ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
April 12, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
I. CALL TO ORDER
The Regular Meeting of the Economic Development Commission was called to order at timeHour7Minute407:40 a.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. Chairman Louis George and Commission members PersonNameNancy Haase, David Balboni, and Charles Minor were present as well as other interested parties. Commissioners Alan Levesque, Mark Deming, Jon Barney and Tom Rechen were absent.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The following corrections and additions were made to the dateMonth3Day8Year2007March 8, 2007 minutes.
Page 5, paragraph 1- add that the vote not to support the ordinance was passed with a 5 to 1 vote.
Page 6, addressStreetMain Street – Their annual meeting was held on March 21st not the 15th.
Commissioner Haase made a motion to approve minutes from the EDC meeting held on dateMonth3Day8Year2007March 8, 2007, with the above changes. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Balboni and passed unanimously.
III. KONOVER UPDATE
Lou report that Konover is currently making formal presentations to various groups: The Chamber, Realtors and is also conducting street by street discussion/meetings.
On April 25, a Public Forum will be held at timeHour19Minute07:00 PM at the placePlaceNameSimsbury PlaceTypeHigh School to present to all of the Boards and Commissions and the public. This will be a significant pre-application informational presentation with no public input. The application should be filed the following week.
The Commission discussed the logic of holding this informational meeting/presentation before the application is filed. The EDC will have a special meeting in May to review the economics of the project.
Dave Ryan made the comment that the Town’s Attorney had mentioned to him that land use decisions cannot be made or influenced by economics. The EDC briefly discussed this topic.
IV. DISCUSSION
WIFI – Commissioner Levesque was not present, no update provided.
Website – placeCityNancy provided a brief update on the continuing work and research being done for development of the Website.
Developer’s Showcase – Lou thanked placeCityNancy for her work on the project. Attendance was good and it went very well.
Economic Development for Public Officials Forum - Lou reported that the forum went well with 30+ attendees. Lou has a slide presentation that he will have Jeff Vose forward to anyone who would like it. Jeff Vose will provide feedback and a list of participants to the Commission. placeCityNancy’s participation with the coordination of the event was much appreciated.
V. REPORTS
addressStreetMain Street – Sara Floroski thanked Jeff Vose for his presentation to the Main Street Board on April 11th.
Sara provided the EDC with an update on the Preserve America Gala that will be held on June 1st, from timeHour17Minute305:30 to timeHour20Minute08:00 PM. This Gala will also be the kick-off of the Heritage Tours campaign which will feature the art of local artist Carol Wallace. Featured speakers will be Chris Murphy and Tom Vincent.
The Main Street Board selected Nancy Haase as their Volunteer of the Year and she will be honored at a ceremony in Winsted on June 11th.
placeCityNancy asked if addressStreetMain Street could attend the Business Owners Breakfast and invite some their members.
New addressStreetMain Street Officers: Rich Correia - President, Nancy Felanger – Vice President.
New addressStreetMain Street Board Members: Richard Wagner – Imagine it Frames/October Farms, Melissa Brett – Welden Hardware.
Selectman Update – Dave Ryan provided updates to the EDC on the following:
Ethel Walker Sale – placeCitySale agreement is nearly complete
Airport Study – Work continues on the project, but should be monitored so that it remains a high priority and continues to progress. Lou will contact placeCityBrandon for an update.
Fees Ordinance – Bob DeCrescenzo, the Town’s Attorney and Hiram Peck are reviewing and reworking the ordinance and it should be ready for the next Board of Selectmen meeting. Lou asked if the EDC’s concerns were heard and requested that the EDC receive a copy of the new draft before it goes to the Board of Selectmen.
Director of Community Planning and Development Update – Hiram Peck reported that the Airport Study was on track, 2 finalists have been selected and interviews will take place on April 26th.
The Hoffman project received approval and is being appealed by a neighbor.
