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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-04-22 Community and Economic Development Committee Minutes COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Wednesday, April 22, 1992 at 7 : 00 PM • MINUTES MEMBERS PRESENT: Councilor W. Tom Sawyer, Chair Councilor Don Soucy Councilor Pat Blanchette OTHERS PRESENT: Councilor William Cohen Edward A. Barrett, City Manager Kenneth Gibb, Director of Community & Economic Development John Lord, Planning Officer Steve C. Langley, Norumbega Cafe NEWS MEDIA: Ned Porter, Bangor Daily News The meeting was called to order at 7 : 35 PM. AGENDA ITEM #1 - Proposed Lease with Prospective New Owner of Norumbega Cafe Regarding Use of Vacant Lot at 24 Central Street Ken Gibb indicated that the Norumbega Cafe is being sold to Steven C. Langley. He has requested to lease the City-owned vacant 110 lot at 24 Central Street for an outdoor eating area for his customers (as did the original owner, Dan Tremble) . The lease would be for 10-years with the same terms as when Mr. Tremble leased the lot for the same purpose. The second part of Mr. Langley's request was for permission to install 3 100-gallon above-ground propane tanks in the rear corner of the lot which will serve the restaurant. The City's Code Enforcement Dept. has approved the tanks . The Leasee (Mr. Langley) will be responsible for maintenance and cleanliness of the lot. Staff recommended approval of both requests . The Committee concurred and they voted unanimously to recommend approval to the City Council . AGENDA ITEM #2 - Proposed Agreement with G.E . Ken Gibb reported that the City currently leases four ( 4) buildings located at BIA to General Electric Company. It has become necessary to remove and replace six existing underground fuel oil tanks located at the leased buildings . G.E. has requested permission from the City to replace the underground fuel storage system with a more elaborate above-ground system (which will contain 5 tanks) . G.E. is willing to pay the additional cost of the system and be • 2 responsible for managing the construction project. Upon completion of the work the City has agreed to pay G.E . the sum of $300,000 . Source of the funds is the 1 . 2 million dollars set aside for fuel tank replacement at BIA. The Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval to the City Council . AGENDA ITEM #3 - Processing Fees for DEP Site Selection Review The local authority that reviews projects under the provisions of the Site Selection Law has been expanded to include specific site development plans as well as previously authorized subdivision plans . In order to make the City's processing fees reflect the cost of handling these applications as well as being more consistent with fees charged by the State, Staff recommended an additional item be added to the fee schedule to cover these projects . The fees proposed will be slightly less than those charged by DEP as Bangor only handles projects up to 150 ,000 sq. ft. in floor area whereas DEP projects could be up to a half million - million or more square feet. The Committee discussed the various projects and voted unanimously to recommend this item to the City Council AGENDA ITEM #4 - Hogan/Burleigh Connector Road Staff indicated that the first phase of the Hogan/Burleigh Connector Road Feasibility Study had been completed and that its initial findings were that a route which directly crossed the Penjajawoc Bog might not be acceptable under the national wetland permitting process . It was the recommendation of Staff that alternative routing to the original assumed route be explored from a traffic movement feasibility perspective. To that end, Staff had requested a proposal from Deluca Hoffman, the consultant under contract to do the feasibility study. Deluca Hoffman proposed to evaluate alternative routing to see if such routing would provide meaningful traffic relief and carry enough vehicular traffic to justify such an expenditure for a sum of $3,500 . Staff recommended that the present contract be amended to authorize this activity (there is an appropriation of approximately $30,000 to cover the cost of this feasibility study and only approximately $6 ,500 of it was expended on the first phase) . After some discussion of the problems entailed in the crossing of the Penjajawoc Marsh directly and the feedback which Staff received at a meeting with U.S . Army Corps . of Engineers, Federal EPA and Federal Fish & Wildlife personnel, the Committee voted unanimously to authorize the contract amendment. S 3 AGENDA ITEM #5 - Department of Defense Request for Proposals (RFP) 411 Ken Gibb briefed the Committee regarding the background on this project which had been previously outlined to the Council by memorandum. He indicated that City Staff had been working with Eastern Maine Development Corporation Staff to evaluate this opportunity and that it was Staff 's recommendation to submit a proposal . Ken described several of the major criteria of the RFP and indicated that the Maine Business Enterprise Park at Bangor International Airport is large enough and would be an excellent site for this major project. He recommended that the City make the necessary land available to this project at no charge. Ken also suggested that support from the surrounding communities and local business community was also important . It was recommended that a Steering Committee be formed which would guide development of the proposal and make a recommendation to the City Council. The Steering Committee would include representation from the Council and City Staff, Eastern Maine Development Corporation and area development entities such as BanAir Corporation, Target Corporation, Action Committee of Fifty and the Greater Bangor Chamber of Commerce. It was suggested that John Conti, who is a member of Bangor's Economic Development Advisory Committee, would be an excellent chair. It was noted that Mr. Conti was out of town and had not yet agreed to assume that role. The Committee considered the staff report and unanimously approved a motion which would direct the preparation of a proposal to DOD, indicated the City's willingness to make land at Maine Business Park available to the project and authorize the formation of a Steering Committee with the membership and chairmanship as described by Staff. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:35 PM. rp 5/14/92 411