Story and photos by Cary Griffin

During their regular meeting for June, the Forney Economic Development Corporation’s Board of Directors seated a new member and chose its officers to serve for the 2009-2010 term.

The EDC held their June meeting Thursday evening, June 18, in the board room at the EDC offices at the corner of South Bois d’Arc and Trinity Street. All sitting board members but Director Justin Darland were present.

Before the meeting was called to order, Darren Rozell, who resigned from the Board after his election as Mayor of Forney in May, spoke briefly to board members to offer words of thanks and encouragement. In closing, he urged EDC Directors to “keep a good united front” in the eyes of the Forney City Council. He left the meeting immediately after the end of his short farewell address.

Board President Bill Cates called the meeting to order shortly after 6:30 p. m. and recognized the only guests who were present—Denise Bell, representing the Forney Post, and Cary Griffin, publisher of the Forney Messenger.

The next item on the agenda was to swear in newly-appointed Board member Mark Ellis, who was appointed by the City Council to fill the term held by Darren Rozell until his resignation last month. Kim Buttram, the EDC’s Economic Development Coordinator, administered the oath of office and then assisted Ellis in signing the paperwork that has to be sent in to the state.

Director Jay Calvin gave the invocation after Mr. Ellis was seated.

There was one set of minutes to consider under “consent items” on the agenda—those of a meeting held June 4 in lieu of the EDC’s regular meeting for May. In a brief discussion, Director Meredith Briggs asked that the minutes be amended, and the Board concurred. Then Briggs moved to approve the minutes of the meeting as amended, with Calvin seconding. All Directors present voted in favor.

Next, Director Briggs, who has been serving as interim treasurer pending the selection of new Board officers, reported on the EDC’s latest financials.

In his monthly Executive Director’s report, Fran Owens gave updates on the following:
-A short update on the appointment of Mark Ellis to the EDC Board;
-The next “Eggs and Issues,” which is scheduled for July 15, 2009. This will be the first community event held on the campus of North Forney High School and will provide a “sneak peak” at the new facility for community leaders. The one-hour meeting will conclude with an escorted tour of the building.
-An update on the recent action by the Kaufman County Commissioners Court to allocate $10 million to the City of Forney for the Forney Parkway Bridge project.
-An update on two meetings of the labor study subcommittee. The first was between the EDC staff and labor study subcommittee members Tyler Moore and Justin Darland on June 10. Purpose of this meeting was to discuss proposals available to the EDC. At that meeting, it was agreed that EDC staff would arrange a meeting between Kimberly Pulaski, Marketing Director for Pathfinders, a Dallas research firm, and Tim Stellman of TIP Strategies. On June 15, the subcommittee met with Ms. Pulaski and Diane White, Vice President of Pathfinders, who were put in touch with Mr. Stellman via a conference call. Pathfinders is a strong contender for the labor research contract.
-An update on the UTA downtown study.
-An update on the status of the hospital that is still proposed by Cirrus Health. Cirrus is looking at proposed changes in federal law regarding physician ownership of health facilities. Also discussed were financial alternatives and site considerations. It was concluded that representatives of Cirrus, the EDC and the City of Forney would meet approximately every 10 days to continue attempts to move the project forward.
-An update on the status of work the EDC has hired KBA EnviroScience Ltd. to do to bring Forney Industrial Park into compliance with regard to the findings of KBA’s third annual Mitigation Monitoring Plan, a compliance report required by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. Staff has authorized KBA to do a Phase 1 environmental study of the park.
-A report on a recent tour the EDC staff took of the proposed Forney Sports Center located south of the city limits on FM 1641. Staff took the tour with sports center owners Rami and Valerie Gilani, Mayor Darren Rozell, City Manager Brian Brooks, and Park Director Richard Curry. The Gilanis are remodeling approximately half of their 150,000-square-foot facility to create the 4th or 5th largest indoor sports facility in the area.
-An update/preview of the EDC’s 2009 Board retreat, set for June 26-27 at the Bella Harbor hotel in Rockwall.

There were five discussion items on the agenda.

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This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com