A project called Dorsett Crossing patterned after Dorsett placecountry-regionEngland has requested the opportunity to present to the Design Review Board on April 24th. This is a mixed use development in the north end of town. This brought up the question of whether there is a proposed regulation that would govern mixed use development. Hiram indicated that there is a Planned Development District (PDD) regulation being discussed. Special council is involved and this regulation would govern both small and large sites in Town. Applicants would have to apply under the regulation and they would have to meet the regulations standards. Hiram indicated that there has been one preliminary discussion with the Zoning Commission. The draft of the regulation is close to being
completed and then it will go to public hearing. The PDD regulation is not in conflict with the POCD. The POCD is close to reaching approval.
VI. Project review
Business Owners Breakfast – placeCityNancy has received information from Mark and forwarded it to Jeff. The invite list has been established and has been sent to Tom Vincent, Sue Mazurski and Bob DeCrescenzo, the Town’s Attorney for review. It should be back within the week. Jeff Vose will continue to help out with the coordination. The EDC continued to discuss the scope and intent of this breakfast. The breakfast will start at timeHour19Minute157:15 and will be held at Hopmeadow CC.
Developers Day – Lou spoke to Tom Rechen regarding this event. Dates in early June are being discussed, as well as a list of invitees and what properties will be identified. Jeff Vose suggested that the event be held in the morning, beginning at timeHour8Minute308:30, starting with a brief presentation followed by a 1 hour bus tour. placeCityNancy suggested that the GIS maps be displayed with the highlighted properties indicated on them.
Airport Fly-In – The EDC discussed the Fly-In that will take place in early October. The Fly-In is part of the National Pilots Convention that will be held in placeCityHartford. placeCitySimsbury has been designated as one of the Airports where planes will be able to land for the Fly-In. All agreed that this event was important and held great potential and that it should receive the EDC’s attention. The event will bring 4,000 plus people into the area. It may prove to be a major undertaking with challenges that will include manpower to staff volunteer positions, the possible lack of local accommodations because of “leaf “ season and the coordination of a shuttle service. The EDC, addressStreetTourism Committee Main Street, The
Chamber and the Airport group will need to work together to make this work.
Chuck Minor will head up the EDC’s participation in this event and will work with Lou to put a plan together. Lou will begin by touching base with Bill Thomas at the airport.
Metro Hartford Alliance – Jeff Vose provided the EDC with the MHA’s latest activities: Main Street presentation on April 11th, MHA’s upcoming strategic planning session on May 10th and 11th in Mystic ( Lou plans to attend), the inaugural flight from Bradley to Amsterdam that will take place on July 1st, and the Travelers Championship Golf Tournament, June 18th – 21st.
Dave Ryan sparked a discussion on WIFI. Jeff commented on a WIFI Conference that will take place in placeCityNewton StateMA on June 3rd – 5th that should be informative. He commented that MHA feels that WIFI access remains an important factor in the economic development of a town and has multifaceted usage. The EDC continued to discuss new WIFI developments including the advantages and costs associated with developing WIFI capability in placeCitySimsbury. The EDC agreed with Hiram that the starting point was the development of an IT Master Plan/Needs Assessment, which can be done at a relatively low cost, through IT’s budget. placeCityNancy will touch base with Rick Bazzano regarding the IT Master Plan.
Tourism - Nancy Anstey updated the EDC on the Film Forum that will be held at the Simsbury Inn on April 16th from timeHour19Minute07 – 9 PM. In the near future Tourism will be working to put together a promotional package that will hopefully draw film makers to the area. The potential economic benefits to bringing film makers to the Valley are tremendous.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
Lou George made the following final comments regarding moving forward with the Center Zone Master Plan study:
He asked if it is part of Hiram’s budget proposal. Hiram confirmed that it was.
He wants to personally support the idea of the development of an actual Implementation Plan versus another blatant “study” to gather ideas.
Lou indicated that he will continue to work with Mark Deming regarding this issue.
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Haase made a motion to adjourn; it was seconded by Commissioner Balboni and the dateMonth4Day12Year2007April 12, 2007 meeting of the EDC unanimously adjourned at timeHour9Minute69:06 AM.
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