FM #107 - Pond St Zoning Bylaw Discussion (audio)

The audio recording (podcast) is available for the Pond St zoning bylaw discussion from Wednesday's (Jan 7, 2015) Town Council meeting.

The run time is about 1 hour and 20 minutes.





You can also subscribe and listen to the audio on iTunes = search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters on iTunes

My notes from the meeting can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2015/01/live-reporting-public-hearing-pond-st.html

Note: If you have any suggestions/corrections to make, please feel free to let me know.

Questions were raised, answers sought and opinions stated amid some tension

There was a full house in the Council Chambers on Wednesday evening. The meeting had officially opened at 6:00 PM and the Council went into Executive Session to discuss the negotiations on the fire fighter contract. Their meeting was held in the small conference room next to the Council Chambers to allow those arriving for the main meeting to enter the chambers. The Councilors filed in to the Chamber about 6:55 and got ready for the meeting.

The normal pledge of allegiance and moment of silence was skipped by Chairman Vallee as they "had already opened the meeting at 6:00".

The agenda was adjusted to include a motion by Councilor Kelly to officially vote on the Chairman. (Recall that the vote at the organization meeting in November was actually skipped at that time.

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/11/the-town-council-reorganizes-sort-of.html)

The minutes were approved from the Dec 17th session.

The change of manager for the liquor license for Artistry Kitchen was approved. As the use of the facility will be changing to a private function room until the new direction of the restaurant is ready to be re-opened, there needs to be an approval by the Planning Board. The use is different from that already approved. It is a minor deviation but does need to follow the process for approvals.

Former FinCom member Phyllis Messere Malcom was appointed to the Historical Commission.

"Community Development Grant"

There was a brief discussion on the possibility for Franklin to join in a "Community Development Grant" application. Bellingham is the lead community handling the paperwork and administration. Franklin and Hopedale are also possible partners. The measure will return to the Town Council in two weeks for approval.

Pond St zoning public hearing

The Pond St zoning public hearing opened. My notes from the long discussion are linked to. In brief, many of the questions and concerns raised were to gain assurances on what would be done. Right now, with the zoning change only, it is too early to say. Many folks don't understand the full process and the Council along with Jeff did not do a great job of explaining the process. My attempt at an overview would look like this:

• There is a second hearing for the zoning change. 
• If approved, the Economic Development Committee would then meet to draft the revisions to the new Request for Proposal (RFP). The RFP is the official offer by the town of the property for sale. It would specify what could be done (within the zoning for the property) and what additional restrictions the Town may make to the purchaser.
• The RFP would be posted for a period of time.
• Responses, if any would be reviewed at the end of the period
• Depending upon the responses, there would be additional meetings at the EDC to make a recommendation to the Town Council to proceed with the sale or not
• If proceeding with the sale, then the Town Council would still hold meeting or meetings to decide (as done with the Emmons St property)
• All that before the developer would go before the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals and other town organizations to obtain the necessary permits and approvals.

There were some tense moments during the discussion as some of the answers to the community were not appropriate and some of the community objected (rightly so) to the body language of some of the members of the Council. Councilor Kelly addressed this during the Councilor Comments at the end of the meeting but long after much of the crowd had dispersed.


The Town Council did approve to move the zoning change to a second reading.

The audio recording for the Pond St discussion can be found here  https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/Hc9V86zk

Emmons St

former councilor Glen Jones and Town Administrator Jeff Nutting

Emmons St discussion

The Emmons St discussion took a surprising turn. It was anticipated to be perhaps a more contentious discussion as the drive through option seemed to be a 'done deal'. However, as revealed by Jeff Nutting. A meeting by the developer, Mr Calarese took place on Monday morning and the proposal was changed to removed the food drive through. He would like to retain rights to a bank drive through. That revelation took the wind out of most of the sails and those that spoke appreciated the change in face of significant community objection.

How the change will really look as the 'final' negotiations take place remains to be seen. The deal will come back before the Council to require a 2/3 vote. We'll be able to see how well the legalese is drafted to meet the community desires and the need for the town to obtain additional revenue.


The audio recording for the Emmons St segment of the meeting can be found here   https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HyDbqXQk

Town Administrator Reports

Almost lost within the events of the evening were the real drivers to the selling of the town property at both the Emmons St and Pond St locations. Jeff Nutting provides updates on the overall town goals and objectives for 2015, showing much progress and accomplishments. He also laid out the objectives for this year. He provided updates on the Master Plan and the Five Year Financial Forecast.

