City Funds MedHab's Temporary Home

San Angelo Development Corporation's February board packet provided news regarding last month's fire at MedHab's offices at 2009 West Beauregard.

On January 31, 2015 the building caught fire and significant damage was caused to the roof trusses along with smoke and soot damage. The cause of the fire is still under investigation and insurance companies from both parties are involved with determining amount of loss, damage, and engineering cost estimates for repair. MedHab needs to continue to operate and has patiently attempted to conduct operations from a very small warehouse. 

San Angelo police responded to a tripped burglar alarm at MedHab's offices, only to find a fire.  There have been no reports as to what tripped the alarm or started the fire.  

The City will pay $250 a month for MedHab to operate out of an office in the West Texas Training Center.

The West Texas Training Center (WTTC) has been gracious to offer available space to assist COSADC and MedHab during this time of need for a temporary relocation. The offer includes approximately 2000 square feet, an additional office with all maintenance services, security monitoring, internet, phone and general repairs.

The fire did not make the news section of RPM2's website.  I took the liberty of suggesting an updated web page for MedHab in the picture above.

Council & COSADC Go Master Planning

City Council just heard a presentation concluding Phase 2 of the Downtown Development Master Plan.  Catalyst Urban Development's Paris Rutherford indicated the city would need to offer significant subsidies to private investors to further development downtown office space, restaurants and housing.  The City paid $60,000 plus for this consultation. 

On the heels of those discussions Council and the Development Corporation Board will meet to explore adding a rail spur to the City's Industrial Park.  City Councilwoman Elizabeth Grindstaff is Vice President of Marketing for Texas Pacifico Railroad.  Her job is to help businesses locate sites along the rail line.

Details of the meeting are on the city's website:

Discussion of Master Plan Development 
Two 45 minute sessions at the Business Resource Center to discuss the Master Development Plan and Industrial Park layout including possible rail spur options. 

Tuesday, February 24, 2015 
Session 1 2:00 P.M. - 2:45 P.M. 
Session 2 2:45 P.M. – 3:30 P.M. 
Business Resource Center 
69 North Chadbourne St 
San Angelo, Texas, TX 76903 

Invitees: 
City of San Angelo City Council 
City of San Angelo Development Corporation

 
The posting did not state why this meeting is not open to the public.  We'll see if it will be recorded for the public to view on the City's YouTube channel.

This week is a busy planing week for City Council as Thursday morning at 8:00 am Council will attend a strategic planning retreat at Fort Concho.  This meeting appears to be open to the public as the agenda states "public comment will not be accepted during the work session agenda."  This meeting was recorded two years ago but no recording was made last year.  What will happen this year in Surprising San Angelo?

Update 2-24-15:  The Standard Times reported:  "Because the meeting will be held at Fort Concho, where filming capabilities are limited, the meeting will not be broadcast live on the city’s website or aired on Suddenlink channel-17 SATV.

City's Stance on COSADC Audit

City Councilwoman Charlotte Farmer requested Council consider making public the Development Corporation audit of economic development agreements.  Traditionally, this task has been accomplished by internal staff and published in an Annual Report to the community.  The City of San Angelo Development Corporation last released its 2012 annual report in late 2013.  The public has seen no information to know how company's have fulfilled their employment promises in return for public subsidies. 

COSADC board members and City Council officials publicly mentioned the audit numerous times as it meandered through the recommendation, negotiation, contract award, completion and presentation stages.  However, the findings were never shared, not event an executive summary. 

Now several members of the public believe it should be shared.  One even asked the city for a copy of the document via a public information request.  Council meets Tuesday and this item is not on the agenda. 

Six years ago this information was not a secret.  Development Corporation minutes from January 28, 2009 stated:

PRESENTATION OF THE ANNUAL COMPLIANCE AUDIT
Ms. COSADC Executive Director Kathy Keane reviewed the audit report and noted the correction on Conner Steel which should read approved on February 9, 2006. A copy of the handout is part of the permanent supplemental record.

Responding to a question from Dr. Rallo, Mr. Hiebert stated any used balance resulting from the recipient not meeting the objectives of the contact or nearing termination of their contract will be presented to board for further direction including a reallocation to fund balance.

Ms. Keane stated the report will be forwarded to City Council and the City’s external auditor.

Mr. Tommy Hiebert served as President of the Development Corporation at the time.  Hiebert was reappointed to the board in July 2013 representing SMD2.  Councilwoman Farmer may wish to ask Mr. Hiebert what changed?  Why would information formerly available to the public be restricted?

Shortly after Hiebert's reappointment city staff conducted a new member orientation. 

The program addressed public information.

City leaders stated all records.  There's not a qualifying word on the page.  We'll see if "all" really means all.

Development Corporation's Late Annual Report

The City of San Angelo Development Corporation is yet to issue an Annual Report for 2013.  It's been fifteen months since COSADC produced its 2012 Annual Report for the general public.  Interim Executive Director Bob Schneeman had his hands full so it's understandable the report came out later in the year than prior annual reports.

 

Economic Development Director Roland Pena is yet to issue a report to the community.  He started on January 21, 2014.

“If San Angelo is to grow and thrive, it’s vital that we actively work to bring more jobs from diverse industries that pay attractive wages,” City Manager Daniel Valenzuela said. “That rising economic tide lifts the fortunes of all in our community. At its essence, economic development is a quality of life issue.”

