Kemah Community Development Corporation - Regular Meeting

I'll do my stuff during the rest of it. I just want to take a moment to discuss actually the next item. We need help with that ARP grant situation, call for volunteers. We talked about champions. The two champions that we had for these two projects, one being the walking one, the walking audit, one being the biking audit, we have now had both champions fall by the wayside. What it is, basically, is we need folks to help us audit if our streets are walkable and bikeable. We've already started doing that, if you will, because of our sidewalk situation. So we are accessing the sidewalks and things that we need to do. But that's also one of the items that- Are there certain areas that you need done?

I mean, like, could you draw us a map? Could you explain what you need exactly?

Great, on both questions. So the area's gonna be determined by us. One of the areas that I really want to focus on is the lighthouse district since it's part of the actual grant that we're applying for so that would help us in that case. But I also would be. I would be remiss if we also include the rest of the city. Why do I say that. Kemah Crossing Kemah Oaks and arguably down the Huntington incorporates probably 80 percent of our population. We know Kipp Road is also. very, very difficult to navigate on bike or walking. I almost got ran over myself one day. So I say all that to sell you.

How many people do you need?

I need probably a dozen.

Because, I mean, I would attach Sean and, like, Joyce, Kyle Coggins.

We just need one champion.

Talking about Kemah Oak folks over there.

We would need a champion for each exercise.

And on this side, you have Dave Clark that runs every day. So if somebody gets a hold of Dave Clark, I'm sure he'd be passionate about doing that.

Sure. I know. And those are all.

We can make a list real quick of people I know already are running, walking. and they probably know the defaults of the town.

It's great. I just need there to be a champion who's going to train all those volunteers and help us get the word out and help us get the results that we need because we need that data collection.

Somebody send us a list and let's fill in that 12 people and help them get in contact with the city. Okay. Push this along. If you need 12, let's do 20. Yep, that's great.

I would appreciate that. Thank you.

I think that's the best way of pursuing that because... I know the people that are active running and walking this town for the most part. So I see them when I'm picking up trash a lot of times. Item number eight, consent agenda approval for 8A, 8B, 8C, approval of the minutes of 6-15-2026 KCDC special meeting. 8B, approval of the minutes of 6-29-26 KCDC special meeting. And 8C, approval of the minutes for 7-14-2026 KCDC special meeting. Do I have a motion? This item is to be able to quantify the fact that we're going to take the funds out of the account. It is just a budget amendment so we can do the pass-through funds for the grant so we can pay for it and get reimbursed. questions I don't I don't believe so when I asked Kyle yeah we don't believe that we need so all those in favor 9B, consider impossible action to approve a budget amendment for the Texas A&M Forestry Grant.

Same situation, same request. This one was the $20,000 with the $10,000 match that you've already approved. We do need amendment in order to properly expend the funds out of the account.

I'll make a motion to approve a budget amendment for the Texas A&M Forestry Grant. Do I have a second?

Second.

All those in favor? 9C, consider impossible action to approve the LJA proposal for the 57-acre park engineering under the scope of Gomesa Grant.

This proposal is for the 394K for the engineering component out of the 2.6. This is the engineering that would take place of the phases of the grant. We would do the bidding in two phases. The first one is the sidewalk project that would run along Evergreen and the ADA entrance to the park. The second would be the rest of the actual walkable space through the park, obviously not the entire park. We know that this grant's not gonna cover the entire thing, but we've separated the scope of work into two parts so we can try to expedite this and start getting the work done. The intent is to get those packages submitted pretty quickly, submit for bids pretty quickly so we can get this thing going. The sidewalk portion for the entryway, entrance, and along Evergreen is much shorter, much easier scope of work to do, so that's why we decided to separate it so we can get some of the stuff going. We know people want to see stuff happening, and that's what we're trying to do.

Any questions? No motions. All those in favor? Aye. 9D, consider impossible action to declare chemist signage and digital signage initiative a project and commence 60-day comment period.

