Town of Farmington
Economic Development Committee
Main Street
Farmington, NH 03835
Draft Minutes
February 20, 2008
Present: Paula Proulx; Chairman, Sylvia Arcouette, Sharla Rollins, J.Hiram Watson, Cyndi Paulin, Gail Ellis, Cindy Snowdon, Dan Planning and Development.
Members Absent: Barry Elliott, Ron Nolan
The meeting was opened by Paula Proulx at 7:12am.
Paula stated there was a concern of expense for the printing of the updated marketing plan. To do the marketing material with the tabs it was very costly.
Sharla recommend a size differential between subject topics giving a marketing plan that people can walk out with and can easily be updated.
Gail asked how many marketing plan pamphlets to we have and Paula responded about 50. Gail suggested to mail out the marketing plans to potential developers. Gail asked how many potential developers have we had that has inquired about Farmington and
Dan stated that Power House Machine had come in for the information.
Discussion ensued regarding the Chapter 5 Economic Development Strategies and Actions information. Sharla commented regarding the design for the Sarah Greenfield plan. She also stated that the next expo to market Farmington is in Manchester on April 4,5&6. Discussion ensued on what would be the best avenue to participate in this expo; cost, deadlines, and who would be the one to attend to promote Farmington.
Cyndi Paulin recommended approaching Stephanie Piro for the booth to promote Farmington.
Gail recommended sending Dan as our marketing agent as he is the planning agent and would have the answers to the developer’s questions.
Cindy Snowden recommends sending someone a representative along that lives in Farmington.
Sylvia motioned for Dan to gather information on the expo and bring that information to the Board of Selectman.
Dan went on line to check on the expo and found that the deadline for the insurance requirement had already past. The cost could run up to $3500.00 to attend that expo. The board consensus was to watch for future expo to participate in.
Gail stated that there are other agencies that can assist us with developing and promoting Farmington and we should take advantage of them.
Hiram recommended contacting the State Economic Development for assistance.
Cyndi Paulin stated that we should be paying attention to Rochester and Dover to see what research they are doing so we can be competitive.
Hiram stated that we should take advantage of the job fairs at Pease. He also stated that in the past they had sent letters to the land owners on Rte 11 to see if any would be interested in development. This was quit a while ago and feels this should be redone for future development.
Cindy Snowdon stated that the zoning is funky on Rte 11 and we need to get a plan to correct the zoning.
Sharla stated that there are a lot of development opportunities on Rte 11 which is zoned agricultural.
Dan stated that to revise the zoning it might be possible for 2009 or 2010.
Sylvia recommended that Megan (Selectman’s Secretary) get the marketing plan started and to send a letter to the Zoning Board on the recommendation of changing the zoning on Rte 11.
Gail stated that we need to develop a list of all marketable properties that Farmington has.
Cyndi Paulin reminded that board that we need to support the existing business that we currently have and questioned how.
Paula stated that Samco/Wedco are very successful outcomes of Farmington development and could possibly give us positive feed back.
It was discussed that the Economic Development Commission helped with 3/Phase which started as a small company but has expanded.
Dan recommended sending the letter to the Selectman vs. Planning Board but also recommended we could send it to both boards.
Gail asked how long it will take to do the actual re-zoning of Rte 11. Dan replied that it may be possible by the 2009 Town Meeting.
Sylvia asked if we need a plan by the next Selectman’s meeting and Dan replied no plan will be needed at that time.
Hiram commented that we have an ideal opportunity with utilizing the railroad for a road on Rte 11.
Cindy Snowdon stated that the Rte 11 traffic is crazy. There are too many vehicles cutting across making it very dangerous.
Discussion ensued on the Sarah Greenfield development. Dan had presented the board with a conceptual master plan (dated 5/10/1996) for the development of the site. No one on the board had seen this plan. It defined the existing buildings and some proposed.
Sharla commented that all the information from two years ago was squashed because we were told that the resources on the site were worth “millions”.
Gail recapped what we had discussed and what we will hopefully have by our next meeting:
1. List of available properties in Farmington
2. List of potential business that might be looking to expand
3. List of the resources we have to utilize for the development and what we might have that we could sell to recoup the expenses.
Gail commented that perhaps we should be meeting more than once per month. She commented that by November we will be working diligently on the town budgets so now would be the time to concentrate on Rte 11 and the development. Discussion ensued as to creating a sub-committee to work on some projects. Nothing was decided at this time.
Paula stated that Joel Moulton, the Farmington road agent, has been doing test pits at the site and perhaps he should come to the next meeting. It was discussed that perhaps both Joel Moulton and Julie Blanchette from the Strafford Regional Planning Commission could attend.
Sharla stated that we need to weigh the benefits on utilizing the resources vs. sitting on them hoping for the future. She also stated that the Rte 11 needs to be as pleasing as the Rte 108 gateway; the benefits of the Medical, health care bldgs, possible walking paths etc.
Paula commented that it may be cheaper to provide reduced rates for the properties than it would be to provide water and sewer services to the sites.
The next meeting was set for Wednesday March 19, 2008 at 7:00am.
Sylvia motioned to adjourn at 9:00 am, Second by Gail. All in favor; motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Ellis
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