HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-07 Business and Economic Development Committee Minutes BUSINESS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 @ 5:15 PM
City Council Chambers
MEETING MINUTES
City Councilors Present: Davitt, Fournier, Leonard, Sprague, Tremble (via
Zoom).
City Staff Present: Krieg (via Zoom), Laurie.
Chair Sprague called the meeting to order at 5:15 P.M.
1. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE
Development Director Krieg reported that first draft of implementation plan was
sent by email to Committee members today and will be discussed at pre-Council
meeting next week, for presentation at next City Council meeting. Will also be
presented at Planning Board meeting on February 21St for public comment.
2. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY ADDENDUM UPDATE
Development Director Krieg reported that consultant firm, Better City, is working
on document focusing on technology and healthcare industries. Will likely be
presented to Committee in March.
3. REVIEW OF ANNUAL REPORTS, Action requested to recommend each
to the City Council for acceptance.
a) CULTURAL COMMISSION
b) HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
c) PLANNING BOARD
Councilor Davitt moved staff recommendation of each report to City Council for
acceptance, seconded by Councilor Leonard. All in favor, none opposed.
4. DOWNTOWN BANGOR PARTNERSHIP
a) REQUEST TO FUND INTERNATIONAL DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION
VITALITY REPORT PREPARATION, Action requested to vote to support
funding
DBP members Eric Mihan and Betsy Lundy presented to the Committee. Stated
that this report would entail a 7-month process of "deep diving" into Bangor and
downtown area to understand interplay between he two and provide concrete data.
Data would then be provided for City-wide use.
Development Director Krieg stated that the cost of the report is $15,000, and would
be funded through unspent money from vacant position.
Chair Sprague asked how "downtown" is defined for the purposes of the study.
Commented that overall business vitality study may be more useful than just
downtown. Lundy stated that this report will assist in examining future
determination of districts within City.
b) STRATEGIC PLAN
Lundy reported that Strategic Plan has identified need to better understand the use
of the DBP; felt that this was also missing from Comprehensive Plan. Concerned
that there isn't access to the kind of data needed to understand who the
Partnership is, identify areas of needed infrastructure growth and necessary
marketing, or identify the available commercial spaces to fill and what outreach
would be useful in filling those spaces.
Lundy also reported that Strategic Plan identified massive shift in use of downtown
area, primarily in conversion of commercial spaces to residential. DBP would like
to do a better job of collecting residents and helping them become more focused
voice in figuring out their needs within downtown area.
Strategic Plan additionally redefined mission to connect with City as a partner,
identified need for additional staffing and improvements in committee recruitment,
and identified goal to enthusiastically market down by increasing funding for
marketing materials and continuing to encourage creative place-making via
signature events and beautification programs.
c) MARKETING PLAN
Lundy and Mihan reported that, in addition to above mentioned marketing efforts,
Plan highlighted DBP's desire to work with City liaison (Councilor Leonard) to bring
all parties to the discussion table.
Chair Sprague asked how workable comprehensive database could be built that
would hold the improved data for which the DBP is asking. Lundy answered that it
could include items such as businesses' email addresses, notifications to DBP of
new businesses brought into City, etc.
5. 2018 AFFORDABLE HOUSING STUDY IMPLEMENTATION UPDATE,
Next steps discussion
Development Director Krieg stated that a tracking table of study's
recommendations and City's compliance with them has been created. Current
suggested changes are (1) another parking ordinance change to loosen some
requirements and (2) putting in a zoning allowance for tiny home parks.
City Manager Laurie reported that housing workshop would likely be scheduled in
early March.
Councilor Davitt moved going into executive session, seconded by Councilor
Leonard. All in favor, none opposed.
Meeting adjourned at 6:11 P.M.
Meeting minutes respectfully submitted,
Sarah Pritchard
Admin. Asst.
C&ED