Economic Development Commission Minutes 04/11/2013 ADOPTED
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
APRIL 11, 2013
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mark Deming called the regular meeting of the Economic Development Commission to order on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 7:38AM in the Main Meeting Room at the Town Offices. The following members were also present: Allan R. Raphael, Kris Barnett, Charles Minor, Louis George, Kevin Crimmins and David Balboni. Also in attendance were: Hiram Peck, Planning Director; and other interested parties.
2. Approval of the minutes of March 2013
Commissioner Raphael made a motion to approve the March EDC Meeting minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Crimmins and was unanimously approved.
3. Reports: FVVA; SMSP Sara Nielsen, SMSP, began by saying SMSP is event-driven at the moment with the busy spring/summer season coming up. She provided an update on some of the upcoming events on which they are currently working. Ms. Nielsen noted SMSP is still looking for a Market Master for the Farmers’ Market. She then spoke about package deals local vendors will be offering in conjunction with the upcoming concert season. Ms. Nielsen spoke about working on a Realtor Ambassador program with the goal of educating out of town realtors on the amenities Simsbury offers and how Simsbury distinguishes itself from the neighboring towns. She also spoke about surveying employees of the bigger businesses in the area in order to collect data regarding the perception of what Simsbury might be missing in terms of housing, businesses, amenities, etc. Commissioner Barnett spoke about the Realtor Ambassador program, as she is coordinating with Ms. Nielsen on this effort.
Elizabeth Banco, FVVA, passed around a flyer regarding the CT Film Networking Mixer, sponsored by Farmington Valley Film Commission, which will be held on April 18 at 5:30PM at the Maple Tree Cafe in Simsbury. Ms. Banco also mentioned the 2013 Volunteer Expo that will be held at Eno Memorial Hall on April 25, 6-8PM. She said the goal of the Expo is to get new people out to sign up for volunteer posts within the community.
4. EDC website: discussion on front page design and links Commissioner Deming said he will circulate the comments collected thus far to the EDC Commissioners, get feedback and go from there. Ms. Heavner, Board of Selectmen, said the Technology Committee will be meeting on an ongoing basis and will utilize focus groups in order to find out how the every day user navigates the site and how it can be improved.
5. Report: status of the consultant for the Economic Implementation & Marketing Study Mr. Peck said Fairweather Consulting has been chosen with regards to Phase I of the Marketing Study and the contract is set and ready to go. He asked the Commissioners to send comments in to him so they can be presented to the consultant at the first meeting, which will be held on April 18th. Mr. Peck said the second study is the Village District Study and Carr, Lynch and Sandell, Inc., out of Cambridge, MA, has been awarded this project. He said the study will focus on the Weatogue area and the first meeting for that will also be held on April 18th. Mr. Peck then spoke briefly about the limited funding for these studies and the parameters. The overall goals of the study were discussed by Mr. Peck. When asked about raising funds for Phase II of the Marketing Study, Mr. Peck said he has not had a chance to focus on it yet.
When asked about the status of Big Y, Mr. Peck said Big Y is in the final stages with the DOT. He spoke about the DOT's concerns and what has caused the delay, but said he hopes it will be wrapped up within a week or so and hopefully Big Y will commence construction immediately following. He spoke about how the Town has shown its support of the project to the DOT.
Mr. Peck announced that the special needs housing project planned for Dorset Crossing has received approval for required State tax credits, so construction on that building will begin shortly. He said the developer of the other housing component planned for Dorset Crossing is bringing in schematic plans within the next couple of weeks. He also spoke about the work CL&P is doing on their substation in that area. Mr. Peck then spoke about some additional potential development in Town Center.
Mr. Peck handed out a package to the Commissioners regarding The Hartford/ Town of Simsbury 2013 Land Use Study and spoke about the funding behind the study. He then spoke about the parameters of the study as well as its value to the community. Mr. Peck said the goal is to have the study done by September, which is moving very quickly. When discussing the future uses for The Hartford site, Mr. Peck spoke about the goal of increasing the Grand List in terms of balancing the requests for tax abatements. Commissioner George presented the idea of amending the Enterprise Zone Regulation, at a State level, in order to provide an advantage to a municipality that may have lost a large corporate tax payer. He said this type of amendment should be pushed and promoted by the EDC in order to create a more level playing field for Simsbury in marketing that site. The topic of infrastructure assistance was also discussed with Mr. Peck saying the account is still there, but it is not currently funded. Traffic flow of that site was discussed as well.
Mr. Peck let the Commission know that Simsbury has applied for the Recreational Trail Grant and he is very hopeful it will go forward. The status of Dewey Farm was discussed briefly.
6. Old/new business
Ferg Jansen announced to the Commissioners that PAC is looking for volunteers for the upcoming concert series. He also announced the Bridge of Flowers is having “Burgers on the Bridge” June 12th (rain date, June 13th) as a fundraiser. Mr. Jansen also said American Airlines has announced a direct flight from Bradley to LAX starting in June, which is great news for Hartford.
7. Adjournment
Commissioner George made a motion to adjourn the April 11, 2013 EDC Meeting at 8:36AM. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Crimmins and was unanimously approved.