The forecast says FY 2016 should be ok but FY 2017 is another budget year where balancing the budget will present some problems.

This financial reason is the driving factor behind the moves to sell both the Pond St and Emmons St properties. The town needs to expand its taxable base to bring in additional revenue. The link to the agenda for the financial forecast can be found here  http://www.franklinmatters.org/2015/01/property-taxes-will-continue-to-be.html


The set of notes recorded live during the Town Council meeting can be found here:

• Live reporting - Closing

• Live reporting - Town Administrator annual report
• Live reporting: Emmons St discussion

• Live reporting: public hearing - Pond St property

• Live reporting: Artistry change of manager, Commun...

• Live Reporting: Town Council - Jan 7, 2015

Live reporting: public hearing - Pond St property

(Editorial note: with the video replay available as of 1/16/15, as I listen to the replay I can provide corrections to names and comments that had been taken live during the meeting on 1/7/15)


G. HEARINGS
- Zoning Bylaw Amendment 15-745: Amendment to Chapter 185, Attachment 7, Part VI, Use Regulation Schedule, Residential Uses, Office Zoning District – 7:10 PM

Nutting - a single zoning district, the move would add the residential use to the area zoning

about 33 acres, about 20 is actually developable as the remainder are wetlands
looking to add multi-family housing, i.e. condominiums

not sure what kind of bids would be received, but it should improve the potential
would come back to the Council for sale agreement, and Planning Board for all the normal site implementation issues to be addressed

Paul Sager - Pond St resident
tremendous amount of traffic now on the street that been growing over time
anticipated increase in traffic and school requirements
Police are pulling folks over for speeding every night

Nutting - Once opened up to residential, the Council would make some requirements to limit the amount

Would need to add an extra access point for emergency access

Troy - how close would the building be to the drainage ditch, would there be buffer of tree, etc.

Nutting - we can't commit to that until we see what kind of proposal would come in. For a hotel, it would be minimal traffic (compared to other uses) and a greater income for the town.

What impact would it have on the neighboring land values?

if there was an industrial building that would be one thing. With additional

Glen Touhey - how many houses or condos would you allow on the site?

Vallee - it is a re-zoning issue tonight

Kelly - once re-zoned, it would go back to the Economic Development Committee and they would draft (with public input) the RFP

Glen Touhey - that is my concern, if it was Tokyo they could put a thousand...

Bissanti - I understand the gentleman's concerns, the RFP has been out a couple of times and the last time it did not meet what we needed. If the RFP comes back with a residential component, then it becomes part of the Planning Board process.

Padula - we need to balance the requirements

Glen - I am not opposed to development, I just would like to know what the limits are

Gail Ward - Question to the Council to see if anyone lives on Pond St or in the immediate area? (No councilors live in the immediate area.) I think there are ways to handle this. Make it valuable for us. We are not opposed to development but we want to make it valuable to us without making it a residential area. Why do we need more money as we did just raise taxes?

Nutting - we can increase your property taxes every year but beyond that we can do much. With costs going up, just like all your costs, the demands are much higher. Franklin doesn't like to vote for overrides, they are one for nine. Condos actually pay more money than it costs us. There were only 10% kids in the condos. Condos are less dense. It uses the space, softens the blow and bring in some income. We are looking for additional business taxpayers rather than residents.

Gail Irwin - I feel the due diligence is lacking. I heard about it from my neighbors. We have construction going on today with Starbucks and the Noodle company, what will that do to us. What will be the impact to the schools. We don't understand all the down stream implications of this decision. We want all the residents affected be informed.

Peg Helgaard - I am part of the community although far from the area. How does it affect our police and fire. I have sympathy with the folks on Pond St. If we really want to be a community, we have to be in this together.

Charles Otori - 
what about the old sewer beds? how much is that going to affect the construction?

Nutting - we have had an environmental study done, the sewer beds would be removed by the developer.

Otori - the trees would be cleared and that dims the highway traffic, if you take down the trees, we will hear them louder

Nutting - we own this land so we can control what gets put out to bid. This is a zoning change for a less dense use. Some people think this would be worse than what be by right.  One way or the other, it needs to be developed. We need to figure that out.

Otori - if we put in condos, we would need more grade schools. Apartments are a huge loss for Franklin.

Nutting - if you look at the stats for the other condos in Franklin

Padula - Come to the Economic Development Committee meetings, they are open so you can hear the due diligence we go through

Feldman - this is the first step, this is good input,. most of the times the seats are empty. We are not looking to develop every square inch of land. 

