Five students from Forney High School were “camping out” in front of Forney’s new Taco Bell Monday morning, waiting to be the first customers on the franchise’s first day of business. Pictured are Chase Withrow, John Gonzalez, Blake Withrow, David Slywka, and Steven Slywka. The Taco Bell opened for business at 10 a. m.

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

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A vote taken Thursday evening by the Board of Directors of the Forney Economic Development Corporation has effectively laid to rest the proposed construction of a hospital that Cirrus Health was originally planning to build on a lot near Forney Community Park on FM 548.

The decision came after EDC Directors considered Action Item (c) on the EDC Board agenda for July 16—“To authorize the Executive Director to enter in contractual agreement to purchase the 13-acre Cirrus property.”

Cirrus ran into financing problems regarding the hospital with the economic downturn that began last summer and over the ensuing nine to ten months, hopes that the hospital would be built continued to fade. Then came a shakeup in the personnel structure of both Cirrus Health and the Cirrus Group.

The proposal by the Cirrus Group that the EDC purchase the property had been under Board consideration for at least a month. However, when the Board discussed the issue again July 16, EDC Executive Director Fran Owens told Board members that after talking very recently with the CEO of Cirrus Health and the principal and partner in Cirrus Group, he became convinced that the construction of Forney Regional Medical Center was no longer a viable possibility. (Details of those conversations are given below in connection with the Executive Director’s report for July).

When the Directors reached Action Item (c) on the agenda, and after the Directors reviewed discussion on the item held earlier in the meeting, Board President Bill Cates called for a vote to deny the request for purchase of the lot from Cirrus. Director Jay Calvin made the motion, and Director Matt Ferguson seconded. All Directors voted in favor of the motion to deny. However, EDC Executive Director Fran Owens stressed that the EDC would continue to look at other possibilities for a hospital in Forney.

The July 16 regular meeting of the Forney EDC Board began at approximately 6:30 p. m. in the EDC board room with all seven Directors present. Kim Buttram, the EDC’s Director of Economic Development, was also present. Board President Bill Cates called the meeting to order. Director Matt Ferguson gave the invocation.

The only consent item on the agenda was approval of the Board minutes of their regular meeting of June 18, 2009. After a short discussion in which Director Meredith Briggs asked for one correction, Director Jay Calvin moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Director Briggs seconded, and all Directors voted in favor.

The monthly treasurer’s report was presented by Ms. Briggs.

The monthly Executive Director’s report from Fran Owens included the following:
A recap of the June 19 Friday in the Park picnic-style mixer for business owners in the downtown area;
A followup report on the 2009 Board retreat, held June 26-27 at the Bella Harbor Hotel, Rockwall.

“Several excellent suggestions came out of the retreat and and are now being implemented or considered,” Owens stated in part of his followup;
A progress report on the study by University of Texas at Arlington students of urban design that is expected to lead to proposed ways to improve Forney’s downtown area;
A report on existing business contacts, in which Owens stated that the EDC staff has confirmed that the Chamber of Commerce is interested in participating in a proposed Business Retention/Expansion (BRE) effort starting this month. Several appointments with employers have already been scheduled, with more to follow in the coming weeks, Owen said;
A report on recommendations from the EDC’ labor study subcommittee on workforce study proposals from the three final contenders for the contract. The subcommittee recommended that the EDC pursue discussions with Pathfinder;
A report on the status of Forney Regional Medical Center as originally proposed by Cirrus Health. Owens reported that Don Wilson, CEO of Cirrus Health, has continued to show little optimism. In a subsequent discussion with Bill Hutchinson, principal and partner in Cirrus Group, Hutchinson agreed with Mr. Wilson’s assessment, indicating that it would be a useless gesture for the EDC to buy the lot originally set aside for the hospital and that the lot should be put up for sale to the public;
A report on the KBA EnviroScience Ltd. remediation project on the EDC property in Forney Business Park;
A report on a proposed amendment to the 2008-2009 budget necessitated by an increase in the number of EDC projects funded but not budgeted during the fiscal year;
A report on staff participation in an EPA Region 6 training session July 7, 2009; and
A final report on the EDC’s third-quarter Eggs & Issues mixer, held July 15 at North Forney High School.
There were seven discussion items on the July 16 agenda:
Discuss entering in to a contractual agreement for the purpose of funding a labor work force study. Committee update. During discussion, it was noted that the EDC would share results of the study with any employer who asked for it.
Discuss KBA Environmental Phase 1 for Forney Business Park, EDC parcel.
Discuss 2008-2009 budget amendment as presented.
Discuss potential property acquisition of 13 acres at FM 548 offered by Cirrus Group. During discussion, it was noted that the EDC staff had recommended a vote to deny.
Discussion (of) estate/development opportunities in the area. Item placed on the agenda by Director Tyler Moore.
Discuss relationships between Boards and Staff of the Chamber of Commerce, the FISD, the P&Z, and other community entities. Cates led the discussion. This item was placed on the agenda by Director Mark Ellis.
Discuss EDC website development/redevelopment. Board President Bill Cates began the discussion by noting that the EDC website is in need of upgrading. After a short discussion, Director Matt Ferguson volunteered to lead the upgrade effort. Cates suggested that the new fiscal year beginning October 1 would be the time to start spending money to upgrade the site.

