Economic Development Commission Minutes 01/09/2014 ADOPTED
Economic Development Commission
ADOPTED Minutes 1/9/2014
Regular Meeting
Simsbury Town Offices – 7:30 a.m. – Main Meeting Room
1. Call to Order
Mark Deming called the regular meeting of the Economic Development Commission to order on Thursday, January 9, 2014 at 7:30 AM in the Main Meeting Room at the Town Offices. The following members were also present: David Balboni, Kris Barnett, James Devivo, Gary Dornbush, Louis George, Charles Minor and Allan Raphael. Also in attendance were: Hiram Peck, Planning Director; Nancy Haase, Board of Selectmen; Lisa Heavner, Board of Selectmen; and other interested parties.
2. Approval of the minutes of December 2013
Commissioner Barnett requested corrections to the spelling of her name on pages 3 and 4.
Commissioner Raphael made a motion for approval of the December 13, 2013 minutes with the above changes. Commissioner Dornbush seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
3. Election of Officers
Commissioner Raphael made a motion to nominate Commission Deming for Chair of the Economic Development Commission. Commissioner Barnett seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
Commissioner Deming made a motion to nominate Commission Barnett for Vice-Chair of the Economic Development Commission. Commissioner Balboni seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
4. Reports: SMSP; FVVA
Richard Correia, SMSP, discussed some of the events they were involved in, i.e. Salvation Army Toy Drive with Town Hall, Fitzgerald’s, Children’s Club House and Antonio’s. SMSP has been discussing their work plan for 2014-2015. Annual meeting will be held in April.
Commissioner Dornbush would like to see a report on what benefits the $50,000 the town spends on SMSP as well as the $500,000 streetscape improvements. Commissioner Dornbush would also like to see a roundtable to talk about issues. Nancy Haase did state that documentation has been reported in the past.
Hiram Peck explained that all areas benefit from SMSP, but the town can only do one area at a time due to the cost.
Nancy Anstey, FVVA, stated they are finalizing their plans and they have a lecture on March 16th from the Historic site groups to be held at the Historical Society. Nancy also mentioned other events that will be coming up.
Commissioner Deming introduced Dominique Avery as the new Co-Chair of Tourism. Dominique noted their interest in funding a video on Simsbury.
Commissioner George, as the representative of the Chamber, gave an update of upcoming events, including an informational breakfast regarding The Hartford on February 26th.
Lisa Heavner did an update on some of the items the Board of Selectmen are currently working on.
Several members of EDC voiced their concern on the approval of medical marijuana in Simsbury and that no notification was given to the EDC members. Lisa Heavner noted that this approval was done through the Zoning Commission. Commissioner Devivo suggested that the newly-formed EDC Task Force sit down with the Zoning Commission to discuss issues.
Commissioner Devivo and Lisa Heavner discussed the possibility of bringing on a full- or part-time person to handle the technology of the web-site.
5. Update status of The Hartford Land Use Study Committee
Hiram Peck updated the EDC on The Hartford Lane Use Study, as well as the Certified Site program. The DECD has a permit on Certified Site program and the State has agreed to send someone to the meeting on January 13th to speak. Commissioner Dornbush asked if there is anyone looking at The Hartford building and Hiram stated there were three or four that have looked at the building.
Commissioner Dornbush and Balboni asked for an update on the Big Y coming into Simsbury. Hiram explained that the town has completed their part and that the issue is an easement of the driveway to the skating center.
6. EDC goals for 2014-15; discussion
Commissioner Deming and EDC members discussed the following 2014-15 goals for the EDC:
- Continued support for the Simsbury Main Street Partnership and the Farmington Valley Visitors Association.
- Re-design and maintenance of the EDC, SMSP and tourist websites.
Commissioner Barnett proposed adding a line item on the budget to have a webmaster to continue taking care of the websites and not depend on volunteer activity.
- Support and help implement Phase 2 of the marketing study. Assess deliverables.
