The City of Edna will continue to partner with the Victoria Economic Development Corporation in pursuit of economic growth.
The Edna City Council voted unanimously Thursday night during its regular council meeting to extend its agreement with the VEDC.
VEDC President Jonas Titus and Operations Director Diane Drussell attended Thursday’s meeting, and Titus elaborated on the organization’s efforts to help bring more growth to the Crossroads region.
Some of the work done by VEDC staff on behalf of the city includes compiling an inventory of buildings and land; listing properties available for development on the VEDC website; providing information about the city and surrounding area to prospective developers; hosting an official from the State Comptrollers Office to discuss the benefits of and how to proceed with a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ); and networking to promote the city.
Plans for 2025 include beginning to host a monthly Business to Business Morning Meetup and also quarterly workshops, both beginning in late January, along with networking events and the efforts already underway.
“This is a process,” Titus said. “Economic development remains the long game.”
While no projects have reached the stage where they can be publicly discussed, things are progressing well, Titus said.
“We’re a lot closer than we were three years ago, though, on a couple of substantial projects within the City of Edna,” Titus said. “A lot of stuff is happening around it, but it’s inching closer. We really want to have the opportunity to see this to fruition. We’re very thankful and proud of the work that we’re doing. We think that there’s brighter days ahead.”
Mayor Lance Smiga said he thinks that regional partnership is the only way to make this work.
“I’m hoping one of these actually happens so that we have that,” Smiga said, referring to the city being looked at but not chosen yet for development projects. “I know it’s not a lack of effort on your part. It’s frustrating.
“But I think us joining this group was a wise choice, and I think it will continue to be a wise choice.”
District 3 Councilman Chris Jackson asked how close some of the projects were to fruition.
“That’s the million dollar question. I’ve been doing this for 25 years,” Titus said. “You never know. The phone could ring tomorrow and somebody could have reached that comfort level, but you have to start somewhere.
“It’s hard to measure, to quantify, to say how close we are, but we’re getting call backs. There is interest. There’s huge attention statewide to things going on around us right now.”
In other business, council members: Approved the minutes of the Nov. 7 meeting (Nov. 21 was canceled due to lack of quorum because of playoff football); Awarded the engineering services and grant administration services to Scheibe Consulting of Austin for the Texas Water Development Board FIF, FEMA FMA, and Texas Department of Emergency Management BRIC program for 2023-2028; Adopted the Covered Applications and Prohibited Technology Policy as prescribed by Senate Bill 1893, which pertains to Tik-Tok on city-issued cell phones; Appointed Smiga to another term as the city council’s representative on the county’s Appraisal District Board of Directors; Approved Resolution #202416 authorizing the submission of a Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) application to the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and authorizing Smiga to act as the city’s Executive Officer and authorized representative in all matters pertaining the city’s participation in the CDBG-DR program; Tabled a request from Charlie’s Sports Bar and Grill, located at 119 E. Main St., for extended hours; Awarded grant administration service to Traylor & Associates for the 2025-2026 Texas CDBG Program of the Texas Department of Agriculture; Approved payment of current city bills; and Heard reports from city staff.