Under Action Items (a), (b) and (d) on the agenda, respectively, the following actions were taken:
Director Tyler Moore offered a motion that the EDC authorize Fran Owens to enter into a contractual agreement for a Workforce study with the company recommended by the Board of Directors Workforce study committee in an amount not to exceed $20,000.00. During subsequent discussion, Moore reiterated that the committee was recommending Pathfinder to do the study, and Pathfinder was specifically named in the motion. The motion drew a second by Director Justin Darland. All Directors voted in favor.

Unanimously voted to adopt a motion by Director Meredith Briggs to authorize Fran Owens to submit 2008-2009 budget amendments to the City Council on or before August 18, 2009, the amendments to reflect the repositioning of the sales tax abatement expense reporting and the additional project expense line item. Director Jay Calvin seconded.

Under Action Item (d), “Discussion and possible action on real estate/development opportunities in the area”, no discussion took place and no action was taken.

An executive session was deemed not necessary.

Under “Public Communications” on the agenda, the only guest present—Messenger publisher Cary Griffin —had only one short comment.

There was a brief discussion concerning future agenda items. There was no other business and the July 16 EDC meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p. m.

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Precinct 2 Kaufman County Commissioner Ray Clark and Forney City Manager Brian Brooks attended a meeting with TxDOT and NCTCOG officials at the TxDOT offices in Arlington June 10 regarding the funding of county road and bridge projects with $20 million that has recently become available through RTC.

Other officials present for the meeting included State Rep. Betty Brown; two representatives from the office of State Sen. Bob Deuell; Kaufman City Manager Curtis Snow; and several representatives from the city of Terrell.

“Basically, I went over the same things I went over at the last Commissioners Court meeting,” Clark said.

Earlier this month, Commissioners voted to allocate $10 million of the available funding to the City of Forney to fund the Forney Parkway bridge project. However, Clark cautioned that there are “a few more steps” that have to be taken before the city can actually get the money. One of the requirements is to put up a match of 20 per cent of the total funding.

“(Forney) will have to put up $2 million,” Clark said. But he added that the city has already committed that amount.

Clark said one of the main purposes of the June 10 meeting was to locate additional funding for Terrell’s Highway 34 project.

The next step in the general process will be to form a countywide planning committee to set short-range priorities and future priorities for the county. Clark said he will be forming the committee within the next four to six weeks.

“I had a conversation with TxDOT about how to select the membership of the committee,” Clark related.

Any projects that are done in Kaufman County using the RTC funding will have to meet certain technical criteria, Clark said. Criteria include, but aren’t limited to: population growth, the results of traffic studies, and economic development.

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

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During the Commissioners Court meeting of Monday, June 8, Commissioners discussed and considered an agenda item concerning a resolution “in support of the construction of both the Highway 34 bridge in Terrell and the Forney Parkway Bridge and/or in the alternative decide on which project individually should be recommended to the Council of Governments.”

The discussion began with Precinct 2 County Commissioner Ray Clark saying that he had put this item on the agenda.

Clark began his discussion by giving a background of how this money—$20 million—had been discovered from the North Texas Council of Governments.

The $20 million is in RTR funds—$7.17 million in RTR/ARRA swap funding, $2.83 million in a Kaufman County RTR allocation, and $10 million in New Boundary RTR funding.

Clark said he had been working on this project for Kaufman County for 1 1/2 years and that his goal was to get the money for the the cities throughout the county to enable them to proceed with their projects.

