ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
December 14, 2006
REGULAR MEETING
I. CALL TO ORDER
The Regular Meeting of the Economic Development Commission was called to order at timeHour7Minute357:35 am in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. Chairman Louis George and Commission members Nancy Haase, David Balboni, Mark Deming, Alan Levesque, Thomas Rechen, Charles Minor and Sharon Craig were present as well as other interested parties. Commission member, Jon Barney was absent.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Alan Levesque made a motion to approve minutes from the EDC meeting held on dateMonth11Day9Year2006November 9, 2006. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Mark Deming and passed unanimously.
Minutes for the Special EDC meeting held on November 27, 2006 are pending.
III. Presentation of Route 44 Hoffman Project by Attorney T.J. Donohue
Attorney T. J. Donohue presented the development plan for the Hoffman Family Expansion project. The project consists of a business purchase from the Wagner family. It will include retail space for an auto dealership and repair facility, Munson’s Candy and a Best Buys Electronics store. The usable square footage will increase from the 44,000 to 115,335. The project will fully utilized the sight on Route 44, which Attorney Donohue feels is currently underutilized. No additional access on to Route 44 will be necessary. The project is now through the design review process. A presentation has been made to the Planning Commission and they are awaiting action from the commission at their next meeting in January, 2007. Once this decision has been received the project will
be presented to Zoning.
Ray Kerhan of the UCONN School of Business presented the results of both a Fiscal Impact and Economic Feasibility Study and copies of the studies were given to the commission members. Mr. Kerhan’s presentation focused on the fact that the Route 44 corridor location is ideal for retail development as it is one of the top 5 retail locations in CT, due to the area’s demographics and disposable income. Other highlights included population density in and around the area, convenience of the sight (drive times were factored), the employment impact and the significant increase to the tax base (178,000 currently up to 524,000.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
DECEMBER 14, 2006
REGULAR MEETING
Commissioner Minor asked how the statistics presented was determined. Mr. Kerhan responded that they were based on census data and area demographics that included studies on income levels, education, travel, consumerism and family size.
T.J. asked the EDC for a favorable recommendation for the project. He indicated that there will be a need for a zoning change for part of the parcel. He also stated that he feels that this project is consistent with the POD, as it improves the site and continues to not only grow, but also keep business in town.
Commissioner Balboni questioned what was the estimated financial investment required by Hoffman. The response was an estimated 18.5 + million.
Commissioner Rechen made a motion to give the EDC’s support for the project, the motion was seconded by Commissioner Minor and was unanimously passed after many positive comments were made by the commission members. Commissioner Balboni excused himself from the vote because of his direct involvement with the Wagner Family
Chairman George will compose a letter of support from the EDC and will forward it to the Planning and Zoning Commissions.
Chairman George asked how the Design Review process went and T.J. Donohue responded that he felt that the Design Review Board provided great input. He stated that he feels the DRB is a talented group of people that made very creative and positive suggestions and ultimately significantly improved the overall design plan.
IV. DISCUSSION
WIFI – The Consultant presentation has been moved to the January 2007 meeting and Commissioner Levesque will e-mail material regarding the presenters to the commission members prior to the presentation.
Website – Commissioner Haase provided an update on a meeting with Hiram Peck and Commissioner Minor where the EDC webpage was discussed.
Hiram felt meetings were productive. He suggests that the Town consider getting a consultant to do an IT master plan. This would provide a foundation for the Website process. The first step would be to get a cost estimate to produce the
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
DECEMBER 14, 2006
REGULAR MEETING
master plan. The master plan would provide some direction right up front. An initial step would be to talk to Rick Bazzano, the Town’s IT manager and The First Selectman. Hiram is aware of some firms that could do this for the Town. Nancy has had an initial conversation with Rick Bazzano regarding coming up with a plan before any dollars are invested. Other commission members expressed support for the idea of bringing a firm in to formulate a plan. Commissioner’s Haase and Minor will discuss with Rick Bazzano and the First Selectman. Hiram will get some prospective consultant names together.
