EDC Minutes

September 11, 2006

Selectmen’s Conference Room

Town Hall

Call to Order

Chairman Lou Bachetti called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.

Attendance

Members present were, Louis Bachetti, David Reed, Robert Schmidt, Ron Elliott, Maura Gardiner and Richard Cheney.

Approval of Minutes

Motion by David Reed and seconded by Maura Gardiner that the minutes of the August, 2006 meeting be approved without change. The motion passed. Voting in favor of the motion were David Reed, Robert Schmidt, Louis Bachetti, Ron Elliott, Maura Gardiner and Richard Cheney

Correspondence

The Chairman noted that he received a referral for a prospective new member to the committee. Lou will invite potential member, Ralph Conti to our next meeting.

Review consultants recommendation

The Chairman distributed a letter from Garnet Consulting Services which was reviewed and feedback of the content discussed. The correspondence from Garnet was in direct response from the commission’s inquiry to the consultant concerning the types of businesses the town would most benefit from and what the EDC’s role should be in the overall process. After some discussion it was decided that Lou and David would provide a recap of the accomplishments the group has achieved and a list of the other projects the group is working on.

Updates/ projects

Tourism Brochure:

David Reed presented the finished product of the Somers Tourism Brochure that will be distributed to various locations throughout the region. The chairman acknowledged David’s accomplishment on this project and members of the commission congratulated David on his diligent effort on getting this project completed. Next step is the distribution of this Brochure to the various locations which the group has identified.

After five business event:

The date of Monday October 2, 2006 has been set for the “after five” meeting. The event, which is sponsored by the EDC and being underwritten by Rockville Bank and Joanna’s Café, will be held at Joanna’s Café. Notices will be sent to all businesses within the town and invitations will be given to Town officials. Special acknowledgement is given to Rick Cheney for spearheading this function and for all his coordination efforts involved. Also special thanks to Robert Schmidt for preparing the list of businesses that actually operate within the community as many hours were spent collecting and collating this data from an array of sources.

Preferred business discussion

David Reed distributed to the group a consolidated list of the various businesses that the community would benefit from. This list, which was the bi-product of input from the group members, now need to be reviewed and prioritized by each member within the next three weeks with special attention to redundancy of business types and returned to David.

Discussion status of Somersville mill

The chairman provided the group with the status of the mill and how the owner is willing to turn the property over the town for no monetary consideration. After much discussion the group collectively agreed that since the owner has formally made a decision not to advance the condition and attractiveness of the property that the town should require the owner to take all the necessary steps to secure the premises. The committee also highlighted the fact that the current state of the property is counterproductive to the goals of the EDC in attracting business to the community and also detrimental to the revival program targeted for the Somersville area. The general consensus of the group was that immediate action should be taken.

Chairman’s Report:

The chairman reported that David Reed and Ron Elliott have been approved by the Selectmen to sit on the Somerville Study Committee. Also mentioned was that the information required from the committee for the towns annual report is required to be submitted by October 9,2006 and that he is asking for the groups input within the next two weeks. An update concerning the property located on route 83 which has undergone environmental remediation noted that it is now under state control and that they are maintaining two monitoring wells on the property. There is also a federal lien on the property.

Adjournment

Motion to adjourn was made by David Reed seconded by Rick Cheney and was unanimously approved. The meeting was officially adjourned at 9:25 p. m.

Respectfully submitted by,

Ronald L. Elliott, Acting Secretary of the EDC

Minutes are not official until approved at a subsequent meeting.