This money is not TxDOT money and will not reduce or affect any TxDOT money that has been allocated for Kaufman County projects.

The original stimulus projects for Kaufman County on the short list for the Dallas District are:
U. S. 80 at FM 548—funds requested: $10 million; and
U. S. 80 new interchange at Forney—funding
requested: $18 million.

During Clark’s presentation, he pointed out that the City of Forney had adopted a resolution in support of $10 million for the construction of State Highway 34 bridge over U. S. Highway 80 and $10 million for the construction of the Forney bridge at the most recent meeting of the Forney City Council on June 2.

Clark also pointed out that the City of Forney had adopted a resolution at the same Council meeting stating that they would fund a total of $8 million towards this project.

Clark informed Commissioners that the city of Talty and their mayor, Carla Milligan, were in favor of the City of Forney project. Clark read a letter to that effect.

A resolution by Commissioner Clark affirms that the Forney Parkway project will connect FM 1641 and FM 548, allowing for mixed use and regional development in accordance with the stated goals of the Regional Transportation Council (RTC), and that it therefore supports the allocation of $10 million for the construction of the Forney Parkway Bridge. The NCTCOG resolution limits fun ding to the Forney Parkway Bridge only unless funding is approved for other projects by Kaufman County and the RTC, and stipulates that construction contracts must be let by July, 2011.

Commissioner Clark closed his remarks by encouraging all the cities to find ways to finance their projects in order for the projects to be completed.

Before recognizing visitors who had signed up to speak to this item, County Judge Wayne Gent asked for a motion concerning the proposed agenda item. Clark made a motion to allocate $10 million to the Forney Parkway Bridge project. His motion drew a second from Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Deller.

Judge Gent then said he would allow speakers to have the floor only if they had new information to present to the Court concerning the transportation resolution. The following signed up to speak: Mayor William Fortner, Kaufman; Mayor Hal Richards, Terrell; Heath Kaplan, City Manager, Crandall; Curtis Snow, City Manager, Kaufman; Danny Booth, EDC and Chamber of Commerce, Terrell; former Mayor Darrell Grooms, Forney; Mayor Darren Rozell, Forney; Troy Edwards, City Manager, Terrell; and Mike Sims, Assistant City Manager, Terrell.

All of the speakers except former Mayor Grooms and current Mayor Rozell of Forney said they were in total support of Kaufman and Terrell receiving the entire $20 million in funding. Rozell and Grooms explained Forney’s position, which was to support the allocation of $10 million to the City of Forney for the Forney Parkway Bridge project and $10 million for the Highway 34 projects in Terrell and Kaufman. Rozell also explained Forney’s complete cost breakdown on the Parkway project, including the bridge and spine roads.

During comments from Commissioners, Commissioner Jerry Rowden (Precinct 1) presented a resolution which the city of Terrell had adopted at their June 2 Council meeting, which would allocate the priorities of eight projects with 1 being the highest priority and 8 being the lowest priroity. These projects are:
(1)?State Highway 34 separation in Terrell from Grove St. to High St.; (2) State Highway 34 in Terrell from Airport Rd. to Grove St.; (3)?State Highway 34 in Kaufman from SW to FM 1388 to SH 243; (4)?U. S. 175 in Crandall from FM 148 to CR 4106; (5)?U. S. 80 bridge at proposed new parkway east of FM 548; (6)?U. S. 175 new grade separation in Kemp; (7)?Re-alignment of FM 148 in Crandall from south of U. S. 175 to north of U. S. 175; and (8)?Re-alignment of State Highway 34 from north of Kaufman to south of Terrell.

Commissioner Rowden emphasized that the Highway 34 project should be priority since it has been on the books for about 40 years. He said he supports the Kaufman-Terrell projects and urged Commissioners to “search their hearts” before voting. He urged Commissioners to adopt a resolution similar to the city of Terrell’s.

In response, Clark said everyone should push their projects to get them completed.

Commissioner J. C. Jackson (Precinct 3) said that the Highway 34 project should be priority because in its present shape, it is a “very dangerous situation” for the citizens of Kaufman County.

Commissioner Deller said that this is the hardest decision he has ever made since he had become a Commissioner on the Kaufman County Commissioners Court.

Commissioner Rowden offered an amended motion. The amended motion was seconded by Commissioner Jackson. The vote was: For: Rowden and Jackson; against: Clark, Gent and Deller.

