MINUTES
REGU=
LAR
MEETING
MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2006, 7:30 P.M.
PRESENT: = &nb= sp; Elaine Adams
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Antonio Guerrera
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Robert Kane
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Carl Mancini
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Joseph Pawlak, Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Suzan Plowman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Raymond Primini
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Paul Rinaldi, Vice Chairman
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Jack Walton
ABSENT: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; None
OTHERS PRESENT: Jack Carroll, Police Chief
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Michael Goman, President & C.E.O., Konover Development Corp.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Stanley
Glanze, Senior Vice President, Konover Development Corp.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Frank Nardelli, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Meredith Robson, Town Manager
1.&nb= sp; Call Meeting To Order
Mr. = Pawlak, Chairman, Called the Meeting to Order at 7:30 p.m.
2.&nb= sp; Roll Call
Ms. LaForme, Board Clerk, executed the Roll Call.
&= nbsp; Mr. Pawlak, Chairman, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 2
4.&nb=
sp; Public
Participation
Mark Fusco, 135 Straits Turnpike, =
Mr. Fusco: Regarding the sewer extension proje=
ct on
Straits Turnpike, I spoke to Frank Jodaitis recently He said that he could and would mo=
dify
the project to extend it only from Carvel to 135 Straits Turnpike. By doing this it serves the majori=
ty of
the residents on the street that are in favor of the project, actually all =
but
one person who attended the public hearing 2 weeks ago and spoke against it
would be excluded. Two of the=
most
vocal opponents, Laura Smith and Sam McCleary, would be excluded as well.
The Sewer and Water, the Inlands/Wetlands Commissioner, and the Torrington Heal= th District are all behind this project and in favor of it. I've attended many, many meetings = and public hearings for the past 2 years, both here and with the Sewer and Water Department. I'd like to see t= his resolved soon. Costs are risi= ng for materials and labor and I'd like to see this added to tonight's Agenda for discussion and possible action. Thank you.
Anthony Fusco,
Mr. Fusco: I'm up here to kind of straighten o= ut the record because it was stated in the paper from a fellow that wrote a Letter= to the Editor that this project on the sewer problem up at Straits Turnpike was way out of whack and he didn't want it put into the works. It was a waste of money that the T= own put into it, but it wasn't a waste of money. What happened, and I'd like to tel= l you the story, if you bear with me. What happened when my son bought the house on the Turnpike, they had= a septic tank there. He had it = checked, there was no problem with it whatsoever. It was just pumped out not too long before he bought it, so everything went along fine. He asked my opinion on what he sho= uld do, if he's going to add onto the house, whether he should expand the sewer system that he has or try and get sewers up the Turnpike. So I, in good faith, thought it wo= uld be a good suggestion if he would go to the Boards and whoever else he had to g= o to to come up with the right solution to the problem that would arise. So Frank Jodaitis I guess, when my= son put in the application, or went out for the signatures, he went out and got= the petition all signed, most of the people from Carvel to McDonald Road is whe= re he did his surveys and what not, so he never intended to go beyond McDonald Road. So when it was decided = by Frank Jodaitis to go ahead and put it all the way because he figured if he had it opened at that point, he would go the rest of the way. Well that's what upset everybody o= n the other end, and because of the Wattles Brook deal, he was going to come from= the Wattles Brook side from Davis Street up to the Turnpike of where he was goi= ng to connect now, so they all raised heck and didn't want it so he cut that e= nd of it out now so that it's only from Carvel to the 700 feet beyond Oak Drive. And now as my son just= stated, if Mr. Jodaitis would be willing to go back to the original plan that my son started, then it would be a different ball game altogether. The people that are against it, th= ey would be okay with that, and the people that are for it would get what they want.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 3
Now
to me, I've had sewers in my house for the last 40 years and I've lived her=
e in
I
have no more to say, I just wanted to straighten out the story that was in =
the
paper. I know everybody has a=
right
to their opinion, and everybody has a right to speak what they say and do w=
hat
they want, so that’s all I wanted to say, is just to straighten it ou=
t,
and it wasn't being pushed down anybody's throat, it was a thing that came =
by,
he tried his best to do his best for the Town, he's got 3 children in the
school system, so I don't think he's going to go anywhere and that's it.
Donna Masi,
Ms. Masi: I'm here this e= vening because I know that Konover Development is on the Agenda, and I asked myself why are they on the Agenda of the Town Council? And I know that, I feel that as a = concerned citizen and a fellow Democrat, knowing that this Council is mostly made up = of relatively new people to the government, the Town government, I just felt t= hat I needed to make sure that you know what you're stepping into. The Town Council has no jurisdicti= on over any P & Z issues, and by interfering in any P & Z issues, you = can be viewed as forcing a predisposition on P & Z.
Now I feel that the developer is here to ask something of you, don't know if th= ey want to give you something, or if they want to ask for you to give them something, but the word on the street that I hear of is that the developer = is offering a trip to the Council members, a bus trip, prepaid, to one of their newest developments, and I have to say that I would object to this for 3 go= od reasons that I feel I need to make you aware of.
And the first one is probably one that you know of, that you all have signed, is the Town's own Ethics Code Ordinance. I'm sure you've all read it, signed it, I won't go into any detail on it.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 4
The
second is predisposition - I think if you accept anything from this develop=
er
such as a trip, they're going to work on convincing you that their developm=
ent
is the best and they can do the same thing for
Now the third issue that I think you should be made aware of, and you probably = have already researched this on your own, but under Freedom of Information I know you’re very concerned about this, you've sent packets to other boards= and commissions about maintaining the F.O.I. provisions. Now if the Council, with a quorum,= was to take a trip offered by a developer, this developer, it would violate any F.O.I. unless you were to invite everybody in Town to come with you, becaus= e it would have to be open to the public, minutes would have to be taken just li= ke any other field trip.
