ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR’S REPORT

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR’S REPORT<= o:p>

9/20/07 Submitted by Joe Seacrist

1.&n= bsp; Received a copy, as did all the EDC commissioners, of the Community Consultation Document from Tamarack Energy, the builders of the proposed wood chip burni= ng power plant in the industrial park. This is a part of the Connecticut Siting Council application process. The issuance of the document on Au= gust 31 is the beginning of a 60-day comment period prior to filing the full application with the Siting Council . Tamarack will soon issue a public mee= ting notice with the date, time and location of the meeting in Watertown. Tamarack still plans to break ground in 2008 and be on-line with power in early 2009.

2.&n= bsp; Attended P&Z pre-application meeting for George Tsioflikis, owner of Carvels. He wants to remodel and double the= size of the current building to accommodate the addition of a “Frankies= 221; type of restaurant. He has so= me issues with a rear property line set-back variance so he can add additional parking.

3.&n= bsp; Attended P&Z pre-application for the owners of Lombard Plaza where Starbuck’s and Blockbuster are located. They would like to add an addition= al building, and have some set-back property line issues as well as parking issues. Wants to add a 9,850 = sf one story building for as many as possibly 7 tenants.

4.&n= bsp; Attended P&Z pre-application meeting for the owner of “Doogies” fres= h seafood and hot dog stands in the area. He is interested in the former KIA car dealership on Straits Turnpike for an additional “Doogies” seafood and hot dog stands.

5.&n= bsp; Set-up and attended a luncheon meeting with Joe McGrail and Doug Calcagni, Chairma= n of Calcagni Realty and agent for Stop and Shop and their properties on Straits Turnpike. The purpose of the meeting was to try to resolve differences between Calcagni and the EDC concerning the uses of the former State’s Dairy property and the 11 a= cres across the street. Calcagni h= as agreed to come back to the EDC with detailed plans for his use of the residentially zoned portion of the 11 acre property.

6.&n= bsp; Finished preparing a listing of all Watertown/Oakville Businesses, which total more = than 500. A preliminary copy is attached. This will help our invitations to the planned EDC “meet and greet”.

7.&n= bsp; Communicated with the US Postal Service regarding their plans for a new post office in <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Watertown, after = not hearing from them for several months. They indicated that funding for a project for = Watertown has been approved, and the ne= xt step is a public hearing in town. Chuck Frigon and I are working on setting up such a meeting.

8.&n= bsp; Set up a meeting on Friday October 19, with Connecticut Main Street, of which <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Watertown is a me= mber, for a walking tour of the downtown and an evaluation session.

9.&n= bsp; Am trying to help Ruth Mulcahey of P&Z find a new location for a proposed = dry cleaner who was in the process of renting two business locations at the Dun= kin Donuts plaza on Straits Turnpike. Ruth discovered, during the application process, that the plaza was = a non-conforming use and that they will not be allowed to put a dry cleaner there. It turns out that the plaza is zon= ed SBC, and dry cleaners are allowed only in BC, BL or BG zones.

10.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Took several interested parties through Baldwin School, and attende= d a meeting with Chuck Frigon, Joe Pawlak, Dave Minnich and Keith Mahler the hi= gh bidder to discuss what he could do to get the town to sell him the building. I was involved sinc= e I know Mahler through other business dealings with him over the years. He is a major property holder in <= st1:State w:st=3D"on">Connecticut.

11.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Drafted a letter to area farmers, asking for their participation in our Farmer̵= 7;s Market in 2008. For our appli= cation for a grant, we need letters from potential participating farmers and merchants, indicating they would participate if we have a market.

12.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Thanks to Commissioner Jack Traver’s observation of illegal dumping in the <= st1:Street w:st=3D"on">Park Road a= rea of the industrial park, I was able to contact the property owner, get the materials removed, and get the town to agree to place several large boulder= s in front of the property so trucks could not back in and dump.

13.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Was interviewed live on WATR’s Talk of the Town program on August 27, discussing Watertown’s economic development plans and developments.

14.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; At Commissioner Donato Orsini’s request, gave an agent from Weichert Rea= lty the pertinent information about the 400 Park Road<= /st1:Street> property.

15.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Talked with Marilyn Santiago, a realtor, concerning the sale of the Shelter Logic Building in the bus= iness park. Shelter Logic would lik= e to sell and lease back the building.

16.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Working with consultants Dan Zeno and Dan Witte concerning development of the EDC web-site.

17.&= nbsp; &nbs= p; Responded to a Farmington realtor to try to find a 10,000-15,000 sf building in W= atertown for a person wishing to open a recycling redemption center.