Judge Gent then went back to the original motion, which was to allocate $10 million to the Forney Parkway Bridge project, with the stipulation that a contract must be negotiated by or before July, 2011 or the City of Forney would lose the $10 million. The original motion carried by a vote of 3-2, with Commissioners Clark and Deller and County Judge Wayne Gent voting in favor. Those voting “no” were Commissioners Rowden and Jackson.

There is $10 million left to allocate, and Commissioners hope to allocate the remaining amount either June 22 or June 29. Commissioners Clark and Jackson were planning to discuss transportation with TxDOT on Wednesday, June 10 at the TxDOT offices and report back at a later date.

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During a meeting last Thursday evening, members of the Board of Directors of the Forney Economic Development Corporation (EDC) held a public hearing on a proposed land purchase.

The public hearing was originally scheduled for May 28, 2009, but the EDC’s regular May meeting was moved to June 4 for lack of a quorum resulting from a conflict with Forney High School graduation, which took place May 28.

Purpose of the public hearing was to solicit public input regarding the project, which was specifically described as follows:
“The acquisition of a real property of 13 acres of land located on the west side of FM 548 between FM 1641 and FM 741 and within the city of Forney.”

The required 60-day notice of the public hearing was originally published April 2, 2009; however, no written or other public comments were received.

The public hearing was the first item on the agenda of the June 4 EDC meeting following consent items. There was one consent item to consider: the approval of the EDC minutes of a regular meeting held April 16. EDC directors approved the minutes as presented by unanimous “yes” vote on a motion made by director Jay Calvin and seconded by director Tyler Moore.

Moore made the motion to open the public hearing sometime around 6:40 p. m, with Calvin seconding and all directors voting in favor. Board president Bill Cates called for public comment as soon as the hearing was declared opened, but no one was present to speak to that topic. However, Bill Cates did read an e-mail sent to the EDC by a Dawn McNary, a member of Forney ISD’s DEIC, suggesting that the EDC consider options for putting a “wet zone” in Forney for use by student swimming athletes and other Forney and area residents. At approximately 8:47 p. m., director Matt Ferguson moved to close the public hearing, with Calvin seconding. All directors voted in favor.

The next portion of the June 4 EDC agenda was devoted to monthly reports. Interim board treasurer Meredith Briggs gave the treasurer’s report. Next came a lengthy report from EDC Executive Director Fran Owens recapping EDC activities since the board’s last regular meeting, which included the following:

A report on the second-quarter Eggs and Issues, hosted April 22 by the Best Western hotel in Forney. The informational mixer featured reports from District Judge Howart Tygrett, Mayor Darrell Grooms, and a presentation and tour of the new hotel facility by representatives of the Best Western management group.

A report on a meeting between Owens and Brian Murphy and Adam Schiller, formerly of Endeavor Real Estate who have united with six members of the former Staubach Group to Form Edge Realty. The new group, which has purchased all of the Dallas assets of Endeavor, is moving forward with Paul Cheng to develop Meadow Ridge Farms.

An overview of the 1st Quarter, 2009 report from Residential Strategies. The report consists of a detailed overview of the housing market for our area.

An overview of 2009 population reports received to date from Claritas.

A report on the annual CORENet Summit held April 26-29 at the Hotel Anatole. The EDC staff served as a co-chair of the state volunteer committee for the sponsoring organization, which is comprised of corporate real estate executives, developers, and economic development representatives.

A report on the Best Western hotel grand opening on April 30.

A report on the first annual Main Street Rabbit Trax, which took place in downtown Forney on May 2.

A report on the EDC staff’s attendance at ICSC 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada, between May 17 to May 20.

A report on marketing materials that will be used by the EDC for the remainder of the 2009 calendar year.

A report on the second-quarter Bankers Profit meeting, hosted by the EDC on May 27.

A report on the UTA downtown study in which Owens stated that the EDC was to receive an electronic version of the first draft of the report sometime during the week of May 7. Final documents and the printed report will be forwarded upon review and comment by the EDC staff and interested parties. The study is expected to form the basis of a request for proposal seeking private-sector interest in redeveloping all or portions of the Main Street Corridor and the First Baptist Church property located on South Bois d’Arc Street.

