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Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome you to the Economic and Tourism Development Commission meeting on September 9. I'd like to call the meeting to order. Did everybody on board have a chance to review last month's minutes? Yes. Are there any questions or amendments?

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May I ask for a, what?

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What?

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I'm going to have a motion.

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Oh my God.

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You know, I'm going to see you today or what?

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You can call me.

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I have a motion to accept a minute.

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I move to accept a minute.

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And second.

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Second.

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All those in favor?

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All right.

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Going forward.

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The chairman does not have a report today, so we'll move right into staff reports.

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Okay.

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And mine's going to be pretty quick.

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But just everybody should be getting my weekly emails and gave updates on all the projects

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in this past weekly email.

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So if there's any questions, I'm happy to answer them, but I think it pretty much covered

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everything.

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We are expecting Katie back on Monday, so we're excited about that.

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And that's really all I have unless there are any questions from any of the members.

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So new business.

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Yes.

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We have a big project to discuss today.

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Yes.

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So, I wanted to fill everybody in where we are, PPR strategies and Sandy and Gavi are

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online with us today because we are going to do a little brainstorming about our strategic

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plan at the meeting today.

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So, PPR strategies was chosen as air consultant and commissioners approved that and where we

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We are now as the agreement is with our grants and contracts director and she's just looking

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that over.

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We'll get that to the commissioners for their signature, but we don't foresee any issues.

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So we are moving forward.

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And then we just wanted to kind of do some brainstorms.

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I asked everyone to try to look through the 2022 strategic plan.

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And, you know, I think the big things is looking at our vision, mission, our goals, do they still kind of like are those the priority goals, and they're on the back of our name tends as well.

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We did that to kind of help us keep remaining focused on those goals, are they the right goals, but some of the things I asked to like what has worked, what needs improvement, and what's no longer relevant.

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And we were talking a little bit earlier, our team, like some of the things that aren't

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really relevant anymore.

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One of the things we want to do is a contact us page.

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And now that the website is redone, there's a way to contact us directly from the website

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by clicking on our email address and sending us a message.

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Katie's put different forms on there if somebody wants to start or relocate a business.

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So that contact us page is kind of, don't need any more because we've worked in a different

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way.

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So, yeah, so I just kind of want to brainstorm.

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Anybody want to start sharing and then at the end, I would like to, after the discussions,

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I'm going to give everybody a piece of paper and like what is really, really important

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to you that you make sure we cover in our economic and tourism development strategic plan.

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I'm going forward.

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I can start as I reviewed I saw there were a couple of mentions of agriculture, but

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I don't see agritourism and I think if we're not proactive in keeping farms actively engaged

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in farming or some type of public opportunities for them, we may be losing some of that.

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And there was one reference to a bi-local program.

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But I just think that the broader picture of agritourism and how economic development and tourism can help support that and foster ideas and creativity and ease of getting folks in on that opportunity.

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That's a great point.

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We do focus on it, but it's not spelled out.

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It's going to be spelled out.

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Yeah.

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Now there's something else that it really doesn't,

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it isn't mentioned in here, but in my observation of

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when I ran a nonprofit in Kent County,

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and now I have a business.

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I just feel like there's opportunities for growth

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and development with creating activities,

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whether it's events or marketing with the public businesses and the nonprofits.

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So maybe the county has done something like this or maybe the nonprofits have done

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something but I don't have a figure right at my fingertips but I believe we have a

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high number of nonprofits in this county and the reason I know that is because

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as everybody, you know, would like to have a donation, and I love supporting everybody.

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But I also like them supporting me and our business by carrying our products.

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So I just, I think that's something that could grow on the non-profit side and also on the business side.

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Thank you.

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Those are my only two big things.

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Maybe I can offer a couple things that I was thinking about.

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First of all, this is the economic and tourism development goals, and I don't see as much about tourism as I'd like to see in the strategic plan.

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And particularly in support of hospitality and restaurant development, but hospitality in particular because in fact, based upon some of our high traffic times of the year, we actually need more available overnight stay occupancy rooms, in other words.

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And so what are we doing, yeah, what are we doing to perhaps promote that piece of development

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that could, of course, be key in developing more tourism?

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The only thing that I noticed is, no, plus, plus, on moderately priced, willing units,

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obviously, that's something that we're talking about here, and I'd love to see that sort

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of magnified a little bit in terms of the strategic plan.

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Housing, particularly affordable housing for people who want to live and work here and cannot afford to do so.

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And in support of some of these things that we're talking about, particularly industries like hospitality and restaurants that don't have a big salary price point.

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So, we have to have a place to put these people.

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And then could I, I'm going to ask for a clarification on this, on the graphs that are on page

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wide.

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Yes, great.

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I don't really understand.

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Do these relate to one another and I don't understand?

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No.

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Okay, so.

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So, the first one, and let me go back here, we were wondering, you know, kind of like where

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where the property tax assessments, like where our tax revenues were coming from, 73% of our tax, that's the first chart, 73% from residential, 13% from commercial, and it's been a while since I've done this but I want to say that they say a healthy community, 30% comes from commercial, so we've got some work to do there, and then 14% of it comes from agriculture.

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And then if you look at it in at the next chart,

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89% of our land is zoned agriculture,

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only 6% commercial and 5% residential.

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So you can just see that like we need to grow

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our commercial tax base.

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And we can do that by promoting businesses

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is on this 6% commercial.

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Well, yeah, isn't that, I don't know, shouldn't these relate?

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Well, they kind of do.

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It shows you what the zoning is compared to where the actual revenue is coming from.

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This doesn't have to be part of the new plan.

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This was just something that we had looked at back in 2021, and it was something that folks

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were interested in as to where our tax revenues were coming from compared to what our zoning

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looked like, but it doesn't have to be part of, and I just did redo the numbers, so let me

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just see if that changed at all. And I don't know if I got that far, but let me say.

