Economic Development Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes
Recorded by Sharon Rossi
December 16, 2013
Members attending: NNickerson, RCilley, JMoran, PRenaud, AWood, JHopkins
7:04 p.m. PRenaud went over the November meeting minutes. JMoran was attributed to making the comment about the Real Replacement Value method of property re-evaluation. Actually NNickerson said it. PRenaud said to insert in parentheses, “The town is not utilizing this method for its upcoming revaluation.”
PRenaud motioned to accept the minutes as amended. JMoran seconded. Vote unanimous in favor.
PRenaud then turned the floor over to RMarshall. RMarshall said, “Thank you for being another group in town that is looking at the Master Plan; and if you know of anyone who would like to join either board or has new ideas for the boards to explore, please let him know.” RMarshall stated he has come to speak about the charrette that is being planned for early October.
He advised that there is a $2,000 budget line that can be moved around if this EDAC needs some extra funds.
He commented, “When I heard the directive from the public 2 years ago, about preserving the village and its open spaces, the Planning Board has written a Heritage District ordinance and we are two months from putting this on the ballot. Our next step is to have a promotion piece. Plan NH sent out their requests for a planning charrette. I filled out the application after a walk around town with APatt. In November, we met with Robin LeBlanc and Roger Hawk from Plan NH, and they said that it looked good for the Town being nominated for the grant to have another charrette. Having a previous charrette is what is helping to have Greenfield promoted. Plan NH will bring in experts and then have a public meeting with the residents of the town. After conversation
between Plan NH and residents, a plan is formed and the Plan NH group presents their findings at the charrette. Because of the cost for the charrette, about $5,000, funds are usually raised privately. I am here to ask for your input as to how we can raise these funds, regionally and locally. It is going to be put in the town warrant at $6,000, but our objective is to get it raised publicly. But if we don’t get enough funds, at least, we will have some funds available to start this process.”
In discussion about locations in town, NNickerson said the blue house on Slip Rd would be a perfect location for passage to the open space area behind the Harvester Market. RMarshall said those two houses on Slip Road are commented about all the time.
PRenaud asked about the fundraising, is there a deadline? RMarshall said if the town warrant is passed, then we have until the charrette which is planned for early October to come up with the funds.
PRenaud asked “Are the parameters of the charrette to include just the village district? I was hoping to have a public discussion on what housing options and economic development do the town residents want to see.”
RMarshall said from 12/1/2012 meeting, the feedback I received from town wide comments about village development is noted in a memo and I will e-mail that info to PRenaud. RMarshall said, “We are trying to find ways to stimulate the economic development in town. The Plan NH people will probably ascribe some type of process for us to follow. They want clear, concrete ways to grow the economic development. We have asked them to examine the village, what is driving us, and is there economic development in the village.” RMarshall asked the EDAC, “Can you connect or envision other ideas to help promote the village district as an economic development area?” PRenaud stated that our zoning ordinance currently does not allow any new business in the village district.
AWood asked, “How is the village defined in the charrette?” RMarshall said in the conversation held on 12/14/13, the feeling is that the proposed neighborhood heritage district should be smaller than what was originally thought.
PRenaud said “For the fund raising aspect, it would be nice to get a more detailed description so it will allow people to know exactly what they are donating to.” RMarshall said he will let this committee know exactly what Plan NH ascribes to.
JMoran said if there was a matching fund scenario presented to the town, many will either accept it or not. PRenaud said we have to know that the town was chosen for the Plan NH charrette before any fund raising activity could begin. As soon as RMarshall has a definite answer from Plan NH he will let the EDAC know.
JMoran said he wants to talk about RSA 79-E. He feels that an emphasis on planning in the village increases the importance of having the town pass RSA 79-E. PRenaud said the meeting with the Select Board will be about all that we’ve been doing and will take place in February or March. The RSA 79-E is time sensitive and will be discussed sooner, on January 16.
RCilley asked from when the last charrette was held, are there still some open projects? RMarshall said that he will get that info to PRenaud for distribution to the EDAC. RCilley commented how do we attract new members to the different boards? One idea is to offer a scholarship to a Greenfield student with an option that whoever receives the scholarship will serve on one of the various boards.
7:48 p.m. Other Business
Re-zoning results will have to be discussed at next meeting as there was no quorum at the Planning Board last week available for discussion. No binding decisions could be made.
PRenaud announced that JHopkins has been sworn in as an alternate.
PRenaud said after looking at the SWOT analysis, the projects list, meeting minutes and my notes, the following are items that could be discussed with the Select Board as possible tasks or projects for the coming year:
· Trade show: JFletcher is looking into advertising, setup and selecting a date for the show.
· A recycling study, which is part of the CIP.
· Utilizing Oak Park and working with Monadnock Trails, and event promotion at the park.
