Economic Development Commission
Regular Meeting
February 16, 2010 – 7:00 p.m.
Colchester Town Hall
MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Cohn, Tom Crotty, Paul Catalano, Andreas Bibiskos, Bruce Goldstein
MEMBERS ABSENT: Jeffery Koonankeil, Kele Issa, Kevin Burzycki
OTHERS PRESENT: None
1. Call to Order: Chairman Cohn called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.
2. Review last meeting minutes: P. Catalano motioned to approve the minutes of the
January 11, 2010 meeting, seconded by T. Crotty. All members present voted in favor. MOTION CARRIED.
3. Citizen Comments: None
4. Old Business
a. Discuss/Review Economic Development Coordinator role interviews and budgetary data:
T. Crotty spoke with the Economic Development Coordinator (EDC) from Orange, CT, whose job covers organizing many events similar to those of the Colchester Business
Association. In Orange the Business Association pays 40% of the EDC salary.
T. Crotty suggested the idea of taking a portion of the money suggested for an EDC and
hire a professional grant writer instead.
Chiarman Cohn spoke with the EDC from Portland. Her current position is part-time and includes serving as a business consultant concentrating on expanding existing businesses and supporting new ones. The Economic Development Commission acts as her Board of Directors. Salary is approximately $30-$35/ hr. She also pointed out that it is not just the size of the company but the equipment used by the company that can be a great source of revenue.
P. Catalano expressed concern again as to hiring an EDC before expansion of the sewer and water infrastructure.
The Commission would like to be more proactive by educating the residential portion of the town on the tax base needed and how to achieve it by comparing a similar size town’s tax base to that of Colchester’s, and business development in that town. Incorrect information that is put in the papers, in the way of Letters to the Editor, etc…, needs to be corrected and misconceptions ended.
b. Share and review list of town web sites:
Several town websites were evaluated, including Branford, CT, Orange, CT, Tolland, CT, Southold, NY, and Frisco, TX. Easy to navigate is a priority. Members would also like to see a listing of Town Codes and necessary paperwork needed on the website.
Members discussed the possibility of using a portion of the proposed EDC salary for website design as well as the professional grant writer.
c. Kele and Steve to share CT’s ED Forum impressions from 1/25: Chairman Cohn gave a brief synopsis of the forum but said he did not feel it was very useful.
d. Sewer and Water update (Marc Decker will attend our March meeting)
i. From Marc Decker (2/2/10): The infrastructure project is critical to the development of the commercial properties on the southern side of the town. We issued the RFQ about a month ago and are opening the qualification submittals today at 2:00 and will begin reviewing them very soon.
To come in March
ii. If the number of meetings and calls I’ve had from consultants is any indication, we should have a good number of respondents. I would expect it will take us much of this month to go through the packages and then schedule interviews. I expect we will have a consultant on board in late March (we need approval from DEP and BOS before negotiating a scope and fee and then need to go back to them for ultimate approval of a contract).
iii. (My attendance for the EDC) March meeting will be timelier because we will probably be in the scope definition stage. This project is unquestionably something that will take a considerable amount of teamwork to develop and pull off and the EDC will play a key role
e. New Business
a. Tom Marano from NU Economic Development Team to present slideshow: Unable to attend.
b. Other: None
f. Other Business for the EDC: None
g. Adjourn: P. Catalano motioned to adjourn, seconded by A. Bibiskos.
Chairman Cohn adjourned the meeting at 9:01 p.m.
Dawn LePage, Clerk
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