Commissioner George stated that money should be allocated and the town should try and find talented residents to volunteer to help.
- Develop and complete a master plan to develop the Simsbury Meadows area into a cultural and recreational destination incorporating the Farmington River and 200 acres of Town owned land and the Town Center Zone.
- Support the transition of the Hartford Insurance group’s property to new uses.
- Discuss possible revisions to the tax abatement program and re-establishment of the infrastructure assistance program.
Hiram Peck stated that eight applications have been approved for tax abatement. It was discussed if the tax abatement program should be changed (i.e. length of time). Hiram stated that Simsbury has a very weak abatement program compared to other towns. Commissioner Deming suggested making the Tax Abatement program more robust and looking into the infrastructure.
- Work with DECD to create a “Certified Sites Model” for the State of CT using The Hartford property as an example.
- Establish an annual meeting of the land use commissions to study/discuss best practices for economic development.
Commissioner Deming suggested reviewing this with the Zoning, Planning and Inland and Wetlands and for the EDC to look at what has transpired over the previous 12 to 15 months.
7. EDC budget; discussion
Proposed EDC budget for fiscal year 2014 – 2015
- Part Time $ 900.00
- Office Supplies $ 200.00
- Simsbury Main Street Partnership $ 50,000.00
- Farmington Valley Association $ 4,000.00
- Simsbury Meadows Master Plan $ 10,000.00
- Marketing Study, phase II $ 60,000.00
TOTAL $125,100.00
The 2014-15 budget was discussed and it was agreed by the Commission to keep Part Time, Office Supplies, Simsbury Main Street Partnership and Farmington Valley Association at their current budget amounts.
Commissioner George suggested increasing the Simsbury Meadows Master Plan from $10,000 to $25,000 to better develop a master plan. Commissioner Deming agreed he would like to see this increase with the possibility of Parks and Rec or another group co-funding this amount.
Commissioner George would like to see the Marketing Study, phase II budget decreased from $60,000 to $30,000. Using town volunteers and a consultant to oversee this project would allow for this decrease.
It was unanimously voted by the EDC Commission members to reduced line item #6 from $60,000 to $30,000 and changing the name to Marketing/Consultant/Task Force for the 2014-15 fiscal year
Commissioner Barnett made a request to add an additional line item to the budget to read “Web-master” with an amount of $8,000.
Commissioner George made a request to add an additional line item to the budget to read “Conferences/Seminars” with an amount of $3,000.
Commissioner Dornbush made a motion to accept the budget goals as discussed and a budget of $121,000 for the 2014-15 fiscal year. Commissioner Balboni seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved (Commissioner Minor was absent).
8. EDC website upgrade: Kris Barnett
Commissioner Deming discussed that if the town purchased our own URL for EDC that Virtual Town Hall would help create the template with a one-time cost of $495.
Commissioner Barnett also discussed the cost of developing the website. She stated that purchase of the URL for five years would be approximately $300, as well as the creation of the template.
Commissioner George made a motion to purchase the URL and template for $795. Commissioner Dornbush seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved (Commissioner Minor, Balboni and Raphael were absent)
9. Rick Wagner: Innovation Initiative
Rick Wagner discussed Fairweather’s Innovation Initiative for Simsbury and that he was not impressed.
10. EDC task force proposal: Nancy Haase; discussion
Nancy Haase, BOS, discussed the EDC Task Force and to try to utilize in-kind services to reduce cost. She noted that the town does not have an expansion plan in place.
Commissioner George made a motion that the EDC recommends that BOS implement an EDC Task Force (after set up, reports to the EDC) an additional goal to what has been proposed, to look at a position in Town Hall directing Economic Development. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Barnett and was unanimously approved (Commissioner Minor was absent).
11. Adjournment
Commissioner Devivo made a motion for approval for adjournment at 9:32 AM. Commissioner George seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously (Commissioner Minor, Balboni and Raphael were absent).