In their regular monthly meeting Monday night, the Italy Economic Development Corporation (EDC) approved their 2016-2017 budget. They voted to move $3,455.09 to Projects to balance the $96,432.00 budget. The budget will now be submitted to the Italy City Council for approval.

Charles Hyles read the following letter dated August 17, 2016 that was presented to the Board:

“Please be advised, per the Italy City Council, that any future construction projects that the Italy Economic Development Corporation funds must be submitted to the Building Permit Clerk at City Hall. An application for a building permit must accompany this request.

During this process, all subcontractors listed on the building application must submit the required registration information to the City, along with a full set of plans and specification. No permits will be issued without this documentation. Once the Building Official has approved the plans, specifications and all the subcontractors have been registered, permits will be issued and the Building Permit Clerk will contact the appropriate Economic Development Corporation contact that is listed on the application.

Please feel free to contact the City Council for any questions or concerns that needs to be addressed regarding this matter. Sincerely, Clarice Crocker, Italy EDC Secretary.”

“Since the projects were for the City, I did not know permits were required,” said President Charles Hyles. “The City Council approved the projects and we were never told we needed to pull permits.”

Elmerine Bell said that everything the EDC does is approved by the City Council. “They should also be responsible to make sure we do everything we should,” Bell added.

Charles Hyles, Darrell Rosemond, Elmerine Bell and Randy Boyd were sworn in as Board Members and will serve a two-year term. Hyles was elected President and Rosemond was elected Vice President unanimously.

The board discussed lettering for the Cargill-Gallman Pavillion.

“I think we need Italy, Texas in large letters in addition to Cargill-Gallman,” Elmerine Bell said. “This would provide photo ops for tourists.”

The Cargill-Gallman lettering will cost $240. The board approved Darrell Rosemond to get a quote for the Italy Texas letters and powder coating of all lettering.

An LED marquee is in production at a cost of $25,000. Hyles reported that DenCor agreed to drill the hole for the pole. With this new marquee, city employees will no longer need to change the lettering manually on the sign. The wording will be done from City Hall. The city seal will be placed on the pole below the marquee. The board approved using Austin Stone, a concrete slab and flower beds with a curb at the base of the pole.