HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-18-EDAC-min Town of Lexington
Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC)
Minutes of Meeting April 18th, 2018
A meeting of the EDAC was held on Wednesday, April 18th at 8:00 a.m. in the Parker Room of
the Town Office Building.
Members Present:John McWeeney, Chair; Kevin McGuire; Sig Tullman; Larry Smith; Rick DeAngelis
George Burnell;
Staff Present: Melisa Tintocalis and David Fields
Liaisons Present: Charles Hornig, Doug Lucente,Joe Pato, Bob Creech
Members Absent:Tom Dusel
MEETING MINUTES
1. Comprehensive Plan Update
a. David Field provided an update to the committee members on the status of the
Comp Plan. He reported that a "Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee" has be
appointed by the Planning Board and that planning staff is organizing informational
sessions on the elements of the Comp Plan over the next couple months—such as
regional information sessions on housing, economic development, and
transportation.
b. George Burnell recommended that the EDAC be an integral in the development of
the Economic Development element of the plan.
c. Larry Smith recommended that the plan be dynamic and be transparent on the web.
2. Bio International Conference,June 4-7, 2018
a. Melisa reported that the annual BIO conference will be returning to Boston in 2018.
The Town participated through a sponsorship program when the conference was
last in Boston in 2012.
b. There was general agreement that the Town should participate in the BIO
conference this year.
c. Rick DeAngelis recommended that the Town partner with a corporate tenant or
developer such as King Street Prosperities or a tenant-side broker, such as Bob
Richard.
d. Melisa stated she would send out the BIO agenda for those who would like to
volunteer time.
e. There was also general consensus that the bio brochure should be updated;
however, Melisa reminded the team that the Megan would be on leave and the
office would be short staffed.
3. Hartwell Avenue Zoning Initiative Update
a. Melisa reported on the status of the Hartwell Zoning Initiative. She listed the various
committees that were scheduled to hear the proposal, including the Appropriation
Committee, Capital Expenditure, Con Comm, TMMA, Hartwell Property Owners and
Drummer Boy HOA.
b. Melisa stated she would follow up and confirm with John McWeeney when the
Drummer Boy HOA meeting would take place and get the Hartwell proposal on the
agenda.
c. John McWeeney stated that for Drummer Boy area one of the primary issues will be
traffic. And likely people living in the Eldred St neighborhood would want to be able to take
a left on Bedford St.
d. Melisa presented slides from the joint Board of Selectmen and Planning Board
meeting from 3/9/2019. The following are comments related to the presentation:
i. Larry Smith recommended including all of Hartwell Ave and not just the study area.
He stated that he would be unhappy if he, as a property owner,was left out.
ii. Concern that including housing may"eat into the tax revenue".
iii. George suggested that maybe the uses (less mixed) could be different beyond the
Study Area.
iv. Retail had been discussed in terms of convenience retail and not in terms of a
regional retail
v. Maybe 3rd ave. graphics be included in the slide show
vi. George said that we should insure that the design works in the winter weather and
not just in the summer weather, i.e., connect the buildings.
vii. Larry Smith said the 3rd Ave. developers are having tremendous success and they
only wish that they had built more of everything.