ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
MINUTES
May 12, 2009
Members Present: Greg Mele, TJ Zappulla, Cindy Donaldson, Nancy Sieller, Bill Battle
Members Absent: Mayor Bingham, JoAnn Ryan, George Noujaim
Also Present: Rose Ponte
Cindy Donaldson called the meeting to order at 5:35 PM in the T-4 Conference Room .
1. Open Meeting to Public
Commissioner Zappulla made the motion to open the meeting and Commissioner Mele seconded the motion.
No one from the public was present to speak.
2. Approval of the minutes
Commissioner Zappulla made the motion to approve the minutes and Commissioner Mele seconded the motion. Motion carried.
3. Welcome to Jim Thibault
Jim Thibault’s appointment will be forwarded to the City Council for May 18th meeting. Jim gave a brief autobiography and spoke of his interest in the business community.
4. ACT UPDATE:
Rose gave an update on the ACT commission. On June 13th. Torrington will participate in CT Open House and included in the year’s events will be an open house for artist to display in empty storefronts. The goal is to entice artists to the downtown and have them lease some of the empty space that currently exists. Ct Open House will take place between 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
5. Community Builders Institute:
On May 13th CL&P is conducting an economic development class from 6:00-9:00 PM at the Litchfield Community Center. These are excellent classes and all commissioners were encouraged to attend. Cindy, Jim and Joanne will be attending May 18th and additional classes will be held in the fall.
6. 3/50 Project
Cindy updated the commissioners on a new initiative started by a woman in Seattle. The project illustrates how many dollars stay in the community when one chooses to shop in the community instead of the internet or other towns. For more details the website is www.the350project.net.~
7. Plan of Conservation and Development:
The economic section of the POCD was reviewed and after much discussion it was decided that Rose would write a draft and email commissioners sections as they are written for revision. Updated demographics will be included as well as website information. ACT, Brownfields and the UCONN collaborative information would be added to the plan. The goal is to have the draft finished by July.
8. New Business
Rose gave the brownfield’s update, in addition to the current 400,00 assessment grant the City was just awarded the 1 million dollar revolving loan fund grant. It is very exciting to receive this grant and it provides funds for clean-up.
Commissioner Zappulla inquired about the tax collector situation and expressed that a letter from the EDC to the tax collector should still be submitted. George was going to follow-up, at the next meeting we will discuss this again.
9. Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 7:26 PM.
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