Economic Development Commission Minutes 08/08/2013 ADOPTED

Meeting date: 
Thursday, August 8, 2013

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
AUGUST 8, 2013

1. Call to Order
Mark Deming, called the regular meeting of the Economic Development Commission to order on Thursday, August 8, 2013 at 7:30AM in the Main Meeting Room at the Town Offices. The following members were also present: James Devivo, Charles Minor, Kris Barnett and David Balboni. Also in attendance were: Mary Glassman, First Selectmen; Hiram Peck, Planning Director; Nancy Haase, Board of Selectmen; Lisa Heavner, Board of Selectmen; and other interested parties.

2. Approval of the minutes of July 2013
Commissioner ____ made a motion to approve the July EDC Meeting minutes, as presented. Commissioner ______ seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved

3. Reports: FVVA; SMSP
Nancy Anstey, FVVA, provided an update to the Commissioners and spoke about the increasing demand for the latest edition of the Guidebooks. Ms. Anstey spoke about State funding with regards to regional tourism and the difficulties involved with moving forward with unknown future funding levels. She then spoke about goals for the coming year, specifically as it relates to social media, apps and technology. The creation of a potential internship position was discussed.

Sarah Nielsen, SMSP began her update by speaking about SMSP’s recent focus on the economic competitiveness of Simsbury. She described the related marketing materials that are being created in conjunction with local realtors (a Realtor Ambassador Program). The potential Economic Development impact of a quality marketing piece regarding schools was discussed. Additional ways to communicate Simsbury’s quality of life were discussed with the goal of attracting residents and companies to relocate to Simsbury. Ms. Nielsen then provided an update regarding some commercial real estate activity. She then reminded everyone about the upcoming Taste in Simsbury. It was announced that the Craft Fair and the Fly-In will take place this year.


4. Status of the consultants’ reports: Marketing Study and Weatogue

Marketing Study - Mr. Peck addressed the Commission and provided an update on the recent progress of Peter Fairweather, the Consultant on the project, in terms of data collection from local business owners. He mentioned the challenges Mr. Fairweather has faced in terms of connecting with business owners. He said the next meeting will be on August 22, 2013, which will be finalizing Phase I. Mr. Peck said right now, there is no funding for Phase II, but they are keeping their eyes open for potential grants/funding (estimated cost of Phase II is $75,000).

Weatogue Study - Mr. Peck said there is a meeting August 8, 6:00PM regarding this project. He noted, in his opinion, they have received value in the amount of 3x the money paid on this study. The next steps (the review of a draft regulation) and the related timing were discussed.

5. Status of The Hartford Land Use Study
Mr. Peck stated the contracts should be done by the end of this week and spoke about the complications of coordinating that process. Mr. Peck announced the Charette is scheduled to start September 7th and will be presented on September 10th at The Hartford. He provided additional details about the schedule that week. He spoke about the participation in this process with local schools volunteering their time.

6. Old/new business
Mr. Deming announced Derek Peterson and Kevin Crimmins have resigned from the EDC and Gary Dornbush will be rejoining the EDC.

7. Adjournment

Commissioner DeVivo made a motion to adjourn the August 8, 2013 EDC Meeting at 8:25AM. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Barnet and was unanimously approved.