeveloped property of the original purchase price per acre, listed as $43,519.69. The agenda item did not specify how much total acreage to be sold, nor which specific piece of property owned by the EDC. The EDC currently owns The Narrows Business & Industrial Park, of which it has sold two parcels out of the 72-acre property. The meeting will be held at the Copperas Cove city council chambers, located at 508 S. 2nd St.