 The Economic Development Commission met on Tuesday, March 15, 2011, at the Newtown Municipal Center.
Present: Margaret Oliger, Donald Sharpe, Steven Zvon, Joseph Tarshis, Joseph Humeston, Thomas Murtha and Walt Motyka
Absent: Gino Scarangella and Wes Thompson
Also Present: Elizabeth Stocker, Director of ~Economic and Community Development; Fred Hurley, Director of the Department of Public Works; Ann Peters, Chairperson of the Newtown Inland Wetlands Commission
Ms. Oliger called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Ms. Oliger distributed a hardcopy of an email from the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee. This email notified the group of 2 upcoming public participation meetings that the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee will host on Wednesday, March 16 and Wednesday, March 23. Mr. Humeston said that plans to attend the March 16 meeting.
Public Participation: Ms. Peters extended an invitation to the members of the EDC to attend a cocktail party at her house on April 8.
Fred Hurley on behalf of the Water and Sewer Authority (WSA): Discussion on use of land near Tech Park for solar installation. Mr. Hurley said that the WSA’s application for the solar project was accepted by the state. The WSA is still waiting to hear if the grant application received approval. That decision should be made by the beginning of April. The pending grant is for $300,000 for the solar project with the WSA contributing $175,000 to the project. Mr. Hurley reported that they have 2 good bids for the project that were very close to each other. The WSA will contract
Opal to do the work. Mr. Hurley asked the EDC for property near Tech Park land erect the solar array . Mr. Hurley showed various maps that explained where the solar panels would be installed. Ms. Oliger asked Mr. Hurley how the panels would be installed. Mr. Hurley responded that they would be on short pedestals. They would be fenced in for protection as well as have video surveillance for safety. Mr. Motyka expressed some concern about new airport flight patterns and whether the solar panels would shine and cause issues for planes. Mr. Hurley responded that no one has looked into that issue yet. Mr. Motyka asked if the solar panels are set once or if they are adjustable. Mr. Hurley said they would track the sun. Mr. Hurley added that this
solar project would replace 30% of the WSA power use. Mr. Motyka asked if the panels would be visible from Queen Street. Mr. Hurley responded that they would not. Mr. Humeston asked what economic impact the solar installation project would have on nearby property owners since they would not have room to expand. Ms. Stocker said that is very hard to predict. She added that there would be a large financial savings for the town in energy costs. Ms. Stocker asked if the panels would be permanent once they are installed. Mr. Murtha said they would be installed to be permanent. He added that you could move them but it would be very expensive. Mr. Zvon asked what the solar panels would be used for. Mr. Hurley said they would be used for electricity for the wastewater treatment plant. Mr. Zvon asked Mr. Hurley why he couldn’t put the solar panels on the treatment plant itself. Mr. Hurley said it was a good question but that they have already assessed that it would not work. Ms.
Oliger asked Mr. Hurley about how much space is needed for future expansion. Mr. Hurley responded that they would need space to be able to double the size of the plant in the future to “mirror” what is already there. Ms. Oliger asked about how trees on the property and shade affect the solar installation. Mr. Hurley said that the shade from the trees does affect solar power generation but the WSA had already done a shade analysis. Mr. Hurley has that report. Mr. Zvon asked Mr. Hurley why he wants solar installation and not wind. Mr. Hurley responded that he is very interested in using wind power but that state regulations are not available yet. Mr. Hurley added that the EDC could make the transfer of land contingent on receiving grant money from the state. Mr. Murtha asked if it were possible for the EDC to lease the land to the WSA and maintain ownership. Mr. Hurley said no because than there are zoning issues. Mr. Tarshis made a motion that the EDC will consider the transfer of land for the purpose of solar panel installation as long as the grant is approved and we preserve the potential for expansion of businesses on Commerce Road and there will be no effect on Tech Park. Mr.
Humeston seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Survey Action Plan Ms. Oliger asked for volunteers to take on some of the issues in the Survey Action Plan. Mr. Zvon volunteered to address signage issues with different groups throughout Newtown. Mr. Motyka distributed a draft for the New Business and Regulation “Road Map.” Mr. Motyka will continue to work on the “road maps” for new and potential businesses. Mr. Sharpe added that Mr. Benson would be helpful for this project. Mr. Tarshis volunteered to work on the “buy local” campaign and focus on town-wide local business events. Mr. Murtha volunteered to help Ms. Oliger and Mr. Sharpe on designing projects for and hiring a the new consultant. .
