Meeting Minutes
FALMOUTH EDIC OPEN MEETING: April 12, 2022
Falmouth Town Hall, 59 Town Hall Square, Falmouth, MA 02540
Select Board Meeting Room
PRESENT
Thomas Feronti (CK), Kevin Holmes (T), Michael Galasso, Samuel Patterson, Adrian Merryman and Mark Lowenstein.
ABSENT
Chris Land (C)
8:30 am* CALL TO ORDER
A quorum was established. The Clerk called the meeting to order. The Clerk welcomed new board member Adrian Merryman to the FEDIC Board.
8:31 PUBLIC COMMENT
Kali Horn, 15 Hinckley Rd., Woods Hole, MA. Ms. Horn works at WHOI and wanted to express her excitement about the potential development project at the Falmouth Station. She described how challenging it is to find housing in Falmouth. Many people who work in Falmouth are unable to live here. She stated she really hopes the project moves forward to support the WHOI workforce as well as other businesses in Falmouth.
Evie Fachon, W. Falmouth Hwy., W. Falmouth. Ms. Fachon is an MIT PHD graduate student at WHOI. She described how she and others must frequently move as they are only able to find short term housing. The constant searching for housing is difficult. She also noted the high rent prices that are demanded for very small apartments. Ms. Fachon expressed support of the development of affordable housing opportunities at the Falmouth Station property.
Mrun Pathare, Palmer Ave., Falmouth. Ms. Pathare works at WHOI and mentioned many WHOI employees with families having difficulties finding housing in Falmouth, esp. near good schools. This is a major concern for these WHOI employees.
8:32 APPROVAL OF BOARD MEETING MINUTES
MOTION: Galasso made a motion to approve the February 8, 2022 Public Session Board Meeting Minutes. Holmes 2nd the motion. All in favor. Motion approved.
8:36 APPROVAL OF BOARD MEETING MINUTES
MOTION: Galasso made a motion to approve the March 8, 2022 Public Session Board Meeting Minutes. Holmes 2nd the motion. Merryman abstained. All others in favor. Motion approved.
8:37 EDIC ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS – EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Lingafelter referenced the memo from Chris Land that requested that the board consider the following nominations to fulfill the FEDIC executive board positions: Thomas Feronti move into the vacant Vice Chair position and Mark Lowenstein fill the Clerk position. Chris Land will remain as Chairman.
MOTION: Galasso made a motion to approve the slate of officers as noted in the Chris Land memo of April 8, 2022 to nominate Thomas Feronti to the Vice Chair position, Mark Lowenstein to the Clerk position and Chris Land to remain as Chairman. Patterson 2nd. All in favor. Motion approved.
8:39 FINANCE
Kevin Holmes
Holmes referred to the financial reports as of March 31, 2022. The statements are static to last month. Assets continue to slowly drop over time, but the FEDIC is good overall.
The Solar 1 quarterly payment and Solar 2 payment for March did not arrive in March but did arrive in April and will be shown in next month’s reporting.
Holmes noted it will be beneficial to find some income generating opportunities to maintain long term sustainability and financial health of the corporation as the cash accounting is slowing declining. The FEDIC is running at a $30k - $50k burn rate/ negative net income each year.
All expenses on the warrant were noted as typical and normal.
Patterson inquired how the strategic long-term depletion of assets would be resolved. Holmes said the EDIC needed to maximize the cash flow assets held i.e. Falmouth Station and Solar projects, managing expenses and perhaps the sale of the Tech Park lots.
Patterson mentioned the $50K funding for FalmouthNet and activities to support the OpenCape project which will support additional job opportunities and businesses in Town; he believes both were a good investment and return on investment.
MOTION: Merryman made a motion to approve the warrant in the amount of $20,360.07. Galasso 2nd the motion. All in favor. Motion approved.
8:59 PRIORITY PROGRAM UPDATES
CDBG Community Development Block Grant Update
Lynne Broderick
Broderick advised she is continuing to wrap up the block grant paperwork. There are 3 left to be finished, but they are almost complete.
Feronti advised he would like a final comprehensive list of the grant awards with some testimonials to put on the EDIC website.
Galasso inquired if the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds will be for economic development or to assist Falmouth businesses. Patterson said the funds allocation is still undefined. There eventually will be a public disclosure.