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So I did

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redo the numbers, and I don't think it changed at all. So from 2021 to 2026, up 73, 14, 13, no, it didn't

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change it all. So just FYI. So 89% in Kent County is agricultural zone, but only 14%.

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14% of the revenue comes from that 89%. But isn't that because your comparing apples and oranges,

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the tax revenue from farming versus tax revenue from commercial, aren't they're not the same?

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They're assessed differently, but the tax rate is the same, but they are assessed differently, yes, absolutely.

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So this is not economic activity, this is property assessments, correct?

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Correct. That's correct.

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And I was interested in these two, and it made me curious also about some of the other,

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I got me curious about what the pie chart is of commercial, of different kinds of economic

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activity that's going on here, right?

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How much activity is generated by agricultural industries or land that's on the land that's

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zoned agricultural?

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How much is generated on land that's zoned commercial, and how those relate because the property

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assessments are one thing, but if we do my account development, that's another part

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of the, part of the whole that I'm kind of interested in.

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It would be, it would be easier to understand the relationship, if you did it that way.

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For sure.

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But the question is, if these really are desperate things, and you're saying that we're

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maybe underdeveloped in the commercial area to that, towards that 30 percent of healthy.

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So, but we're only allocating 6% of our land usage to commercial use, correct.

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How can, how do those things work in conjunction to one another?

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In other words, does this suggest that we need to allow greater growth in the land allocation to commercial?

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You know, and I don't know the answer to that question Joanne.

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And a couple of the things that I think about when you ask that question is that when a project is proposed on commercial development employment center, let's say, I think it's commercial, they removed industrial zoning, that's what it was.

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So whether it's commercial or employment center, when a project is proposed on those lands, we still have pushback for even those projects.

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So maybe supporting those projects that are already sort of right on because it's only a small

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percent of land that is zone for commercial or employment center.

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But yet we still get pushback for those projects that are proposed on those properties.

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I mean, this gets back to Ecuadorism, right?

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And that's an instance where you have people resisting a new kind of business learning.

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I can think of a couple like specific examples where they weren't able to launch a business

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because there was a zoning problem this match with where they were and neighbors held.

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The other thing when I look at this, I think over the past 10, 15 years or so, the movement

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been towards land preservation with agricultural properties has been a real positive for this

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county and many farmers have taken advantage of that but that sort of restricts any opportunity

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for growth and you know like I think that may be play into this I'm not sure how I know

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how it played into it with us we have 150 acres that we can't do anything with and the rest

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the farm we can do what we want with. And as more farms are covered with land preservation,

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there's just so many requirements of things they can and cannot do. And if the majority

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of our land mass is open space that we want to respect, then we need to have that front

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and center somehow in our strategic plan that this is important to us. And in order to facilitate

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Okay, these open spaces, we have to have opportunities for whether it's tourism or people to visit and understand what it means to preserve land.

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Good point. Yeah, I'm just trying to think that through because it is a complicated process.

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Isn't it at the state level 2 duty that all the rules and regulations?

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Not necessary.

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Thank you.

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And I actually think this is something that could help the county, if more people who are thinking about preserving land understood, state-level land trusts are highly restrictive and highly codified. If you work with, say, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, they are, there's more room for negotiation. I mean, they do still have a goal of preserving that land as agricultural land, and contributing to the quality of the environment.

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But there's more, the back and forth and exactly what you can establish, when you sign that contract, what you can establish as a loud use is a bit more flexible when you're working with a private nonprofit than when you're working with a state.

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And so it would be, to Judy's point I think is exactly right, it would be good for landowners who are potentially thinking about preserving their land.

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And to think very proactively and carefully about what kinds of use they want to maintain

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as still possible on that land.

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I agree.

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And then you do have the emotionally charged issue of the fact that the state can claim

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eminent domain for a project that suits their interests.

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And I've got to believe that there are some people who feel very strongly about that.

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and I know that I do, so there's a contradiction there that doesn't make a lot of sense to some people.

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And I take Judy's point. We have a farm but it is also a commercial property.

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But what we can do with that additional land that's not being specifically used as a farm is highly restricted.

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it. So it's hard to know how to work within that. And I've got to believe that some

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of this relates to how we could find out how we could approach this so that you're

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respecting the land and yet growing your commercial needs in the area. I mean, I think we're at

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at the point where we need to look at that.

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Also, how in here does two properties

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who have multiple zonings?

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Where does that fall?

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Yeah, I don't know the answer to that, Kathy.

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There's not a lot of properties with split zoning,

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but there are some you're right.

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So I don't know how those, maybe they got counted as

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like how many acres were one thing versus how many acres

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were the other.

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I don't remember your commercial property, I'm sorry.

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Commercial properties that are not technically zoned commercial, but are something else.

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Such as marinas.

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Now marinas are included in commercial.

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Yeah.

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So what we did is basically anything that, you know, where commercial entity could operate,

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counted under commercial. So the Marine District Employment Center, I'm trying to

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think of them. Yeah, so we counted those there. If it was strictly residential,

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then obviously what under residential and Ag is Ag. I will say even though 89% of

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the land is zoned Ag, you have more than that paying at an Ag rate because it's

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Properties that are assessed based on use, not on zoning.

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So, I have, okay, but how does every lay, because that confuses me?

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Let's say I have 10 acres that zoned employment center but I'm farming it and it's a ag use.

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They are going to assess that at ag rates opposed to commercial, even though it's zoned employment center.

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I see what you're saying, and the end would fall into that category, I think.

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I'm not sure.

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Well, we are.

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We're paying in your zone to Ag.

