Meeting Minutes
FALMOUTH EDIC OPEN MEETING: Nov 8, 2016
Town Hall, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
Falmouth, MA
PRESENT
Michael Galasso (C), Christopher Langlais (T), Susan Moran, Jim Fox, Brooks Bartlett, Christopher Simmler
8:32am
CALL TO ORDER
Having established a quorum, the chairman called the meeting to order.
8:34am
PUBLIC COMMENTS
None. Moran introduced Alexandra Caine to the board as the newly hired administrative assistant. Caine then spoke to the committee reviewing her impressive resume. Moran noted Ms. Caine would be starting on Monday, 11/14/16.
8:40am
WORKING GROUP UPDATES
BOS 5-YR STRATIGIC PLAN EDIC Element – Moran reported on the strategic plan that included on page 18 of the 30 page document which states the selectmen have a goal of working with the EDIC to explore and implement future sites for alternative energy and to explore private and public partnerships for renewable energy in the future. The chairman asked if they had anyone working on future sites. Moran said at last night’s BOS meeting the town’s energy committee just got their green community certification and would like to work with the town manager to look into future sites.
HOUSING DEMAND STUDY UPDATE – The chairman stated he has signed the contract with Judy Barrett’s company RKG and should have the updated housing study completed by the end of the year.
8:45am
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
FALMOUTH STATION
Michael Galasso
Galasso stated the EDIC had a ground breaking ceremony on the 2nd and thanked everyone who participated. He reported that construction is underway with asbestos currently being removed from the building. Peter Pan has been relocated to the temporary trailer to the left of the building. The chairman also stated he will present a schedule of what is going to happen at each meeting for the next thirty days.
FALMOUTH STATION CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE UPDATE
Christopher Simmler
Simmler met with the advisory committee in the Chamber of Commerce office and reported that they had a lot of good ideas from many sources. He said there was very little communication back. He wanted to know how to bring them to the board for discussion. Moran said that they should prioritize the ideas and each month put them on the agenda so the board could vote on them.
Simmler said he was developing 150 word presentation to bring to Go Fund Me to show them why we want to apply for bikeway connection. He said we need to set up a separate account for the funds raised. A motion was made to set up a separate account for depositing donations.
The discussion turned to how many screens (Monitors) would be there as Fox said we had one in the plans that would be shared. He did not want everyone carving out their own niche as EDIC owns the building and should self-promote. The chair asked Simmler to bring the presentation to the next meeting showing the details of connecting the Bike Way to the station with Go Fund Me funding.
LANDFILL SOLAR REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Jim Fox
Fox reported the Solar Array would be connected by the end of the year. All of the equipment is there and installed. The wires are being connected and should be generating power by the end of December. Bartlett said he thought Fox’s You Tube video was great and wanted it on the website. Everyone agreed.
The chairman said he sent a letter asking to meet with the town manager and the selectmen to discuss moving forward with Phase Two. Phase Two will allow development of a two megawatt array plus the community solar garden that would subsidize utility bills for up 200 households in Falmouth. Moran said she would follow-up.
Fox reported Phase 1 is ready and waiting for EverSource to connect it. He reported that Phase Two will not be as advantageous to the town as Phase One as the state is changing the program benefits.
REAL ESTATE
Chris Langlais
The chairman said Mr. Kenney, (an abutter to Falmouth Station) would like to make a presentation to the board next month to straighten out his property lines. Fox said we should not waste a lot of time as we can only license it and not sell him a small parcel. At a meeting with the Elks and Mr. Kenney it was noted that the property has a 10 foot right of way that goes under the tracks. Arthur Corey secretary of the Elks Lodge spoke to the committee. He said that they had a verbal agreement with the town for many years. Now that the EDIC was leasing the property they were being asked to pay for the use of extra parking spots that they use about 20 times a year. He said the Elks basically raise money during the year to fund local scholarships in the area as well as help other causes like donating money to replace the toys that were lost during a fire at Otis. He said that the most they could come up with to pay for the parking spots behind the Elks would be $ 100.00/month. Selectmen Doug Brown asked to speak and hoped that the committee would go easy on the Elks as they do a lot of good in the community. Bartlett spoke about how much they do in the community and give back. Fox said that we have a responsibility to maintain the FS after the renovations and we need to have an additional revenue stream of $20,000.00 each year. He said the rent from Peter Pan was covering the other half. A brief discussion followed. Moran then made a motion to license the use of the parking spaces on a month to month basis for $1.00/month and the Elks would carry the liability insurance on the parking spaces. It was seconded and passed. The chairman said he would ask our council to draw up the agreement.
FINANCE
Chris Langlais
Langlais reported the assets for the EDIC were at 1.75 million. He presented a warrant for $ 12,970.27. A motion was made and seconded to accept the warrant. It passed unanimously.
TECH PARK
Chris Simmler
The chairman said we still have vacant spots and have not developed it to best potential. Simmler said he was looking into companies that are looking for space as it is much too expensive to operate in and around Cambridge.
MUNICIPLE BROADBAND
Bartlett said that Steve Johnson from Cape Wide will make a presentation to the board next month. Bartlett will be getting together with Johnson next week to go over the new advances and partnerships Cape Wide has formed.
EDIC WEBSITE UPDATE
Moran reported Barbara Weyand will no longer be involved in the website development. She stressed the need for a possible retreat to develop the EDIC strategic plan to include mission statement, how committees are formed and projects developed.
9:20am
EDIC ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS
2016 FALMOUTH ANNUAL REPORT – The chair will ask to do a 2 minute power point presentation at the town meeting.
STAFFING NEEDS - None.
- OCTOBER MEETING MINUTES – A motion was made and seconded to accept the Public session meeting notes from October. It passed unanimously.
9:35am
CORRESPONDENCE - "In the News"
Items discussed were photos from the FS ground breaking ceremony and the EDIC playing a role in helping financing the new senior center. The chairman said he has not heard back from the town manager since he notified him that we would be interested in helping.
9:40am
NEW BUSINESS
Simmler reported he had attended a Massachusetts EDIC meeting in Gardner last month. He said most of the focus was on urban renewal. He met Kathleen McCabe who was a presenter at the meeting. She helps write business plans for local EDICs. Moran suggested that we might want to invite her to our strategic planning session in January. Moran also suggested that we might want to invite Jay Cohen who works with lower cape EDICs with a 3 million dollar budget. The chairman said he would invite him to our next meeting. He will also work on a few dates and a venue for the strategic planning session.
PITCH CONTEST
Bartlett reported the he is meeting with his new contact at the South Coast Chapter of E for All and will update us at our next meeting with a goal to have our own Pitch Contest in late spring.
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Moran attended a planning outreach meeting on Martha’s Vineyard with a group called CFO. Their focus is on working with children at an early age with regard to basic financial planning. They also work with women entrepreneurs. Moran would like to invite their chairperson to speak to us in January.
10:20am
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by the chair to adjourn the regular meeting session meeting not to return and to enter into executive session for a possible real estate acquisition, because to stay in regular session might jeopardize our bargaining power with regard to purchasing the real estate property. It was seconded by Moran. The vote was Aye Jim Fox, Aye Sue Moran, Aye Chris Langlais, Aye Chris Simmler, Aye Brooks Bartlett, and Aye Michael Galasso.
NEXT MEETING
Dec 13, 2016 8:30am
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