Okay. I know I've talked to you guys about this a little bit, but I put this outline together that basically described the scope of the project. And so I'd like to go over that with you really quick. So the challenge is that vintage shopping and dining districts provide a great alternative to traditional mall, strip mall environments with national chain retailers. One of the drawbacks of vintage retail districts is vendor visibility. Without an extensive physical or online search, many vendors go unnoticed and underutilized. The shortage of KEMA downtown weekday and lunch traffic exacerbates the problem, with many retailers limiting service hours to evenings and weekends, which reduces foot traffic in the entire area, a negative trend KCDC needs to help reverse. This is one of the solutions that we're proposing with the KEMA Digital Project. For our urban planning consultants, KEMA is blessed with many advantages which can enable significant economic opportunities, two of which are 146 and the KEMA Boardwalk. Tech Stop reports that we have approximately 46,000 vehicles flowing daily over and through KEMA, nearly 17 million annually. And 4 million people actually visit KEMA, and most will enter the intersection of 146 and 6th Street. the consultants question the case of dc was why aren't you talking to them programmable digital video capable signage can put our business owners in chemo events right in front of our guests drive by traffic in real time currently the digital signage at the east side of sh146 and 2094 is small then limited capabilities and near incentive its viability so phase one of the chemo digital project would be replacing led signage at s 146 29 4 with two led signs which is the original quote that we got And the second would be two LED signs on a two-screen wedge configuration located at the southeast intersection of 146th and 6th Street on city-owned property. Phase two would explore the option of installing LED signage on the roof of the Kemah Community Center to access the traffic on the 146th flyover. So with regards to content creation, which is part of this, programmable opening signage at proposed locations can allow KEMA to talk in real time to millions of folks in and passing through KEMA annually. Content include general Discover KEMA welcome and tourism messaging, KEMA news and traffic events, KEMA emergency messaging, and KEMA Business Alliance KDA member ads. It quickly becomes clear that the eventual scope of the content creation could be huge. We need to narrowly focus our initial efforts to get this off the ground effectively. The initial goal of the KDP would be acquiring digital signage and the content creation to get our KBA member brands in front of the SH-146 traffic and KEMA visitors in real time. Previously, there had been a KCDC effort to create two-minute commercials with local vendors to highlight their offerings. The idea was to help market KEMA business owners by partnering with KCDC and the result of video commercials We live on there and keyless websites. The longer format production got bogged down fast and very few videos were produced. At 50, 60 miles an hour, you have approximately six to eight seconds to message a driver. It'd be 146 through traffic. The typical traffic light cycle is 60 to 120 seconds. This means that we should format our messages as bumper ads. that are typically 5 to 10 seconds in max length. YouTube bumper ads are typically 6 to 7 seconds. I've got a couple of links in here with typical restaurant bumper ads. So the YouTube style bumper ad formation and format creation is online standard. It's well understood by any qualified content creator. They can be as simple as zoom and pan on individual slides to full on live video production. The initial phase of KDP would focus on the simple format to reduce costs and enable a high rate of production. A good goal should be to sign up at least 30 Kima Business Alliance members in the first year. Along with LED signage, vendor sourcing, Along with LED signage vendor sourcing, the first step is to meet with a few content creators to determine production costs at a volume rate. The scope of work should also include discovered chemo bumper ads and templates for general chemo messaging. The chemo business alliance is developing into a great resource for chemo business owners. Once we determine production costs, KCDC can offer KBA members an opportunity to partner with our content creators on the cost split on production and a subscription fee to keep the ads in rotation. So the goal here is to take all of our little businesses, big businesses, everything between, and talk to the 17 million people coming down 146 every year. So this is the goal of the KDP project, and this is why for the phase one we were looking at about $100,000 for the signage, and we can use business retention funds for the video creation on a cost-free basis. So that's the idea. Any questions?

Do we have an idea of for the businesses that are putting you know, ads, that sort of thing out there, what the cost would be for them?