And I think any development should be judged only on the facts at the P & Z hearing, free from any political influences. Tom Burns, a noted P & Z attor= ney, wrote that P & Z should remain above body politics and the Town Council= is that body. If you do not rema= in neutral you will unduly influence any Planning and Zoning hearings that will take place on this issue. Tha= nk you.
Mr. Pawlak, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at 7:43 p.m.
5.&nb=
sp; Minutes
&= nbsp; A. Public Hearing – February 21, 2006
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Guerrera) to Approve the Public Hearing Minutes dated February 21, 2006 as presented.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
= ; &n= bsp; In Favor: &= nbsp; Ms. Adams, Mr. Guerrera, Mr. Kane, Mr. Mancini, Mr. Pawlak, Ms. Plowman, Mr. Rinaldi, Mr. Walton
= ; &n= bsp; Opposed: = None
= ; &n= bsp; Abstained: Mr. Primini (due to absence)
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION CARRIED (8-0-1)
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 5
&= nbsp; B. = Regular Meeting Minutes – February 21, 2006
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. = Mancini, sec. Mr. Walton) to Approve the Regular Meeting Minutes dated February 21, 2006 as presented.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: None<= /p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
6.&nb= sp; Chairman’s Report
&= nbsp; A. Correspondence
= Mr. Pawlak: I have a couple of things that I'l= l touch on briefly. I did get a lette= r from C.R.R.A. I don't know if Mere= dith or Frank got that letter.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Robson: I did.
= Mr. Pawlak: Did you? They're reducing their rate on solid waste by $1.00 a ton, I'm not sure how many doll= ars and cents we'll save on that but perhaps we'll save something there.
= Ms. Robson: Not enough.
=
Mr. Pawlak: With respect to Straits Turnpike, =
we
will take that up at the next meeting of the Town Council on March 20th.
&= nbsp; With respect, and normally I don't plan to respond to something said in Public Participation but I will make an exception this time, any discussion or off= er of a trip to anybody on the Town Council, the first time I heard of that wa= s at this Public Participation, so if you're thinking that that is in fact the c= ase, as far as I know it is not, it is the first time I heard of it, and I think= the Council members are smart enough to know that they would not do that, should not do that.
= O= ne question I did have and I haven't had an opportunity, have we heard anythin= g, Meredith, from the Risdon Corporation on the grant application that we made= ?
= Ms. Robson: Only that it looked good, but ther= e's been no definite decision made from Timken.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 6
=
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Pawlak: Many of you proba=
bly
saw in the paper, there is a tax idea that has been floated around by the
Governor with respect to eliminating the car tax from the Town and having t=
he
State reimburse the Town. We'=
re
having some discussions with Representative Williams about that. It is not what it appears to be, it=
looks
like we would end up getting short shifted by the State so we're going to l=
ook
at that a little bit more closely and talk to Frank Nardelli. We've had some conversations of wh=
at it's impact would be, but at this point it does not lo=
ok
like it would be beneficial to
= I know that the groundbreaking took place for both the Swift addition, the official groundbreaking and the Firehouse. My good friend the Vice Chairman s= tood in for me, I was away at the time, and he looked very suave and dapper with= his shovel and helmet.
= T= he last thing that I wanted to discuss was the Plan of the Organizational Redevelopment that the Town Manager presented to the Town Council. That will be discussed on the next= Agenda, next Town Council meeting, along with the Stra= its Turnpike, those two items will be on that Agenda.
7.&nb=
sp; Town
Manager's Report
&= nbsp; Ms. Robson: I have no separate report this evening but I would like to clarify, for your benefit as well as the public benefit, but I have had a question about why the developer was a= sked to come. The developer was as= ked to come because I asked him to come because there were a number of people that= had called saying they had heard information about a development and they were asking questions about it and they wanted to meet individually with the developer, and I just thought for public benefit, again, that this would be= an appropriate format, just to ask them to come and just discuss the plans that they had, to the extent that they had them, so it really it just an informational meeting, it was at my request. We did discuss, and it's not an un= usual thing to have developers offer to take Town officials to see other projects that they've done. This was an issue in another community in which I've worked, but we talked about that a= nd said that wasn't going to be a good idea and so it was a dead issue and so there has been no discussion about that in terms of moving forward on that,= so I just thought it important to clarify why they were here and what the inte= nt was.
= Mr. Pawlak: Thank you for reminding me. At my advanced age sometimes I for= get things. You and I did discuss that also, and I thought it was a good idea to have them here to make their presentation so we, as a body, the Town Counci= l, can get all of the information instead of having to go someplace else, if a= nd when this proceeds to P & Z.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 7
8.&nb=
sp; Town
Department Report - Police Department
&=
nbsp; Chief
Carroll: Good evening.
= I want to start off, I know you had the Police Union here at the last meeting= and I want to start off with the conclusion that they made, and that conclusions was that they were very much aware of what is going on in the Department as= far as our staffing goes, because they have always known that I have at budget meetings have gone on and on about the need for manpower and equipment and education to make this thing work, and they've supported me on that and I h= ave many men and women who are wearing 2 hats, 3 hats and doing that job admirably. It's true what it = says, I hope you reread that document because we actually did work on it together= and I think it's important that when time goes by and an individual is in a position for along time, such as me, a dinosaur, it's important to hear from other people. Now you're hear= ing from my people from within, and I support that and I think it's an accurate study. It's far more accurate= than the 2002 $27.500 junk that we got and the other thing that we got, but enou= gh said about that, because I always have to throw that in and I'll make it the final comment on that.