Glen Jones - what other zones are currently available on Pond St?

Nutting - it is already zoned for office, for bio-tech. If we don't sell the land, that is the council decision. It is no cost to get vetted in the public forum

John Pazniokas - What few people received the notice, they did receive them three days before the EDC meeting. Some folks could re-arrange the schedule to make the meeting. 

My major concern with a wide open RFP. Concerns of the neighbors would be outweighed by the dollars on the incoming RFP.

Padula - we don't have to sell this land 

Nutting - we broadened the notification 

Bryan Taberner - Planning and Community Development
there is no legal requirement for a zoning change, it could be an immense mailing effort, there were 63 letters sent out

John - I don't want to appear that we are stonewalling, we need the revenue, we need to be involved

Vallee - by law you have to be involved

Bissanti - by no means is the RFP wide open, there are three parameters in the RFP. Gauging the number of units based upon 2000 sq ft per unit. What this is doing is adding a carrot to the RFP to hopefully get better responses. This is all in keeping with the RFP that we already have. We like the hotel, we like the medical building. It is very restricted and the developer would have to be held to what is required.

Dellorco - we need to send it out for something, I am concerned about the traffic there. I don't want apartments down there. We should have workshops to get you involved, you have to be involved.

Stephanie Pazniokas - can you explain the restrictions on residential?

Nutting - multi-family can not be restricted, since we own the land, we can restrict it. If we decide we can restrict it to include condominiums

Stephanie - if we don't get something good, at what point does it become a change to get something sold? Doesn't have to be addressed here. 

"If somebody buys that land, those trees are going"

Stephanie - with no environmental impact now, with the removal of the sewer beds, there is a chance of other issues with that land.

Sandy Verhagen - reiterating what neighbors said, we want what is best for our town, we need the revenue. We are asking for us to get what is best too. it was discussed at the EDC, the rezoning would also be restricted. 

in the report, 2010, traffic accidents had increased due to increased traffic. That was then, what now. What about further down the line?

it is comments like Mr Halligan's that we could only widen the road to make it fit. Those kinds of comments get us scared. In discussion with a Franklin policeman, there are only 3 on duty over night. Is that part of the planning? Please take things into the consideration.

Jim Schultz - something is relevant, go to tri-county in rush hour, try to get out of the tri-county lot by making a left turn? I have to do that each morning and the thought of the impact is scary.

Elaine Murphy - abutter, I appreciate the non-abutters who are here. Good questions, good answers. I am happy to meet the Council. I almost didn't come tonight. It is America and there is hope. A mention was made about the horse and the carrot. We are the carrot, you are not the carrot that will feed the horse. EDC reports to you, the balance is being considered between the revenue to the Town and the residents with some impact. 

We talked about the woods, is it wide to diminish the woods. We have seen the sound barriers to go up elsewhere. Is it wise to encroach upon the wetlands? if we need a hotel and office space? there are places elsewhere. It is one of the few parcels that we could make some money on.

Why are we in such a hurry to put this out? before we see the effect of Starbucks and Noodles. The minutes of the EDC would be nice to have to help prepare.

Also at Monday's meeting buildings could be three stories high, it could be appealed to raise to five. It appears that the town is dancing to the tune of the potential buyers rather than to the residents.

I got to trust that the Council will not let bad things happen to the rest of us.

Troy - What about the wild life?

Nutting - it will go where ever they go. The wetlands would be covered by the Conservation Commission and other restrictions.

Peg, Oxford Dr - you answer could have been done a little more sensitively
I can address the noise. When the bridge was built, we can hear much more since the trees were taken down. Due diligence, it would be good for all of you to travel the roads during peak times for a week to see what it is like.

Phil Purvis, Pond St - traffic is horrendous. I have a 5 and 7 year old, the kids are not allowed in the front yard. It needs to be looked at more closely. Why have RFPs failed in the past? is it due to the wetlands, or the sewer beds? due to the cost? if that is the reason they have failed in the past, how large of a residential area needs to be built in order to make it worthwhile? How large are you going to build it up. it doesn't make me feel any better, with what happened in 2007, you want our input now but what about then.

Pfeffer - this is not being zoned residential. I learned how to ride horses down there. It is not going to be residential. We are trying to add a small residential piece to that.

Verhangen - That last comment is bringing up our concern, if you say that is not the goal, if you write the zone without a limit we could get something else later. 

