2009 Economic Development Report
This year was a challenging year for the Economic Development Committee. The drastic downturn in the economy seemed to infiltrate all areas of progress that was made from the year before.
The re-zoning of Route 11 was successful as it passed at the March Town Meeting. That allowed for a more “business friendly” corridor. All the pins and boundaries were established for the lot lines in the Sarah Greenfield Business Park. The Economic Development Committee had signs hung on Route 153 and Route 11 in hopes of attracting prospective buyers.
The EDC presented the findings of the downtown business survey results to the Board of Selectmen for discussion. We wanted to know if they agreed with the suggestions of how to stimulate investment and economic development downtown by possibly setting priorities and creating an implementation process. The T.I.F. (Tax Increment Finance) district was discussed. The Board seemed interested but wanted more information. That sent us back to the drawing board do more research. Another presentation to the Selectmen was given about T.I.F. districts, how they work, the pros and cons, and how it could benefit the Town of Farmington. Again, we were asked for more information. Unfortunately, we then lost our only full-time staff member, our town planner. Work on that came to a screeching halt. We had to now
evaluate how to move forward in the absence of the planner.
Based on some frustrating discussions by the committee, we decided to put together a set of questions to be given to the Board of Selectmen regarding the direction the Board would like to see the EDC moving toward. We are still waiting for their answers. The EDC will process them and look for the common areas of agreement and move forward. Thankfully, we have hired another full-time planner who will be able to assist us with this process. One thing we know for sure, given this economic climate, economic development is a huge venture for a handful of volunteers but we will continue to fight to make progress.
Respectfully submitted,
Paula Proulx
Chairman, Economic Development Committee
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