= But I was asked here tonight to just be up to date on what's going on exactly n= ow, not what's in the budget but exactly what we're doing now for people here, = the new people don't understand, because on the outside our Department looks the same. If you go by that build= ing, it's already 25 years old, it hasn't changed. The only thing that's changed is t= he faces. They're new faces, but they're not more faces. What we do there, we have 36 sworn= right now, bring you up to date, we have 6 full time telecommunicators, that's a = new name, and with a new name comes new responsibilities and training. We have (inaudible) part time, we = have 2 full time animal control people who did an outstanding job in that Bethlehem case and I had nice commendations from the Selectman out there from that cat woman or whatever that thing was out there, and we have a full time Secreta= ry I and 2 Secretary II's, for a total compliment of 51 people, not counting the school crossing guards, which I constantly debate with the Board of Ed who = should be in charge of them.
= Let me bring you up to date on a couple of numbers here that the Union numbers didn't have and they're current. That is that the Police Department responds, we're nearing the 18,000 calls per year status. And out of those 18,000 calls, we respond and investigate approximately 725 motor vehicle accidents per year. That's a lot of crashes= for a small Town. It usually happens in a (inaudible) where people are just (inau= dible) in their S.U.V. and the thing goes in the snow but it doesn't stop, so that= 's their problem.
=
The
other thing we have that takes up a lot of our time is custodial arrests.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 8
= What we're doing presently is this, we're presently reviewing a bid proposal to upgrade the entire video monitoring system within our facility and this is = an important project because of the fact that things go on, because of liabili= ty within the station that you don't see from the outside, but we see on a dai= ly basis. We are converting from= an analog to a digital. We prese= ntly have 3 cell blocks that are monitored and we want to have all 6 including o= ur intoximeter room. Cameras will be install= ed to upgrade a clearer digital image, because in some of these places within the station, and I invite you all up there at any time, I'm available any time, 24/7, when you have low light visibility and you're trying to take pictures= or something like that, it's very important to get the true picture, just like in many o= ther things.
= We also just received a live scan working station, that's a finger print live = scan station. It's an inkless process. It's going to speed = up our booking process because this is a process where your hand is scanned, there= is no ink and it saves some time, so we lose something on one end and we gain something on another, so that's how we've been able to survive because technology has supported us in a way, the Council has supported us in that technology and I hope you do in this new budget.
= We received a $43,000 grant from Homeland Security.
= Mr. Pawlak: Excuse me, Jack, that inkless proce= ss, has that been automatically downloaded or uploaded to various databases so = it's on file almost instantaneously?
&=
nbsp; Chief
Carroll: Exactly, Joe.
= The other thing we have going right now is, as you're probably aware of, in the upcoming budget we put in for 2 people.&nb= sp; I could of took this sheet of paper out of my 1985 file and reread it because it's exactly the same thing I've been saying as Chief here for 21 years. And like I said it's r= efreshing to hear coming from other people. So new people on this Council I hope that when you get into the budg= et process and you're going to cut deep into it, and I hope you do, and look at all department's budgets, and bring out your priorities, what are they? What are they = that's going to affect this Town? Yo= u're talking about infrastructure, you're talking about homes= going up, what draws it here? I'll = tell you what draws it here, an education department and public safety, not only police, but fire, that's what makes the Town run, that's what gets people here. They want to come to a = safe place, they want their kids to be educated, that= will promote and generate business here. T= hat's my take on it for all these years.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 9
=
One
final note so I don't, I know I go on and on and on, that's my way, but abo=
ut
these studies, I went on and on and on, thousands of dollars, believe me.
= Mr. Pawlak: With respect again to the inkless fingerprint system, you mentioned the software, is that just to get it from here to DC or what?
&= nbsp; Chief Carroll: Correct.
=
Mr. Pawlak: Okay, but right now when we fingerp=
rint
somebody, can we communicate with
&= nbsp; Chief Carroll: Yes, anywhere in= the State. (Inaudible.)
= Mr. Pawlak: You want to go federal?
&= nbsp; Chief Carroll: Yes (inaudible).=
9.&nb=
sp; Subcommittee
Reports
&= nbsp; A. Public Works Subcommittee
= Mr. Rinaldi: No report. We have a meeting next Tuesday nig= ht, so at the next meeting I'll have a report for you.
&= nbsp; B. = Business Development Subcommittee
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Guerrera: No report at th= is time.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Are you planning = on meeting?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Guerrera: Yes.
= Mr. Pawlak: Before the next one, please. I see the Chairman of the Economic Development Committee walked in so you can invite him I guess if you want t= o.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 10
&= nbsp; C. Finance Subcommittee
= ; Mr. Mancini: We'll meet tomor= row night at the Town Hall Annex with the Public Works Department at 7:00, Plan= ning and Zoning at 8:00, and again on Wednesday with the Library, the Fire Department, Public Buildings, Finance Department, Economic Development, tha= t's all on Wednesday, and I'd like to ask the Town Manager if she'd have the department heads for the respective departments there?
= Ms. Robson: They've already been scheduled.
&= nbsp; D. Ordinance Subcommittee
= ; Ms. Plowman: We're trying to = get a meeting scheduled before the next Council meeting.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: You have a couple of items to revi= ew, correct?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Plowman: Yes.
10.&n=
bsp; Unfinished
Business
A. Consider Setting an Ef= fective Date for Transfer Station Fee Increase which was approved at the Town Counc= il Meeting of February 21, 2006.
MOTION: &nbs= p; (Mr. Mancini, sec. Mr. Rinaldi) to Set an Effective d= ate of April 1, 2006 for Transfer Station Fee Increases which were approved at the Town Council meeting of February 21, 2006.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: = ; None
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
11.&n=
bsp; New
Business
&= nbsp; A. Presentation by Konover Development
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman: Thank you very much. I have with me Stan Glanze. I’m the Chief Executive Offi= cer of Konover Development; Stan is a Senior Vice President of Development. We have a relatively short presentation. I'm going to ta= ke a few minutes and tell you a kittle bit about Konover and about the two of us. I have a short PowerPoint presentation that we'll talk about, sort of answering the frequently asked questions, the facts that a lot of people have around development in their communities when guys like me or people like us come into a community and s= tart talking about doing something, and then I have a short video and it's cente= red on one of our most recent projects in Keene, New Hampshire and it talks a little bit about the impact of retail development on the existing community= .