A report on recent meetings between the EDC staff and Becky Kuban, Capital Projects Manager for Cirrus Health. In those discussions, the EDC has learned that proposed changes in federal law are “prompting Cirrus Health to revisit the legal structure of the partnerships proposed in financing and operating of health care facilities.” Staff has recommended that Cirrus Health principals meet with the EDC and the City of Forney in order to further the two local entities’ understanding of their efforts.

A detailed overview of a compliance report recently sent to the EDC. The report is required by a U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Mitigation Monitoring Plan for the Forney Industrial Park. Staff has contacted the Steve Silver Company regarding the findings and has contacted Richard Cunningham regarding costs associated with fixing the erosion gully as indicated in the report.

A report on preparations being made for the second annual EDC board retreat, which will take place June 26-27 in Rockwall.

There were three discussion items on the June 4 agenda. The first item concerned a proposal by KBA Environmental Science Ltd. of Lewisville, Texas to perform a Phase 1 environmental site assessment for a 50-acre tract of land near Reeder Road as explained toward the end of the Executive Director’s report. The second item was a discussion regarding entering into a contractual agreement for the purpose of funding a labor work force study. The EDC committee that has been exploring this matter recommended June 4 that action on the matter be postponed because the committee is still gathering information. It will be placed on the agenda of the next regular EDC meeting for action.

The third and final discussion item concerned a request for consideration of the purchase of the Cirrus property in the wake of the public hearing that took place earlier in the meeting.

The only action item was to authorize the Executive Director to execute a check payable to Mustang Crossing LTD. for first quarter, 2009 sales tax abatement in an amount not to exceed $98,079.94. After a brief discussion, Ferguson moved to authorize the issuance of the check, with Calvin seconding. All directors voted in favor.

At approximately 7:50 p. m., board president Bill Cates asked for a motion to go into executive session to discuss three matters concerning real property: (1) Discussion of the appraised price and the asking price of the 13 acres that was the topic of the public hearing held earlier in the meeting and options for the location of the future Forney Regional Medical Center; (2) Discussion of a request that the EDC withdraw its partnership with Cirrus Health in the wake of proposed new federal regulations concerning the financing and operating of health care facilities and to accept back the $25,000.00 the EDC had put forward in support of Forney Regional Medical Center; and (3) Economic development negotiations with businesses wishing to expand in Forney.

EDC board president Bill Cates declared the board back in open session at 8:18 p. m. The only motion considered after the board returned to open session was to give the Executive Director the authority to dissolve the EDC’s partnership with Cirrus Health and to take back the $25,000.00 the EDC had invested in Forney Regional Medical Center. The motion was made by Calvin and seconded by Ferguson and all directors voted in favor.

The next regular meeting of the EDC board will take place on June 18. At that meeting, the agenda will include the election of new board officers as well as a proposal to enter into a contract for the funding of a labor work force study.
The June 4 meeting was adjourned at 8:28 p.m.

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.

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According to Cousins Paintball, the facility is over 250 acres and will be the largest in Texas. The park will offer woods, rivers, open fields, air ball, hyper ball and other theme fields.

This new paintball park will be independently owned and operated by Jed and Maggie Allsup. Together they have over 25 years in the paintball industry. Jed and Maggie have licensed the Cousins name and will operate in the Cousins safe, fun, and family oriented tradition.

More details are available at www.CousinsPaintball.com

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Originally rumored to be located near the CVS at Highway 80 & 548, Gonzo’s post indicates that the plat is for a location further south, close to the new community park.

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20PM is proud to be the first to bring you a glimpse at these signs announcing this exciting new development! Below are the signs that will be appearing over the next week on these poles – sources say these signs will be as large as 40′ wide and 20′ tall and will announce these exciting new projects to the tens of thousands of people who pass by this intersection every day.

Stay tuned for more news about this development in the coming days!

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We’ll keep you updated as more details are available. In related news, rumors of a Taco Bell somewhere near the intersection of Pinson Road & Highway 80, on the north side of the highway, continue to persist. Taco Bell was long rumored to be interested in a pad site near Forney Center, just west of the gas station, between the highway and the newest portion of Forney Center where H&R Block and My Spa have recently opened. Now, rumor has it that they’re looking at the land near the McDonald’s that’s just west of that location.

Updated 11/9/2008 2:30PM: 20PM forum member Gonzo recently posted that the plat for the Jack in the Box is in the process of being reviewed by the Planning Office and will, subject to city approval, be located on the south side of Highway 80 near the new community park.

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