By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE
The Middlebury Economic and Industrial Development Commission (EIDC) at its Dec. 23 meeting continued to work on the long-promised Commercial Development Guidebook. The meeting was chaired by Commissioner Terrence McAuliffe in the absence of Chairman Michael Kenausis. A planned Nov. 25 meeting did not occur due to lack of quorum.
Before working on the draft, members informally discussed the changing appearance of Middlebury Road in the area between Glenwood Avenue and Clearview Knoll, agreeing on the need for a vision and stronger planning. They also informally discussed the Oxford power plant coming before the Connecticut Siting Council.
McAuliffe distributed a third draft of the guide, now 22 pages in length. It was compiled from interviews with town officials and is based on the structure of a Georgetown, Mass., guide. Kenausis had said Oct. 27 he wanted the guide to be ready for electronic publication during the first quarter of 2015, and he appointed McAuliffe to develop a draft from input supplied by fellow members.
In discussions about the draft, members agreed an introduction to the guide from First Selectman Edward B. St. John, along with his photo, would show the town’s commitment to economic development. Commissioner Ted Manello discussed Water Pollution Control Authority requirements and agreed to provide a few paragraphs on commercial considerations and capacity reserves.
Commissioner Armando Paolino said Middlebury and Oxford are appealing because of their easy access to highways and Oxford Airport. He offered to meet with Keystone Aviation to get their opinion on the needs of business travelers. Paolino showed members a map of the Oxford Airport Enterprise Zone, noting almost all of Middlebury is in the zone. He agreed to supply about a page of text and charts comparing the enterprise zone incentive to the Middlebury incentive using analogous terms and numbers so developers could understand the difference. They can choose one or the other, but not both.
Commissioner Frank Mirovsky, mentioning the Winchester Electronics tax-incentive application, said quality of life for employees and good schools are big factors for locating in Middlebury. Manello suggested placing contact information alongside the department descriptions, but McAuliffe said a checklist of forms and departments, although desirable, wasn’t feasible due to the amount of professional judgment involved for complicated applications. Members discussed the amount of marketing within the guide being about the same as the Georgetown document and agreed a possible future glossy marketing brochure could be developed to focus and expand those benefits.
As homework, McAuliffe asked members to read the draft as if they were a commercial developer looking for information and write down comments on overall structure, missing or wrong information, and suggestions. He asked them to consider the introductory pages and the appropriate and consistent level of detail to include.
The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center.
