ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
March 8, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
I. CALL TO ORDER
The Regular Meeting of the Economic Development Commission was called to order at timeMinute33Hour77:33 a.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. Chairman Louis George and Commission members PersonNameNancy Haase, David Balboni, Mark Deming, Jon Barney, Thomas Rechen, and Charles Minor were present as well as other interested parties. Commissioner Alan Levesque was absent.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Haase made a motion to approve minutes from the EDC meeting held on dateYear2006Day27Month11November 27, 2006. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Balboni and passed unanimously.
Commissioner Rechen made a motion to approve minutes from the EDC meeting held on dateYear2007Day8Month2February 8, 2007. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Haase and passed unanimously.
III. DISCUSSION
WIFI – Commissioner Levesque was not present. Lou received an e-mail from Alan regarding feedback on the consultant’s presentation. The feedback from the commission was mixed. They generally felt that the presentation was thought provoking and would generate more future discussion.
Website – Nothing new to report. Hiram Peck continues to pursue a technology master plan. PersonNameNancy Haase looked at placeCityCanton’s website for ideas. She continues to consult with Hiram and there has been no progress since it was last discussed. Once further development of the website begins additional thought should be given to adding more links. A press release should also be considered.
Developer’s Showcase – The Developers Showcase will be held on March 28th from 5-8 at the placePlaceNameHartford PlaceTypeConvention Center. placeCityNancy has requested booth choices and has e-mailed the Riverview folks about attending. placeCityNancy will e-mail the link that can be used to register to all of the commission members. Those who will be attending can register online. Hiram, Brandon and Tom Vincent should be reminded about the event.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
dateYear2007Day8Month3March 8, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
IV. PROJECT REVIEW
Economic Development for Public Officials Forum
Will be held on March 29, from timeMinute30Hour186:30 – 8:30 PM, at the High School Amphitheater. placeCityNancy has forwarded the list of invitees to Sue Mazurski and has requested labels so that invitations can be sent out. placeCityNancy will produce an invitation. The invitations will go out in the next 7-10 days, with an RSVP requested
Business Owners Breakfast
Will be held in April or May on a Tuesday or Friday from approximately
timeMinute30Hour77:30 – 9:00 AM. Mark and Jon continue to work on organizing this project. They will continue to look for input from the MHA, the First Selectman’s office and the EDC. The goal of this event is to provide area Business Owners with an overview of what is available to them in placeCitySimsbury. It will be attended/hosted by the First Selectman's office, Jeff Vose – MHA, and the EDC. The event will most likely be held at the Hopmeadow Country Club. Invitations will be sent and there will be ads placed in the local placeCitySimsbury papers (Post & Life). addressStreetMain Street, The Chamber and MHA will be contacted regarding the businesses that should be invited. A press release was also discussed.
Developers Day
Will be held in June. Chuck, Alan and Tom are coordinating this event. Tom will arrange to meet with Sue and Jeff Vose to start planning this event. Lou indicated that Jeff Vose should be very helpful as he has previously participated in the planning of many of these events. Of primary importance is the selection of the properties that will be highlighted.
MHA – No update provided
V. REPORTS
Selectman Update – Dave Ryan
Dave discussed the ordinance that will be proposed at the next BOS meeting. It would allow the town to impose fees upon developers when specialized studies are necessary during the application review process. Hiram will discuss in greater detail later in this meeting. Dave expressed that this could possibly have a serious negative impact on development in the Town.
Grand list growth was less then last year. BOF recommended a 3% tax increase.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
dateYear2007Day8Month3March 8, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
Airport review continues. placeCityPlainville’s report is in and it indicated potential for a positive economic impact in the town.
Director of Community Planning & Development – Hiram Peck
Hiram explained that the two main reasons for the proposed ordinance are:
Ø Ensure proper peer review on applications for the larger and more complex projects that could possibly have substantial impact on the town.
Ø Relieve the tax payers of the cost burden associated with the specialized peer reviews.
o Have received positive feedback from developers
o 30+- CT towns are currently doing this
Currently proposed as an ordinance. An application would be presented and current staff would make a recommendation on whether a specialized/sophisticated study is necessary and then it would be submitted the appropriate commission. The commission would make a recommendation regarding the selection of a consultant. The applicant would then be expected to assume the cost of the recommended study.
There is also discussion to see if this can be accomplished voluntarily without an ordinance, if there is inadequate support for the ordinance.
Concern regarding the negative impact that the ordinance may have on economic development was expressed by Dave, Lou, and Dave Ryan. Chuck felt that the ordinance could be in the best interest of the Town and doesn’t view it as a negative. Chuck indicated that the Town would only turn to the developer when the Town’s staff doesn’t have the ability to provide the specialized study.
Hiram indicated that he is not promoting either the voluntary or the formal ordinance. He does feel strongly that a specific process is necessary.
Hiram has seen other towns use a formula for cost sharing where 3 estimates are attained, then a choice is made and any unused funds are issued back to the applicant.
