Town of Gray
Community Economic Development Committee
Stimson Hall
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Minutes
Members present: Don Hutchings, Lew Mancini, Jeanne Carpentier, Dick Barter, Lance Tlumac, Tom Delaney, Tracy Scheckel, Ed Libby and Council Liaison Peter Gellerson.
Absent: Jack Goosetrey
Guest: George Thebarge, Gray Economic Development Director
Jeanne brought the meeting to order at 6:35 pm and she offered to take notes.
The person from the Portland Press Herald was unable to make it for this meeting. They are in touch with Lew to coordinate another time. In the meantime, Tracy offered to help create the beginning editorial for the advertising concept. She will submit to the group via e-mail for review.
Tracy offered an update with the GNGBA and the newly formed Gray New Gloucester Development Corporation (GNGDC). A special meeting of the GNGBA is to take place on Thursday, April 29 at 7:00 am at Stimson Hall to present the membership with the concept of dissolving and transferring funds to the GNGDC.
Tracy has submitted her resignation from the CEDC due to a potential conflict with her involvement with the GNGDC which is a private, board driven organization. Her resignation is effective May 1. Jeanne updated the committee with news she has taken a new job and will be limited with her time as the new job includes more travel. She informed the group she will not be renewing her tenure with the CEDC once her term is over.
A meeting with a Pineland representative will take place Thursday, May 6 at 3:00 pm at Pineland. George Thebarge and Don Hutchings will represent Gray, Paul First and Eric Ritter will represent New Gloucester and Tracy Scheckel and one other person will represent the GNGDC. The committee discussed objectives to provide to Pineland and the group prior to the meeting. They are as follows:
- Fact finding – what is going on at Pineland? What types of efforts can we put forth to help them succeed?
- Appreciation - It was decided to emphasize to Pineland our appreciation for their efforts in the community, specifically their efforts to retain the unique agriculture that is represented in the Gray-New Gloucester community.
- Cooperation - The emphasis of common goals and values will be shared.
- Communication – how can we improve communication with Pineland?
- Synergy - It is the intention of the group to create a synergy in cultural, economic and tourism efforts with Pineland and the communities where it resides.
George Thebarge presented “part 2” on Area 3 and he focused on TIFS. First, there was a review of municipal TIF guidelines from the state DECD. He then reviewed the Northbrook TIF and discussed in smaller detail the Route 100 TIF. Finally, he reviewed the current policy adopted by the Town Council in February, 2000. Discussion took place regarding TIFS, their benefits and the negative public perception that exists around them. There are benefits the town is receiving from the Route 100 TIF that are important to share with the community. Discussion revolved around how to promote the benefits of TIFS and educate the community so they are used effectively for economic development. This is a discussion that needs to be continued and should be included on the next agenda.
Time did not allow for the town signage discussion or website updates and should be included in the next meeting agenda. However, Ed Libby provided the following via e-mail after the meeting regarding website updates:
- Tracy has volunteered to help with the town web site and has been given access to the VTH tools. I personally look forward to getting some great site content and ideas from her.
- Tracy, Brian and myself have been exploring many avenues in order for Users to be able to view recorded council meetings right on the site with out having to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. It looks like we may have had a breakthrough so Brian is doing some tweaking to the page and video settings to optimize performance. Hopefully he will be able to launch that functionality soon.
- Update on how many email subscribers we have to the site is below. The first reading in the doc was taken about a month ago and the second taken just today. You can see that we have gained a few subscribers in the last month.
 
Below are two graphs on page hit totals from the site. One from this week and one from this week last year. While not completely accurate (does not filter out Brian or myself hitting the pages while creating content) you can still see there was significant increase.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 19 at 6:30 pm at Stimson Hall.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeanne Carpentier
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