ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
JANUARY 11, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
I. CALL TO ORDER
The Regular Meeting of the Economic Development Commission was called to order at timeHour7Minute357:35 a.m. 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, and Charles Minor were present as well as other interested parties. Commissioners, Jon Barney and Sharon Craig were absent.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Rechen made a motion to approve minutes from the EDC meeting held on dateMonth12Day14Year2006December 14, 2006 with the following corrections. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Haase and passed unanimously.
Corrections:
¨ Page 1, section III - The purchase was a business only.
¨ Page 1, section III - TGI Fridays is not part of this project.
¨ Page 4, Budget discussion section – change $51,90. to $51,900.
¨ Page 6, paragraph 4 – Add additional comment from Commissioner Balboni regarding the need for support and follow through from the administration.
Minutes for the Special EDC meeting held on dateMonth11Day27Year2006November 27, 2006 are pending.
III. DISCUSSION
Website – Commissioner Haase provided an update. Per an e-mail from Hiram Peck, he is still waiting for the IT numbers. Guidance is needed from MHA for Website/EDC page content. The website will also be part of the budget discussion. At this point the EDC is not going to go forward with the GIS until the plan is more solid. Chairman George stated that in 2007 there should be a goal to create a master plan for technology for the Town and the EDC as well.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
dateYear2007Day11Month1JANUARY 11, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
IV. REPORTS
2007/2008 Budget Discussion - Chairman George e-mailed Tom Vincent a draft of the EDC’s budget recommendation summary. Commissioner Minor suggested that a statement be added that indicates the EDC’s support of an IT master plan. The letter will be updated and the final letter will go out January 11th or 12th.
Total Proposed Budget $62,352. (included within this total are the following items) See attached narrative and budget spreadsheet:
:
¨ Part-time help: increased 4.5% to: $782.
¨ Conferences and Education: reduced to $7,500.
¨ Consultants: increased to $14,000.
¨ Public Agency Support: $40,000. (Metro placeCityHartford placeCityAlliance $5,000, Main Street $32,000 and FVVA $3,000)
¨ Postage: $70.
Sarah Floroski provided supporting data for addressStreetMain Street’s funding request and explained that the money that MS receives from the EDC is used for their operating budget. She outlined in detail the projects and plans that the organization has for 2007. The commission took this opportunity to ask Sarah questions regarding MS Director’s salary, membership and what type of services MS provides to area businesses. Sarah also provided a detailed explanation of MS’s Preserve America Grant request process and progress. She also explained that the grant money is for extra/new projects, not for normal operating expenses, and that they must equal it with matching funds.
See attached FVVA Newsletter and addressStreetMain Street budget report and 2006 Year in Review.
Tom Horan, a local business owner made a brief statement in support of the services that Sarah and the MS organization provides and offers to placeCitySimsbury business owners. He also stated that he feels that MS with Sarah’s participation is a success story and has helped revitalized the downtown area.
Commissioner Minor asked if there were any other ways besides the increased funding from the Town that MS hoped to increase it’s funds. Sarah’s response indicated that MS hopes to raise funds with increased membership and sponsorship, website revenues and a more innovative fundraising approach.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
dateYear2007Day11Month1JANUARY 11, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
The EDC Commissioners held general discussion regarding the current requested budget amounts as compared to previous years, what future years may hold and then moved forward.
A motion was made to accept the 2007/2008 EDC budget by Commissioner Haase, was seconded by Commissioner Rechen and was unanimously passed.
Additional Discussion – Additional discussion ensued regarding businesses that are moving out of placeCitySimsbury and the filling and restructuring of the space that is or has opened up. Landlord and business owner education and their need for support and direction was discussed. Sarah Floroski suggested that the EDC think about bringing local business owners into the EDC meetings from time to time to get direct feedback from the businesses, specifically regarding their relationship with their landlords. Chairman George indicated that the EDC would be very willing to host any business owners that would like to attend an EDC meeting. It was stated that this has been tried in the past with landlords and was not tremendously successful.