Review of IWC Approval of Tech Park and Next Steps Ms. Stocker said that the next step in attaining final Tech Park approval is to meet with the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE). Ms. Stocker reported that the current contract the town has with its consulting engineers is contingent on approval from both the IWC board and the Army Corps of Engineers. Ms. Stocker left a message for the engineering firm yesterday, is waiting to hear back and will advise EDC members of that discussion. Mr. Murtha requested that Ms. Stocker email him the contract. Mr. Zvon suggested writing a letter to the engineer about finishing the
contract. Mr. Murtha suggested just telling the engineer to complete the contract.
Director of Community and Economic Development Report Ms. Stocker distributed her March 2011 report. Mr. Tarshis volunteered to help with Newtown Restaurant Week. He will attend a meeting at Newtown Town Hall on Tuesday, March 29 at 2:30 to discuss this event. Ms. Stocker reported that she contacted Blue Linx about the snow-caused collapse of their buildings and they were pleased about her concerns.. She added that nominations for Newtown Business of the Year awards are due on Friday, March 18. She encouraged people to nominate a local business for an honor.
POCD Discussion There was discussion on the Newtown Plan Of Conservation and Development currently under revision. Ms. Stocker distributed a document that detailed potential modifications to the POCD. Mr. Sharpe made some recommended changes to to the document. Ms. Stocker will update the document with the changes. Mr. Sharpe opened the POCD discussion on the issue of housing at Fairfield Hills. Mr. Motyka said the Fairfield Hills Authority does not have a position on the issue. The Fairfield Hills Authority’s job is to follow the plan that is set. Mr. Motyka added that his personal feeling is that if there is going to be housing at Fairfield Hills it should not be a high rise. It should be done in a community setting with no high density development. Mr. Humeston said his personal thoughts are that there should be some housing at Fairfield Hills. He felt it is necessary to make it a viable community. He thinks it should be scaled back from the 160 units that were proposed. Mr. Sharpe added that he thinks the housing should be age-restricted. He thinks people in Newtown would like more housing options andwould love to live near a restaurant or a coffee shop. Mr. Tarshis said that he had no opinion on housing at Fairfield Hills yet. Ms. Oliger said that she used to be against housing at Fairfield Hills. She said she recently went to West Hartford, CT and it helped her visualize what Fairfield Hills could be.
Ms. Oliger now thinks that some housing may be ok. She added that she is not in favor of apartment buildings but beautiful townhouses with good architectural details might be good. Mr. Humeston added that if housing is done properly it could be great. He said there should be more affordable housing options in town. He also believes that there will be commercial benefits for residential development. He said he recently spoke with a restaurant owner who saidthat if there were housing at Fairfield Hills he would come there. Mr. Motyka brought up some concerns. He said one issue is that the housing might
bring in more kids and that means more schools. He also said that parking and traffic are issues at Fairfield Hills. He said you have to be very careful, there should be complete control over what goes into Fairfield Hills, it could change the whole feeling of the campus. Ms. Stocker added that zoning does allow for parking garages on the campus. Mr. Humeston asked how many units are at Nunnawauk Meadows. Ms. Stocker responded that there are about 150 units. Mr. Sharpe summarized that he is hearing that thoughtful planning for housing would be acceptable.
Mr. Sharpe made a motion that the EDC supports responsible commercial development including a limited residential component at Fairfield Hills. Mr. Humeston seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Humeston asked if this motion will be communicated to the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee. Mr. Sharpe asked Mr. Humeston to present the motion at the public participation meeting being held by the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee on Wednesday, March 16. Mr. Humeston said he would present it.
Ms. Oliger discussed the possibility of creatinga business incubator. This would have a shared space, a common kitchen, conference rooms and a copy center for very small businesses looking to grow. She indicated that there are lots of models out there to look at. The possibility of using Newtown Hall was discussed. Mr. Tarshis said that he agreed that an incubator is a great idea; far betterthan having meetings in a coffee shop. Mr. Motyka contributed that you would need a building manager for the site. Ms. Stocker said that next week she is meeting with a member of the Ridgefield EDC to discuss their incubator without walls.
Mr. Sharpe made a motion to approve the edited draft of the POCD written on January 18, 2011 subject to grammatical revisions. Mr. Humeston seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Tarshis is the president of WeCAHR. Mr. Tarshis invited edcmembers EDC to be his guest at a breakfast at the Ethan Allen forWeCAHR. The breakfast is on Thursday, March 24 from 7:30-9:00AM. There will be a silent auction and keynote speakers. Ms. Stocker said she would like to go.
Mr. Humeston moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:27 pm. ~Motioned seconded by Mr. Motyka. ~Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted by Allison Sharlow, Clerk
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