Nutting - if someone builds a hotel and then in 40 years they come back and they come back to the Council, they may want to put residential there. There will be significant investment in the property. They might be separately owned.

Verhagen - for how long?

Nutting - they sign a development agreement

Cerel - it would be there are long as necessary for the purposes of developing the land.

Verhagen - If they are done building, after they have met the requirements, can they come back to look to add more? We would like some protection.

What was the response to the RFP?

Nutting - it came back with a hotel, medical building and 200 apartments; that didn't meet the requirements. The one in 2007 felt part due to the economy. We don't know what the responses to the RFP will be.

Padula - I asked that question, so you can see that we are doing the vetting to be concerned about what happens done the road

Colin Golin, Rolling Ridge Road - timeline? RFP how quickly will that be done?

Nutting - there is a public hearing, there is a second hearing, the EDC will likely take this up in Feb. That is where the discussion would take place.  The RFP process could be one or two meetings (Feb/Mar) 

Steve Quinlan - Pond St - what if we do nothing? what would be the impact? In terms of percentage wise or the budget?

Nutting - we would forgo the ongoing revenue of the sale and it could be about 1% of the property tax revenue ($600-700,000)

Paul Sager - we have grown from being 20 units to 50 units, to a building that might be five stories tall. If you're trying to keep it small to minimize impact, how much revenue would we get? So where do they draw the line? Without touching the residential part of it. You wouldn't lose that much income.

Troy - Why the need for office space there? With office space is available elsewhere and it is empty. I can see why a hotel would be desirable. Why not put something that would better the community?

Nutting - we don't control what the economy does with private property. We don't know what is going to be proposed. We are looking to see what they would propose? Parks don't produce revenue? If we can't afford to balance the budget, then services get cut.

Vallee - this is a conversation now, let's get get going.

Gail Irwin (again)
Shame on me for my first Council meeting, I am ashamed of your body movements, rolling of your eyes, letting us know of your expressions. I am very disappointed with you. We shouldn't have to feel we are judged by the people who are represented.

While audience was applauding, the motion was made to close the hearing. Catching the audience by surprise.

Public Hearing - Pond St zoning bylaw

The Town Council will hold a public hearing on Wednesday to discuss the proposal to change the zoning for the Pond St property.

The property was the subject of an RFP which did not receive any legal responses. It did receive one response but it arrived late and hence was disqualified. It did contain a proposal for more of a mixed use development including residential. The current zoning would prohibit residential. The discussion at the Economic Development Committee meeting concluded with the plan to propose the zoning change to include residential and then if approved, re-issue the RFP to see if there are more takers.

The owners abutting the property were sent the following information to help prepare for the discussion:



A whole lot of information on Franklin and, in particular, the Pond Street property can be found here
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_Planning/pondrfp


The Economic Development Committee meeting notes can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/12/economic-development-committee-dec-17.html


The agenda for the Town Council meeting on Jan 7 (and all associated documents released for it) can be found here 
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2015/01/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-jan-7.html

Note: The meeting has a scheduled start of 6:00 PM. They will open the meeting, go to Executive Session with a return to open meeting after their discussion on the Fire Fighters Union contract.

Franklin Planning and Community Development photo of Pond St property

"What is the rush?"

Wednesday was a busy reporting night with back to back meetings. The Economic Development Committee (EDC) met at 5:30 followed by the Town Council at 7:00 PM. As mentioned, I lost some time moving from one room to another for the EDC meeting. I did record both meetings. Hopefully, the recording of the EDC meeting will be good enough to share. In the meantime, my notes captured the discussion as completely as I could. This was corroborated by Matt Tota's reporting for the Milford Daily news.

EDC meeting

The discussion on the Pond St property resulted in a decision to propose zoning changes to the parcel and then after the zoning changes are approved (assuming they are), to re-issue the RFP. It is anticipated that the more broad opportunity will spurn some response.

On Emmons St, the one reply to the RFP was decided to be brought before the Town Council for discussion. The key question is whether to accept the proposal by Roger Calarese or not, and whether in the acceptance, the decision would limit the 'drive-in' capability or not.

Both discussions are scheduled for the Jan 7th Town Council meeting. The first public hearing on the proposed zoning bylaw change will be at the Planning Board meeting on Monday, Jan 5th. The Council had moved on the action which was already on its meeting agenda for Weds.

It is likely that the discussions on both properties will revisit what has already been said. What if anything will change the apparent direction of the Council to move on these properties remains to be seen.

The full set of notes from the EDC meeting are linked to below.

