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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-05-21-EDAC-min Town of Lexington Economic Development Advisory Committee Minutes of Meeting of May 21, 2014 EDAC A meeting of the was held on Wednesday, May 21, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. in the Legion Room in Cary Memorial Building at 1605 Massachusetts Avenue. Members Present : John McWeeney, Rick DeAngelis, Kevin McGuire, Narain Bhatia, Bruce Embry Liaisons: Charles Hornig (Planning Board), Joe Pato (Board of Selectmen), Peter Kelley (Board of Selectmen) Staff: Carl Valente, Melisa Tintocalis, Melissa Jones Members Absent: George Burnell, David Pronchick, Bob Richards, Larry Smith, Tom Dusel, Sig Tullman Action Items: Draft marketing/educational materials on the Town’s TIF program policy (Melisa, Melissa) Conduct tax rate comparison for benchmarking with peer communities (Melisa, Melissa) The meeting was called to order at 8:10 a.m. and acted on the following items: Approve previous minutes: tabled MassBIO mixer update: John, Narain and Melisa attended this event, which was held at 4 Hartwell Place. This event provided an opportunity to promote Lexington’s life science scene, share our bio brochure, and network with people from the bio industry. Update on Hartwell Avenue Activities: Shuttle – With funding for the second year of the Rev shuttle uncertain, it is possible that the Town and the property owners may have to split the $145,000 cost to operate the shuttle. Melisa said that there is still the potential to add service for trips returning to Alewife. Peter noted that we should be careful not to overlap with service that is already provided by the MBTA. Carl said that there may be a private lot on Hartwell Avenue that can be used as a commuter lot for pick-up by the Rev. Rick said that MassDOT lots in the area could also serve this purpose. Peter noted that it may be possible to add a bus to the Town’s Lexpress contract instead of having the Rev operate separately, as that this would be cheaper. Joe also mentioned the State’s van share program, which is another effort to arrange group commuting. Food truck event – King Street Properties is planning another food truck rodeo in June; this will provide an additional opportunity to promote the Rev. Jug handle – The Board of Selectmen voted to submit a letter to the Department of Transportation to request a crosswalk at Bedford and Eldred Streets. Joe encouraged the EDAC to do the same. Infrastructure improvements – Stantec, the Town’s consultant, will meet with the Hartwell Avenue property owners on June 19 to review designs for the intersection at Maguire Road. Melisa said that Stantec favors a roundabout over a signalized intersection, as this will have less impact on the wetlands. Plans for the Kiln Brook bridge are now for refurbishment as opposed to total reconstruction. Review of Economic Development Element: tabled Discuss co-working space in Lexington: tabled Other business: Middlesex 3 – Melisa will meet with the Executive Director of Middlesex 3 in June to discuss potential partnership opportunities. Tax rate comparison – Carl said that he is concerned with potential tenants’ ability to pay rents; he has asked Melisa and Melissa to conduct an analysis that compares Lexington’s taxes per square foot on commercial properties to those of our peer communities. This analysis, which should factor in water/sewer and CPA charges, will be useful for the Board of Selectmen when it considers tax classification in the fall. TIF policy – Carl asked the group whether it would like to consider developing a policy to handle TIF requests, which are currently handled on a case-by-case basis. He said that the TIF program is a marketing tool, and that a policy need not identify a specific dollar amounts. Rather, it should be broad enough to promote our message and indicate that increased redevelopment will yield increased incentive through this program. Meeting Adjourned: 10:00 a.m. Next meeting: Wednesday, June 18 in the Legion Room