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 11
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; So
let me take a minute here and tell you a little bit about our company. You probably heard of us and (Tape=
#1, Side
A ended - May have missed some) As
I said I think many of you know a little bit about us, but just to cover wh=
ere
we are today, we're I guess 46 or 47 years in business, based initially in =
West
Hartford, today we're based in Farmington.=
We are a privately held company owned by Michael Konover. Konover has developed over 200
properties in the 45 or 47 years in business, about 20,000,000 square feet =
all
told, ranges across all aspects of the development worlds, whether it's ret=
ail
that we're here to talk about tonight, or things like hotel and residential=
and
office and industrial, pretty much every segment of the market. We currently operate throughout New
England as well as Upstate New York and
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Specifically
about me, I've been in this business 26 years, I=
sort
of grew up in the business. I=
've
operated in two countries, both
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 12
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; I'll talk about Stan Glanze, my colleague here.= Stan is a Senior Vice President of Development with Konover. He's been with us for 20 years, lo= nger than I've been with Konover. = He's a registered Architect. He's be= en involved in multiple projects over many millions of square feet. He's also a licensed real estate salesman and in addition to everything else, he's involved in the Internati= onal Council of Shopping Centers, or I.C.S.C. where h= e's currently the State Director. Stan is also the Development Chairman of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Brownfield's Association. So = we bring to you tonight hopefully a lot of background in this business.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; I think it's important to start off by pointing out that we're really not here tonight to present a specific project or a specific layout or a specific design. What we're here tonig= ht to do is talk to you a little bit, and hopefully begin the dialogue that I thi= nk is important to the community and the developer, this is something we're all going to deal with for many, many years so we want to do it right. So hopefully what we do tonight is= begin to develop the dialogue that we need with the community that will eventually lead us that specific design and that specific layout and finally to the sp= ecific project. We're really here, a= s I said, to introduce ourselves, provide you with some information on us and o= ur projects, and talk in general terms about what we see as an interesting and intriguing opportunity. When = I say opportunity, I want to go back for a minute to what I said a few minutes ago about how, when we build a project, it's very, very important that it fit w= ell with the community and is genuinely an asset for the community, so this opportunity is in that same spirit. It's not an opportunity solely for us; the opportunity is also for t= he community, and if we do it right and we work together, we think we can bring the best project to the community. Experience has shown me over many years = that that is the case. We are going to provide you with some information about why high quality, carefully planned, well designed projects can really be beneficial to a community.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; We
have this little slide show that I'm going to go through quickly and as you=
can
see it's sort of a F.A.Q., or frequently asked question list of the kinds of
things that we hear from people when we go into communities, so I'll go thr=
ough
it fairly quickly. Obviously =
one of
the most important things we hear is what is it going to look like? We're going to spend a lot of time =
on the
design of this retail facility.
This project in this case happens to be a project that was built in =
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 13
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; When we start to develop our design concept for the project, we look at the hist= ory and architecture that's present and other local nuances, as we say here are looked at carefully before we get to the design concept we come before the = Town with, and we spend a lot of time working on that. We send people out, we take a lot = of pictures, we try to get a lot of themes, there are some themes that you don= 't want to pick up and there are other things you can pick up and make very useful, and by doing that you create an authentic design for the community,= if you will, and that's a key word in what we do today, is we want to come up = with an authentic design, a design that really reflects the community and compliments the community. We= want to ensure that this development fits in the community and helps maintain the look and the feel that people expect in their Town. As I said we're going to spend a lot of time on the architecture and we spend a lot of time on landscaping; that's very important from a feel standpoint. If people drive on the property on= e of the key elements to their feeling about the property is driven by the landscaping. If what they dri= ve onto is a vast sea of asphalt with nothing to break it up, no one feels very good about that, and that's not what we want to try and create, so we spend= a lot of time on the landscaping, and as I said we want to create this asset = that the community can be proud of. The slide o= n the right shows you how some of the details that were present, architectural details, were present in the community in which we were working were incorporated into the project. So I talked about landscaping, very important, it creates this environment we're looking for, allows us to blend the facility in. There was a time, and I think to s= ome degree you still see it out there, there was a time when it was kind of a scorched earth policy, right, just take down everything, get it all the way= and replant. In some case the tre= es that are there, quite frankly aren't worth saving, and we can plant better ones, but we do try to save any specimen trees or shrubs and then build upon what's there.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; We're
going to come back to you at some point with a very high quality well desig=
ned
asset for your community and I'm going to talk and sort of very quickly give
you a sense of the 2 sorts of paths we're currently on. Until we get a little farther alon=
g in
the approval process we really can't pick one and decide exactly what we're
going to do. We need to spend=
a lot
of time and effort and money quite frankly on the market research side of
things until we have a better understanding of what the Town is looking for=
and
what we can get approved; quite frankly we don't want to pick a path and sp=
end
all that money needlessly. Th=
ere
are sort of 2 broad things. O=
ne is
what we call in the industry a
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 14