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We're paying on a tax base based upon the fact that we have a working firm.

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Where is it commercial?

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Well, I don't know.

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I'd have to look at your, but I could do that and look and see what it's assessed at, how it's assessed.

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because on your tax sheet, it will say what the use is.

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Okay, this is something I wanted to ask.

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And people who are deeper into zoning and assessment,

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I'm sure are thinking about it.

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But along the lines of sort of this dual use,

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I suspect that there's quite a lot of properties that are

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zoned agricultural and are essentially used as residents,

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like sort of especially second home residences.

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And I think there's quite a lot of them that have just enough

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I would culturally actively on them to maintain that agricultural zoning, even if the primary

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use, right, the primary reason for having this residence, but I think that that opens

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up a whole set of questions that means it's not in our remit as a committee, I don't know.

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No, it isn't, but it might be interesting to know.

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It might be interesting to know.

220
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Yeah, I don't know how you would get that information, honestly.

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Yeah.

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I can't remember now, but I think at one point, planning was able to run a list of the

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the list of properties that were the zoning and then the use.

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So, but I'd have to go back and see if I can find that.

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I was thinking if I can use comment on some of the things that I noticed.

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Kent

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County as for many people, a community of choice, a place they retired to or increasingly as people

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find that they can work remotely as they sort of have their second home or they spend

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three days here or five days here in two days in the office.

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And so that's a place where that desirable place to live, work, and visit, I think is

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a place where we could put some energy in this next strategic plan because that is something

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that I mean was already starting to shift in 2022 and I think it's maybe even shifted

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even more so now.

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And so yes, and one of the things I think about in terms of is what

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is there to do, right? Like, let's think about what our assets are in terms of what

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there is to do and sort of build on those and make those sort of more visible to people

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and more exciting to people. And those things are outdoor activities and those things are arts

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and cultural activities and things like that. And you look around and you see some of the

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arts and cultural activities are always a little bit under stress, right, the movie theater

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or the Garfield are, you know, stressed and you know, other kinds of mainstay is always

241
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sort of like doing well and always you kind of worry a little bit about but those are

242
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really crucial for making this a place that feels like somewhere that people really want

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to live.

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So, so that's something I would think about as thinking about a plan that can make sure

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that was strengthening our cultural and our arts and attainment, whether they're profit or

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non-profit institutions around here.

247
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Okay.

248
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Do you point, though I will say for such a small county with the resources that we have,

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I think that, to some extent, these things, you are correct, they are under pressure.

250
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But at the same time, we have an amazing assortment of things that is out there.

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I mean, the National Music Festival and everything,

252
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I really, it's sort of mind-blowing in a way

253
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for a small county to have these resources.

254
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But the question is, are we promoting them

255
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as a county, if that's what you're really saying?

256
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Or, you know, how can we make the awareness of them?

257
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I'm saying that, and also let's not take those

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for granted, right?

259
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The Jazz Festival is concluding after this year, right?

260
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This is the 30th and final year

261
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of the Chester Town Jazz Festival.

262
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And so all these things are, we do punch above our weight and that's part of how we attract

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people here to retire here or if they can choose where they want to live to live here.

264
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And let's make sure we're always supporting those institutions because even if they're

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of long and venerable, many of these places in a small community are one or two retirements

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or moving out of towns away from not being sustainable anymore.

267
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You know?

268
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Absolutely true.

269
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And to that point, one thing, it's, nobody really wants to try to re-address this, but

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honestly, the fact that you have a ten aging population here and do not have adequate

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hospital facilities and programs for the aging is I hear it all the time why do people

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not choose to live there and that is a key reason and I can't understand okay so University

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of Maryland has decided that this is what this is I get it but why can't this be have a specialized

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program for geriatrics for instance. You know why isn't that? Why can't that be a

275
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focus? So I don't know. Not just geriatrics. Well, what are you thinking? Well,

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young families, I mean many that don't want to come here because you can't have a

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baby here without being telecopter.

278
00:25:04,980 --> 00:25:07,780
You're absolutely right. I actually left

279
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that out, but I shouldn't have. But again, we have a lot of young people that work for us

280
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and they have to have scheduled deliveries because they don't want to get stuck in the

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crack. So I don't know. I don't know if there's any way we can foster some interest or go back

282
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back to the well on this, but I think it's important.

283
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I think those highly visible things too, I think this is a reason why the discussion on

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the middle school is so important, is that if you're looking to, if you have kids and

285
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you're looking to move somewhere, a community that is actively building a new school looks

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like a community that cares about its families and is investing in its families and a community

287
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that is trying to figure out a way to make do on a shoe string is does not. And and people

288
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see that and they decide to go somewhere else. So,

289
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okay. So, what do we, what do we feel

290
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like has worked from this strategic plan?

291
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I'm not even. No, actually we have this business

292
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necessarily, but you know when you look at businesses like ours that are not in any

293
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incorporated area. I think they tend to get left out of a lot of things and whether

294
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that's just because you know wherever we are and we're just used to doing it ourselves

295
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and not really joining in, say, but also we don't necessarily fit with whatever it may be,

296
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like a Rock Hall Business Association or the Chester Town, whatever it may be.

297
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So you have several businesses who are like that, and how do we get people

298
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like me involved or you know what I'm just I'm thinking out loud and I'm wondering now

299
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the in is part of that and yet we're unincorporate I mean we're in the county so can you not be part

300
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of the for instance the Rock Hall business association well you know I don't know we yeah yeah

301
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We're unique in that we're closer to Rock Hall, but we have a Chester Town address.

302
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,320
So it's kind of a weird situation.

303
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It is.

304
00:27:55,220 --> 00:27:56,500
Yeah, but you need to.

305
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We have a kind of a lot of address and right, okay, it's Chester Town, but the locations

306
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,600
are open to, you know, businesses outside of that.