• Economic Development Committee - Dec 17, 2014

Town Council meeting

Aside from the discussion on the properties as noted from the EDC meeting, the Council had a quick and interesting meeting.

Recognition of Del Arnold and Marlene Oliver for their work on the Historical Commission.

The annual re-issuing of the liquor licenses. Some were held back for payment of outstanding invoices (property taxes, etc.).

A presentation by Habitat for Humanity which is expanding its mission. It had only built homes, now it is offering home repair services to qualified parties. There are still income and 'sweat equity' requirements but this is a worthy expansion of their mission. Some tri-fold brochures were given to the Councilors, additional brochures will be obtained to share from the Senior Center, Public Library, Food Pantry and other locations in town.

One of the more significant actions was the formal creation of the Library Building Committee. Once created by resolution, there were 10 people appointed to the committee. Representing a cross section of Franklin (Town Councilors, Library personnel and Board of Directors, Friends of the Library, and citizens) the group will begin work planning the details for the expansion. 

Information on the proposed expansion can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/06/live-reporting-finance-committee-060314.html

and here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/06/do-we-pay-for-roads-or-not-that-is.html

Franklin Public Library, 118 Main St

The full set of my notes recorded live during the meeting can be found here:

• 
  

• Live reporting - Legislation through to closing

• Live reporting - Habitat for Humanity

• Live reporting - Library Building Committee

• Live reporting: Town Council - Dec 17, 2014

In the News: Tri-County in space, Pond St zoning change, Medway graduation gowns

To get this far the students had to write computer code able to command the precise movements of orb-shaped satellites in online simulations. The finals will have them programming a real satellite on the space station, which orbits about 230 miles above Earth's surface. 

On Jan. 16, they are to join peers from all over the United States at the MIT campus for the event, conducted through live video conference with astronauts. Their European counterparts will be competing from a site in Denmark. 

The astronauts float with the satellites in a zero gravity cabin, relaying instructions to the students watching from MIT. During the challenge, the teams must program the satellite with different algorithms so, when the time comes, it will glide through the cabin on its own.

Continue reading the article here: (subscription may be required)  http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20141219/NEWS/141216255/1994/NEWS#sthash.dOQk6Qd6.dpuf

By allowing condominiums at a Pond Street property, the town hopes finally to develop the long vacant parcel into a revenue generator. 

The Town Council's economic development subcommittee has recommended a zoning change that would permit multi-family residences there. Located near Interstate 495, the property is already zoned for hotels and office buildings. 

For more than a decade, the town has tried in vain to market the 33-acre plot to potential developers. The last straw appears to have been a request for proposals put out recently - the second in seven years – that netted just one proposal, which could not be accepted because it arrived late and did not meet the minimum requirements. 

A wastewater plant operated at the site from 1902 to 1980. When the plant closed, the property was left abandoned. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the former sewer beds do not pose a hazard.

Continue reading the article here: (subscription may be required)  http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20141219/NEWS/141216249/1994/NEWS#sthash.oC4l2ZJF.dpuf

After news broke earlier this week that all Medway High seniors of both genders may be forced to wear the same color graduation gown at the Class of 2015's June 7 graduation, administrators, students and parents at a school council meeting Thursday agreed the issue needs further conversation. 

Meghan Gallagher, president of the senior class, said switching to non-gender-specific graduation gowns is a “no-brainer” when she considers how some of her classmates who are already struggling with gender identity might be even more uncomfortable at graduation, where some are already faced with a “nervous pit in their stomach.” 

Gallagher, reading from a statement, said after hearing some argue to keep the traditional gender-specific gowns, she has learned “people are more confined to their rigid ways than previously thought.”

Continue reading the article here: (subscription may be required)  http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20141219/NEWS/141216253/1994/NEWS#sthash.Dit2qMnS.dpuf

Economic Development Committee - Dec 17, 2014

Economic Development Committee: Andy Bissanti (Chair), Bob Vallee, Matt Kelly, Peter Padula. 


Meeting location was changed to be held in the 3rd floor training room to accommodate the larger group present. Approx 24 folks in room. I was late to the room and if there was a formal acknowledgement of the committee at the meeting opening I missed it.

Open statement by Jeff Nutting providing an overview of the status of the RFP and the one response, not legal as it came in after time and added items not part of the original request.

Discussion effectively around should the RFP be re-issued? and if re-issued should it be re-issued as is, or modified. Modified to include a re-zoning of the property to include residential in a multi-use proposal.

