Economic Activity Report
December 2007
As you know this report is being written from my winter home in Florida. The level of information in this report will be quite minimal for several reasons including the fact that I haven’t been able to establish reliable internet connectivity since my arrival here. The travel time as well as the holidays have also contributed to the lack of information I can share with the board. I hope to have some of these issues resolved by the time of the February.
I’ve had several conversations with Irving Oil and Keyspan Energy on the conversion to natural gas of the hot air furnace in the Moonlight Machining space. With the expected conversion grant from Keyspan Energy, I estimate that the total cost of the project should not exceed $1,000.00 for BIDPA. As of the first week of January, paper work and required deposit were being processed and I would believe all of this should be in place by the time the BIDPA board meeting takes place.
I also received a phone call from Art Garlow of DMV on the issue of snow removal from the front of the Maynesboro building. You might recall that I had negotiated an agreement between Isaacson Steel and DMV where Isaacson takes care of mowing in summer and DMV the snow removal in winter. Although Mr. Garlow did not share the specific issues of his contract with the contractor hired to remove the snow, he was inquiring about the names of other contractors he could contact. He assured me that the snow removal of the front driveway and parking lot was being taken care of as agreed to.
To date I haven’t heard from DRED on our grant application for assistance with the cost of our proposed broadband system for the Industrial Park. I’ll do my best to get an update from them during the upcoming month.
I continue to work with Cindy Harrington of DRED with a company from the UK who has shown interest in expanding some of their operations to Berlin. A representative from that company has visited Berlin on two occasions and several meetings took place with a variety of companies that might act as subcontractors.
Again my apologies for this brief report, I hope that the communication issues I’m experiencing will be resolved before my next report is due. If you have any questions feel free to call my office at 752-7001 x 42 and leave a message and I’ll return the call. You may also call Sue or Pam at City Hall and they have my phone number here in Florida.
I wish all of you a healthy and prosperous New Year.
Norman Charest
Economic Development Director
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