307
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,180
And I'm trying not to say too much because I want this to be brainstorming.

308
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I want to hear all your ideas, but I will say like a lot of this programs are state.

309
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So a lot of the programs that are state say you have to be in a primary funding area,

310
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you have to be in a, you know, there's certain restrictions for that too, but I hear you.

311
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So I'm making some notes.

312
00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:28,140
Yeah.

313
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Do you have a, I've got a list of a couple of issues.

314
00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:31,600
Okay.

315
00:28:31,780 --> 00:28:31,920
Good.

316
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Yes.

317
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Thanks, Craig.

318
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Okay.

319
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Yep.

320
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We mentioned housing, but there were two things I wanted to emphasize.

321
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One is we had testimony from the chief of staff of Washington College who told us that the

322
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majority of their workers live outside the county and that the majority of

323
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their administrative workers you want to be quoted on the number lived in the

324
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middle town area. Which hit me not just from a housing perspective, but no

325
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matter how wonderfully successful we are in bringing new jobs to the county we're

326
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losing the benefit of those jobs if most of them don't live here. The consumer

327
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:10,100
expenditures aren't happening here. So it's not just housing in general it's

328
00:29:10,100 --> 00:29:15,120
housing as part of our economic development strategy and trying to get maximum

329
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:20,180
benefit from the success that we have. And the other was the one brought up when

330
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I first got on the the commission was if there's some creative thought from

331
00:29:24,620 --> 00:29:30,240
elsewhere what to do about summer workers. We do have an expansion in summer

332
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:34,720
because of our tourism industry and we really don't have a response in this

333
00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:52,300
county that's focused on that. Nobody takes responsibility for it. People are sort of on their own coming up with solutions. I think that's a topic that the county would benefit by looking at as part of this process. Is there something we can do in a more organized fashion about summer labor.

334
00:29:54,060 --> 00:29:59,940
The second one obviously Jamie's been working on the I forget the name of it but the federal version of the enterprise zone.

335
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:29,340
We're now coming into. What do we do with that? It says, well, since it's the study, but I forget where the money comes from eventually. But, but, but, EDA, thank you. Trying to figure out what to do with that. I think it's very new for this, this plan go around. On the agricultural issues, we talked about ag tourism, but I'm surprised how little food processing occurs here in the county, given how strong the county is in agricultural production. Where is it going for?

336
00:30:29,340 --> 00:30:35,420
the next step and he is that an opportunity for this county in terms of you know

337
00:30:35,420 --> 00:30:42,600
looking at SIC codes and what's missing that that seems to be a gap medical

338
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:46,700
we talked about the others digital which I think was an issue in the county

339
00:30:46,700 --> 00:30:51,360
before I was paying any attention getting fiber optics here but I haven't

340
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:57,080
heard anything recently about how we're playing on that and and something good is

341
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:02,220
coming from it. I think all the work went into creating it. Now the question is how do we get

342
00:31:02,220 --> 00:31:09,660
a payoff from the hard work that the county did? Is there a next step other than just awareness?

343
00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:14,940
I mean, is there some missing piece that I'm unaware of that would click on our ability

344
00:31:14,940 --> 00:31:22,320
to be more marketable in the digital economy? And the last thing is solar. There are some towns

345
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that have been against it, some towns that have been for it, it doesn't seem to have

346
00:31:26,940 --> 00:31:31,720
much of a secondary bouncer benefit for our local economy, but I think it would make

347
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sense for there to be at least some thought as part of this plan that would be a county

348
00:31:37,660 --> 00:31:43,720
position on how much solar is good or bad for the county in general. So those are the topics

349
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:44,160
I had.

350
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:55,340
Yeah, and those are deep, deep topics, so I'm not going to get into them now, but I think the solar, like, yeah, no, Craig, I think those are excellent points.

351
00:31:56,700 --> 00:32:07,720
I do just want, I do want to make a statement, you know, I think too often we hear solar and we automatically think bad we don't want it, and that's not the case.

352
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:13,200
There are some solar projects that are cited properly,

353
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:18,460
sized properly, that are giving back to the community.

354
00:32:18,740 --> 00:32:21,540
I'll use the example of the Chester Town Solar Project.

355
00:32:22,220 --> 00:32:30,440
That project is going to provide efficiencies and cost savings to the town of Chester Town,

356
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,640
as well as to load a moderate income families.

357
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:39,380
So, and even when they did their, I think it was the groundbreaking for that project,

358
00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:41,360
there were all these negative comments.

359
00:32:41,900 --> 00:32:44,980
It's not the same as what's going on on Morgneck Road.

360
00:32:45,420 --> 00:32:52,620
So, I just think we have to be careful when we say solar that we automatically don't jump on the bedwagon as bad.

361
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:54,620
Same thing with data centers.

362
00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:01,520
Are we ever going to have a million square foot data center here, the answers no.

363
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,260
And do we want it, the answers no.

364
00:33:04,260 --> 00:33:09,680
But we actually had a data center here for about three years, but you knew it was here.

365
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:16,580
So there are some that are, again, sized properly to fit in our municipalities.

366
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:22,360
So I just think we just, just a caution because I've heard so many, as soon as they hear

367
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:24,360
the word, they're automatically pitch works out.

368
00:33:24,820 --> 00:33:29,500
And that shouldn't be the case, we should hear the details and look for the opportunity.

369
00:33:29,500 --> 00:33:36,720
I mean, I think maybe this kind of until doesn't go into a strategic plan, but a possible

370
00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:44,340
objective getting way ahead of the process here is that a development of a best practices

371
00:33:45,260 --> 00:33:50,260
guide, sort of guidebook for this kind of decision making, right?