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; The second potential path is a mixed use development Now this would incorporate r= etail as its primary core use because that's the demand that w4e're hearing, but would incorporate other uses probably more than anything else office uses, = and we think being close to the highway and on this intersection we think that'= s a potential use. How much, we d= on't know, but I can tell you that along the lines of what I said a minute ago a= bout Lifestyle Retail, whatever we did in the Mixed Use, in other words we'd kin= d of take the Lifestyle Retail Center that I talked about a minute ago and we'd tweak it to add very high quality, high design office, so that's how you'd = end up with a mixed use project. = We don't know yet what the market will support. Ultimately it's got to be financia= lly successful.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Common questions is the type of jobs? We create a lot of jobs for reside= nts and area businesses and once the stores are open jobs for all skill levels = are available, from entry level jobs to full time career positions. This is a very common question and= a lot of times I'll ask everybody to think about where you began you career, and a lot of times the people on the commissions and in the audience well say well yea, I did start in retail or restaurant, so that's the kind of jobs we're talking about in entry level; that's my son getting his first job at Chili'= s or whatever it is, and getting some experience taking orders from someone other than me, and maybe actually doing them, and getting paid. It's a great place to begin a career. That's one category of jobs.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; The second category of jobs is second income people, people who are looking to supplement their income. They= may be in the home and not working a full time job but they're looking to supplement their income, they may be working a full time job and looking for some additional employment part time, whatever it may be to save for colleg= e or save for a vacation or a new car, whatever it might be, so that second inco= me is a big, important part of the job market that comes out of retail.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; The third component is of the retirement community, we see a lot of people comi= ng into retail jobs from the retirement community and it's= great work for the retirees. = It's flexible from a schedule standpoint, it's not typically 8 hours day, it's usually something like a 4 hour day. It's light work inside, a good environment, and it's social, so we see more and more that the retiree community is looking to retail for employment.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; And of course the other one we see a lot is full time career jobs in retail, people that rise to the level of department ma= nager, or store manager, and store managers in an international store are six figu= re jobs. They're very skilled, t= hey have to be up to date on the latest technology, the latest merchandising techniques, they run a big operation doing a lot of business and it's a full time career position for many people. Today national retailers offer excellent working conditions, competi= tive salaries and benefits, including health insurance, tuition assistance, mana= ge in training stock options, retirement planning, of course it ranges from one end of the spectrum to the other as it does in the non-retail world, but yo= u'll see all of these benefits and programs in place in the national retailers t= hat are out there.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 15
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; We create jobs at a number of phases during the development and then through t= he life of the shopping center, including architects, engineers, and this will play out a little bit and you'll be able to see a lot of different functions that play into either building the shopping center or ultimately maintaining the shopping center, and these are jobs which virtually go entirely to the local community.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; They help fuel the local economy. = Most of that money stays in the local economy, the people that work there and the people that work as a service provider are usually community people and that money gets spent in the community.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; How many jobs? Common question. We don't hav= e a size of a project, but based on sort of rough estimates of where we think w= e'd be, and the traditional sort of ratios that we would apply, we estimate that between 400 and 1,500 jobs will be created by the development of the project. Again, it depends on= the project's final size and then the type that I talked about earlier.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: That range of jobs, what sort of si= ze development would create those jobs? What are we talking about in size?
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Goman: The low end probably something=
in
the neighborhood of 400,000 square feet and of course it's always hard, whe=
n I
say 400,000 or any number, people try to envision what that actually is.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: That's fine. Thank you.
&=
nbsp; =
; Mr.
Goman: Tax revenue - it's=
on
everybody's mind. As a Board =
of Ed
member in
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Net
tax benefit, typically commercial properties consume very little in public
services, they are mostly self contained, so therefore the taxes generated =
by
them have this higher net financial benefit compared to residential or offi=
ce,
so you have not only property taxes but you have personal property taxes an=
d we
find generally that personal property taxes are about 25% of the real prope=
rty
taxes. So we think, again, ba=
sed on
some rough estimates of size, we're talking bout $500,000 to $1,200,000 in
total annual tax revenue.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 16
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Additionally between $400,000 and $750,000 would be paid in building permit fees as a one time fee, so there are significant generators of taxes.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Benefit Homeowners? Well what does increased revenue do? It ease= s the pressure on residential property tax burdens, very important in today's wor= ld.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Affecting our Property Value? How is th= is Center going to affect my property value, and the simple fact is that resea= rch has shown repeatedly that home buyers value the quality of schools and town= amenities highly and that being, and here's the real estate ad that you read from tim= e to time "close to good schools and services, or close to good schools and shopping", a very common phrase used in real estate ads, it's an impor= tant part of the home buying decision. We believe in creating a high quality ame= nity that will make the Town more appealing as a place to live and which improves property values in the community.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Traffic, common issue. We understand the importance of safe and easy traffic patterns. That's essential to what we're doi= ng as well, so our interests with the Town are very much aligned in that respect, safe and easy travel is good for our business and it's good for the community. We're going to do extensive studies and independent traffic consultants will have to satisfy = Town authorities and State authorities, and we will work very hard at coming up = with good locations for all traffic aspects of the project including driveways, = entrances, and exits.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; The
goal is to create this safe, balanced, and aesthetically pleasing environme=
nt
for everybody that's going to use it.
Now that means that it's got to be well designed from a traffic stan=
dpoint,
and sometimes that means traffic calming measures are needed, and that's a =
bit
of a new thing in our industry. At
one time it used to be how do you get the most n=
umber
of cars on and off your property as fast as you can get. The problem with that is it makes =
it a non, it's not a person or pedestrian friendly property=
when
you do that. It's back to the=
old
days of the seas of asphalt and God help you if you were on foot in the par=
king
lot, you were taking your life in your hands.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; In summary, on this part of the presentation, our goal is that every new development is going to fit the community, it's = going to help to enhance the quality of life that residents enjoy in their home town. That's our goal. So that's my little slide show.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Now, I can show you this video quickly and then we can go to Q & A, if that's all right?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Pawlak: How long is it, Mike?
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 17
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman: Less than 5 minutes.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Okay, go ahead pl= ease.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman played a video at this point.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Goman: Thank you. That's my presentation. We'd be happy to answer any questi= ons you might have.
=
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Kane: Thank you, Mike.
