Economic & Community Development Committee Minutes

City of Gardiner

Economic & Community Development Committee Meeting

November 16, 2023

5:30pm, City Hall

Present:  Melissa Lindley (City of Gardiner), Carrie Arsenault, Debby Willis (chair), Tamara Whitmore, Doug Baston, Terry Berry

1. Meeting brought to order at 5:32 pm
2. Previous meeting minutes: Carrie made the motion to accept the minutes of the October 12, 2023 meeting as presented. Doug seconded the motion. The motion passes unanimously.
3. Parking for Johnson Hall shows (Wes Littlefield, JH representative)
   1. The Colin Hayes show in the beginning of April will be the first show.
   2. Prepared to meet with the owner of each private lot to fulfill whatever expectations and requirements that they require.
   3. Would be good to have a first draft plan to share at the “Downtown Business Forum” in January (date TBD)
4. Brownfield Assessment Update
   1. Melissa got a call from the EPA and the RFQ process that was done in October of 2022 was not in compliance with their standards.
   2. The contracts with Ransom Consulting have to be nullified and the process of selecting a firm has to be redone.
   3. Melissa thinks it will be a two month process at least, with no work on Brownfields being accomplished until a firm has been selected through the “correct” process
   4. Patrick Wright's building had a Phase 1 - investigation - oil tank and some residue were observed.  Next step will be the actual samples being taken and analyzed, once the newly selected firm is determined.
   5. There is a completed Phase one on the Feed Store but Melissa has not been able to get ahold of the Tsao’s to go forward with the inventory process.
   6. Melissa has reached out to the President of Ransom Consulting, to let them know that the contract must be halted and that a new selection process needs to happen.
5. Downtown Master Plan Action Items
   1. Melissa is working with KVCOG to develop an RFP for the planning & engineering of the Arcade Parking lot redesign
   2. Accessibility Study:
      1. Melissa has been informed that these type of studies can be very expensive, especially is all encompassing
      2. There is only $10,000 budgeted for the study, so we may need to limit the scope of the study and focus on one particular area, such as accessibility to Water Street.
   3. Downtown Sidewalk Committee
      1. First official meeting will be Monday, November 20th
      2. The city will request the remaining MDOT funds from soon to be closed the Cobbossee Trail Corridor project be utilized for the Downtown Sidewalk Planning project. They are both funded under the same Bike/Ped program.
      3. Terry asks about a grant that he remembers that the City received (or was awarded) a couple of years ago….he remembers the figure as $400,000. 
         1. Also an allocation by MDOT?
      4. If all goes well, the planning portion of the sidewalk project could be done this summer.
      5. It sounds like MDOT is willing to help us find potential larger pots of money that we can apply for.
   4. Climate Resiliency Community Action Grants (up to $50,000)
      1. One idea - Electric Vehicle Charging stations
         1. There are different levels of stations, some are very expensive and some much more reasonable
         2. Where would we put them? 
            1. In front of Domino’s?
            2. On the Bailey Lot?
      2. There is another round of these grants being offered either this winter or spring.
         1. In January we should decide what we are going to apply for.
         2. City of Gardiner is officially set up with the program, so that we can apply for the grants
   5. Melissa has connected with Efficiency Maine and they are going to present to the City Council in December on their C-PACE program
      1. Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy
6. Next Meeting: December 14, 2023 5:30 pm
7. Motion to Adjourn: Terry makes the motion to adjourn, seconded by Carrie.  Motion passes.