Mill Site Study Committee

Meeting minutes - August 27, 2008

Present: Committee Members: Jerrilyn Bozicas, Jeffrey Chabot, Stephanie Cronin, Roger Goscombe, Albert Harris, Ronald Karr, Matt Nesbit, Jeff Sauer, Joseph Sergi, and Stephen Themelis.
Members absent: Kurtis Amidon, Gary Giguere, and Michael Landino
Also present: Jay Donovan (Assistant Director NMCOG)

Mr. Sergi called the meeting to order at 7:07pm.

Approval of Minutes from July 30, 2008: On a motion from Ms. Bozicas and seconded by Mr. Goscombe, the minutes of the July 30, 2008 meeting were accepted unanimously as drafted.

General Business: Mr. Themelis presented a plot map with accompanying photographs from the July 30th site visit.  There was a brief discussion about the state of the property and some of the challenges of the site, including the condition of the buildings and the potential for flood plain issues.

Noting that the property is for sale, Mr. Karr asked about the asking price.  Mr. Goscombe said that as far as members of the local real estate community know there is no specifically asking price. Mr. Sergi said the price would likely depend greatly on the site conditions at the time of the sale, including the extent of site clean-up required by the current owner.  Ms. Cronin asked is it were common to this type of property sale. Mr Goscombe suggested that the lack of a formal price is not typical, adding that it might by a good idea to have the owner become more involved with the Committee to make sure we all understand the property sale and the dynamics of the Town’s process.

Mr. Sergi stated that the Selectmen hope that the Massachusetts Legislature will approve the Economic Target Area by the end of August.  He added that the Selectmen except Perry Videx to formally sign off on $25,000 promised for a market study within a couple of weeks, as the terms have now been negotiated.  Following that, a Request For Proposals will go out for market study.  There was a discussion of what the market study should include. The discussion also included comments about and reactions to the Downtown Business District and Mill Site Preliminary Assessment written for the Planning Board by FinePoint Associates and its presentation at the Planning Board meeting on Monday August 25, at which Ms. Bozicas, Ms. Cronin, Mr. Harris, and Mr. Sauer, as well as Mr. Donovan, were present. With several ideas expressed about what types of businesses might do well or not do well at a future Mill Site development, Mr. Sergi cautioned that the Committee should remain open to all possibilities and let our process play out, including a “Vision meeting” open to all citizens.

Mr. Donovan handed out a summary of The Regional Economy, including statistics collected from a variety of sources.  The document is available on the Mill Site Study Committee webpage.

Engineering Report: Mr. Nesbit and Mr. Amidon reviewed the 1995 “Phase II Comprehensive Site Assessment” from Haley & Aldrich and Mr. Nesbit summarized the report and the site conditions, citing specific incidences of contamination, as well as general impressions of possible further contamination.

Based on this 1995 report, Mr. Nesbit believed that the site does not appear to be overly contaminated and not great risk.  Mr. Nesbit also said that the data suggests that the site does not appear to be adversely affecting the Nashua River.  However, since there is clearly some contamination in the site, the risk could increase once the site is disturbed during demolition and construction.

Mr. Goscombe asked about a defuser pipe that was apparently permitted and installed in 1972 which still seems to be active, at least occasionally.  Mr. Nesbit said the site had a pre-treatment plant and that the defuser may have been a part of that.

Mr. Goscombe said he believed that the Nashua River Watershed Association would be willing to help write a Section 319 stormwater management and engineering grant application.

Subcommittees: There was a brief discussion about forming sub-committees to leverage specific committee and town-wide expertise and to research specific issues.  Engineering/Environmental, Finance, and Marketing were among the possible sub-committees mentioned.  The Committee will formalize sub-committees and assign chairs for each at the next meeting.

Action Items:

Item #1 – Stormwater grant: Mr. Goscombe will look into the Section 319 grant and explore the NRWA’s interest in attending a future Committee meeting.

Item #2 – Engineering: Mr. Nesbit will investigate the defuser pipe and review other Mill Site reports that the Selectmen may have.

Item #3 – Assign sub-committees:: Establishing sub-committees and assigning chairs.

Item #4 – Prepare for Visioning Meeting: The meeting will be Saturday, October 25 at 10:00am. Location TBA.

Item #5 – Review of Mill Site Timetable: Mr. Landino is preparing a schedule of important dates.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, September 24, 2008. 

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:48 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeff Sauer, Mill Site Study Committee Secretary