The Brownwood Municipal Development District Board (BMDD) opened up their meeting with a call to order and moved right on to approve the minutes from the last board meeting back on August 16, 2022. The motion to approve the minutes was unanimous.
Next, Robert Anders, the Brownwood Sports Coordinator, went over the past 12 months of sports events and their economic impact. There were over 35 sporting events within the city of Brownwood that directly affected the Hotel Occupancy Tax. Anders said that the average economic impact per event has been almost $40,000. The highest grossing event was the Brownwood girls’ softball tournament “Sandlot” which grossed $97,000 over a two day tournament. That tournament hosted 38 teams and there were 2 local teams and 36 out of town. In the presentation, Anders says that the average visitors per event is 560. The average rooms purchased per night for events 148.
The highest visitor event was the South Texas Softball Showcase that was in the middle of June. 1300 people attended.
A San Antonio organization hosted a softball tournament with over 30 teams, in which 26 college coaches attended as a recruiting camp. “That’s also the first event where we had our visitor’s bureau,” said Anders. “So, it was a great chance to hand out pamphlets and brochures and all those kinds of things to people who are visiting. And so, we had great feedback from that, learning about the train museum, learning about the places in town and so we’ve continued that every single event that we’ve had at the baseball/softball,” said Anders.
The highest rooms filled per night of event was the Bluebonnet Championship. A 3 day golf tournament that was back in the spring reached 450 rooms a night.
On Upcoming events and estimates, Anders listed that:
- The Central Texas youth soccer tournament is estimated to have 720 visitors with 180 rooms used per night. It’s estimated economic impact is $54,000. It’s in the last week of October on a Friday Saturday, Sunday. The estimates are based on the past three years they’ve had it.
- In November there is the HPU Baseball bonanza with an estimate of 768 visitors, and 129 rooms per night. The estimated economic impact of is $60,000 based on number of teams that have confirmed attendance. There 22 teams confirmed.
- In December, the Holiday Classic is happening with an estimated 3,744 visitors. The estimated rooms per night filled was 936. The estimated economic impact is $290,760.
- Anders states that some of these estimates might be a lot higher.
- On the estimated yearly impact, Anders states there were 526 visiting teams; 20,000 total visitors; 5,474 total rooms per night; and the estimated economic impact is $1,597,220.
Anders went to list pipeline projects he is working on to confirm:
- The first is a 5v5 warrior soccer tournament. It is a national soccer tournament wanting to expand into Texas. It might be in the spring or summer of 2023, and they are thinking anywhere around 40-50 teams per event. It is a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday event. The teams will come from all over the Metroplex, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, etc.
- Next, Anders is working on getting the Harlem Globetrotters to perform again either in the fall 2023 or spring 2024. Anders says he hopes to show off the new event center and the remodeling of the coliseum.
- The next Anders listed is the Triple Crown Sports baseball tournaments which is out of Denver Colorado. Their tournaments are usually 150-200 teams in one central location. Anders is hoping Brownwood can host it during the summer 2023. Anders says a 50-60 number of teams in a tournament is doable for Brownwood.
- Lastly, Anders presented the Pond Hopper Fishing Tournaments that will happen this year on November 9-10th. It is a free fishing tournament. It is a pipeline project because Anders is hoping to and expand the event into a spring and fall in 2023. The event attracts goers in a 2-3hour driving radius and offers a free fishing event for youth. Youth get a t shirt and fishing pole.
“My focus with a lot of these different entities is not just to have a one and done,” says Anders. He wants “opportunity for sports, or opportunity for those guys coming in to have some type of ‘hey if your confirmed to come to Brownwood, confirm for two year or confirm for three years, and so we have a rolling event going on.’”
When the board asked about the numbers on the economic impact, Anders says that he only estimated food and hotel spending. That does not include taxes, nor extra expenditures one could make around Brownwood.
Anders noted that there is a difficulty of teams getting hotel rooms, especially those underbudget. The Holiday Classic is a record number of teams and we do have the facility room for that event using the coliseum and the high school gymnasium. That concluded the sports supervisors’ report.
The MDD Board then reviewed different areas of economic reports for the city. On their checklist for the month of August, the MDD made their annual payment for the Texas Tech office, and the restroom trailer for events was fully paid and will come assembled.
The Income Statement shows that finance has not charged over the expenses for the new Event Center yet so that was not in the income statement. After those funds are sent over, the MDD Board still expects a half a million dollar surplus.
On the Event Center payment reports, the bond fund payment has 5 million in bond proceeds that the city used for contractor expenses. They were primarily applied for Waldrop Construction. In the reserve fund expense, that is, what the city is paying cash for this fiscal year, the city has not spent much of that.
That is because for the Event Center, the MDD has time requirements on the bond proceeds, so they want to use as much of that as they can. Right now, the MDD has 8.2 million in reserve funds and cash on hand.
The event center is expecting completion by the end of next year and each aspect of the event center has its own date of completion.
In the Loan and Incentive Summary from August, the MDD paid out incentives to two entities. The Sales Tax was paid in September which completes the fiscal year. MDD stated they were $165,000 over budget on revenue. This was due to a healthy business climate, especially in downtown, consumer confidence is still high, and price increases are part of that.
Unemployment numbers remain the same. MDD Board feel like things have improved but there are weak spots of employment such as restaurants and construction.
On Project Updates and Activity, first off, the MDD Board shared that the former Oyo Hotel property on commerce did sell. There are already new owners developing plans for it.
Home2Suites continues to move forward. They are placing in their storm drainpipe that is on sight and the city utilities attached to it are being completed.
People working with the city have cleared land and are forming structures for a total of 112 housing units.
The Lampasas trucker transfer contract was signed with the city.
The Boot Barn and TJ Maxx construction continues as well as other improvements at Commerce Square.
Burkes as well as Buffalo Wild Wings will be having remodeling done as well.
Over The Rainbow Ice Cream shop sells out almost every day.
New owners of Texas Fun Co. are placing a new business and developing construction plans.
South Hampton Homes are planning to be completely built by end of next year. ‘
The Event Center icehouse site is wrapping up and the construction is finishing the plumbing and electrical aspects of the site.
On the last item of business, the BMDD Board convened into a closed executive session in the Haynes Conference Room, pursuant to the provisions of the Open Meetings Law, Chapter 551, Government Code Vernon’s Annotated, in accordance with the authority contained in the following section:
Section 551.071 – Consultation with Attorney
Section 551.087 – Deliberations regarding economic development negotiations
When the MDD Board emerged from executive session, they had voted and approved new businesses under the Building Improvement Incentive Program:
- A grant was given to Gabs Holdings, LLC not to exceed $15,000.00 for a property located at 3104 Hwy 377S.
- A grant was given to Tracy Tucker not to exceed $20,250.00 for a property located at 707 Center Avenue.
- A grant was given to Elliot Kirk not to exceed $20,000.00 for a property located at 2512 Belle Plain.
The MDD Board noted that these are not fully approved until City Council acts on them at next week’s meeting.
Lastly, the board celebrated Tim Jacobs, as he is leaving the MDD Board.
[Story by Jacob Lehrer]