Well, that's what we're going to look at, is look at the content creators and try to come up with a really cost-effective way to do a six, seven, you know, mid-second bumper ad, and then come up with some sort of cost split. So they've got skin in the game, and then they've got a subscription rate to keep their skin in the game. So the goal is not to really make money on this. It's to just maybe break even on it. But we really need to look at that content creation cost. But we've got some money in the business retention to work with that. But I like the fact that being a KBA member is part of the deal. It helps drive KBA membership and keeps us focused on Keynote.

Do you know what kind of program that's utilized, I guess, to make the messaging? Oh, Final Cut Pro, Premiere, anything. So, I mean, it's probably something we could get either the interns to do. Do we have a graphic designer that's going to work for us as of yesterday? There might be some resources there. We don't have to contract that. Like I said, you look at the AI generation now, what are you talking about? That's what I'm saying. It has to be contracted out at this point. Maybe to be professional, maybe. I don't know. Anybody else got any questions? This is just designated as a project. We've got 60 days posting. Anybody got a motion?

I will make a motion to declare chemo signage and digital signage initiative a project.

I'll second that. Okay. We have a first and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Okay. All right. Consider possible action to approve BHAB renewal. Last on the list.

Oh, poor Cesar.

Yeah, thanks.

That's a good one. I thought we were friends.

Good evening, everybody. Honored to be here. And thanks for giving me a little bit of time to talk about the Bay Area Houston Partnership. I'd be remiss if I didn't start out with two big things. One is a sincere thank you for your support. All right. So a sincere thank you for your service. The second is a shout out and thank you to my friend Caesar for his leadership. And I really appreciated the comments about him from the outside looking in. Caesar's a big deal and really helpful to the greater community as well. And I'm thrilled to work with him. I'll talk some of the things he's spearheading in partnership with us. as I kind of walk through some of the big updates. But for those that I haven't had a chance to meet, my name is Brian Friedman. I serve as the president of the Bay Area-Houston Economic Partnership. We are a regional economic development group, and I'll talk a little bit about that. But I'll speak briefly just about the organization and some of the things we've been working on with the city of Kemah. A little bit about us, so BAHEB's celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, December 16th, 1976. Our bylaws were incorporated. We were actually born out of the Clear Lake Area Chamber with a focus on how do we recruit, retain, and expand primary employers in the region. with the mentality of if the big players are working, that drives all the smaller support players, that drives folks involved in their communities that have great jobs, high-paying jobs, and how do we keep that momentum going? And that has evolved over the years into a lot of other things that I'll talk about. We have roughly 350 members now, primarily industry members. We have some nonprofits, 18 municipal partners, which we're proud to call the City of Kima, one of those key partners, Harrison-Galveston County, the port of Houston, the Houston airport system, ports of Texas City, really with the mentality of how do you get industry, academia, nonprofit, and government leaders at the table and working together on big regional initiatives. So it's an exciting job. It's an exciting, I'm thrilled to work with organizations like KCDC and the city of Kima. Um, you know, somebody asked me the other day, um, I was at another municipal meeting and they said, what do you do for us? And that is a very fair question. And one that you should ask of any service organization that you've partnered with. Um, and I answered on the spot, which I'll stand by. I think the three most important things we do as an organization, the first is that we ensure that the major economic drivers of the region are staying healthy for us. That's primarily maritime aerospace, tourism, healthcare, and petrochem. but all the support infrastructure that goes into that and then foundationally education and workforce development. And so we are making sure that the citizens of Kima have good high paying jobs when they want opportunities in these industries, they're available and they know how to connect into them, but make sure that the residents have opportunities within the region. The second is that we work, directly work, and if you haven't met Mark Mitchell on our team who leads our economic development and policy efforts, Barbara Cutzinger who does a lot of down and in on the economic development project stuff, but working those site selections and RFI responses and the nuts and bolts of economic development and making sure that companies and organizations that are looking at locating here understand how to do that and find places to grow and expand and retain companies as well. And then third is really be a regional convener of leaders. And while that sounds philosophical, you really do need community partners working together. And so we not only have a forum for that with our mayor's council where the regional mayors get together once a month. but have 18 committees that help drive that, including a tourism committee that I'll dive into in a minute. But how do you get those players to the table and working together? And I spent a decade in industry working in communities all over the country, There are some communities that do that well and some that don't, and I am thrilled to live and work in a community that does do that very well and happy to be part of it. I'd be remiss if I didn't take a minute to also give a plug to Cesar for his leadership of our tourism committee. Cesar came and said, hey, tourism is a big deal. It is a major industrial driver, and that is one of the areas that does not have a committee at Bayhap. What gives? And I said, Well, I appreciate that, and I wholeheartedly agree. And I thank you for volunteering to chair that committee, Cesar. So he has been great. How do we pull together the region's destinations? And so not only the Kima Boardwalk, which we're thrilled that Jacob participates on that committee with us, but Space Center Houston and the Lone Star Flight Museum. There are restaurants and other players, transportation, all sorts of discussions with a focus on how do we work together as a region, as a group, to hunt as a pack for big opportunities, and across Collaborate where those opportunities can come up. And there are a few places where you can go and meet everybody who's a player in this community. And we're thrilled that that's in our conference room. I will share just a couple of the more granular, excuse me, one other committee I'll mention is the Prospect Review Committee, which is actually coming up in a couple of days that CESAR represents the city on, but that's where we run through all of the economic development projects that we're working. If we're under an NDA, we code the projects so we can talk about them without attribution and walk through that, and then an opportunity for all the cities to talk about what's going on in their community. Going down to some of the more granular stuff, we were thrilled to have representation from Kyma at the ICSC, the International Shopping Center Conference. And we're thrilled to have the team there with us. Unfortunately, Cesar wasn't able to make CommGate, but I think that's going to be a regular on his tour about getting out and about and talking about the great stuff going on in Kyma. But that's where the Houston region's developers get together regularly. We often work with them to have a booth at their events, to be regulars at their regular meetings. so that that broker and developer community know this region and are looking at us and we're staying top of mind for them. We also have been marketing and advertising and candidly celebrating with you all on some of the major projects and initiatives that have been going on throughout the city, including the Hilton Home 2 Suites, Kima Crossings, the Gessner Center, Kima Town Center, the Boardwalk Bay, the 57 Acre Park, which I now know is a major initiative for you, which I'm thrilled about. And I wasn't able to make it. I was out of town that day. But Mark and Harriet and Barbara on the team were there for the ribbon cutting. And so we're thrilled about that. And then, of course, the Longhorn Museum and many, many other projects. All that to say, it's an honor to serve. We have worked with CSER on a renewal of our contract. There's no cost increase to the city. It's a multi-year contract. This has been a great partnership. And I hope we can continue it and happy to answer any questions.

