ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR’S REPORT 8/16/07

Submitted b= y Joe Seacrist

Tony Rub= ino, President was upset with what he perceived as a process which takes too long. His agent had appe= ared before the whole P&Z before the pre-application meeting, which displeased the commission. They suggested that he withdraw his application, which he did, = and re-submit it when he was more prepared. He is anxious to get construc= tion underway before winter. Stately Stairs has been approved, with standard restrictions, on their wetlands application for installation of sanita= ry sewers for their new 40,000 sf building in the industrial park.

They are experiencing a lack = of traffic in their store. = Was able to contact the local newspaper to suggest a possible story, which they did run. Worked with Sean Williams to see if he could help with s= ome of the DECD financing programs.

Several memb= ers of the EDC were in attendance as well as much of the town government leadership including the Town Manager. A well deserved award to Joe Erardi!

He did the civil engineering w= ork on Swift School, and the new Watertown firehouse. At Swift he designed the parking areas, storm draininage and water and sewer systems as well as working with the state DEP to make sure it met all state and local flo= od plain certification requirements.&nbs= p; On the firehouse, he developed the parking plan as well as the stormwater drainage system. He has applied t= o be the Civil Engineer on the new school construction planned for Watertown. The meeting was arranged, sin= ce frequently developers new to the town will ask me for referrals to civil engineers who are familiar with the town and its regulations.

The goal was to familiarize t= he town with NU’s emergency operations = and how they might better respond to Watertown’s needs during an emergency. While instructive about how NU handles an emergency, CL&P simply re-iterated their standard procedures for working with Watertown, w= hich we have found somewhat lacking. NU believes their emergency notification system works better th= an we believe it does, and they were unable or unwilling to suggest ways = to improve the process.

ISO Load Response Program, = so the Town could earn funds. C= arrie Raybeck, our CL&P AE indicated that until the firehouse uses 100 K= W of power annually they would not be eligible. The firehouse, as of last mon= th had used 50 KW of power. I am still investigating firms other than CL&P who might be able to use= the generator during peak electrical load times.

They had a coup= le of concerns, which we were able to talk about. Jack Traver was at the Conser= vation meeting and reported that all seemed to go smoothly. The Commission is scheduling a walking tour of the property and held the application over until their next meeting.

&n= bsp; Copies of the proposed finances are attached for your input and discussion. Have talked with several vendors interested in participati= ng. For the grant applications I need letters of support from all possible vendors, so I have prepared a list of potential vendors, to whom a let= ter requesting participation and a letter of support will be sent.

Also at the Town Manager’s request, held two open houses at the school location for potential buyers. As of this writing, I have conducted two tours for interested parties.

&= nbsp; He is in Saratoga for the week, but on his return has promised = to call me back to arrange a luncheon between Joe McGrail and me to discu= ss his continuing concerns over the EDC’s reluctance to approve residential use of a portion of the property nex= t to LaBonnes.

at 10:00 am. I have no idea of why he want= s me, but any publicity for the Watertown EDC can be helpful.

He indicates that there is no reason for concern, which was basically confirmed by the people doing the Henlopen remediation. The conclusion was that any t= alk of possible contamination on the site is unfounded.