372
00:33:50,380 --> 00:33:58,920
One of my fears about solar is what things look like 25 years or so down the road when the

373
00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:03,700
leases up, the company has conveniently declared bankruptcy six months before the lease is up,

374
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,100
and whoever owns the property is left holding the bag and has to clean it up and, you know,

375
00:34:08,220 --> 00:34:09,100
is dealing with it.

376
00:34:09,860 --> 00:34:14,620
And so, and so that one of the reasons why I totally agree with about Chestertown solar is

377
00:34:14,620 --> 00:34:18,780
that we know who the operator is, we know who the owner is, it's the town of Chestertown

378
00:34:18,780 --> 00:34:22,960
of the Tessertown of Chestertown, it's going to, has an interest in shepherding that project

379
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:28,380
right, thoughtfully long-term, whereas someone went to the land on a 25-year lease is not.

380
00:34:29,980 --> 00:34:36,820
And so I think those kinds of things to help inform, how do we assess these proposals

381
00:34:36,820 --> 00:34:42,820
as they come in in a way that supports the economic development of the town and doesn't burden

382
00:34:42,820 --> 00:34:48,440
it, or the county doesn't burden it 25 years down the road, 30 years down the road.

383
00:34:54,090 --> 00:35:08,650
I mean, I had to miss that meeting, but it makes me sad how many faculty and staff from the college don't live here, and I think it's a big missed opportunity, but this gets back to housing, they can't afford to live here right now.

384
00:35:10,130 --> 00:35:15,090
I think the lesson is that that's true for the college, it's going to be true for our major employers as well.

385
00:35:15,090 --> 00:35:20,650
Well, yeah, so I didn't want to focus specifically on the college, but that data point just resonated.

386
00:35:21,050 --> 00:35:23,110
Right, no, it's absolutely true.

387
00:35:23,970 --> 00:35:37,610
I don't want to, again, but we don't have a high out migration of workers, about 50% of our workers that working can county, living can county.

388
00:35:40,330 --> 00:35:46,950
So, you know, I think Queen Ian's county is like 70 to 80% commute outside of the county to work.

389
00:35:47,710 --> 00:35:58,870
So we're not, I'll get the data for the other counties, but I think we assume that everybody lives somewhere else, but that's not necessarily the case.

390
00:35:59,790 --> 00:36:05,830
So it's about, for about that 50%, and sometimes we're like a little bit more, sometimes we're a little bit less.

391
00:36:05,830 --> 00:36:06,110
so.

392
00:36:08,190 --> 00:36:09,250
That's good enough. Yeah.

393
00:36:12,380 --> 00:36:20,060
Any other points? Things we need to look at, things you'd see in the

394
00:36:20,060 --> 00:36:22,700
report that don't need to see.

395
00:36:31,630 --> 00:36:34,570
You know, other than the things that have been mentioned in yours,

396
00:36:34,830 --> 00:36:47,890
that I think are really, really helpful and probably should take me part of this. I think that this

397
00:36:48,090 --> 00:36:56,430
It's really covered, everything it needed to cover, and again, I have to say even though

398
00:36:56,750 --> 00:37:04,750
I don't have to, is that I think your department has done a great deal towards, thank you.

399
00:37:06,310 --> 00:37:13,010
These objectives, and I'm happy to be part of this next process.

400
00:37:13,630 --> 00:37:20,730
I mean, I always want something to go back to because if we don't know what we are trying

401
00:37:20,730 --> 00:37:26,150
to accomplish, how can we look back and say, okay, does that activity really fit into

402
00:37:26,150 --> 00:37:28,970
our strategic plan and what we hope to achieve?

403
00:37:29,570 --> 00:37:34,970
And that's kind of why it was important for us to have a strategic plan and again to update

404
00:37:34,970 --> 00:37:39,310
it five years later so that we can look back and make sure our activities are matching what

405
00:37:39,310 --> 00:37:41,230
we said is important to the county.

406
00:37:41,850 --> 00:37:55,950
Well, then one question I would ask and everybody please weigh in on this what can we do what what is it that you can do or we can do or the county can do to move these objectives further along.

407
00:37:56,210 --> 00:38:07,070
Are there other models we ought to be looking at in the more there are other places like us that have decided to be more proactive in strengthening these goals.

408
00:38:09,130 --> 00:38:17,310
Shalyn, are there things I realize that the way we're approaching tourism has changed

409
00:38:17,310 --> 00:38:25,730
dramatically, even in the last few years, and where is that going, and what more do we

410
00:38:25,730 --> 00:38:26,470
need to be doing?

411
00:38:28,690 --> 00:38:34,950
For what is worth, we're going into a new platform for weddings.

412
00:38:34,950 --> 00:38:38,610
And let me tell you what the difference is.

413
00:38:39,010 --> 00:38:46,430
The standard place that people tended to go was this platform called the knot or wedding wire or whatever.

414
00:38:47,170 --> 00:38:52,710
Now, we actually dropped out of that program a year ago because it was very expensive and

415
00:38:52,710 --> 00:38:59,910
it really did not garner qualified leads for us that we could really develop.

416
00:38:59,910 --> 00:39:15,030
We have just onboarded with a company that is marketing strictly through Instagram and Facebook and they develop ads that are, you know, that are pop-ups to a targeted market.

417
00:39:16,390 --> 00:39:24,430
And so, you know, I'm wondering if these are things that we ought to be thinking about as we are looking about how we're promoting things.