Falmouth Station Update
Wayne Lingafelter
Lingafelter completed the One-Stop Expression of Interest application for two grants. Feedback of the preliminary grant application was provided. Lingafelter will discuss the feedback comments with MassDev. The final grant application is due late May/early June. Decisions will be made in this Fall. If the One-Stop grants are not successful, Lingafelter said he would investigate other funding sources.
Feronti inquired if other grants were available. Lingafelter advised his focus at this time has been on these larger grant opportunities.
Lingafelter said he requested $50K for each of the two (2) grants; a total of $100K for various projects associated with the preplanning of the development of the Falmouth Station property.
Galasso and Patterson both mentioned that other agencies such as DHCD, MassDev, Town of Falmouth and Falmouth Affordable Housing may have funding available for non-profits.
Lingafelter reported that after consultation with procurement legal counsel a Cleaning Contract RFQ was issued and advertised. Six cleaning contractors expressed interest and quotes. Broderick advised that she Lingafelter and Feronti met to review the quotes. After narrowing the quote to the four Falmouth cleaning businesses, the critical elements of commercial experience, staffing and pricing were reviewed. The list was further reduced to two final candidates. The Board was informed of the quote details for both cleaning service businesses.
MOTION: Holmes made a motion to award the cleaning service contract for the Falmouth Station to Mayflower Homemakers. Lowenstein 2nd. Galasso abstained. All others in favor. Motion approved.
Lingafelter reported that the CPC funding for the Falmouth Station brick repair work was approved. The funds will be available in July. An envelope consultant will need to be engaged to refine some of the specifications for the SOW. Lingafelter hopes to put the project out to bid by mid-summer with the work to be done in the fall after the busy summer season ends.
Broderick advised that the re-quoting process for the commercial building insurance for the Falmouth Station was completed. Of the three other local insurance agents contacts, one provided a completive quote, however, all reported that the insurance companies they contacted expressed no apitite to quote on the Falmouth Station premise due to the nature of the property’s business operations. All as well noted that the existing insurance company, Arbella, was an excellent insurance provider and recommended that the EDIC remain with the current insurance provider.
Galasso inquired if the Solar properties had any insurance coverage. This is to be researched.
Technology Park Lot 21 Update
Wayne Lingafelter
After discussing the project with Atty. Moynihan and Holmes & McGrath, Lingafelter advised there will be advantages to the FEDIC to take on the added expense for the engineering work for the revised sub-division of the Tech Park property. He believes this will increase the prospects for a successful eventual sale. Lingafelter requested funding in the amount of $15,000 to $18,000 for the next phases of work as detailed in a memo to the Board dated April 8th, 2022.
MOTION: Patterson made a motion to authorize the Executive Director to pursue the engineering work to sell the Tech Park property. Merryman 2nd. All in favor. Motion approved.
Galasso mentioned that the issuing of issuing an RFP to sell property would need to be looked into. Patterson recommended that the EDIC speak with Town Finance Director regarding procurement law; as this is public facility and the EDIC may be able to take advantage of the State Registry sources to provide the notification to potential bidders.
9:20 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT/COMMENTS
Wayne Lingafelter
Lingafelter referred to the Project Matrix and reviewed several of the projects in progress.
The board retreat was discussed, and the Board decided to schedule it for some time in the fall due to competing projects and their time consumption.
Lingafelter reported attending and speaking at a press conference by OpenCape held at the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce, to report a reduction in OpenCape’s services charges.
Lingafelter appeared before Select Board on the topic of the Falmouth Station potential development and restated the FEDIC’s objectives.
Lingafelter has been participating with a Falmouth Chamber group regarding an awareness campaign around Affordable Housing. The board supported his participation.
9:28 ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: Feronti made a motion to ADJOURN and move into EXECUTIVE SESSION, NOT to return to Public Session to discuss a personnel matter as discussing in a public session could cause harm to an employee’s rights and reputation. Patterson 2nd. Roll Call: Patterson Aye, Lowenstein Aye, Holmes Aye, Feronti Aye, Galasso Aye, Merryman Aye. Motion approved.
NEXT MEETING – May 10th, 2022, 8:30am
*Times listed are intended merely for guidance.
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