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BEDC April 23, 2020 Meeting Agenda
Bandera Economic Development Corporation Board Members Cindy Harrington, Art Crawford, Rhonda Carrell, Laura Devenport, Toni Kunz, Andrea Jankoski and Tom McEachin discuss relief efforts for Bandera businesses.
April 22, 2020
Bandera EDC board meeting tonight to discuss resolution authorizing program to provide financial assistance to businesses
By Jessica Nohealapa'ahi Goode
The Bandera Prophet
Bandera City Council members applied the brakes on the Bandera Economic Development Corporation’s effort to provide relief to businesses that have been negatively affected by CoViD-19 closures. In response, BEDC board members reconvened and reorganized with a structured proposal.
BEDC Board President Toni Kunz said she felt a sense of urgency from the mayor to come up with a plan to help businesses that were forced to close and are struggling to make ends meet. However council last week directed her to wait until they could further review the plan.
“It was very clear that some of [the council members] were irate that I had the audacity to create an application. The words were that I created a panic,” Kunz told the board last Thursday. “I’m not really sure how to get ahead of this.”
Art Crawford, in his final act as a BEDC board member, proposed a couple of options with definitive funding.
“I would like to move forward and make some motions so that perhaps the next board that meets can move forward,” Crawford said.
In a detailed motion, Crawford proposed transferring $100,000 cumulatively from the BEDC’s Advertising Budget, Travel and Research Budget, Audit Fees, Engineering Fees, Consulting Fees, Maintenance and Repairs Fund, City of Bandera Unrestricted Fund, City of Bandera Master Plan Projects, City Park and Recreation Fund and Incentives.
Crawford said the money could be dispersed in one of two ways - either $1,000 for everyone, or $2,500 per business tied to the sales tax paid to the city.
“One hundred people for option one, or 40 people for option two,” Kunz said.
Crawford said his concept was to try to come up with something definitive so City Council members could begin deliberating as soon as possible.
“I’m trying to get started to help people get their rent paid,” Crawford said. “People need the money and they need it now.”
City Council Member Rebeca Gibson told the Prophet part of the reason she voted to wait was to ensure certain clerical requirements were met.
“We have to have a resolution for the budget amendment that identifies the line items that dollars are coming out of, and the line item for where the dollars are going in to,” Gibson said.
Gibson also said she wanted an opportunity to apply a little more thought and creativity to qualify businesses for assistance, such as which ones were forced to close their doors or a scale of paid city taxes, as examples.
“At any point that either board is ready to move forward, we just need 72 hours to post the agenda for a special meeting,” Gibson said, adding she would like to proceed as quickly as possible.
BEDC board members, including new members who were recently sworn in, are scheduled to meet tonight, April 23, at 6:30 p.m., to discuss a resolution that will be presented to City Council for approval. The meeting will be available to watch via Zoom at https://zoom.us; meeting ID is 931 3512 6385; password is 416752.
More information to dial in is available on the meeting agenda, which is printable on this page.
BEDC Board President Toni Kunz said she felt a sense of urgency from the mayor to come up with a plan to help businesses that were forced to close and are struggling to make ends meet. However council last week directed her to wait until they could further review the plan.
“It was very clear that some of [the council members] were irate that I had the audacity to create an application. The words were that I created a panic,” Kunz told the board last Thursday. “I’m not really sure how to get ahead of this.”
Art Crawford, in his final act as a BEDC board member, proposed a couple of options with definitive funding.
“I would like to move forward and make some motions so that perhaps the next board that meets can move forward,” Crawford said.
In a detailed motion, Crawford proposed transferring $100,000 cumulatively from the BEDC’s Advertising Budget, Travel and Research Budget, Audit Fees, Engineering Fees, Consulting Fees, Maintenance and Repairs Fund, City of Bandera Unrestricted Fund, City of Bandera Master Plan Projects, City Park and Recreation Fund and Incentives.
Crawford said the money could be dispersed in one of two ways - either $1,000 for everyone, or $2,500 per business tied to the sales tax paid to the city.
“One hundred people for option one, or 40 people for option two,” Kunz said.
Crawford said his concept was to try to come up with something definitive so City Council members could begin deliberating as soon as possible.
“I’m trying to get started to help people get their rent paid,” Crawford said. “People need the money and they need it now.”
City Council Member Rebeca Gibson told the Prophet part of the reason she voted to wait was to ensure certain clerical requirements were met.
“We have to have a resolution for the budget amendment that identifies the line items that dollars are coming out of, and the line item for where the dollars are going in to,” Gibson said.
Gibson also said she wanted an opportunity to apply a little more thought and creativity to qualify businesses for assistance, such as which ones were forced to close their doors or a scale of paid city taxes, as examples.
“At any point that either board is ready to move forward, we just need 72 hours to post the agenda for a special meeting,” Gibson said, adding she would like to proceed as quickly as possible.
BEDC board members, including new members who were recently sworn in, are scheduled to meet tonight, April 23, at 6:30 p.m., to discuss a resolution that will be presented to City Council for approval. The meeting will be available to watch via Zoom at https://zoom.us; meeting ID is 931 3512 6385; password is 416752.
More information to dial in is available on the meeting agenda, which is printable on this page.