Rep Reports:

Broad Band Forum – Mylroie

 7.   Unfinished Business

1. a.     Economic Development Plan Update – All

 8.   New Business

a. 2014 Work Plan – Review and Discussion

 9.   Committee Member Issues or Comments

 10. Meeting Schedule & Adjournment

 NEXT MEETING:  JUNE 10, 2014

 Posted:      

 

Meeting Action Material Attachments:

4.  KEDC Un-Approved Minutes – 04-07-14

4.  KEDC Un-Approved Minutes – 04-22-14

4.  KEDC Un-Approved Minutes – 05-13-14

6.  HOW TO START UP YOUR BUSINESS IN KITTERY v2 051814

6. COMMERCIAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN KITTERY v2 051914

7a. Economic Development Plan – Draft – tbd

8a. EDC Tasks 2014

 

KITTERY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE – MINUTES – UNAPPROVED

 April 07, 2014                                     Regular Meeting                                      Conference Room A

 

Richard Swietek, Friendly Giant LLC, presented a final review of the Kittery EDC website.  Minor revisions were suggested which will be made on April 8^th and then the site will be turned live.

 1.   Call to Order

 Chairman Beers called the meeting to order at 4:22pm.

 2.   Roll Call

 Answering the call were Chairman Gary Beers, John Carlson, Patrick Trevino, George Dow, Nancy Colbert Puff, Gerald Mylroie, and Councilor Charles Denault.  Ann Grinnell and Stephen Kosacz were excused.  Planning Board member Debbie Driscoll-Davis was in attendance.

 3.   Agenda Amendment/Adoption

 The Chairman offered four amendments to the agenda.  Mr. Dow moved to approve the agenda as amended.  Seconded by Mr. Carlson.  All were in favor.

 4.   Acceptance of Previous Minutes

 Mr. Dow moved to approve the minutes of the March 12, 2014 meeting as presented.  Seconded by Mr. Carlson.  All were in favor.

 5.   All items involving visitors / requested officials.  None.

 6.   Committee Reports

 Communications from the Chairman: 

 a.     The Chairman noted that Kittery is no longer eligible for Pine Tree Development Zones, so that State program will not be available to interested developers. Governor Lepage’s Open for Business plan has not been acted on by the Legislature and should it happen to be passed information will be presented to the Committee.

 b.    Ms. Colbert Puff and Mr. Dow expressed that they were looking for a more detailed analysis of TIF Districts 1, 2, & 3.  Discussion led to a conclusion that Ms. Colbert Puff, Mr. Mylroie and the Chairman will conduct a detailed review and return the question at a later date.

 Rep Reports:

 1.    Councilor Denault provided information on the present status of the EDC Website, confirming that he and Mr. Mylroie would receive administrator training and Mr. Swietek’s revisions would be correlated and the site made live on Tuesday. Mr. Dow noted that site content should not be changed without Committee review.  Councilor Denault and MS. Colbert Puff address Kittery Channel 22 and progress toward system completion. Policy considerations are in work.  The Chairman specifically requested information regarding its prospective use by the EDC and commercial entities.

 2.    The Chairman noted that he had not found any companies in the area who do combined heat-power feasibility studies and had not received a response from Efficiency Maine on their Large Program grant query.  He stated that he had spoken to a representative of XNG Gas and they were interested in being a fuel supplier, but that they used a trucking fleet and had no pipelines.

 3.    Added Amendment: Mr. Dow provided an update of his meeting with Susan Johnson of Traip Academy who runs the school’s business mentoring program (Expanded learning Opportunities), as noted in his written report.  The Committee agreed to request s. Johnson for a presentation and discussion at the next meeting.

 4.    Added Amendment: Mr. Mylroie provided an overview of the application by Kittery Performing Arts Center, on next Thursday’s Planning Board Agenda to conduct concerts on a property in the Business Park.

 7.   Unfinished Business

 b.    TIF Districts – Business Improvement District (BID) [To be included in the TIF review]

 c.     Economic Development Plan Update

Ms. Colbert Puff stated that she felt the document needed full attention at a meeting.  The Chairman indicated that as the Committee had now received information on everything on the plate, it will be the focus of the next meeting.

 c. Quarterly Report to Council Review and Approval

Mr. Dow moved approval of the Quarterly Report to Council as presented.  Seconded by Mr. Carlson. All were in favor.

 8.   New Business

 Ms. Colbert Puff provided three comments for Item 9 left the meeting at 5:30PM to prepare for a Council meeting.

 a. PNS Prison Lease RFQ – Colbert Puff [Postponed due Ms. Colbert Puff’s departure].  Mr. Mylroie announced that the Navy was conducting a business and industry presentation at the Regatta Center in Eliot on Wednesday beginning at 9:00am to provide more information about leasing the former prison at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

 b. Business Visitation – [Postponed at Mr. Carlson’s request until such time as both he and Mr. Kosacz are present to address.]

 c.  Certified Business Friendly Community

The Chairman briefly explained Main’s Department of Economic Development’s (DECD) program and some of the benefits of being recognized though the state media.  The Committee agreed that pursuing certification would be useful the Chairman will draft the application for Committee review.

 

d.  Sustainability (Business sustainability vis á vis environmental and social impacts) [Postponed indefinitely at Mr. Kosacz’s request]

 e.  Added Amendment: Grinnell Concerns.  The Committee briefly reviewed a letter of concerns sent by Ms. Grinnell and concluded that they were primarily planning issues which should be answered at the combined workshop.

 Councilor Denault left the meeting at 5:44pm to attend the Council meeting.

 f.  Added Amendment: Combined Workshop Briefing Slides.  The Chairman stated that the draft had been provided and would be the EDC handout for the workshop.  The Committee had no issues with them.

 9.   Committee Member Issues or Comments

 

Ms. Colbert Puff:

a.  Suggested that an important need to get done right away was to produce Business Welcome Brochure/promo materials.

 b.  She noted that the Town of Kittery could be the subject of an article being written and published by Focus Media Group Publishing Inc. to be published in its magazine, Business in Focus, distributed to over 363,000 subscribers and would provide the Committee informational materials.

 c.  She also noted that “Movoto Blog”, a website of Movoto Real Estate, had published a listing of the top places to live in Maine.  She said Kittery was number 11, based on seven specific criteria.  She will send the link to their site to the Committee.

 10. Meeting Schedule & Adjournment

 a. At the Request of Ms. Grinnell the Committee reconsidered its meeting schedule and elected to move to Tuesdays.  The next scheduled meeting is April 22^nd, 4:00pm, Town Hall, Conference Room A.

 b.  Meeting properly adjourned at 5:55pm.