Economic Development Commission Minutes 10/10/2013 ADOPTED

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 10, 2013

1. Call to Order
Mark Deming, called the regular meeting of the Economic Development Commission to order on Thursday, October 10, 2013 at 7:30AM in the Main Meeting Room at the Town Offices. The following members were also present: James DeVivo, Kris Barnett, Alan Raphael, David Balboni, and Gary Dornbush. Also in attendance were: Mary Glassman, First Selectman; Hiram Peck, Planning Director; Nancy Haase, Board of Selectmen; Lisa Heavner, Board of Selectmen; and other interested parties.

2. Approval of the minutes of August 2013
Commissioner George made a motion for approval of the August 8, 2013 Minutes, as presented. Commissioner Raphael seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.

3. Reports: FVVA; SMSP
Nancy Anstey of the Farmington Valley Visitors Association was not able to attend, but did send a memo outlining FVVA’s status that Commissioner Deming read. There will be a Haunted Miniature Golf Fundraiser that starts on Thursday, October 17, 2013. In September, FVVA guides were present at Septemberfest, Sam Collins Day, and Avon Day.

Sarah Nielsen, SMSP, declared A Taste in Simsbury, held in August 2013, a success, with people coming from all over to attend. She shared that Hartford Magazine will be doing a profile on Simsbury in the November issue, featuring the renewed interest in development downtown with the charrette and new Zoning Regulations. Upcoming events include the Halloween event in its first year, providing a focus on community instead of candy. SMSP is also working with Simsbury Junior Woman’s Club, which is active in the community. They have a Luminary Night fundraiser coming up and all proceeds are distributed to worthwhile organizations in Simsbury.

A designer has been selected for the school piece discussed at prior meetings. Draft 1 is out and Ms. Nielsen is working with local realtors to gather their input. She hopes to have Draft 2 ready by the next meeting.

Metro Bis has moved to The 1820 House. They have 30 different events booked between now and the end of the year.

L Designs is relocating to the Simsbury Town Shoppes. They expect to be open October 29th.

690 Hopmeadow Street is working on renderings; they are considering a housing component as well as a community focus.

Ms. Nielsen discussed a recent meeting with Bob Crawford of the Hockey Association and the potential for pairing upcoming hockey events with programs for lodging packages and business promotions. The 2014-2015 National Championships will be coming, SMSP is working on these programs now to start offering with smaller tournaments that will be coming, as well.

4. Status of: marketing study, Hartford charrette process, Big Y
Mary Glassman, First Selectman, stated that over 200 people participated in the recent charrette and The Hartford was thrilled with the process, which has already helped CBRE in marketing the site. The final report is on the Town website and feedback is critical. There will be an upcoming meeting with Gateway Planning to present draft code changes. The Hartford Land Use Study Committee will review the report and code changes. They have also finished a review of all legal programs available to towns to assist in tax incentives or any other incentives a town wishes to offer for economic development projects. They are working on finalizing the transition timeframe at this time.

Hiram Peck, Planning Director, stressed that a lot of info is available in house for potential developers and they have already had people calling about potentially using it as an offsite data service center.

Commissioner Raphael asked about space being leased out. Mr. Peck explained that the building could be broken into 3 separate modules; the building is almost 640,000 square feet and it is more likely it will ultimately be broken up. Commissioner Raphael then asked if Mr. Peck was left with the impression that it would be sold piecemeal. Mr. Peck stated that whatever happens will be subject to an overall plan. The only entity that can answer that question is The Hartford itself, but they’ll want to see it comply with an overall comprehensive plan with the Town.

Commissioner Dornbush asked about the impact on taxes if the building is empty. Mr. Peck suggested the Assessor as the best source of that information. He explained that once the building becomes empty, Personal Property will certainly change. We want to refill the building before that happens. Ms. Glassman added that there will come a point when the cost of maintaining the building will outweigh the benefit to them and there have been buildings of that magnitude razed. We want to make sure we move aggressively before that becomes a consideration.

Commissioner Dornbush stressed the need for an incentive plan. He asked what the state will do to help. Mr. Peck explained that the hope is to attract someone from outside of Connecticut; the State will not support relocating a large business from another town. Ms. Glassman added that the State does not provide incentives to move from town to town. Any incentives offered by the Town are also limited by what state law allows.

Mr. Peck shared that he just received the draft Marketing Study from. It will be presented to the Board of Selectman at a Special Meeting on October 16th at 6:00 PM. Peter Fairweather will be there to present Phase 1 findings. The report focuses on Simsbury as an authentic place. There is a need to focus on why people stay here; why do they come to Connecticut. There is a quality of life here [in Simsbury] and that needs to get that out there.

Regarding Big Y, Mr. Peck stated that the Town has completed all permitting processes. The project is down to the skating center needing to sign the easement allowing Big Y to use the driveway. As soon as that’s signed, the project can move forward. Mr. Peck offered to facilitate a meeting between the two private entities.

6. For consideration and possible vote to recommend approval: Capital Region Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan Update 2013-2018, Executive Summary
Mr. Peck explained the recommendation that towns incorporate into their Regulations low impact development stormwater controls. He is anxious to have the board agree, as he would like to move forward with incorporating this into actual Regulations. Ms. Barnett asked if the LID Regulations will affect the way any form based codes have been done, and Mr. Peck assured her that it fits in perfectly.

A motion was made in favor of the Capital Region Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan Update 2013-2018. Commissioner Barnett seconded; Commissioners Dornbush and Balboni abstained. The motion did not carry; there was favor, but no formal vote.

5. CT innovation Center: re-purposing the Hartford building: Jay DeVivo
Commissioner DeVivo explained his concept to create a state-wide innovation hub in Simsbury modeled after Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It would be a flexible space where space could be rented as needed. The distinction between this facility and a completely start-up one is that Simsbury doesn’t have the critical mass to fill it with all start-ups; the remaining space could, however, be filled with innovation groups of larger companies. The focus would be on those areas DECD identified as critical to growth: insurance/financial services, bioscience, precision manufacturing, and clean technology. There could be cafes, pubs, service businesses inside the campus. There could be an education component: Montessori, magnet, satellite university campus, or ITT tech. Commissioner DeVivo believes that having something like this makes the rest of the property more valuable for future development. He is working with a small group of entrepreneurs and capital sources and is looking to bring more people in that community to the project and to talk to The Hartford. Commissioner DeVivo is not asking The Hartford to commit to this plan as the course of action, but to find out how they think it might work into their plans; to see what they can do to make it a more appealing alternative. Critical to the success of this plan is getting commitments to fill the center.

There was a discussion held on housing for potential employees, carrying costs for the parcel, and the impact of schools on taxes.

7. Allocating the EDC budget; discussion
Commissioner Deming asked if any part of the budget should be set aside for future requests. This will be discussed at the next meeting.

8. Old/new business
There was no discussion of old or new business.

9. Adjournment The October 10, 2013 EDC Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 AM.