There would be public hearings as part of the process for the zoning change. First before the Town Council as the bylaw change would be recommended to the Planning Board. There would be the Planning Board public hearing and due process. Ultimately assuming referred back to the Town Council, there are two additional readings (and hearings) for public input before final vote.

Discussion around the benefit of the apartments vs. condominiums (from a tax base perspective).
Traffic studies would be part of the approval process of what ever proposal is brought forward by a developer.

The larger concern is revenue for Franklin. How much revenue can the property bring to the community?

Planning Board Chair, Tony Padula said that the developer for the Starbucks hired an independent traffic consultant for a study. The Town also did their own study of traffic input. Both studies agreed the traffic should not be an issue for the area.

The real issue with the site is that the location and land is really located on water and next to the Charles River. That will limit what can be done on the land.

Andy Bissanti - The land is a beautiful piece of land, it is right near i495. It is underutilized. Putting it back out is the best thing to do. The residential component should be able to help 'sell' the property.

Discussion on including or not the residential component. Suggestion on putting it out without restrictions and see what someone may propose, maybe a use we have not considered.

Sandy Verhagen - What is the rush? If the land has been unused for 30+ years, what is wrong with waiting a little longer to get input from the community and do it right.

Joe Halligan - You can't say it is not going to be built, it can be built with mitigation (wider lanes, turn signals, etc.)

Peter Padula - All the hard questions need to asked here so we can do what is in the best interests of Franklin. What will come of it? I don't know but let's get it started.

Nutting - provides an overview of the next steps in the process (as summarized above)
In addition depending upon the nature of the proposal, the Conservation Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals maybe required.

Bissnti - motion to make recommendation to the full council on the proposed zoning change. Motion accepted. (Will check on committee members later - hard to determine who they are in the mix of folks present)

Second item on the agenda

Kelly- recused himself from this discussion but remained sitting in his same position

Nutting - provides a summary of Roger Calarese the developer who made the proposal for the Emmons St property

(photo to be added of rendering of his proposal)

Roger Calarese (right) and Jeff Nutting (left)  at Economic Development Committee meeting

Joe Halligan - I think we have beaten this property to death. This is going on forever. We know his work, His is the only proposal.

Lisa Piana - Downtown Partnership Executive Director - objects to the possibility of a food drive through.

Padula - I'd like to make the recommendation to bring this before the council for a full vote.

Jane Curran - objecting also to the possibility to of a food drive through

Padula - with draws his motion as he is confused. He had not realized that the proposal as written would allow for a food drive through. He had assumed it would be a bank drive through.

Bissanti - the EDC meeting had not restricted the RFP that Mr Calarese had responded to

Nutting - that is a policy decision. You can make the change and re-do, or are you going to restrict it as it moves forward?

Bissanti - I wanted it open as there are lots of potential uses and wanted to get the best option we could. I don't think we can dictate what the market says can go there.

Padula - Here is my proposal, I would not be in favor of any drive through with a food establishment on it.

Calarese - the site is too small for a Burger King or McDonald's. It could be a coffee shot but there are issues with the location and how it would fit. It is not a done deal.

Verhagen - I like to go to a downtown where I can spend time and money at a shop downtown. The money doesn't only have to come from the sale of the land it can come from the sales of the goods and services

Joe Halligan - for everyone that is against the project, there are likely going to be more that would be for the project.

Beth Simon - I am here not be to against something. I am here to ensure that the integrity of the town is maintained. I change the color of my signs (Simon's Furniture) and I got calls from folks talking about the 'new' signs. The signs have been there for years. All I did was change the color so I am glad they got noticed.

Brian Kelly - let's be clear about what we are talking about. is it a drive through or sit down place?

Calarese - I don't see that as a detriment that a brand could be located on the corner, someone could in to Town to do something at Dean, see the sign, drive through, and then go to their event. Students could cross from campus almost everyday all year.

Susan Dewsnap - That is going to be an extremely busy intersection. You got a ton of traffic going through there.

Joe Halligan - all the improvements downtown are not going to increase the traffic, it is supposed to help improve the through put? The traffic will still go through the town

Lisa Piana - the streetscape is coming and that will be making changes to the traffic. Let's wait and see what will happen after that project is done.

Bissanti - this has been beat to death. He submitted an RFP with a drive through. I think we need to move this forward. We are going to get another bite at it when it comes to the Council.

Halligan - you have to give something to the developer to get something that will improve the estetics

Recommendation to go forward for discussion at the next Council meeting

move to adjourn, passed