=
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Goman: Yea, and I think i=
t's a
legitimate fear I think, although I will tell you that in the years that I'=
ve
been in the business, the long history of national retail chains coming int=
o a
local community and making the overall retail community stronger is proven
repeatedly. The reality is th=
at
people will shop around a new retail complex in the same community if they'=
ve
come to shop at that new retail complex.&n=
bsp;
If you think about how downtowns originated many years ago, and I can
use
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 18
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; The
reality is now they have people coming into their community, not only to sh=
op
at Wal-Mart, but then they go to look for something to eat or they go to the
toy store or the music store or whatever it might be, there's actually a ve=
ry
successful small book store in downtown Littleton that's done very well, so=
the
history has been there's a lot of cross shopping. In fact, I was working in another
community here in New England not long ago and one of the retail merchants =
was
in the audience and said to me, you know, look, in that case we were working
with Target, and they said to me Target is a big competitor, they sell some
things that I sell, and I'm a little concerned about that and I'll have to
change how I operate my business slightly, but they sit down at the table a=
nd
they eat a huge meal, and all I have to do is be at the same table and get =
some
crumbs and I'll be fine. I ca=
n live
off their crumbs. So many peo=
ple
will come here to shop there I can get some of that traffic and that's the =
way
that's played out, so it's logical in any market if you introduce a new
competitor, especially a good, strong, successful competitor, what happens =
to
everybody else? Everybody els=
e has
to adjust. They either have to get stronger or better or improve or change =
or
adapt somehow, but when they come in, it invariably sort of lifts those who=
can
do business, it lifts them up. And
as Mr.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Kane: Services, you talked before about how retail development adds to the tax base but doesn't incur = as great a need to the services that we have to provide in town. Is that becau= se they typically will provide a lot of their own security, they'll take care = of other town property of course on the roads and things like that. I mean they've got that covered.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman: Right, all of that. As shopping center owners we do everything. We are obliged to provide our own security and so on. But if you think of your town's budget, and your town is probably similar to mine, where 70% of the budget goes to education and every time y= ou build a new house and somebody moves into that house, there's a $9,000 or $10,000 per student cost to (inaudible), so now you're going to receive the taxes that homeowner will pay, but from that you have to deduct the educati= on cost. In the case of commerci= al development or shopping centers, you're getting all that tax revenue and yo= u're not getting the hit from an education standpoint; we're not sending anybody= to school. We may result in more police calls to the site when somebody locks their keys in the car, or ther= e's a shoplifting incident or so on, but that's about the extent of the increas= e in services that a shopping center typically has, so for every dollar paid by a shopping center, the cost of services might be, you know that's a good question, I don't know what they are, but I would guess they're probably something less than $.30, so the net to the Town is something in the order = of $.70, pretty substantial.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 19
&=
nbsp; =
; Mr.
Kane: The last question I=
have
for you is regarding jobs. As=
you
may know
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Goman: Yea, it's unfortunate (Tape #1, Si=
de B
ended - may have missed some)
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Kane: Thank you.
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Pawlak: I was privy to some informatio=
n with
regards to manufacturing jobs in the State of
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman: Yea, I don’t think the prese= nce of retail precludes doing manufacturing. If you get a chance to get some industrial or manufacturing, most communities still have more than adequate locations available to do it. What's interesting about this site= that we're working on is it's uniquely workable from a retail perspective and th= at makes it where I began, an interesting opportunity for both of us.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 20
&=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; Mr. Primini: I'm familiar with your company and=
I
know you guys do your homework before you come into a Town. A couple of concerns I have, I'm r=
ight
on the fence with this right now, but we have a vibrant industrial area, and
one thing I noticed always about the industrial area, when I go up there,
people tend to drive up there and drive right back. One concern I have is any idea of =
how
you would compliment . . . . some of the concerns I get up in that area is =
that
there are no restaurants in that area, people want to get something for lun=
ch,
how would you compliment that along with our Main Street retail area becaus=
e a
couple of concerns I would have, I grew up in Waterbury and I was about 11
years old when the mall went in there, and it destroyed the downtown sectio=
n,
and that's one thing I would obviously want to prevent. The other thing, I'm very familiar=
with
=
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Goman: Well again I would=
tell
you that that's not been my experience. I think if it's properly done, if i=
t's
well done, it can be beneficial to the Town. That's not to say when you, again,=
let
me go back to my analogy a minute ago, when you introduce a strong, success=
ful
competitor in any business, any market, the market has to change, and I will
tell you that if there are weaker players in that business, weaker business=
es
in that market, they may not survive and there will be a period of adjustme=
nt
but at the end of the day everybody does better. Those that are good business peopl=
e will
see their business volume increase and everybody does better. It's a proven fact over and over a=
gain
that that is the case. The ke=
y is
to make sure that you integrate it with the downtown so you're not, in a lot of ways what you don't want to do is set=
it so
far away from the downtown that the downtown can't take advantage of the tr=
affic. If it's 5 miles out of town, that'=
s not
good, it needs to be closer to downtown, so proximity to downtown is import=
ant
and then traffic accessibility to downtown. The reality is in our business peo=
ple
will shop at home, wherever that may be, whether it's with boarders, books,=
or
if it's downtown
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 21
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; I will tell you that where a mall has hurt a downtown it's usually because the mall is too far away, or the shopping center is = too far away. I need to stop usin= g the term mall because mall is a very defined term, i= t's an enclosed mall like one would think of as West Farms Mall, that's not what w= e're proposing here at all. What w= e're talking about is an open air, lifestyle driven shopping center, so in a lifestyle center the key is to try and integrate it into the community as m= uch as you can and permit that kind of cross traffic and cross shopping so I th= ink what can happen here in this specific set of circumstances is this site has= the ability to reach up sort of to the north and west of the site farther beyon= d, as far out as maybe 10 miles or 12 miles, and bring people into shop here. = I think that additional customer ba= se can help everybody. As far as the comment you made about the police, there are more nuisance calls in a shopp= ing center by virtue of having more people there. With the good comes some bad, I gu= ess, you know in some ways there's no way around that. If you create any more activity, business activity, you're going to get some level of increased negative activity as well, and you've got to find a way to manage that, but the net = is beneficial.