Metro placeCityHartford placeCityAlliance - John Shemo of MHA offered support of the points that Sara Floroski made regarding business turnover and the role that landlords play. He used the location of his office on addressStreetPratt Street in placeCityHartford as an example. He described a similar situation occurring in that area of placeCityHartford and referred to it as business “churning vs. turnover.” MHA has 5 planned business visitations planned in the next 6 months: The Hartford, placeCityEnsign-Bickford, StateInd., Inc., Girard Brothers, Wagner Auto Group and placePlaceNameGriffin PlaceTypeLand. There is also discussion of land studies for the Iron Horse property and the placePlaceNameSimsbury PlaceTypeAirport. There has been a
suggestion that a “Developers Day” should be considered. This would bring together a group of developers and realtors for a bus tour of the town to view available industrial and commercial properties. John suggested that the town think about inviting any out-of-town retailers that the town might be interested in encouraging. John also indicated that Jeff Vose would be interested in speaking to the Chamber and any other groups that would be interested in learning more about the MHA and its services. The MHA offers a program called Economic Development for Public Officials which teaches best practices to those individuals that might benefit. Jeff Vose is also reviewing in detail the Tax Abatement Program and The Plan of Development. John strongly suggested that the EDC closely review the Plan of Development.
Chairman George responded that the EDC wants to consider and possibly move on the following items (the Website was added based on a later request from Commissioner Haase):
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
dateYear2007Day11Month1JANUARY 11, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
v Business Visitations
v Land Studies
v The placePlaceNameSimsbury PlaceTypeAirport
v Developers Day, possibly in June
v MHA meeting with the Chamber and addressStreetMain Street
v Economic Development for Public Officials (early spring)
v Website Development
Chairman George also commented on the potential development of the land adjacent to Hartford Life. The EDC supports partnering with Hartford Life and the MHA to promote the property for future development. He indicated that he has asked Jeff Vose to research and see if there might be any interest from Xerox who is currently looking for a corporate home. John Shemo indicated that he and Jeff would research the Xerox possibilities. John also stressed how important it is to be “shovel ready” if you want to truly be competitive in the development marketplace today. John also mentioned that International flights out of Bradley International will begin July 1st through Northwest Air. He feels that these flights should have a significant influence on
the area business community.
Selectman Update - none
V. PROJECT REVIEW
Plan of Development – Commissioner Deming did not have anything to report. Commissioner Haase reported that the Hoffman Property project received a favorable decision from the Planning Commission.
A brief discussion occurred regarding a proposed request to remove from the POCD some of the metrics and some Transect Maps because they were confusing and were interpreted by some to be an overlay of zoning. Sue Bednarcyk commented that the Planning Commission will be meeting again with SHARE to work on issue resolution. Chairman George requested that the EDC be invited to any future meetings with public input and that the EDC receive copies of anything that the Planning Commission receives from any public group.
Additional discussion between commission members and public audience occurred regarding how many areas are affected by the delay of the approval of the POCD.
Chairman George asked Commissioner Levesque to work with Commissioner Craig to make sure that placeCitySimsbury has a presence at the Developers showcase and that they should try to make commercial brokers aware that The Town of Simsbury will be participating.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES
dateYear2007Day11Month1JANUARY 11, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
WIFI – Eugene Currie from Stratum Broadband presented an overview of Stratum’s services. Included in the presentation was information on how other municipalities are navigating the WIFI highway. Commissioner Levesque introduced Gene and indicated the city of placeCitySpringfield just retained Stratum to do a study/needs assessment regarding what type of WIFI network the city should be considering.
Please see attached presentation.
Cost for the initial Needs Assessment Process would be in the $15,000 - $20,000 range. Overall the EDC felt that the presentation was beneficial and that it answered some questions and confirmed some of their concerns.
VI. New Business - None
VII. Adjournment
Commissioner Levesque made a motion to adjourn; it was seconded by Commissioner Rechen. The EDC unanimously adjourned the meeting at timeHour9Minute409:40 a.m.
| 
