City of Torrington Economic Development Commission
Minutes November 10, 2009
Members Present: Cindy Donaldson, Nancy Sieller, Greg Mele,
Jim Thibault, George Noujaim, Bill Battle,
Members Absent: TJ Zappulla, JoAnn Ryan, Mayor Bingham,
Commissioner Donaldson called the meeting to order at 5:30pm
Commissioner Sieller made the motion to open the meeting to the public and Commissioner Mele seconded the motion. Motion carried
2. Approval of the Minutes
Commissioner Sieller made the motion to approve the September 8, 2009 minutes and Commissioner Noujaim seconded the motion.
- Update on ACT : Light Up Main will take place on Friday November 27th. The festivities will begin at 5:00 PM. ACT is responsible for providing 300 lit luminaries around COE Park, and there will be an Artisan’s Bazaar inside the Coe Park building, local elementary students will make snowflakes to be placed in the empty storefronts.
4. TDC UPDATE: Vic Muschell, president of the TDC, gave an update of the Downtown project. He presented a PowerPoint presentation outlining the MDP process, phase 1, funding sources, and TDC’s mission statement. Commissioners had the opportunity to ask questions. The presentation ended with a promise to keep the EDC updated.
5. Brownfield’s Update:
Mayor Binghman, Rose and Steve Nocera will attend the annual Brownfield’s Conference November 14-18 . Torrington completed a marketing video for the Revolving Loan Fund and it will be shown throughout the conference. Funding from the video came from the RLF grant. Locally phase 1 has been completed for Stone Container and Norwood.
6. Finalize the EDC section of the POCD
Commissioners reviewed the POCD section. They asked Rose to include an education section that highlights Oliver Wolcott Technical School and the higher education collaborative. Commissioner Battle made a motion to accept the economic section of the POCD with the discussed additions, Commissioner Thibault seconded the motion. Motion carried.
- 7. SWOT Analysis: This item was tabled until next month.
- New Business: Susan Gagnon from Hair Doctor met with Rose and asked her to bring up the issue of off site signage to the EDC. She is very disappointed with the current P&Z regulation. She is hoping a more effective policy can be created. Rose reported that a number of business have contacted her with the same concerns. Commissioner Mele will bring it up at the next P&Z meeting and report back.
Commissioner Sieller made a motion to adjourn, Commissioner Battle seconded the motion. Motion carried
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