V. REPORTS
Main Street – Sarah Floroski expressed her appreciation to the commission for their support in 2006. She also commented on what a phenomenal liaison Commissioner Haase has been. Sarah provided the following addressStreetMain Street updates:
The fund raising auction was a great success.
Main Street contracted with the Courant to do coop advertising in the Courant’s Holiday Wishes section. Eleven businesses were listed and it promoted the Simsbury Bank Gift Checks program, which has been a big success. It has become even more successful then in previous years because of increased promotional efforts. Main Street will have actual numbers to report in January.
Main Street has begun their 2007 strategic planning and will have more to share in January. Major focuses will include “Preserve America.” A new grant request will be presented to the BOS when it is completed. In May 2007 Main Street hopes to have a Preserve America Gala Celebration that will coincide with Simsbury’s birthday. May is also Preservation month. Barkhamsted artist, Carol Wallace will be involved with an image campaign. Main Street will eventually be asking for EDC participation in the Gala.
A Business Owners meeting will be scheduled for March 2007.
Sarah will be on vacation from 12/15/06 through January 4th.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
DECEMBER 14, 2006
REGULAR MEETING
Selectman Update - Selectman Dave Ryan was not present, but Chairman George commented that he did attend the dateMonth12Day11Year200612/11/06 BOS meeting and that the BOS did review and approved the decision to continue to move forward with the study by the FAA to determine if the FAA will provide funding for the municipal purchase of the airport. Brandon Robertson did an excellent job reporting to the BOS.
Director of Community Planning and Development Update – Hiram Peck, Acting Director of Planning and Development reported the Planning Commission is in the process of reviewing POD comments received at the public hearings and making appropriate adjustments to the plan based on those comments. The plan final draft should be ready at the end of December and the final plan should be presented at a public hearing in March.
Hiram’s department will be going through a review and reorganization to allow the department to function better. He hopes to be able to streamline the process with more of a one stop shopping approach.
Chairman George commented on what an excellent job the Planning Commission’s Clerk, Colleen has been doing for the commission.
2007 Budget Discussions - EDC’s budget requests need to be presented in January. Commissioner Haase submitted the 2006/2007 budget and FYTD expenditures.
The 2006/2007 EDC budget was $51,900. Expenditures so far are $41,000. There is a current remaining balance of $9,964. The largest part of the budget is for addressStreetMain Street. The following items were discussed regarding the 2007/2008 EDC budget request:
Item #1 – Part-time Clerk $748 was budgeted. This will probably increase by 4 - 4.5% for a cost of living increase.
Item #2 – Conferences & Education budgeted $10,000. Involves educating the Commission and a large portion was slated for an EDC seminar that never happened. This number may go down. Chairman George suggested $7,500. Commissioner Minor questioned which conferences/seminars were attended. Commissioner Haase reported on those attended by members of the commission. The commission discussed the upcoming seminars and the importance of their
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
DECEMBER 14, 2006
REGULAR MEETING
attendance. $10,000 is not necessary, but the number should still remain around 7,500.
Item #3 – Consultant fees had a $2,000. budget with actual expenditures was 6,050. primarily for Metro Hartford Alliance agreement. For 2007/2008 $12,096 should be added for a total of $14,096.
Item #4 – Public Agency Support for MHA should be $4699.20 for the membership fee.
Item #5 – FVVA $4,000 was budgeted and this should be reduced to $3,000.
Item 6 – Main Street, last FY $26,000 was budgeted. For 2007/2008 amount requested by addressStreetMain Street is $35,000. The commission asked addressStreetMain Street to provide a more detailed description of how their budget dollars are used and a historical view of how the budget has changed over the years. Rich Correia commented on how involved Sarah is with local business owners and how much “handholding” she has done recently and how beneficial addressStreetMain Street’s services are to the Town.
Commissioner Minor commented that the EDC should give some thought to budgeting some money for the IT master plan project.
Chairman George summarized that the EDC budget would require additional research and continued discussion at subsequent meeting(s) and no vote would occur at this meeting.
