741 Colonel Ledyard Highway

Ledyard, Connecticut 06339

TOWN OF LEDYARD

Economic Development Commission

Meeting Minutes - Draft Minutes

Chairman

John Vincent

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

6:00 PM

Town Hall Annex - Hybrid Format

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Vincent called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Town

Hall Annex Building. Chairman Vincent welcomed all to the Hybrid Meeting.

ROLL CALL

Present were Mayor Fred Allyn III, Gary Paul (Town Council EDC Liaison) 6:17pm, Naomi

Rodriguez (Town Council) and Juliet Hodge, Director of Planning & Development. Commission

Members Present:

Commissioner Jessica Buhle

Commissioner Carol Ann Schneider

Commissioner Peter Hary

Present

Commissioner Michael Dreimiller

Commissioner Richard D. Tashea

Chair John Vincent

III.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

June 7, 2022 Regular Meeting Minutes

MOTION to approve the Regular EDC Meeting Minutes of June 7, 2022 as amended to change

VII.a.i.2 “June 9 Public Meeting cancelled” to “June 9 Public Hearing cancelled.” Motion

Passed by the following vote.

APPROVED AND SO DECLARED

Richard D. Tashea

RESULT:

MOVER:

Jessica Buhle

SECONDER:

Buhle, Schneider, Hary, Dreimiller, Tashea, and Vincent

Whittle

AYE:

ABSENT:

IV.

AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA

A motion was made by Chair Vincent, seconded by Commissioner Schneider, MOTION to

amend the agenda to add “C. Business Directory” under “Old Business;” add “D. Ribbon

Cuttings” under “New Business;” and add “E. Agricultural Committee Joint Meeting” under

“New Business.” ..end

APPROVED TO AMEND

RESULT:

John Vincent

MOVER:

Carol Ann Schneider

SECONDER:

Buhle, Schneider, Hary, Dreimiller, Tashea, and Vincent

Whittle

AYE:

ABSENT:

CITIZENS COMMENTS

None

VI.

CORRESPONDENCE

EDC Received a Bill from Eastern CT Chamber of Commerce to renew their membership and

Memorandum from Agricultural Commission.

VII. MAYOR'S REPORT

The Mayor reported on the following items:

Sunnyside Diner ribbon cutting: Great turnout, restaurant was full.

Fireside Brick Oven Pizza: They have a new lease. Fire marshal will be inspecting in about 2

weeks and they expect to open mid-late September. They will have a special opening pizza

dinner for first responders

New Pottery studio in old Ledyard Center School at the south end near Dime Bank. She is

selling her own pottery and will offer classes.

Cashman Dredging/Dow: Potential additional users have come forward. Dow Chemical listed

the land adjacent to Gales Ferry Firehouse for sale (16 acres of land on Rt. 12 zoned industrial

between firehouse and Buttermore’s $1,140,000). Total lot size is 65 acres. Town has a 75 year

land lease for Gales Ferry Firehouse from Dow. Mayor Allyn is working with them on getting

the land gifted to Gales Ferry Company. Dow is working on donating the portion of the lot

closest to Whalehead Rd. to Avalonia which abuts that land. Portion of lot near Oakridge Dr.

may become open space.

LOTCIP Grant: Multi-use path from Ledyard Center to Ledyard High School. Design phase is

at 90%. Waiting for the sewer line engineering to be completed. Application is in front of

Wetlands commission.

Letter for promotional video is done. Will send it to Hary who will give it to production

company.

VIII. PLANNER'S REPORT

Ms. Hodge reported on Permits & New Business and General Land Use Dept. Updates.

New home occupation: Young couple with a window tinting business.

New church in old Ledyard Center School was approved

Site plan for a new 10,700sf retail building was submitted for property north of McDonalds;

Two parcels- One parcel has a house that will be demolished. Site plan approval on the Aug.

11th agenda. Mayor Allyn suggested that it might be a good spot for one of the two Electric

Vehicle charging stations in the ARPA spending plan Town Green project is complete with

respect to the grant; Some odds and ends of Town spending may remain. Accounting for

reimbursement sent in to the State for approval.

LOTCIP application in front of Wetlands.

Zoning regulation updates are going well about ¾ through the process. Accessory Dwellings regs

were approved. She asked for some time to fix typos and do some clean up before the remainder

are discussed. Hopefully just one last viewing at the 2nd meeting in August. They could be

deliberated at 1st meeting in September. First two accessory apartments coming in since the

Accessory Apartment Regulation change was passed. One within an existing building and the

other is above a garage.

IX.

OLD BUSINESS

Finalization of Annual Report

Commission discussed the latest version of the Annual Report.

APPROVED AND SO DECLARED

Richard D. Tashea

RESULT:

MOVER:

Jessica Buhle

SECONDER:

Buhle, Schneider, Hary, Dreimiller, Tashea, and Vincent

Whittle

AYE:

ABSENT:

Development of Strategic Plan

Commission members reviewed the list of goals that were developed at the July workshop.

Dreimiller asked about the status of the ARPA funds that had been approved for the production

of the promotional video. Mayor Allyn stated that those funds had been shifted to other ARPA

projects. Dreimiller asked the Mayor for clarification about the study that had money allocated

for it which had come up in the workshop discussions. Mayor Allyn stated that is the Rt. 12

Corridor Study which has $15,000 of budgeted Town funds allocated. Study needs to be done

before we can apply for STEAP grants. Dreimiller asked what the time frame was for the study.

