Farmington Economic Development Committee Meeting
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Present: Chairman Paula Proulx, Barry Elliott, Ron Nolan, Cyndi Paulin and Megan Taylor-Fetter
The meeting was called to order at 7:00AM.
The Changes to the Marketing Packet have been made but due to some technical difficulties, Megan was not able to print the document. The problem is being worked on. Megan will e-mail a copy of the document to Cyndi who will copy it as a PDF then send it to the others members.
To date, the Committee has not received any information or maps from contractual planner Julie Labranche.
Barry questioned the status of bringing a particular Sarah Greenfield tenant in compliance with the covenants. The tenant is living on the premises and has not come into compliance with the covenants as far as landscaping and storing junk outside of the building. Cyndi suggested that the EDC send a formal letter to the BOS requesting some action on this matter. The next step would be a court order to come into compliance.
Regarding the Sarah Greenfield Business Park, Barry stated that the real solution is to sell the lots and build. This would bring in revenue to the Town. This would cut down on the maintenance the Town has to do on the park including keeping the dust down. The Town needs to focus on promoting and selling the lots. He also suggested for the Town to consider giving the lots away, maybe with a contest in which the applicants would have to meet a certain criteria.
Ron Nolan questioned if a real estate agency would be considered to help market the lots. Barry replied that there had been a real estate agency involved at one time, but they met too many roadblocks. He stated that there has to be cooperation between all the departments. There should be Unified Goals and ideas including: Master Plan, the Board of Selectmen, the Planning Board, the Planning Department, the existing merchants of the community.
The committee discussed how to move forward with the SGBP. Cyndi stated that the BOS are the overseers and Paula added that to get them on Board is the key. Barry added that Route 11 will become congested from businesses on both ends whether or not Farmingtongets on board or not. We should take advantage of the traffic flow to bring commerce and income into the Town.
Paula stated that Julie Labranche could come up with a solution and bring it to the BOS for action. The EDC will come up with a list of goals and bring them to the BOS. The Committee will review the EDC bylaws and discuss proposed changes at the next meeting. The committee agreed that a mediator or facilitator is needed to hammer out an implementation plan and present it to the BOS, Boards and Department Heads.
Barry discussed that there is no balance to the new development. Cyndi stated that according tostatistics, this Town is becoming a ‘working class bedroom community’, which is not a good combination. Barry added that the Town has a lot of assets.
The committee discussed the Master Plan. They agreed that the progress has been slow and that chapters 4 & 5 have been approved as written but the whole document is not approved and adopted. Megan will mail copies of chapter 5 to the committee for review.
The minutes of July 25 and August 8 were approved as amended with a motion by Barry Elliott, seconded by Cyndi Paulin, all in favor.
The next EDC meeting’s agenda will include review of the by-laws, create a list of Goals for the SGBP, review Changes to the Marketing Package
The meeting adjourned at 9:00AM.
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