I've got one question.

Yes, sir. How did Barbara not make this? How did she not make, oh.

I was going to say, how did she avoid getting that whole photo?

Barbara's tough to get, amazingly difficult to get a picture. She's in there. She's got to be in here somewhere.

She's in there right under community engagement where it says new member of breakfast on the top left.

She doesn't like getting in pictures. You've probably seen that. She's tough to get.

That's why I was laughing about it.

Because she gives the business development updates at all these events. And I always say, like, Barbara, have somebody take a picture for you.

She's always the one volunteering to take the pictures is why.

As you'll see in there, I'm not one that struggles with that challenge.

Well, for some of our new members, I mean, do you all have any questions? Because a lot of us are very familiar with this organization. I deal with them even on the oil and gas sector. I make some of their meetings over there in my regular business. So, I mean, I'm very familiar with the organization and how much they do for this area and community. So if you have any questions while he's here, you're more than welcome.

They have one of the best investments we can make from a chamber, you know, aspect. So I think it's a no-brainer.

Megan, do you have any questions? Sean, I don't know if you're familiar with them. Do you have any questions? No, I'm not sure. Okay. Just double-checking.

I just want to take one point. I want to thank Ryan and Barbara and Mark and their team. We have been putting in some RFIs in, which are requests for information when they come out, and we have partnered with some stuff. And we can't disclose it all, but we are very, very close to hopefully bringing a small industry to KEMA in a way that hasn't happened before. So we're excited of that and we'll, two, well maybe three, maybe three.

