Board adds 4 revitalization strategies to downtown draft plan

Four proposed actions to help revitalize downtown Springfield will be included in the town’s draft Strategic Plan, with hopes that some will be implemented within the next budget cycle.

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2016-11-16 / Front Page Board adds 4 revitalization strategies to downtown draft plan By TORY JONES SPRINGFIELD — Four proposed actions to help revitalize downtown Springfield will be included in the town’s draft Strategic Plan, with hopes that some will be implemented within the next budget cycle. During a regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 14, the Springfield Selectboard unanimously approved a motion by selectboard member George McNaughton to have a two-member committee put downtown revitalization recommendations into the Strategic Plan, “with such actions as they feel appropriate,” and report back with a preliminary draft at a regular selectboard meeting on Jan. 19, 2017. “We’re looking for your guidance, your feedback with the upcoming budget process, and looking for ways to finance it,” said selectboard member Walter Martone. That two-member committee includes selectboard members Martone and Peter MacGillivray at this time. Originally, it had also included Town Manager Tom Yennerell as a third member, but was trimmed to two members to allow either selectboard member to ask the town manager a question, if needed, without creating a quorum. Martone, MacGillivray and Yennerell toured six nearby municipalities in Vermont recently, speaking with city and town officials, reviewing slide presentations, and spending most of a day in each location learning what steps each took in revitalization efforts for their respective downtowns, Martone said. “A lot of it was really amazing and really significant,” such as Barre’s transformation with $19 million in public TIF funds and Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) funds, which includes granite statues and other improvements. The committee also visited St. Albans, White River Junction, Waterbury and other cities. One town the committee visited had decided to make every business in the downtown area handicap-accessible, with ramps. “And it has paid off for them,” Martone said. “Their businesses are thriving.” Eventually, the committee put their thoughts together on what stood out the most. One thing that was clear is that “you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is,” such as seeking grant funding, matching funds, investments and TIF financing, Martone said. In the report presented Monday, the committee recommended that the town “become proactive and aggressive” in pursuing goals for economic development, downtown redevelopment, and neighborhood revitalisation. Four specific recommendations in the report included the following: To expand collaboration between existing non-governmental partners, such as Springfield on the Move (SOM), the local chamber of commerce, and Springfield Regional Development Corporation (SRDC) and to provide funding for them to assume additional responsibilities; to pursue “enabling legislation” to permit Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) in Springfield; to hire a full-time code enforcement / community development staffer; and to work with partners to create a professional marketing campaign to recruit businesses, developers, investors, state and federal agencies, and funding sources. Key factors for success in restoring prosperity included having a master plan, a dedicated funding source, strong leadership, a town or city hall to be proud of, comprehensive marketing, and commitment from businesses and the community, according to the report. Yennerell said every community they spoke with had a dedicated team to work on its revitalization and strategic plan, which varied by location. That was done either by using existing partners and “beefing up” their roles, using existing staff, or creating new staff, he said. “I think that is something we seriously need to look at,” to execute a strategic plan, Yennerell said. Audience member and Springfield resident Walter Clark said that recent conceptual plans, which economic development organizers laid out for review at a downtown planning meet-up last week at the Hartness House, were “fantastic.” “I think the town needs a win. It has to pick something it can do now, fund it, and they can see that it’s real,” he said. Selectboard member Stephanie Thompson called it a “positive plan,” and said she could see the enthusiasm in the committee, but she and other board members had questions on how to finance the plan. The board agreed to have the strategic plan draft incorporate the committee’s four recommendations, and to look over financing and determine priorities when they headed into the next budget. Selectboard Chair Kristi Morris said that the town has a “lot of energy” now with downtown economic development, citing recent activity with the Woolson Block building and the meet-up last week to informally discuss proposed improvements. “I don’t want us to lose sight of that energy,” Morris said. A price tag for the four suggested steps has not yet been determined, but the committee wanted to get the board’s reaction and to see if the board was “conceptually agreeable” before seeking funding in the upcoming budget, according to Yennerell. McNaughton said he foresees the strategic plan to be a multi-year project, and said he did not want to discourage anyone from seeking funding. “The purpose of the strategic plan isn’t to gag the selectboard, it is to inspire the selectboard,” he said. The committee will add the committee’s recommendations to the strategic plan for further review, scheduled for the Jan. 19 selectboard meeting.