Members present: Chairperson Marjorie Anthony, Vice Chairman Joseph Carino, Members, Joseph DeMaio, Edwina Futtner, Terrie Kyc, Mark Lilllis, Marilyn Morrison, James Murray, Jan Murtha, Clifford Slicer
Alternates absent: David Fields
Alternates present: Dwight Johnson, John Mitchell, and Daniel Rys
CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Chairperson Anthony called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Completed.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
A motion to approve the minutes of the October 23, 2002, regular meeting, was made by Commissioner Murtha, seconded by Commissioner Morrison and passed with
Commissioner Mitchell abstaining, as he was not present at that meeting.
COMMUNICATION/REMARKS OF THE EDC CHAIRPERSON
The Chair made the following announcements:
DST had their grand opening and they are very pleased with South Windsor and the staff.
Hartford Truck Co. requested a zone change, which was denied. It was reported in the paper that they would be setting up a “floating zone” that may influence the outcome of their request.
Ms. Anthony reported that the old Post Office is undergoing renovation by the present owners and it will be converted to conventional office space.
Chairperson Anthony told the members an application for a first class office building, on Buckland Road, was denied without prejudice by the Inland Wetlands Commission. Her understanding is that their engineers were not ready to present the additional information that was requested by the Commission.
The $500,000 grant from the state has been awarded for infrastructure improvements for I-291 to the Redevelopment Agency. The Chair discussed the role that the EDC took in trying to secure this grant.
OLD BUSINESS
Liaison Reports:
Report from Clifford Slicer, Liaison, Planning and Zoning Commission:
Mr. Slicer reported that the Planning and Zoning Commission approved the application that was before them at the time, which was Parkside Plunkett Webster.
Report from Mr. DeMaio, Liaison, Inland/Wetlands:
Mr. DeMaio reported that the Inland Wetlands Commission held a public hearing on the Expo Design Center to discuss the wetlands involved. No action was taken. There was a pre-application from Stonecrest Builders on Bancroft Lane, Gorski sub division. A discussion took place on the buildability of lots 3 through 6 of the Forest Village residential subdivision. An application was received from the Church Wood Estates, Pleasant Valley Rd., to create two residential building lots.
Report from Mr. Carino, Liaison, Water Pollution and Control Authority:
Mr. Carino reported that the WPCA held a public hearing just prior to Mr. Carino’s arrival and approved the facilities plan to update the Towns wastewater facility. They will now submit an application to the State. AMK Welding which is expanding and has asked for a connection to the new section of the building. Parkside Plunkett Webster was approved along with John Fitch Partners, 1249 John Fitch Blvd. who requested approval for a lateral connection to an existing lateral connection at 1239 John Fitch Blvd.
Sub Committee Reports:
Report from the Research Analysis & Marketing/Communications Sub Committee:
The Chair reported that the Manager has informed her that we can now by pass Cox Cable’s signal and we will be setting up our own studio and it will be available for the Boards and Commissions use. He hopes to use this tool to inform our residents about the workings of town government.
b) Report from Commissioner David Fields of the Business Retention Sub-Committee:
Commissioner Lillis reported no changes since his last report. The Chair commented that she has made a second request to CERC for an updated business database. When it arrives she will forward to the secretary to be forwarded to the subcommittee.
c) Report from Research Analysis/Recommendations Sub-Committee:
The Chair told the members about a meeting at CERC that she attended along with the Town Manager. They discussed the data CERC is compiling for the 25 -year study. The Town of South Windsor and the Board of Education are still supplying information to their statisticians, but the work is progressing.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Peter DeMaille, of Design Professionals, gave a presentation on projects his company is working on in South Windsor:
The South Windsor Industrial Park’s progress was discussed.
Mr. DeMaille reported on the recently approved Parkside Plunkett-Webster project. He stated that the owners were not pleased with the compromises they were forced to make.
Mr. DeMaille discussed the former Post Office, being converted to “Class B” office space and the improvements that will be made there, along with the difficulties they are having with the project.
Sharon Drive, an age restricted development, with 20 units planned, was denied without prejudice. They will have to reduce the number of units and the density, which will raise the cost.
Mr. DeMaille also discussed Hartford Truck Equipment’s application. They hope to build a new headquarters building but are encountering problems with the Zoning Enforcement department’s attempt to enforce old site plans.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
The chair reported that a discussion occurred at the Town Council meeting Monday evening, regarding a potential ordinance for the collection of fees from developers. The fees would be charged for inspections performed by Town building/engineering departments. The Chair explained the proposal to the members. The commissioners discussed the fee proposal and in general agreed that this is a punitive measure, not conducive to economic development, and were pleased it was denied.
Mr. Slicer discussed the Leadership Roundtable meeting held on November 13, 2002. He reported that it was poorly attended and disappointing. It is very hard to talk about long range plans when crucial Boards and Commissions are not represented. He remarked that the Board of Education’s presence is extremely important and they should be represented. Mr. Slicer commented that we should have a cohesiveness and willingness to share information among the Commissions and that we do not presently have this
The Leadership Roundtable group is an essential part of the town’s strategic planning process and could potentially prove to be of great value to the other Commissions, he said, however, they must attend and contribute. He sited an example; if the recreation department had the benefit of discussion with this group before preparing the proposal for new parks, perhaps they would have received some new ideas concerning the defeated referendum and possibly have presented an entirely different proposal to the public. A discussion took place regarding the numerous reasons the Parks referendum failed.
A tax abatement discussion took place and a number of questions were raised. Chairperson Anthony will invite Town Manager Matthew Galligan to the January 22, 2003 meeting of the Commission.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms. Murtha left the meeting at 8:45 p.m. A motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:30 p.m. was made by Commissioner Slicer, seconded by Commissioner Morrison and unanimously passed.
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Joan Beaudry
Recording Secretary
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