Frisco | April 2023

CITY & SCHOOLS

News from Frisco & Frisco ISD

Frisco City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. April 18 and May 2 at City Council Chambers, George A. Purefoy Municipal Center, 6101 Frisco Square Blvd., Frisco. www.friscotexas.gov Frisco ISD board of trustees meets at 6:30 p.m. May 8 at Frisco ISD Administration Building Board Room, 5515 Ohio Drive, Frisco. www.friscoisd.org Collin County Commissioners Court meets at 1:30 p.m. April 17 and 24, and May 1 and 8 at Jack Hatchell Collin County Adminstration Building, 2300 Bloomdale Road, Ste. 2302, McKinney. www.collincountytx.gov Denton County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. April 18 and 25, and May 2 and 9 at Administration Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Drive, Denton. www.dentoncounty.gov MEETINGS WE COVER HIGHLIGHTS FRISCO ISD The board of trustees approved contracts for several positions across the district, including principals for two of its elementary schools, during an April 4 meeting. Stephen McCarty will take on principal duties at Ogle Elementary in the 2023-24 school year. He serves as assistant principal at Curtsinger Elementary School. Katie Reedy will serve as principal at Spears Elementary in the 2023-24 school year. She serves as assistant principal at Scott Elementary School. FRISCO City Council approved a $76,474 purchase agreement with Flymotion to buy a drone during its April 4 meeting. Funding for the drone will come from the fire department’s fiscal year 2022-23 budget. The drone in question is an approximately $13,000 DJI Matrice 300 RTK Unmanned Aircraft System, a model specially designed for commercial and public safety operations requiring extended flight times over increased ranges.

Officials detail $12.7M in incentives for Universal

A PHASED PLAN The performance-based incentives, which was approved by Frisco City Council, will also be awarded to Universal over the course of two 10-year phases. Phase 1: $8.7 million over 10 years • The phase will include $1 million in sales tax reimbursements for materials.

BY ALEX REECE

FRISCO City officials said the deal with Universal to build a theme park is expected to bring more than $12 million back to the city. Details on the economic incentives offered to Universal to build a theme park in Frisco were broken down in a city news release following the project’s approval in March. A development agreement of $12.7 million in perfor- mance-based incentives was approved by the city to be funded by sales tax generated from Universal, according to the news release. About $10.7 million of the funds will be in grants for infrastructure improvements, which will be directed toward streets and utilities. Another $2 million of the funds will be in tax reimbursements issued over 20 years. City staff have stated they estimate the theme park to bring in $3 million to the city’s general fund every year from property and sales taxes, estimating the first 10 years of the park will bring $30 million. “That [money] goes to pay for police and fire; that goes to pay for the library; it goes to pay for all the city ser- vices,” Mayor Jeff Cheney said at the March 7 City Council meeting. A staff presentation at the March 7 council meeting

Phase 2:

$4 million over the following 10 years

• The phase will include $1 million in sales tax reimbursements for materials.

To receive the incentives, the theme park must open by June 30, 2026 , and Universal must invest at least $550M in project construction, according to the news release.

SOURCE: CITY OF FRISCO/COMMUNITY IMPACT

stated city officials estimate the indirect economic impact to the city will be $1.5 billion over 10 years and $3.5 billion over 20 years, according to the news release. Cheney and other council members made a point to state they had no personal or business economic inter- ests to gain from the park after a resident at the March 7 meeting accused them of partiality to the project.

Commission OKs new townhomes

Polling site adjusted for some Frisco voters

C O B B H I LL DR.

BY ALEX REECE

FRISCO Some residents could be voting at a new location May 6. Frisco City Council approved two ordinances moving the polling location for voter precincts 2081 and 1024 during its March 21 meeting. The ordinance came at the request from Denton County officials who were concerned about the number of voter precincts at Frisco’s Fire Station No. 7. Those voters were relocated to Fire Station No. 4.

MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL

FRISCO A skinny stretch of land behind a Frisco ISD school could soon be filled with townhomes. Frisco Planning and Zoning Commission members approved rezoning approximately 7.8 acres of land on the southeast corner of Frisco Street and Cobb Hill Drive from agricultural to planned devel- opment-townhome at a March 28 meeting.

Aside from its proximity to the Cobb Hill residents, the property is directly behind FISD’s Memorial High School and accompanying parking lots. City Council is slated to discuss the townhome development at an April 18 public hearing.

Parents know their child’s education is more than just one high- stakes test on one day. Let’s prepare our students for the future, expand public school accountability, and Measure What Matters.

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FRISCO EDITION • APRIL 2023