Economic Development Commission
Meeting Minutes
October 1, 2013 5:00pm
City Hall Auditorium
Attendance: Jim Thibault, Tim Waldron, Rose Ponte, Greg Mele, Nancy Sieller, Bill Battle, Dawn Gutowski
Meeting called to order at 5:10pm
Minutes of previous meeting were approved on a motion by Nancy Sieller, seconded by Bill Battle.
Rose Ponte updates: The City of Torrington website is in the process of being updated. City staff have been working with Virtual Town Hall to update pages/content/layout etc. The new website will soon be rolled out. Evan Dobos of PictureThis Web Center recently completed the itshappeninghere.com website. They are now working on getting businesses to sign up with the City Explorer to have their business listed on the site.
Main Street Marketplace finished a successful summer. The MSMP Committee is now in the process of revisiting short and long term goals of the event. Some Main Street merchants not in favor of the event.
Arts Grant in the process of wrapping up, officially ends on Dec 31st. Many components of the grant have been accomplished with a few more to go before the official completion date.
New Business: Rose Ponte informed the EDC of many new businesses opening around town, in addition to several businesses expanding their operations. She said she is working with more businesses in the hopes of luring them to Torrington soon. She has signed up several new businesses to the Enterprise Corridor Zone over the past few months as well. The City is in the process of potentially acquiring a piece of property on Franklin Street. The property would be used for parking as well as space for potential uses such as a park, dog park, or community garden. Planning & Zoning Commission is currently looking into the possibility and will give their recommendation to City Council.
Rose has said that the Façade Improvement program is currently underway with many businesses having been approved for work to be done on their façade. Many local contractors have been used for these projects which is a plus she said.
Business Presented by members of EDC: Bill Battle informed the group that the Rainbow Restaurant has been bought and the new owners are currently doing improvements before re-opening. He has also said that the Party Store on Water Street may be moving soon as well with the impending sale of the Kelly Property. He has been speaking to local businesses and has heard from them that they are concerned about a lack of a skilled workforce. Many commission members agreed that this was a problem that exists in many places and must be changed.
Chairman Jim Thibault informed the EDC that he is stepping down from the Commission due to having recently moved to Goshen. Rose Ponte and the Commissioners expressed their thanks and appreciation to Jim for all he has done for the EDC over the past several years. Jim has said he would like to see changes made to allow residents and/or business owners have the chance to serve on boards.
It was noted that the November meeting would be cancelled due to its falling on Election Day. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 3rd.
Motion to adjourn by Nancy Sieller, seconded by Greg Mele. The meeting was adjourned at 6:12pm.
Respectfully submitted by,
Tim Waldron
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