Rt 108 Corridor Study Committee Minutes 12/13/18

Rte. 108 Corridor Study Committee Minutes
December 13, 2018
Municipal Center, Selectmen’s Meeting Room
10 Bunker Hill Avenue

MEMBERS PRESENT
Lucy Cushman, Joe Lovejoy (Chairman, Select Board’s Representative), Nathan Merrill, Maria Stowell, Richard Swett

MEMBERS ABSENT
Michael Dane

STAFF PRESENT
Tavis Austin (Town Planner)
Paul Deschaine (Town Administrator)

OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE
Michael Houghton (Select Board), David Moore (Succeeding Town Administrator), John Boisvert (Public Works Commission), Jim Cushman (Public Works Commission), Michael Gerard (Public Works Commission), Russ Thibeault (Applied Economic Research)

CALL TO ORDER

The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:04  p.m.

DISCUSSION OF APPLIED ECONOMIC RESEARCH (AER) STUDY

Thibeault distributed a 21 page handout entitled Stratham Route108 TIF District Discussion Materials, Preliminary Draft Financials and dated December 13, 2018.  Thibeault highlighted key findings: connecting Stratham’s utilities to the Exeter systems appears to be preferable to Stratham standalone systems; a TIF District should be established now; a bond should wait until there is commitment from developers; Market Basket should be approached early on because of serious past interest shown.

Regarding the first recommendation of partnering with Exeter, this conclusion is based mainly on the high costs of implementing the standalone options.  The cost estimates were derived from the work by Weston & Sampson.  It was noted that the Exeter options do not include the up-front access and tie in costs.  The Stratham options do not include land costs. In all, five options were considered.  These included different combinations of Stratham water and sewer systems, Exeter water and sewer system tie-ins, and Newmarket sewer system tie-in.

Cushman raised the question of when to begin talks with Exeter.  The accepted recommendation was to: 1) Establish TIF; 2) Negotiate with Exeter; 3)Talk with Market Basket; 4) Consider a bond.

Using the engineer’s cost estimates and reasonable assumptions for development rates, property assessments, bond terms, and private contributions, AER’s economic model will predict the time to reach a positive cash flow from the Town investment.  AER will run scenarios for a phased utility implementation using the Exeter tie-ins as the cost basis.

Thibeault and Austin will work to confirm the TIF land area is within the parameters allowed by Statute.

ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES

Merrill moved and Swett seconded a motion to accept the minutes of November 29.  Passed by unanimous vote.

SURVEY QUESTIONS

Merrill had worked to modify the land owner survey so that it could be distributed to real estate brokers. With two minor revisions suggested by Swett, the real estate broker survey was approved and will be distributed to CIBOR.

MEETING HANDOUTS

Stratham Route108 TIF District Discussion Materials, Preliminary Draft Financials, December 13, 2018, Applied Economic Research

Union Leader Article from December 7, 2018 – Londonderry TIF district closes, project adds $67 million in property value

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be December 20 at 7:00 p.m. 

ADJOURMENT

Merrill moved and Cushman seconded a motion to adjourn at 8:51 pm. Passed by unanimous vote.

SUBMITTED BY

M Stowell

E:\GC 2018.12.13.docx