How high did the tide rise for companies receiving local taxpayer assistance?  City Councilwoman Charlotte Farmer raised the question at the end of Council's February 3rd meeting.  We'll see if and when she gets an answer.

Update 3-20-15:  I located the slide presentation of the 2012 annual report to city council.

Bad Optics for Pfluger's Frac Sand Facility

San Angelo Live reported:

A truck tractor towing a semi-trailer for frac sand slammed into a gray GMC Sierra Pickup truck at 4:40 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

This occurred on Bryant Boulevard just blocks away from Lee Pfluger's proposed frac sand transfer facility.  It occurred days before a public hearing by the Zoning Board of Adjustments, where opponents will state their case that the city erred in allowing the frac sand facility in town, next to neighborhoods and a high traffic road. 

Update 2-3-15:  Lee Plfuger changed his deed restriction to eliminate frac sand transloading, which caused four of the five appellants to drop their case.  A final appellant press the case.  The Zoning Board of Adjustments voted 5-0 to overturn the original decision which allowed the frac sand site  .  A similar project in Minnesota has a company ponying up funds for an environmental study to frac.  Frick wants to frac.

MedHab Fire at RPM2 Site

San Angelo Live reported:

The fire department responded to a structure fire at the former Concho Valley Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CVCED) headquarters, 2009 W. Beauregard Ave. at S. Garrett Street at 10:15 p.m. Saturday night.

Our reporter at the scene said that the exact location appears to be the startup company Medhab, Inc. where medical sensors for post-knee surgery patients are made.

The last sentence is factually incorrect as the FDA has not yet approved MedHab's device for post knee surgery patients.  The facility makes:

RPM2 (RPM squared) , shorthand for “Remote Performance Measurement/Monitoring”;  a remote monitoring, pressure sensing foot-bed device that provides super-accurate data about a person’s mechanics to improve performance and help prevent injuries.

MedHab would rather have smoking hot sales of RPM2 vs. a tripped burglar alarm and what appears to be an arson fire.

Update 2-1-15:  The Standard Times story on the CVCED fire did not mention MedHab. It does mention the CVCED website which clearly lists its address as 69 N. Chadbourne, where no fire occurred.

COSADC's Interesting Developments

The City of San Angelo Development Corporation (COSADC) held a marathon board meeting in January.  A number of interesting developments were shared by Economic Development Director Roland Pena and Chamber of Commerce Vice President Michael Looney.

Five potential employers are considering San Angelo.  They include:

Heavy Equipment Manufacturer
Call Center
Organic Dairy
Brokerage Firm
Home Builder/Contractor

As our oil boom deflates the West Texas Energy Consortium is "currently under reorganization and refining its focus area."

Three local employers received Business Retention and Expansion Program funding.  Staff did not identify the employers or the nature of public support.  The Board packet indicated funds went for training but did not identify which employers benefited. 

A specific airline was mentioned as considering flights from Houston.  At that point Mr. Pena acted like the named airline should not have been listed and asked the board and the public to be judicious with "confidential information." 

COSADC Pena sought permission from the board to not use the city's purchasing process to select a vendor for project management services for the next phase of AEP Certification of the City's Industrial Park.  They approached three local engineering firms, KSA Engineering, SKG Engineering and Bleyl Associates. The board heard two firms wrestle over what services would be provided locally.

The board awarded the work to KSA Engineering for $134,677.  Should San Angelo be successful in Phase 3 it would join Victoria, Harlingen and Mount Pleasant as certified AEP Quality Sites in Texas.  Not mentioned in the meeting was the fact that Pena once worked for AEP.

It appears COSADC also skipped the city's purchasing process in developing a new website.  The background packet stated:

Chamber of Commerce - Fourth Quarter Accomplishments
Website
Leading the creation and maintenance of a cross-branded, COSADC and Chamber Marketing & Recruitment website, with links to all partner web portals including: Downtown San Angelo, Inc., The Business Factory, Concho Valley Workforce Solutions, ASU SBDC, Howard College and San Angelo Chamber of Commerce. Website will also include links to separate micro-websites for 1) San Angelo Business & Industrial Park; 2) Business Retention & Expansion Program (BREP). A local web designer has been.selected and will be engaged to create the sites for a February 28, 2015 completion and deployment.

Pena talked about a compliance audit with the board seemingly aware of its findings.  This audit explored the city's economic development agreements with local companies and the extent to which the city and the employer had fulfilled their contracted obligations.  The Martifer-Hirschfeld contract has been under study for years.  The board took this up under executive session but had no report to the public afterwards.  City Council will address Hirschfeld's obligations in its meeting next week, also in executive session.

Pena stressed the need to change the way COSADC's bills and approved incentives are paid.  The board used to meet every two weeks and this provided the opportunity for checks over $1,000 to be signed.  Now that the board meets monthly Pena is concerned about timely payments to vendors, partners and companies receiving assistance.

He closed with three new capital projects for COSADC.  They include funding new buildings at the airport, the industrial park and a corporate office downtown.  The last two items brought back memories of Shawn Lewis, former Assistant City Manager and Economic Development Czar.  He pressed similar issues before riding off to Longmont, Colorado.

Change is in the air.  Or, is it?

Update 7-13-15:  The new COSADC website is a few additional pages on the City's website with links.  The three pages with lots of links doesn't come close to providing the historical information from the old COSADC website, which could be mined for information back to the late 1990's.  Once again the city pursued style over substance in its web offerings.