418
00:39:37,990 --> 00:39:40,290
did you call on us or

419
00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:44,900
did they oh I'm Sandy I was talking to

420
00:39:44,900 --> 00:39:52,700
Shelly. Oh okay. Oh she's gonna come up to the market. Sorry Sandy I don't have a

421
00:39:52,700 --> 00:39:58,180
mic. Hi. Thank you. Oh sorry thank you for saying so. I was telling Ms. Joanne

422
00:39:58,180 --> 00:40:02,900
that we do do a lot of targeted advertising through social media and there's

423
00:40:02,900 --> 00:40:07,180
a percentage of our budget that's geared specifically to that but as far as

424
00:40:07,180 --> 00:40:11,320
everything changing, you just asked the question that they talk about it every single state

425
00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:11,980
tour is a meeting.

426
00:40:12,500 --> 00:40:14,980
Like, what should we do better, different, how is this changing?

427
00:40:15,220 --> 00:40:16,720
I'm sure Sandy deals with that, too.

428
00:40:18,100 --> 00:40:22,660
How to put that strategic plan, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know if it's just something

429
00:40:22,660 --> 00:40:26,900
as simple as making sure that we stay with the current trends and we're doing what we should

430
00:40:26,900 --> 00:40:31,160
be because I think it's a moving target every single year from what I've seen.

431
00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:36,500
So one thing, I mean, your comment at that very end of a sort of how to stay with the

432
00:40:37,220 --> 00:40:40,740
plan is something I was thinking about kind of for the plan as a whole.

433
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:47,520
Some of the objectives I know from the information we get that you all are hitting and other

434
00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:51,400
ones I sort of thought, maybe they did, maybe they don't, I'm not quite sure.

435
00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:59,760
And so I didn't see it, maybe I missed it, but something within the strategic plan that

436
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:15,960
that builds in assessment to help you all see and not as a sort of like accountability thing, but to help everyone is looking at see and say like, yeah, wow, you know, the internship, the work of the internship, that's going great.

437
00:41:16,860 --> 00:41:20,420
And what are we doing that so good and let's make sure that we keep doing that.

438
00:41:20,420 --> 00:41:33,380
And, oh, you know, this hasn't worked out, and let's figure out why that, but some places where then at the commissioner's five years from now, but then also for you all is kind of a working document all along.

439
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:44,800
Have a kind of easy way to track what's effective and what's not effective so that you're not spinning your wheels so much and sort of revisions won't be like, oh, how are we going to do this?

440
00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:50,980
And so I think the next strategic plan, I'd like to see not just the strategy and the objectives,

441
00:41:51,700 --> 00:41:57,000
but then also some assessment, some kind of method of assessment or tracking for the objectives.

442
00:41:57,020 --> 00:41:58,980
And we have done a scorecard, Ben.

443
00:41:59,000 --> 00:41:59,380
Yeah, okay.

444
00:41:59,460 --> 00:42:01,820
And I don't think you joined after we did that.

445
00:42:02,180 --> 00:42:05,480
But and that is the way we tried to lay this out.

446
00:42:05,620 --> 00:42:10,460
We have the goal and then we have strategies under the goals and the objectives should be the measurable part.

447
00:42:10,460 --> 00:42:10,960
Right, right.

448
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:15,280
So if you look at it, it says double the number of entrepreneurs utilized in the Chestertown

449
00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:15,760
hot test.

450
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:24,480
Now that was no longer relevant, but that's where we tried to make the measure, to be able

451
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:26,120
to measure, like, are we hitting our goals?

452
00:42:27,020 --> 00:42:30,040
And we did a scorecard, I think, for two years.

453
00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:36,600
And we can certainly recreate that from our calendars, because a lot of it is like attending

454
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:38,340
partner meetings and things like that.

455
00:42:38,340 --> 00:42:41,980
Growing the newsletter was another one by a certain percentage of reach.

456
00:42:42,260 --> 00:42:42,640
Yeah, yeah.

457
00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:47,960
I worked on it like a working spreadsheet that once a month, once every two months we'd go in and input all the data.

458
00:42:48,260 --> 00:42:48,380
Yeah.

459
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:52,700
Like that. So we did scorecard it based on, you know, like Jamie said, the objective.

460
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:54,020
But you said an easy way.

461
00:42:54,300 --> 00:42:55,100
Well, there's nothing easy.

462
00:42:56,100 --> 00:43:02,340
Nothing easy, but I think maybe, I mean, I'm a big believer in this kind of, like I love it for myself.

463
00:43:02,540 --> 00:43:02,760
Right.

464
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:07,800
of having these sort of like benchmarks and when I'm writing it's like all right you know 500

465
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:13,640
words and then I get a break. And so some of the objectives though are are a little bit squishier

466
00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:18,800
right? The so-called delivery of visitor guides right? Is it a bit squishier and so I think that

467
00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:24,800
also might be a place to just do the next one to think okay how do we for any for any one of them

468
00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:30,000
right? Some of them it's like sure annual visit. Yes some are easy some of them are kind of it kind of

469
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:35,260
gray how we score it. For your own work flow, right, I think that that might be helpful

470
00:43:35,260 --> 00:43:38,240
to sort of know, like, okay, but we're going to be doing this, or we're going to be trying

471
00:43:38,240 --> 00:43:38,720
it this way.

472
00:43:41,500 --> 00:43:45,020
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it was, yeah. Yeah. Good point.

473
00:43:48,780 --> 00:43:49,980
Gray, anything else?

474
00:43:55,850 --> 00:43:56,170
Can you hear it?

475
00:43:56,170 --> 00:44:01,090
I can put my bike button. That was my list. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

476
00:44:01,370 --> 00:44:06,450
And please don't think today is it? So if you're reading through it and you see something, please

477
00:44:06,450 --> 00:44:13,190
send it to me. I'll put together our notes from today for Sandy's team, so they have

478
00:44:13,190 --> 00:44:18,090
our notes from today, and then we can move forward from there.

479
00:44:22,770 --> 00:44:23,090
Everybody?