Mayor Allyn stated that we should give Town Planner Hodge time to finish up the Zoning

Regulation changes, then we could put out an RFP so probably October before the RFP would

go out, and then 6 months for responses, and the 4-6 months for the actual study if it’s a cursory

overview or perhaps a year if a deeper study with traffic counts is done

Town Planner Hodge asked what the goals of the study were. Mayor Allyn replied: (1)

Identifying underutilized parcels along Rt. 12 from Long Cove Rd. to Chapman Lane; and (2)

Identifying where should sidewalks and crosswalks should be located.

Mayor Allyn mentioned that there is $35,000 from ARPA funding for sidewalks in Gales Ferry.

Dreimiller asked what sidewalks cost. Mayor Allyn estimated $6/sq. ft and town sidewalks are

usually 6ft wide, so about $36/linear foot

J. Hodge urged Commission members to review the CEDAS Best Practices document to identify

additional possible goals for the Strategic Plan. Vincent suggested we identify the top goals that

we should start working on. Dreimiller pointed out that Town Planner Hodge had already

identified the underutilized parcels in town. Everyone will review all of the goals and rank them

for the next meeting. Dreimiller asked if the town had received the SeCTer Tapestry report.

Town Planner Hodge said that she has it and will forward it to everyone.

NEW BUSINESS

Follow-up to Sunny Side Diner Ribbon Cutting - Photo and write-up for Ledyard Magazine

Buhle has a photo and something that she posted on Facebook that could be used for the next

Events Magazine. Mayor Allyn noted that the submission deadline for the next issue had

passed but that he would make sure that it gets in.

Develop Plan to identify Town-owned, unused properties and determine the best use.

Not discussed.

(Promotion of the Ledyard Up-Down Sawmill. Photo and write-up for Ledyard Magazine

Buhle will send photos to the Mayor for Events Magazine. Schneider asked if we could get this

into the newspaper. Mayor Allyn will look into that.

Vincent pointed out that we’ve been discussing this for a while. Tashea asked if we had budget

for the printed directory that was discussed as an option at our last meeting Hary suggested that

an online document is all that we need and avoids the cost of printing and offered to do the

layout for it. Buhle suggested that a printed directory that also included other useful town

information would be good to have for new residents. Dreimiller asked if there were updates that

needed to be made to the New Business brochure. Town Planner Hodge will work with

Dreimiller to update it. Town Planner Hodge has a list of new businesses since July 2020 and the

intern came up with for commercial areas. Dreimiller asked about whether the money that had

been budgeted for the AdvanceCT membership which was not renewed was still in the EDC

budget. Mayor Allyn wasn’t sure but would find out.

Lucille’s Café (Leydard) looking for a ribbon cutting. Vincent will work with them to pick a

date/time.

My Pet’s World (Gales Ferry) ; Not quite ready for a ribbon cutting.

The Agricultural Commission sent an invitation to the EDC to invite two commissioners for a

joint discussion which will be on Oct. 18th at 6pm in the Town Hall Annex. Other participants

will include the Town Planner, Planning & Zoning Commission,Wetlands, Conservation, and

more. Goal is to get everyone on the same page.

XI.

MARKETING AND ACTIVITIES REPORT

Vincent presented a list that he put together

Agricultural Land

624 Shewville Rd - 118 acres, $2,999000: Formerly Greenbriar Riding Club Estates; Proposed

as a 72 horse equestrian center

Commercial Land

59 Kings Highway - 1.64 acres, $49,000

109 Christy Hill Rd. - 13.33 acres, $219,000

1947 Center Groton Rd. - 10 acres, $250,000: South of Ledyard Bestway

750 Colonel Ledyard Hwy - .97 acres, $675,000; Formerly Lou’s Garage

754 Colonel Ledyard Hwy - 2.88 acres, $675,000: Lot behind Lou’s Garage

Industrial Land

1722A Rt. 12 - 16 acres, $1,140,000: a. Next to Gales Ferry Fire Dept.

Land

Gales Ferry Design District: 1686 Rt. 12 Unit 1682 -

4.22 acres, $395,000- Located north of McDonalds - May not still be an active listing

Commercial/Industrial

172 Stoddards Wharf Rd. - 8.23 acres, $925,000: Joshua’s Limousine Company.

Video Selection of two additional chapters

Commission discussed the various chapters for the Video. Opening chapter - Welcome; Closing

chapter - Non-Profits in the community; New chapters selected during the July workshop were:

Quality of Life

AgriTourism

Education

Parks & Recreation

Community Activities (Farmers’ Market, Regatta, etc)

Real Estate & Housing

Healthy Living (trails & parks)

Economic Development

Opportunities

Industries Served

Proximity to EB, Pfizer, Subase

Agriculture

Testimonials from business owners

Hary said the next step will be a meeting with the producer. He has the letter that the Mayor

signed. Vincent asked about the list of businesses that the vendor asked for. Town Planner

Hodge sent a list of businesses to Hary to use as a starting point.

APPROVED AND SO DECLARED

Peter Hary

RESULT:

MOVER:

Richard D. Tashea

SECONDER:

Buhle, Schneider, Hary, Dreimiller, Tashea, and Vincent

Whittle

AYE:

ABSENT:

XII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Schneider asked if we could get more business cards. Mayor Allyn will get them for Buhle,

Schneider, and Hary. He also offered that laminated badges with photos on lanyards were

available. Buhle offered to take the headshots for the badges.

XIII. ADJOURNMENT

A motion was made by Commissioner Buhle, seconded by Commissioner Tashea, to adjourn at

6:58pm. The motion carried by the following vote:

APPROVED AND SO DECLARED

Jessica Buhle

RESULT:

MOVER:

Richard D. Tashea

SECONDER:

Buhle, Schneider, Hary, Dreimiller, Tashea, and Vincent

Whittle

AYE:

ABSENT:

Respectively Submitted,