MINUTES
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
OCTOBER 14, 2004
I. CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting of the Economic Development Commission was called to order at 7:30 A.M. in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. Present were Chairman Lou George, Commission Members Dave Balboni, Scott Barnett, Sharon Craig (arrived 7:35), Mark Deming, Nancy Haase (arrived 7:40), and Alan Levesque, as well as other interested parties.
II. MINUTES – 09/09/04
Dave Balboni made a motion, seconded by Scott Barnett, and passed unanimously to approve the Minutes of 09/09/04.
III. PROJECT REVIEW
Lou George introduced and welcomed new EDC member Mark Deming, (taking Dave Ryan’s position), to the meeting before discussing project reviews.
P.O.D. – Scott Barnett said he is watching the agenda of the Planning Commission, and Ferg Jansen stated the EDC is scheduled to be up for discussion at the November Planning Commission meeting.
Septemberfest – Nancy Haase gave a wrap up on the event, and said the location had been great, people asked interesting questions, and EDC had an opportunity to educate them and share information.
EDC would like to have the banners used at Septemberfest hung in Town Hall, but the First Selectman has said this could not be done. Lou George said he would ask again on this issue because EDC members agreed the good things that are happening in Town should be shared with the Citizens.
Lou George congratulated Nancy on a great job with coordinating Septemberfest and asked board members for more participation from each member on future tasks.
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Nancy Haase distributed a rough copy of a Press Release supporting the EB Realty project in Powder Forest. She said the 2nd joint meeting of Planning and Zoning is taking place Monday, October 18th. Lou George read the first letter that EDC had sent to Planning and Zoning Commissions on the support of the concept of the EB project. The EDC members agreed now that the formal application is being presented, a Press Release should be done and a second letter to Planning and Zoning should be done.
IV. RICH CORREIA (PROPERTY VALUE PRESENTATION)
Lou George explained Rich had presented this information to the Planning Commission last month. Rich Correia said the Market Review Comparison (Addendum I) he presented to EDC would be an abbreviated summary.
The information is a comparison of home sales in 1999 versus 2004 as of September 12th. An over all summary showed the 1999 median pricing of a home sale to be $210,000 vs. $305,000 in 2004, representing a 145% increase. The five individual neighborhoods looked at were Tariffville, Whitman, School House, Teachers Turn (as one), Latimer, Central, and the Northwest. All areas show over a 100% increase in sales price over the 5-year time period.
Rich explained only residential areas were looked at with all existing structures, except the Whitman, School House, Teachers Turn area which was first built in 1999.
The importance of the information presented is to use the information to plan for the future. Rich said ideas such as “bonusing” developers or concentrating development, making housing “market affordable,” and rezoning acre lots are things that should be considered.
He also expressed the importance of investing in current commercial properties in Town to attract families to the area, and changing zoning on Hopmeadow Street where residential homes are located to incrementally increase the tax base.
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Lou George shared information that statistics show in Hartford County (Avon, Simsbury, West Hartford, Glastonbury) the increase in home prices in the last year have grown at a slower rate in Simsbury than other Towns. He said when talking to realtors in the area they say this is due to taxes.
Rich Correia said when doing an analysis for someone the question is “how much home can I buy?” Principal and interest on the mortgage, taxes, insurance payment, and their debt are looked at. In Towns like Simsbury, the majority of people are putting less money down, 10% or less. While other communities’ prices are rising, they have new product, which brings the averages up, where Simsbury does not have new product.
Rich read to the EDC members an article from the Shopping Center Today about Hudson, Ohio. This Town similar in size and a similar downtown area to Simsbury, reversed the decline of it’s downtown by buying and demolishing an old factory, creating a private/public partnership, and built a pedestrian friendly shopping center, and a new large library to open this month. Rich said this is something for the Town to think about on ways to revitalize our Town.
Rich expressed concern with the threat of developers buying houses in Town, and shortly after, tearing them down and putting up larger ones. He also reported on a new “reality” television show that will air soon about people who buy homes and “flip.” This is when some minimal improvements are done to the home and six months later they sell the house for more money. Rich said this could be a dangerous trend.
V. REPORTS
Sara Floraski reported the Barney School of Business working with the University of Hartford, had secret shopped 10 businesses on Hopmeadow Street and has now picked 6 to work with. They are Life Balance, Geepers, Welden Hardware, Candy Bouquet, Dandy Lyons, and The Work Shoppe. These businesses will now receive on-going input from the Barney School of Business.
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Sara also reported Main Street is working with Simsbury Celebrates! and trying to get the restaurants more involved.
Main Street is previewing a realtor package that will eventually become a Westminster package, that through Prudential Realtors when they fly someone in to the area they will get a discount with Classic Hotels. Second, when a person purchases a home in Simsbury through Prudential they will receive a package from Classic Hotels including coupons for restaurants, etc.
The Main Street auction (for fundraising) is scheduled for November 13th at the Simsbury Bank.
Sara reported that on November 10th there would be the first public hearing for the Charter Revision Commission (time and place TBD).
ICSC (International Conference of Shopping Centers) held an alliance conference, which Bill Voelker is a Co-chair. This conference is their public/private partnership between municipalities and private developers, etc. This meeting was extremely timely and more information will be heard soon.
Bill Voelker reported he has spent lots of time on the EB Realty project, and the approved 15,000 square foot office building is scheduled for construction soon.
Bill also reported they are in the process of hiring a Zoning Enforcement Officer; interviews had been completed and a selection would be made soon.
Dave Balboni wanted an update on the comments made by the Christensen’s at a prior meeting about the slow approval process. Bill Voelker said that when large projects like the EB Realty one are on the table, they do dominate time, however if special meetings are asked for, the Commissions are cooperative.
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Bill explained to the EDC members that the Christensen’s wanted to amend their application because they wanted 4 more dwelling units at Simsmore Square. Bill said the Town should not be micromanaging, and more flexibility should be given to administration.
VI. VISITOR CENTER
Lou reported that he, Nancy Ansty from FVVA and Liz met last week to discuss what should be done with the Center. The importance of the location now is that it is “manned” and there is someone there to talk to.
The issue of funds running out, where to find money to keep it going, a new location, and/or give up on the Visitor Center were all topics discussed.
Lou George said given the cost of running the Center and prior efforts made to keep it going, he spoke with Tom Vincent to pitch a plan to entice and relocate the FVVA to Simsbury and house the Visitor Center there.
The EDC members discussed this topic, and Nancy Ansty explained because the FVVA is a 7-town operation, it cannot be located in Town property, however the idea of finding a location in Simsbury will be investigated.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
It was reported that Bob’s Discount Furniture has left Simsbury and Bickford’s Restaurant has also moved.
Nancy Haase said Chris Maguire, owner of Maguire’s Wines & Spirits on Hopmeadow Street, is opening a second store in Canton.
Scott Barnett said to remind people the importance of buying in Town, suggested having a banner made to hang on Hopmeadow Street to say SHOP & DINE IN SIMSBURY (or something of this nature). The banner can be hung for a 2- week period and could be used twice a year.
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Members agreed this was a good idea, Nancy Haase said she would make a call to have this printed, and Bill Voelker will be contacted to reserve the 2 week time.
Scott Barnett made a motion, seconded by Sharon Craig, and passed unanimously for the EDC to fund the banner and have it hung in Town.
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
The Economic Development Commission adjourned the meeting at 9:30 A.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Laurie Lungarini
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