480
00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:32,460
I got to say something. I don't know what the, the, the evaluate proposed development projects

481
00:44:32,460 --> 00:44:39,340
example, Chester River Bridge crossing. I don't know what that is. And maybe I'm like,

482
00:44:39,340 --> 00:44:40,480
Oh, the Chester River Bridge.

483
00:44:40,820 --> 00:44:42,240
I know what the Chester River Bridge is,

484
00:44:42,420 --> 00:44:47,000
but what is this, like was there a study done about

485
00:44:47,900 --> 00:44:49,100
that page you're wearing?

486
00:44:49,240 --> 00:44:50,320
I'm on page 10.

487
00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:54,260
I'm trying to remind myself, is that a count?

488
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:57,120
I don't know, like I,

489
00:44:57,800 --> 00:44:59,780
so are you talking about where it says advocate?

490
00:44:59,780 --> 00:44:59,980
Thank you.

491
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:04,760
For the Chester Chester River Bridge to be listed in the annual Department of Transportation

492
00:45:04,760 --> 00:45:13,540
Priority Letter? It says strategy, evaluate, propose, development projects. Yes. So, that was,

493
00:45:13,800 --> 00:45:19,520
you know, that was like looking at those projects and trying to advocate for them and how

494
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:24,480
then the strategic actions of how could we do that? So directly related to the Chester River Bridge

495
00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:28,300
and this has happened over the last probably five years now, Shelley.

496
00:45:28,300 --> 00:45:30,980
It's been in there now.

497
00:45:31,300 --> 00:45:31,480
Yeah.

498
00:45:32,020 --> 00:45:33,400
So that has happened.

499
00:45:34,220 --> 00:45:39,360
Being involved in the dialogue and identify economic impact of proposed development.

500
00:45:39,660 --> 00:45:42,880
And we all know that's going to be subjective.

501
00:45:43,300 --> 00:45:45,800
And there's not an easy way to do that.

502
00:45:46,100 --> 00:45:48,940
The economic impact is not easy to evaluate.

503
00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:50,200
It's not saying it's not impossible.

504
00:45:50,700 --> 00:45:52,620
But it can be costly as well.

505
00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:54,760
So can we do with that with every project?

506
00:45:54,940 --> 00:45:55,620
Probably not.

507
00:45:55,620 --> 00:45:55,740
What?

508
00:45:58,380 --> 00:46:03,480
Potential developers and then uses for proposed development, engage with stakeholders

509
00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:08,560
in conversation regarding the proposed development. I think we've done a pretty good job on both

510
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:08,920
of those.

511
00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:14,360
So we're talking about the Chester River Bridge. That's what this is for.

512
00:46:14,460 --> 00:46:17,540
No, no, there's other things in there. It's a development of.

513
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:24,540
I'm confused. What is it to begin with?

514
00:46:24,540 --> 00:46:26,260
It's an alternative bridge.

515
00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:28,200
Okay.

516
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:33,420
It was a study that was done back a long decades ago now,

517
00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:35,400
to build another bridge.

518
00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:37,880
Down on favorite, off the favorite.

519
00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:38,500
That's right.

520
00:46:38,700 --> 00:46:38,800
That's right.

521
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:41,300
I'm exactly familiar with it because I have property on favorite.

522
00:46:41,560 --> 00:46:41,660
Yes.

523
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:42,680
Got it.

524
00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:42,980
Okay.

525
00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:45,620
Does that make sense?

526
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:46,180
Okay.

527
00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:50,180
But this is not limited to the Chester River Bridge because it also

528
00:46:52,920 --> 00:46:57,940
So it's not industrial anymore, it's employment center area.

529
00:46:59,860 --> 00:47:07,660
So it's all of those places where development is designated or growth is designated there, that's the very word.

530
00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:15,640
Growth is designated so to be an advocate for those projects within those proper zones.

531
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:16,820
Does that make sense?

532
00:47:16,820 --> 00:47:22,480
So what happened with the Chester River Bridge?

533
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:28,060
The crossing or the boulevard, there are several different titles.

534
00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:33,860
It's not dead to us, but if you ask the state, the Maryland Department of Transportation,

535
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:38,040
they're probably going to say it's dead because it doesn't rank high enough on their priority

536
00:47:38,040 --> 00:47:39,640
list to make the cut.

537
00:47:40,100 --> 00:47:40,340
Okay.

538
00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:43,000
I don't know that it ever will.

539
00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:47,240
I mean part of the calculation has to deal with population and of course the

540
00:47:47,240 --> 00:47:51,360
population the amount of cars that go over that bridge is much lower than one of

541
00:47:51,360 --> 00:47:55,700
the other metropolitan bridges closer to DC or Baltimore. They're going to rank

542
00:47:55,700 --> 00:48:04,480
higher. Right. Thank you. Good question. And you'll see like some of these

543
00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:10,500
are some of these strategies like the objectives like you squishier because you

544
00:48:10,500 --> 00:48:19,920
really measure that. It's difficult, but when we did this plan, they still felt that support

545
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:26,640
for enhancement of current future infrastructure was important to be listed, but we really couldn't

546
00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:32,960
determine a good way to measure it. And I think that that's fine. Like I would say, don't leave

547
00:48:32,960 --> 00:48:38,440
something out because you're not sure how to measure it for sure. I think I was just thinking in terms

548
00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:45,640
of a yes to the question of where are we successful? I do know, you know, that needs objectives

549
00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:52,760
that they've been happening, but I think it is, yeah, it's just always good. I guess

550
00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:55,240
I missed the scorecard before I got to it, but yeah.

551
00:48:56,280 --> 00:49:08,420
Well, it's not right in front of you anyway. I mean, I remember that, but I couldn't, you

552
00:49:08,420 --> 00:49:18,660
I get it. Too many things, Juggling. I am sure you have many tentacles with this

553
00:49:20,020 --> 00:49:25,120
career. Future is very comfortable with where we are with this.