&= nbsp; = ; Mr. Primini: I was just conce= rned about your comment that there was very little and there's got to be more.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman: You know I will tell you in my experience, aside from an urban area like a downtown urban area where you h= ave sort of not a suburban customer base, in a suburban customer base and that's where we operate for the most part, the number of nuisance calls like car t= heft and so on are very, very low. If you go into a more urbanized market they're going to go up.
= ; &n= bsp; Mir. Primini:&nbs= p; Well that's my concern, that's where Watertown is different than a l= ot of these suburban type towns, we do have that partial suburban area, but th= en as we get closer to the Waterbury side we have more of that urban type area= , so we get the spin-off from Waterbury. I want to make sure that's taken in= to consideration.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Goman: Absolutely. I will tell you again, we just don= 't find it as a big problem. You have a lot of business going on in a new shop= ping center, so you are going to get shoplifting, that kind of thing, you are go= ing to get keys locked in cars, or God forbid kids locked in cars, so you need = help and you're going to get flat tires and all kinds of things and people are g= oing to make the calls to the Town services, that does happen. You've got more e= conomic activity going on and that's overall a good thing, but there is a piece of = it that is different from what you're used to. As far as serious crimes, we just = don't see a lot of that.
=
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Pawlak: I think one of the
things that perhaps would lend credence to your argument regarding the leve=
l of
crime is the fact that this is an open facility, it's not an enclosed facil=
ity,
so it's not as conducive to a tremendous amount of people just milling arou=
nd,
because in fact it's open, so if the weather is inclement for any reason, t=
here
would be less people there. I=
t's
not like the
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 22
=
; &n=
bsp; Mr.
Goman: It doesn't become a
hangout and there are other things, shopping centers typically provide secu=
rity
so you're not going to go where there are people paying
attention to that kind of thing.&nb=
sp;
We've all been to shopping centers where they've had security guards
patrolling, particularly in the busy seasons. The second thing about shopping ce=
nters
that it's not good for those guys who want to commit more serious crimes is
that there are only a couple of ways on and off the property, and that's not
good. They don't like that.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Primini: What kind of age= group are you targeting in this kind of development?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Goman: The market. Whatever the market is here the tr= ade area. We do very careful trad= e area studies and it's the people who live here.= There is no magic number that we're looking for in terms of age. A properly done, balanced, mixed shopping center has merchants in it that will attract everybody. We want the family, we want the en= tire family, not just the little kids, but the teenagers, and the young 20's, and the 30's, and the middle aged folks, and the grandparents. We want to have merchants that app= eal to everybody, that's what makes a shopping center successful. We don't want a particular, you kn= ow 25 - 39 age group or something like that; it doesn't make for a strong busines= s.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ms. Adams: I was just thinking back to the co= mments about calls for service with the police and fire, you can get us the information from the different shopping centers, right?
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman: Sure. We can provide you with national d= ata. The International Council of Shopp= ing Centers has great data on that kind of thing; I'd be happy to do that.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Adams: Was it shoplifting, assault, whatever? How many a= cres there are you looking to develop?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Goman: The property itsel= f is about 100 acres, but there are wetlands on there that won't be usable, there's a = lot of slope as you know, so exactly how big it ends up being we really don't k= now yet. The process of getting t= o that will be fairly expensive. The geotechnical work that has to be done so we understand what's there and what can be done is quite expensive, and it's n= ot a cost that we're going to do until we've had more dialogue with the communit= y, not a cost we're going to incur until we've had more dialogue with the comm= unity.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Adams: Do you have option= s on the property right now?
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 23
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Goman: Yes.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Adams: Would you be looki= ng to blast there with all that ledge?
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Goman: At this point we d= on't know. I 'm sure some of it wo= uld have to be blasted, there would be some blasting, but we work very hard at minimizing any sort of negative effect to that, and it's not cheap to do th= at, so our goal would be to do the minimal amount of that kind of work as possible. Again, like trees, = like the attitude that developers would have toward trees years ago which was ki= nd of the scorched earth policy, there was a time when you said okay, the whole area has to be just this dead, flat, pancake of property, and fortunately w= ith a couple of things, better construction technology, better design on the one hand and more flexibility on the part of retailers as to how their stores actually look today, as there was even 5 years ago, between those 2 things we're able to do a lot more creative work and it's very site specific and i= t's very design intensive, engineering intensive, and that costs a lot of money. The geotechnical work = to establish a base line of what's there and then the engineering work around = the design is very expensive, and that's not something we undertake lightly.
= ; &n= bsp; Ms. Adams: What kind of timel= ine are you looking at? Are you l= ooking at before going before P & Z and Wetlands, are you looking at next mont= h, Summer, Fall, what kind of idea do you have as far as = the timeline?
&= nbsp; = ; Mr. Glanze: It's premature, w= e're waiting for the (inaudible) first and then from that point on we'll meet wi= th Town staff, get more input, before we put pen to paper. There are no presuppositions to wh= at (inaudible).
&= nbsp; = ; Mr. Goman: We've got a lot mo= re discussion to do and I would say that the earliest we would be ready to file any kind of application, we're in the first part of March here, would be Ju= ne or July. Then of course it's a rezoning application at the beginning.
&= nbsp; = ; Mr. Rinaldi: I have a comment= more than a question. Most of the = people sitting up here with me know pretty much how I feel about this whole issue = and I can assure you don't want to hear my opinions.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman: You might be surprised.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Rinaldi: I know Mrs. Masi mentioned somethi= ng earlier that was very important. I don't feel, my personal opinion is this is not t= he proper arena to be discussing this. I heard some comments go by here that are land use issues and belong= at a land use agency. Strictly my opinion.&= nbsp; I just think there is another arena this should be discussed in. We don't make land use decisions h= ere.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 24
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman: That's right.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Rinaldi: I understand you were invited here = to give a general overview, that's fine. I just think that some of these issues I really don't think were in = the realm of decisions or I don't even feel I should be commenting on these, th= at's why I choose not to, but just want to forward that along.
