Town of Lenox
Planning Board
September 11, 2012
Land Use Meeting Room
Members present: Acting Chair Steve Sample, SS; Kate McNulty-Vaughan, KMV; Mark S. Smith, MS; Gary Schiff, GS
Absent with notification: Kimberly Reopell Flynn, KRF
Staff present: Peggy Ammendola, Land Use Clerk, PA; Mary Albertson, Town Planner, MA
Approval Not Required Plans-There were no plans.
Election of Officers-KMV said that she was agreeable to serve as Chair. MS made a motion to nominate KMV as Chair. GS seconded the motion and the Board voted to approve 4-0. GS nominated SS as Vice Chair and MS seconded the motion. The Board voted to approve 4-0.
Approve Minutes: SS made a motion to approve the minutes of August 28, 2012 as amended. MS seconded the motion and the Board voted to approve 3-0-1. GS abstained as he was not at that meeting.
Reviewed Correspondence from Abutting Communities and BRPC
Meeting with 1 Berkshire and the Board of Selectmen: In attendance were Selectmen Ed Lane, Ken Fowler, Dave Roche, John McNinch, and Channing Gibson as well as Town Manager Greg Federspiel.
Michael Supranowicz, President and CEO of Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, and Lauri Klefos, President and CEO of Berkshires Visitor’s Bureau presented an update on the 1 Berkshire Strategic Alliance and the Site Locator Service. Under the umbrella of 1 Berkshire are the Chamber, Visitor’s Bureau and Berkshire Creative, which “is dedicated to sustaining and growing the creative economy in the Berkshires. These different entities work together to present the Berkshires so as to attract site selectors.
Mr. Supranowicz described the resources and the data available through the various organizations to assist businesses that wish to relocate to Berkshire County. It is a strategic economic alliance aimed at sustaining and creating job growth that will benefit all of Berkshire County.
Mr. Supranowicz also made a presentation of the Berkshire Business Real Estate Locator, a site locator service. This online data base of commercial properties that are available through the Chamber of Commerce assists parties in identifying buildings and sites in Berkshire County that are available for lease or purchase. It provides a Cost of Living Index Calculator, as well as community information on the cities and towns within the county.
Mr. Supranowicz said that when a company wants to relocate in the area, they seek such information as workforce pool, training, housing available, taxes, and schools etc. This information is among many other statistics that are available through 1 Berkshire.
Among resources available to them that were mentioned by Mr. Supranowicz were: IMPLAN, an economic modeling tool; C2ER, The Council for Community and Economic Research; and IEDC, International Economic Development Council. The latter is the world’s largest professional organization for economic development providing expertise for policy leaders and practitioners on how to understand the economic trends that affect their communities.
In closing, Mr. Supranowicz said that 1 Berkshire is available and ready to help in any way that they can. It is located in the same building as the Chamber of Commerce, Berkshires Visitor’s Bureau, Berkshire Creative, Berkshire Economic Development, Berkshire Film and Media, Berkshire Regional Employment Board, and MA Development who shares office space with MA Office of Business Development.
Ms. Klefos spoke of the mission of the Berkshires Visitor’s Bureau, a marketing organization which represents private businesses that make up the area’s tourism industry. They work to drive people to inquire about sites available in Berkshire County. Ms. Klefos stated that having all of the different groups together helps to “shine the light” on the Berkshires. Ms. Klefos said that the Visitor’s Bureau solicits organizers of events to also post their information on the website. They expect that as people become more aware of the organization, the more it will be utilized.
KMV noted that when she went to the Site Selector site, she noticed that very little real estate was listed in Lenox and asked what could be done to encourage more participation by the real estate industry. Mr. Supranowicz acknowledged that it takes effort for a Realtor® to enter the listing and maintain it, but that he is happy to do it for them. He also said that when a business is looking to locate in the Berkshires, if a listing is not posted, his organization would put the business in touch with 3-4 agents who could help.
KF asked how the BOS and Planning Board could help. Mr. Supranowicz said a good step would be to encourage Realtors® to participate in marketing their listings on Site Locator and to look at what Town properties might be available for development and post those properties to the site. If a Board member notices that a listing is out of date the member should call the listing agent to ask that they remove the listing. He also suggested that a link to 1 Berkshire be put on the Town website. He said that meetings like this help to inform the public as to what resources are available. He also asked that referrals be sent to them as they are happy to answer questions and to help encourage people to come to Berkshire county.
The Boards agreed that this was a good presentation with lots of useful information. KMV said that she would like to see where the BOS would like to go with this information.
Update on the BRPC 7 & 20 Corridor Management project: Draft 8/13/12-Route 7/20 Corridor Overlay District handout was provided to the Board. There was a brief description of what is proposed in this document which adds an extra layer for driveway design and placement and curb cuts. The Planning Board will participate in a joint meeting with the Pittsfield Community Development Board on September 12, 2012 at 5:30 PM to discuss this draft.
Update on the Open Space and Recreation Plan project: October 10, 2012 will be the first meeting for the committee. KMV noted that there was an open slot for a Conservation Commission member and felt that it was important to have that representation. PA was asked to contact the Conservation Commission again, pass on the information that Conway School of Design would be working on this project, and see if a Commissioner would agree to serve on this Committee. (PA followed up and Tim Flanagan has agreed to be the Conservation Commission representative.)
Update on the sign bylaw project Draft Sign Bylaw Revisions: The following handouts were provided: 5.2.10 Sandwich Board Signs with KMV comments and the Selectmen Guidelines for Sandwich Board Signs, Adopted May 23, 2012 provided. It was agreed to table this discussion until the next meeting
New Business: It was agreed that due to the observance of Yom Kippur, the September 25th meeting date is canceled. The meeting dates for next month will be October 2nd and October 23rd.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Ammendola
.
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