554
00:49:26,180 --> 00:49:32,340
Can I ask if Sandy or Gabby have any questions as we start to begin this process

555
00:49:33,220 --> 00:49:35,880
or do you want to wait until we gather again?

556
00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:43,300
I don't have any questions, I'll defer to Gabby in a moment and see if she does.

557
00:49:43,680 --> 00:49:50,080
But just to know, you know, our process is going to include, obviously, some additional

558
00:49:50,080 --> 00:49:54,520
discovery. We've been doing a lot of work in the region and have done work in Kent County,

559
00:49:54,620 --> 00:50:01,320
have had the privilege of doing some work in the county over the years. So it's not new

560
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:07,740
to us and, you know, everything that you have to offer and, you know, just kind of listening

561
00:50:09,020 --> 00:50:15,460
to you to hear about your passions, to hear about your interests. And then this strategic

562
00:50:15,460 --> 00:50:22,420
plan ultimately will serve as kind of a given economic development, give Jamie and her

563
00:50:22,420 --> 00:50:27,780
team some guardrails of what is in your lane and kind of what isn't in your lane and where

564
00:50:27,780 --> 00:50:33,980
you want, you know, how you want the community to grow and to be shaped into the future.

565
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:40,200
I'm hearing lots of some educating the community on what is growth and what is appropriate.

566
00:50:40,760 --> 00:50:47,820
I love the leaning in on agriculture and tourism and agritourism and you know,

567
00:50:47,820 --> 00:50:54,080
some of these things like make perfect sense housing. This is not the only you are not unfortunately

568
00:50:54,080 --> 00:50:57,480
the only community in Maryland that's struggling with housing right now.

569
00:50:57,760 --> 00:51:05,460
So, you know, we've got some lots of conversations that we're having in other places that I think,

570
00:51:05,860 --> 00:51:12,220
you know, this is a perfect opportunity for you to be doing this work and I appreciate

571
00:51:12,220 --> 00:51:17,240
that you're not starting from scratch that this is an update to the strategic plan,

572
00:51:17,700 --> 00:51:23,780
but I'm also hearing and one of the things that we do with strategic plans that we create

573
00:51:23,780 --> 00:51:31,800
with our clients is that dashboard are looking at reasonable metrics, what's appropriate

574
00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:40,760
and hoping the team internally with a document. Oh, and I just, I don't know why I went

575
00:51:40,760 --> 00:51:49,240
funny there. Helping the team internally with that updating of a dashboard of those metrics

576
00:51:49,240 --> 00:52:01,520
and then something that Jamie can present and share with you on a regular basis and, you know, share with others, share with the community in terms of where you are in this process.

577
00:52:01,900 --> 00:52:08,340
So it's not something that you hear about, you know, rubber stamp in 2027 and then you don't look at it again for another five years.

578
00:52:08,760 --> 00:52:08,900
Right.

579
00:52:10,840 --> 00:52:16,320
Gabby, did you have other thoughts that you wanted to add or just to say how much you love Kent County and how excited you are to work on this project.

580
00:52:16,320 --> 00:52:22,480
Well thank you Sandy and Jamie knows as well. So no immediate questions at this point but just

581
00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:27,380
really excited for the opportunity to be to help you know facilitate this strategic plan process.

582
00:52:28,040 --> 00:52:34,500
I myself am a Washington College alum so Kent County is near and near to my heart. I'm very

583
00:52:34,500 --> 00:52:41,040
familiar with it so again I can't express how excited I am to be part of this process because I of

584
00:52:41,040 --> 00:52:44,040
of course has a personal connection to the community

585
00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:47,500
and excited to have a hand in the future of it.

586
00:52:47,820 --> 00:52:50,360
So looking forward to more conversations with everybody.

587
00:52:50,560 --> 00:52:50,800
Thank you.

588
00:52:51,920 --> 00:52:52,460
Thanks.

589
00:52:52,980 --> 00:52:56,840
And then we did decide that we're moving the date

590
00:52:56,840 --> 00:52:59,980
from February 28th or 29th.

591
00:52:59,980 --> 00:53:04,820
I don't know this year or 2027 to March, the end of March.

592
00:53:05,320 --> 00:53:09,780
Give PPR strategies the extra month to complete the plan

593
00:53:09,780 --> 00:53:12,320
because we've got, we're working on the housing study,

594
00:53:12,500 --> 00:53:14,940
we're working on a marketing, regional marketing,

595
00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:17,800
housing study, regional marketing, the SEDS,

596
00:53:17,940 --> 00:53:22,040
and all of those projects could possibly

597
00:53:22,040 --> 00:53:24,540
have some influence in our strategic plan.

598
00:53:25,020 --> 00:53:26,440
So giving them a little extra time

599
00:53:26,440 --> 00:53:28,000
to review those documents as well.

600
00:53:28,520 --> 00:53:30,400
So we've pushed it out to the end of March,

601
00:53:32,540 --> 00:53:33,040
okay?

602
00:53:37,500 --> 00:53:38,660
Are there any other comments?

603
00:53:39,600 --> 00:53:44,100
Comments from any of you out there?

604
00:53:44,100 --> 00:53:45,000
If

605
00:53:47,630 --> 00:53:51,870
not, I'd love to have a motion to close the meeting.

606
00:53:52,830 --> 00:53:53,690
Move to chair.

607
00:53:55,730 --> 00:53:56,910
So such a good second.

608
00:53:58,430 --> 00:54:01,950
Thank you very much, and we'll see you all soon next month.

609
00:54:02,370 --> 00:54:02,870
Thank you.