&= nbsp; = ; Mr. Goman: Look, I respect yo= ur comments and those of Mrs. Masi. You're absolutely right, this isn't a deliberate (inaudible) decision making body around a land use, we understand that, we knew that coming in.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> We're here in the spirit of simply saying look, we have a significant piece of property under control, we're talking about a significant development, I think out of courtesy it's incum= bent upon us to come before you and at least give you some sense of who we are a= nd what we're doing. That's all = we want to accomplish tonight. W= e're here to answer the questions you'd like to ask in all c= andor and we'll be in front of the appropriate process when the time comes, so pl= ease understand, there's no misconception on our part, we're here purely in the spirit of introducing ourselves and telling you a little bit about what we = do.
&= nbsp; = ; Mr. Rinaldi: I'm only speakin= g for myself.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Mr. Goman: Understood. But it's a very good point. Of all people I'm very familiar wi= th the land use process. I know who = gets to decide and who doesn't.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Anyone else? Okay, thank you, Mike.
= ; &n= bsp; Mr. Goman: Thank you very much. I appreciate the time.<= /p>
&=
nbsp; B. =
Consider
Appropriation in the amount of $24,500 to line item 010-50130-032-0000 -
Highway Overtime
= ; &n= bsp; MOTION: (Mr. = Rinaldi, sec. Mr. Mancini) to Appropriate $24,500 to line= item 010-50130-032-0000 for Highway Overtime.
= ; &n= bsp; Discussion: = ; Mr. Kane: Did we not do this,= or was that just on sand and salt?
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Sand and salt.
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Nardelli: Just on this issue, we're about $4,= 500 short right now in that account, so if you put the $24,500, then we'll have about $20,000 left. Now this = past storm this past Thursday, we figure that's going to cost us about $12,000 in overtime, so after that we'll probably have about $8,000 left. Of course it all depends on when t= he storm hits, if it's on a weekend . . . .
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 25
= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Mr. Pawlak: Right, weekends are more costly.
&nb= sp; = &nb= sp; Ms. Adams: Well this is the f= irst one in a long tune that started during working hours.
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
C. &nbs= p; Consider an Appropriation in the amount of $3,322.55 from the Sewer Operations Accou= nt for Sewer Main Damages from a contractor working on new construction. (Contractor has paid the Water and= Sewer Authority - funds need to be appropriated to pay the contract for the services.)
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION: (Mr. = Rinaldi, sec. Mr. Mancini) to Appropriate $3,322.55 from = the Sewer Operations Fund, Account #015-460-40763-0000 to Mains Damage Repair 015-50318-074-0466 for damages incurred by LeMay Construction during an installation project.
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Discussion: None<= /p>
&= nbsp; &nbs= p; MOTION PASSD UNANIMOUSLY
12.&n=
bsp; Public
Participation
Donna Masi,
Ms. Masi: I guess if I hadn't done so much re=
search
years ago, I think that was a very impressive presentation. But from the research that I've do=
ne, I
think there is a great amount of increase in services from the community.
Regular Meeting
March 6, 2006
Page 26
And
one of the other things, Mr. Chairman, you made a quote from what is happen=
ing
in manufacturing in
My research has shown that there are huge increase = in services for police ands fire. There is infrastructures, as I just menti= oned, to the roads in the communities, increases in crime, whether, I mean we have crime now at the small plazas that we have here in Town at the KMart and at Super Stop & Shop. I thin= k the area, if this proposal was near an existing retail development, that's one thing, but I think to generate that kind of traffic and negative impacts on= our industrial area is not something that we want to do or to support until all= the facts and the studies are done.
Anthony Salerno,
Mr. Salerno: I just want to bring up like a Pol=
ice
Explorer's Post maybe being started in
= ; Mr. Pawlak: Are you proposing= , are you looking for support?
Mr. Salerno: Proposing.
Mr. Pawlak: With whom, the Police Department?<=
/p>
=
; Mr.
Salerno: Yes. Mr. Pawlak: I guess the Chief is out in the
Hall. Have you talked to him?=
Have you approached the Police
Department about that? =
; Mr.
Salerno: I've talked to s=
omeone
in the Police Department, yes, but I was just bringing it up to you guys to=
o. Regular Meeting March 6, 2006 Page 27 Mr. Primini: There is research going out for a =
Fire
Department Explorer Post right now or Junior Firefighter's so that might he=
lp
keep you off the streets so check with the Fire Chief too at the same time.=
Mr. Salerno: Thank you. Nancy Rahuba, 99 Old Ms. Rahuba: Just a couple of thoughts I al=
so
wanted to echo about the Konover Development. I'm very concerned about the
compatibility of retail with industry and I've been in Town long enough to
remember that Straits Turnpike used to have a lot more industry on it until=
the
retail kind of squeezed it out like a weed growing and kind of taking out t=
he
flowers that we had over there, and I'm concerned now that you're talking a=
bout
planting another weed in our flower bed and I don't want them to get strang=
led
out because areas like UPS and FedEx have moved here because they could get=
in
and off the highway very easily and now you're talking about putting a big
roadblock in their way of doing what they need to do. The
other thing they were talking about more traffic in Town, which sounds great
from a retail perspective, but trying to get through Town now at 5:00 is a real problem, and even if they were able to =
get
more traffic, I'm not so sure that's a positive. Mr.
Pawlak, Chairman, Closed Public Participation at 9:02 p.m. 13.&n=
bsp; Adjournment =
; MOTION: (Mr. =
Rinaldi,
sec. Mr. Mancini) to Adjourn the Regular Meeting at 9:02 p.m. <=
/span>Discussion: None<=
/p>
<=
/span>MOTION
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY <=
/span>Regular
Meeting Adjourned at 9:02 p.m. Respectfully
submitted, Joseph
Pawlak, Chairman Approved: _______________________________ Lynn M. LaF=
orme,
Clerk