· Inventory of town owned lands to put forward possible ideas as to what can be done with those locations, such as timber harvesting, selling to abutting properties, or develop in some way in which to get revenue for the town.
· Fundraising for the Meetinghouse. We need to have professionals come in and tell us what needs to be done at the meetinghouse and then do the fundraising. NNickerson offered that a full assessment of the building be done first. AWood asked do we have engineering talent in town and who could do the assessment? JHopkins said SPennoyer has done a lot of volunteering for the town and does have the expertise, perhaps he could be approached.
If the Select Board likes these ideas, then we can go forward and perhaps put together a timeline for these ideas. Some of these ideas could be worked on in the first half of the year.
NNickerson said, “On the town owned lands, there may be legal issues and control by one is a stumbling block.”
JHopkins offered that the trails in town are on private lands and are kept clear by paid personnel and some volunteers.
PRenaud said he is concentrating on the broadband issue, town lands and talent inventory, Oak Park for sporting and entertainment events. JMoran said the Spartan games are a big draw and lots of revenue is earned, but they wouldn’t be appropriate for Oak Park.
JMoran said perhaps we can let this ride. PRenaud said we could have a subcommittee view a Spartan event, and then report back to this EDAC to see if this is something that we should pursue.
JHopkins said it would be better to contact CMRC, Mike Redmond, for a discussion about what we would like to propose as a use that would help bring revenue to the town. PRenaud said he will contact and get him to come to a meeting in February or March. This is to be presented as a win-win situation for both.
JHopkins said we received government money to upgrade Oak Park, so when the upcoming July event happens, the Uplift Music Festival, I am going to ask that they donate to Oak Park. JHopkins said he will contact them and ask if they have had their meeting and have they discussed the idea of doing the benefit for the Oak Park.
PRenaud said in the next several months let’s do some researching of potential people who have the skill set to help with doing an assessment of the Meetinghouse. AWood said we should post a paragraph on the website, The Spirit, and put up notices at the Post Office. These are first half of the year goals.
Second half of year projects:
· Inventory of properties that could be utilized by businesses; listing and description on website.
· An economic development plan to be added to the Master Plan.
· Telecom-broadband infrastructure expansion plan needs to be in the Master Plan, along with review of telecommunications ordinance.
PRenaud said the NH legislature should be considering the broadband bonding bill this upcoming session. There will be a regional effort to counteract the strong lobbying ability of ComCast and FairPoint who want to maintain their monopolies. In reviewing all the documents that we had in the last few months, broadband law is a major issue. We need to get our reps involved and get them to pass this bill.
State Park Initiative: the legislature may be discussing allowing towns with state parks to receive more compensation in return for town services provided to state parks.
Current use law: this law is on the agenda for review and this could affect economic development and we need to follow this as well. PRenaud will follow this closely and will let the EDAC know its status.
Also in the coming months we need to talk about who will be continuing on the EDAC for another year.
Non-profit study: APatt has said that the Select Board has reached an agreement with CMRC to have CMRC make a 3% per year accelerated payment to the town as part of the PILOT. There is 102 million dollars of untaxed land in the town. That is 39% of the total assessed land in town. PRenaud said the further extent of a non-profits study is unclear to me.
At the next meeting RCilley will gather the tax information and missing items will have to be gotten from the town administrator or the Select Board.
It was queried, should EDAC as a group, pursue the secession from the school district? JMoran said there is no way to stuff the secession in our charter.
PRenaud said we are an advisory committee to the Planning Board and Select Board and if we recommend something that attracts public outcry, positive or negative, I would not want to deal with the press on a controversial issue such as this. JMoran said it could be done through town warrant outside the auspices of this committee. Have the town meeting vote for the Select Board to create a study committee on school secession. The town residents will decide through town meeting. NNickerson agreed. PRenaud said the warrant article probably won’t be done in time for this upcoming town meeting. All agreed. NNickerson said it could be presented from the floor at town meeting.
PRenaud said on the broadband assistance program, I will know by Friday if Greenfield was selected or not. PRenaud commented that among strengths in our favor are having the EDAC committee and having the website updated regularly.
Some areas that could be pursued if we are selected:
· Negotiating a cable franchise agreement.
· Get more service providers in town.
· Create an economic development plan which includes a section on expanding the use of broadband.
· Create a site dedicated to economic development.
· Listing available properties for economic development on the town website.
· List major employers in the town and region on the website.
· Incorporate regulation that addresses broadband infrastructure expansion.
PRenaud said the results of the community broadband readiness assessment results showed that Greenfield has a medium level of readiness, 23.075 points on a scale of 0-44. This is not necessarily bad since the program is selecting towns with varying levels of readiness.
9:20 p.m. Adjournment
| 
