Economic Development Commission

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION (EDC) TOWN OF MOUNT AIRY Minutes of 05/27/2015 Meeting Attendees: Andrew Williamson - Chairman Michael VanSant Frank Dertzbaugh Bob King, Council Liaison Paul Clay Bill McCullough Zach Peters Donnamarie Needle Absent: James Linton Also attending were Terri King, town resident and J.A. Burke, Mount Airy Messenger. 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:08 p.m. at the Old Town Restaurant. 2. Minutes for the EDC meeting of 23 April 2015 were approved. 3. Chairman, Andrew Williamson provided a written Economic Development Staff Report from Melissa Hoyle for May 2015 that included a listing of upcoming events for May through August 2015. In her report she requested commission members review the MarketWorks Questionnaire developed for businesses in Mount Airy and send any suggested edits by June 3rd. After review of the questionnaire a concern was expressed by commission members about the difficulty of business owners might have in answering questions directly asking for single sentence description for the town and areas of town, rather than their own businesses and might be tempted not to deal with the survey in total. After discussion it was agreed to support the effort of Market Works in developing a branding and marketing strategy for Mount Airy. She reported on the town representation at MML Conference June 28 – 1 July 2015. She reported on the initial vacancies listed online and the receipt of two applications for review and submission to the State of Maryland for funding assistance under a façade grants program. Paul Clay, working with Melissa Hoyle and Terri King, provided Commission members with the finalized How to Establish a Business in Mount Airy brochure. After review it was agreed that the brochure should be printed in an amount of 100 to 120 and be reviewed every 6 months at the June and December meetings in order to keep up to date. 4. Nothing is happening with Fiber Optics in Mount Airy, but the item will remain on the agenda for future meetings. 1 5. Status of Center Street development will continue on future commission agenda. 6. Parking alternatives will continue to be an agenda item for the EDC. Possibility the bottom lot of the former bank building will be opened up to provide some additional parking. 7. Creation of an Office Park Employment (OPE) Zone ordinance by the Planning Commission is continuing and will be discussed by the EDC at future meetings as necessary. It was noted that a town has started a study related to Route 27 traffic impacts that will factor into development of this ordinance. 8. Bob King reported to commission members on a meeting held this month discussing water status within Mount Airy. He stated participants in the meeting all agreed that there are sufficient water resources for current activities including in-fill requirements, but that action will have to be taken by the town to provide sufficient water to complete programs in the Master Plan update just approved. 9. Commission members were reminded that there would be a joint Commissions meeting on 9 June 2015, with two commission members from each organization being invited. 10. Paul Clay provided commission members a MacRo Report related to Frederick County as an example of reporting that might be useful for Mount Airy. 11. The next EDC meeting is scheduled for 24 June 2015 at Town Hall to start at 7:30 p.m. 12. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Minutes approved on 24 June 2015 with the addition of the name of one member (Donnamarie Needle) attending the meeting 2