EDC Budget recommendations to BOS:
Consideration should be given to supporting the allocation of 2007/2008 budget dollars for the IT Master Plan proposed by Hiram Peck.
Personnel Issues – Dunny Barney, Chairman of the Zoning Commission commented on the fact that he feels that the Town and EDC needs to take a strong stand on the “Center Zone.” He feels that business has and continues to diminish in the downtown area and there needs to be real focus placed on the “Center Zone.” Commission members agreed with Dunny’s statement.
Dunny feels that the Planning Dept. is understaffed and is unable to service the public adequately. Simsbury is 2.5 positions understaffed compared to other towns of the same or similar size. The POD has some very creative forward thinking ideas in it that are not supported by our out of date zoning regulations.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
DECEMBER 14, 2006
REGULAR MEETING
Estimates to update them were at $65,000. Money was budgeted to do this. After a review, Dunny and Brandon Robertson determined that half of the money has been spent for unrelated expenses. It is very important that consulting money is budgeted so that work can be done to update the zoning regulations so that they can support the POD’s Form Based code.
To address the staffing issue 2.5 positions need to be added: an Assistant Planner and a fulltime Zoning Enforcement Officer. These positions are needed to provide the public with the appropriate levels of service. Commissioner Deming asked what dollar amount would be needed to bring the dept. to where it needs to be? The two positions (with benefits) would require approximately $180,000 and the consulting fees between $15 and 20,000. Dunny expressed that he feels that the Town is at least 20 yrs. behind in addressing this issue.
Chairman George indicated agreement with Dunny’s statements and also reiterated comments made by John Loomis the Chairman of the Planning Commission that also support Dunny’s recommendations. Commissioner Haase also offered her support of the addition of staff.
Dunny indicated that he also feels that money needs to be budgeted for peer review and that zoning regulations need to start being enforced by the levying of appropriate fines. Commissioner Balboni stated that he also supports enforcement, but isn’t sure if addition to staff is necessary. He also indicated that support and follow through by the administration is necessary for regulation enforcement to be effective.
The Commission members agreed that they want to advise the BOS that the EDC supports the need to focus on the “Center Zone”, and to increase the staff in the Planning Department. Commissioner Balboni commented that although he initially supports the addition of the Planning staff, the Town may not need the additional staff after some of the major projects are through the Planning process. Other comments indicated that new projects will arise and these projects will backfill any holes left by the completion of the major projects.
Commissioner Minor commented that he feels that the EDC’s major focus for next year should be to consider spearheading an overall Economic Development Plan. He received support from other EDC members.
Center Zone study would cost approx. $50,000 per Hiram Peck.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
DECEMBER 14, 2006
REGULAR MEETING
Chairman George commented on The Hartford’s decision to expand in place Windsor vs. Simsbury. He has discussed with the First Selectman how the Town should be proactive in developing a partnership with the Greater Hartford Alliance and should continue to work to develop the site around The Hartford. He also indicated that the major reasons that The Hartford went to Windsor was because of their lease and where a majority of their employees reside. Hiram indicated that the Town made every effort to keep The Hartford in Simsbury.
VI. PROJECT REVIEW
Metro Hartford Alliance presenter Jeff Vose was a no show. Sharon Craig reported that she is picking up the balance of the information needed for MHA website from Brandon Robertson after the meeting. Chairman George asked that Jeff be rescheduled for the January meeting.
VII. FVVA
Nancy Anstey thanked the EDC for all of their support and reported on all of the FVVA’s successes in 2006. Nancy also outlined the FVVA’s goals for 2007 (see attached details).
The development of a comprehensive Welcome Package for placeCitySimsbury that may possibly be available on the Website was discussed.
Liz Banco provided an update on the Tourism Committee.
VIII. New Business
The EDC’s submission for the Annual Report was reviewed and discussed by commission members. A motion to approve was made by Commissioner Haase; it was seconded by Commissioner Balboni and was unanimously approved.
IX. Adjournment
Commissioner Levesque made a motion to adjourn; it was seconded by Commissioner Deming. The EDC unanimously adjourned the meeting at 10:05 am.
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