11/21/2002-4A-Minutes-RegularMINUTES: 4A Board
November 21, 2002
PRESENT: Richard Muir, Vickie Jenkins, Bill Fuller, Gordon Lurry, Carroll McNeill
OTHERS
PRESENT: City Manager Jack Smith, City Secretary/Assistant City Manager Rose Chavez,
Assistant City Secretary Samantha Renz, Nel Armstrong, Paul Vineyard
1. Richard Muir called the meeting to order.
CONSENT AGENDA
2. al Approve Minutes! Sentemher 27. 2001
Bill Fuller moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Carroll McNeill seconded. Motion
carried unanimously.
3. Citizen's Input.
4. Consider and Possible Action on Financial Aid for Babe's Restaurant to Possibly Locate
in Sanger.
Paul Vinyard, Rovin, Inc., indicated he had been contacted by John Springer, and the
people who own the church on the square about possibly locating a restaurant in
Sanger. He had prepared a packet for the board regarding this possibility. He
indicated that they have a Babe's in Roanoke, and opened a second one in Garland. Mr.
Vineyard discussed the differences in the two locations. He indicated his son had
recently joined the company and is planning to eventually run the company for him. He
discussed advertising and the menu they would be offering in Sanger.
Mr. Vineyard discussed previous sales from his restaurants.
He indicated they are requesting about $250,000.00 for equipment and furniture. This
would be a loan. He indicated he would like the payments to start on approximately the
37t' month from the loan date. This would give him time to get the restaurant up and
going.
Mr. Vineyard also discussed some of the articles that had been written about his
restaurants.
Richard Muir thanked Mr. Vineyard for putting together all of the information.
Gordon Lurry asked Mr. Vineyard what he was looking for when comparing Sanger
to Roanoke or to Garland.
Mr. Vineyard indicated that a lot of restaurants in small areas become very popular,
they do not usually operate like a normal restaurant. They ended up in Roanoke about
ten years ago. He had been working for large corporations and he and his wife decided
to do it for themselves. They do not depend on Roanoke people, they draw from all
around. He went from there to Garland, and forgot where he started. Doing a limited
menu outside of town works out better than in town. As they began looking at Sanger,
they felt it would be a little bit of a slow build, and were worried about the cash;
however, they do feel that all the little towns around Hwy 77 will potentially bring
business, as well as Denton. They will get customers from other cities. They believe
that long term it has great opportunity for them.
Bill Fuller asked what thev envision the Sanger Restaurant to look like.
Mr. Vineyard indicated they would try to make it look close to Roanoke. He felt the
atmosphere was one of the fun things about going to this restaurant.
Discussion regarding other restaurants.
Richard Muir expressed concerns regarding the previous loan that was given to the 4A
Board, and indicated there were loan covenants that came with that loan. He felt this
would need to be looked at before a decision was made ,and that the board would need
to talk to the bank to see what was needed.
Mr. Vineyard indicated he would be willing to guarantee the loan personally or using
his other corporation, if his lenders would allow. He would be able to provide personal
financial statements.
The number of jobs this would create was discussed.
Mr. Vineyard indicated 30 to 40 jobs.
Vickie Jenkins indicated that she felt this would work in Sanger, but asked if anyone
had put the numbers to what kind of impact this would have on Sanger economically.
She felt it was the responsibility of the board to look at the economic impacts of the
projects they fund as a board.
Richard Muir indicated they would not only see the sales tax from this business, but
downtown businesses will stay open later, and raise sales tax as well.
Carroll McNeill indicated he went to the restaurant fairly early for lunch, and within
fifteen minutes of being seated the restaurant had filled up. He felt it could be a
successful restaurant. He had put some numbers to it, and figured it would mean about
$10,000 per year to the 4A Board, and $40,000 per year to the city. He felt the return
should match the investment.
Richard Muir indicated he thought it may draw other small businesses to downtown.
Discussed the impact it could have on downtown merchants, which would intern impact
the city.
Discussion regarding the impact of the previous investment made for Wal-mart.
Gordon Lurry indicated he had heard several times that a restaurant is what would be
needed to revitalize downtown.
Discussed hours of operation.
Discussed the menu and customer service.
Richard Muir asked Nel Armstrong if she had any comments.
Nel Armstrong indicated she did not come to talk, she came to listen, but indicated she
It it would be good for Sanger and the downtown area.
Bill Fuller asked Mr. Vineyard what length of time he was looking at to pay back the
loan.
Mr. Vineyard indicated he hadn't given it much thought, but would most likely look at
5 to 10 years.
Bill Fuller asked if they approved the loan what would the time frame be for opening
the restaurant.
Mr. Vineyard indicated if it was approved by the end of the year, they would start by
the end of next year.
Discussion continued regarding Mr. Vineyard's other restaurants.
Richard Muir indicated he detected a high level of interest, he felt Mr. Vineyard
should get his financial statements to Vickie and let the board get things squared away
at the bank and meet back to discuss it again.
Vickie indicated that she felt when you make a restaurant loan, the equipment doesn't
mean much. The only thing that means anything is his reputation, and his ability to do
it, along with his investment. The board will be making an investment in the
community if they decide to do it.
Discussion continued regarding the project.
Richard Muir indicated they should schedule a meeting in two weeks.
5. Meeting adjourned.