The applicants that Hiram has actually spoken to have indicated that they are at least willing to participate.
Lou’s opinion was that the process should be voluntary as long as the Town can produce the same or similar outcomes with a voluntary, informal process instead of the ordinance.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
dateYear2007Day8Month3March 8, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
Chuck questioned if there had been any discussion of implementing a cap that would limit the financial impact that a study might impose on a developer.
Jon asked about the current cost of studies and if any developers had said that they would not be willing to contribute to the cost of the studies. He also expressed concerns about the long term negative impact this ordinance could have on the Town’s economic growth.
Hiram responded that no one has said “no” and a study’s cost depends on the size and complexity of the project, and the type of study that is necessary.
Lou commented that if this ordinance had been in place it could have affected the outcome of the application process for the recently approved River View banquet facility project.
John Shemo of MHA questioned if there were other towns taking a similar approach and is there a possibility of multiple versions of the same study being performed (by applicant, project opposition, Town)?
Hiram responded that he was aware of other towns, but couldn’t readily name them and that it was definitely possible to have studies performed by multiple parties. He pointed out that the Town would really be looking primarily for peer reviews on very large and complex project.
Dave expressed that he felt that the Town was making a mountain out of a molehill. He said from past experience he feels that if an applicant is serious they will participate in whatever manner is necessary to win approval for their project.
John Lucker (addressStreet88 Blue Ridge Dr.) made a comparison between IRS audits that are performed on tax returns that were prepared by professional accountants where errors are found, and studies that may be performed by developers that might contain errors. This is where a mandatory peer review would be very beneficial and could have long term impact on some of the proposals. John feels the town needs to have the ability to impose this requirement.
Lou indicated that he felt an ordinance is not going to have an impact on the large projects where the developers are usually more then willing to contribute, but will negatively impact the smaller projects down the road.
The commission continued to discuss the ordinance and ultimately agreed that their opinions on the issue were diverse. A decision was made to review the ordinance and take a vote on where they stand as a commission. All commission members received a copy of the ordinance to review (see attached).
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
dateYear2007Day8Month3March 8, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
Commissioner Balboni made a motion not to support the ordinance, Commissioner Rechen seconded the motion. Commissioner Minor opposed the motion. The motion to oppose the ordinance was passed with a 5 to 1 vote. The EDC went on record to oppose the ordinance.
Lou’s final comment reflected that he did not feel an ordinance was necessary and he strongly encourages the Town to continue to work with applicants on a voluntary basis as they do currently. Dave, Nancy and Tom expressed their support for Lou’s statement.
At Commissioner Balboni’s request Hiram briefly discussed the recent FOI requests and the FOI seminar that will be held for all Town Board and Commission members. Hiram provided guidance on how to handle e-mails that the Boards and Commissions receive.
Hiram provided the EDC with an update on Hoffman property application.
Director of Administrative Services - Brandon Robertson - Airport Study
placeCityBrandon provided additional details regarding the FOI seminar that will be held on April 10th.
The EDC was given a brief update on the Airport studies progress. The proposal was presented to the BOS in December and approval was given to proceed. The RFQ process is now underway. Four responses have been received, one from placePlaceNameClough PlaceTypeHarbor, the consulting firm that placeCityPlainville is currently using for their airport project. Hiram, Rich Sawitzke and Brandon will be meeting today to discuss the minimum requirements and to determine “next steps”. The top candidates will be determined, the scope of the required services will be determined and fee negotiation will be discussed. The goal is to have a selection made by the end of April. Based on placeCityPlainville’s experience once the consulting firm has been selected
the results of the study should be presented within a one year timeframe. Lou indicated that the EDC would like to have input as the process progresses.
T. J. Donohue – Review of the Konover Project
The River Oaks Plan is settled. The plan is to present to the EDC early in the process. Economist, Don Kleppersmith, who has performed an extensive study on the project, will be part of the presentation. The process will begin in the very near future. T.J. explained why this piece of property is now available for development and how the best use of the property was determined. That is how the “Mixed Use” proposal was determined. It was suggested by T.J. that a special EDC meeting be held just to review this project and to receive a presentation from Don Kleppersmith. Possible dates were discussed, but no date was chosen.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
dateYear2007Day8Month3March 8, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
addressStreetMain Street - No attendance
Annual Meeting will be held on March 21st.
Tourism Committee
Liz Banco provided an update on the “Preserve America Campaign.” Local sites are currently being selected for artwork that will be created by Carol Wallace.
VI. NEW BUSINESS
Chuck Minor and Nancy Haase were reappointed to the EDC.
Lou confirmed that the commission members received a summary from PersonNameBill Thomas regarding the placePlaceNameSimsbury PlaceTypeAirport project.
The EDC briefly discussed the October “Fly-in” and concluded that addressStreetMain Street, The Chamber and Tourism should all get involved.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Deming made a motion to adjourn; it was seconded by Commissioner Barney and the dateYear2007Day8Month3March 8, 2007 meeting of the EDC unanimously adjourned at timeMinute0Hour99:00 AM.
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