There's a third one too.

We're teasing with three, but I don't like to count my eggs before they hatch. So right now I can safely say we're very, very close on one. And that's a testament to you.

Because their organization gives us the leads to actually connect them with the right people.

Our community is developed on the backs of those, you know, Brian hasn't been there the whole time, Mark hasn't been there the whole time. since the beginning. So, you know, we have, I just found out today, we have the number one cancer research center in the area. We have one of the top hospitals in the nation and state. And all that happens from just years and years of, you know, they have support and other organizations similar. So I'm a huge advocate for what they do and I appreciate it.

Well, he's been standing here a long time, so I'd like to make the motion that we consider a possible action. Thank y'all.

Do I have a second? All those in favor? Aye. Thank you all very much. Item 10, executive session.

Thank you.

Maybe it's that. it's an interesting that i i almost feel like so i agree i don't know that because it's a lot of very tactical stuff but i think it's a discussion to start at

Yeah, I don't know that we do. I think it's, hey, we're thinking about this.

Let's take 20 minutes and just what have people heard? What's going on? We're not saying we're doing anything. We're just kind of kicking tires and see what's out there. But we need to figure out something.

so they go take your college location

Yeah. Yeah.

tiers just for Habitat Go, which is so straightforward and easy to plug and play and all this stuff. How much effort went into that? should be doing that. So I'm like timid because I'm like, oh my gosh.

So schools, I know Pasadena does something. My brother helped start it years ago. Seniors helping seniors. So all of the seniors are taking notes. That's a long name. I mean, that would be your workforce.

And each city collects the senior that gets help.

And that's what they do there. The seniors would submit and then they would take the name and the group of seniors would...

Just, just, it's good. It's, I know it's crazy. You know, my ideas are crazy. But, but hey, man, you know, one out of two or one out of five hits.

Basketball is what I heard.

Did you check the guy? What happened? No, I was actually going up to dunk the ball. I was, I was going to go try to attempt to dunk the ball. And that's what happened. is ruptured patella and I'm still waiting for the MRI for the rest. But that part I know. So how long do you think you're down for? At least six weeks.

And that's just patellas and they don't know, you know, meniscus. I don't know the rest.

But I've had, this will be the fourth insert. Oh, really? Okay. I'm trying to keep up with that back there. That's, that's, that's. Hey. What did you say you had in class? What would you say, man? You own about 30% of the land in the city, 40% of the land in the city? I would love to do the math. I know the bank owns most of it.

Yeah, there you go. Good point. Guys, let me wobble to the back. I'll see you guys later. Take care. See you tomorrow. See you guys.

three o'clock in the morning there's a crowd I mean, there were a lot of capacity here, as I recommend.

When I was a little guy, I was a busboy. And every night, there was a set of restaurants. And my grandmother would stay open until very evening. She didn't matter what time it was. 10, 12, 1, 2. But she would have everybody cook and waitress. And, you know, just enough staff. Because they were coming. Nobody was failing. They did all the time. Thank you. Well I appreciate it.

I hope it's showing up in your land values.

All right.

Oh, one second. Thank you. I got one. Okay. Okay. Ooh, that's a really fun sandwich. Oh, I did get the... See you then. I don't know. Oh. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Facebook?

Facebook?

Facebook?

Amen.

I like that. Oh my God.

Oh my God.

Thank you.

Thank you. Amen. You're a little boy. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Amen. Amen.

Amen.

Thank you. Amen. Thank you. What is that? Oh, it's a big old snake. It's a big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big snake.

Thank you.

Great question.

Exit session back in order at 719 Item 10 a I don't believe we have any action item T and B, Texas Deliberation of real property don't have a motion Do I have a second

I'll second.

All those in favor? Aye. Motion to, I think that's it. Nope. Yeah, that's it.

Motion to adjourn.

Do I have one? Motion to adjourn. I'll second it. All right. All those in favor? Aye.

All right. Thank you.