001All right, call the meeting to order. We start with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. God save our country. Amen. Amen is right. Okay, um we will turn to the approval of the minutes of the last meeting. Motion to approve. Second. I'll second it. All right, do you have that, Tia? Was that Fred and G, put your um G, you're on mute. Yeah. Yeah, I got Fred and Pat. All right. That was It was actually Justin, but I got Justin. Yeah. All those in favor? I. I. Opposed? All right. Accepted. Um I have nothing to report other than that I'm so glad that Rina seems to
002be doing so well. Miss her. And um let's get on to our business so we can be finished in time for the big announcement. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. Um thank you um everyone uh for your continued support and patience. Uh I I hope >> [snorts] >> to uh hoping maybe in May um to be able to uh be present at our meeting. So, I'll let you know once I'm cleared. Um but that would be great. I'd love to see everybody. I have been attending all kinds of meetings, but all of it is is right now remote. Um I did attend the chamber meeting. I think Dan joined or Fred or Dan's going to join. We had a I had a great uh time just sort of updating the chamber a few weeks ago on
003what's going on and it was nice to hear everybody's voices um again, so that was great. Um so, we have a lot going on and I wanted to start off talking about specifically the Henkel project. Um you know, I want this commission to really know how important and significant this project is to Trumbull. This project was in the works for 3 years. From from the point where Brian Hendel, who's no longer with Henkel, but when he reached out to me to start to discuss substantial sites in Trumbull for expansion, they were looking at other sites in other towns where they had in communities where they had footprint. And we identified some sites or that were potentials for expansion in Trumbull. Um you know, that process played out, you know, they have a corporate structure, so
004it went through that structure and they ultimately landed on wanting to do their expansion in Trumbull, which we were thrilled about. And then it was a matter of where were they going to potentially add on to an existing building, were they going to buy a new building, that kind of thing. So, through that whole process took years to the point where we had a groundbreaking a few weeks ago and you probably have heard about it. That investment is a $70 million investment in Trumbull. So, those folks who don't think there's economic development happening in Trumbull, they don't perhaps know about this or don't want to know or don't understand it. I don't know really what to say. But many communities would want a $70 million investment in R&D, research and development, in their town and
005it's an expansion, it's not the first investment. Remember in 2018, they invested close to 20 million um in fitting out uh that that additional building cuz they were in the footprint um they were in the um Spring Hill Road uh property and then they went to four Trefoil and now nine Trefoil to create a campus, right? So, you have a $70 million research and development investment in our town and it's something that I need the commission's assistance getting that word out what that means for our town. Uh not only does it mean, you know, uh investment capital investment in the facility, in the uh in the labs, in the personal property, all of that capital investment that's going to happen. It it also means jobs, okay? An expansion of really good jobs, which which we
006always want to add into our community. Okay? So, there's a really good uh press release. It's very lengthy, but there's a lengthy press release available and then you can you can visit it. We can send it out to you if you haven't seen it already, but I think I mentioned this when we were on the chamber, you know, recent chamber meeting, but I think, you know, it and Dan I think attended uh the ribbon cutting actually on my behalf. I couldn't go and I asked him to to represent the business community. Vicky was represented by others, she was traveling as well and Rob was there and other staff members were there. So, it was a great event and will you'll hear more about it. In fact, we've got some coordination meetings up and coming the
007next 2 weeks or so. And is that all going to be on Trefoil? So, the the yes, so the the new building, it's not new, but the re-outfitted building with all the investment in the labs and everything like that is at nine Trefoil. They made some improvements to the property on four as well. Previously, they invested in four, you know, and and Spring Hill. So, you now have three buildings with significant footprint for Henkel in Trumbull. So, one is on Spring Hill? Yep. And Okay. One's on Spring Hill, one's on Trefoil, and one's on nine Trefoil across the street, so four, nine, Spring Hill. Actually, Spring Hill has two addresses, it's a little bit strange and I don't know how that's exactly managed, so it's like one building, but it's got two addresses there. Rina,
008would you just uh summarize what Henkel does? Yes, so Henkel is a research and development company. It's not the knife company, some people think of Henkel knives, that's a different company. This is um >> [clears throat] >> they do health and beauty line and laundry and related shampoos, laundry, health, beauty, all those kinds of products. Uh they and product lines. You have heard of Persil? I don't know if you've heard of So, Persil is one of their products. Um you know, there's a whole list of products that they have, okay? Um So, it's it's R&D, health, beauty, and laundry basically. But okay. So, it's it's not the knife company and then somebody said there was another Henkel that does equipment or something like that, they got confused with that. So, it's none of those other
009Henkels, okay? Um and they're just a great company, it's a German company, they're a great company to work with. Um they've been very collaborative, very organized. Um you know, in fact, like I said, we were on the online today trying to set up a meeting for um some work that'll be done in the intersection and around the property to make sure that the roadway and everything is coordinated. So, you know, we'll continue to work with them. They have their permits. Um you know, so the permitting team has been very active and very supportive of this project doing a great job helping to shepherd it through the process. So, you any help you can give to make sure that the community, that the business community, others hear about this is very positive. Um folks remember that
010and and I apologize if people didn't get the invite, but that PHA um Pediatric Healthcare Associates, they are now under a temporary certificate of occupancy, they're they're operating. Um they had their ribbon cutting a few weeks ago and for anybody who didn't get invited, I apologize. There was some confusion about the invite list. Can I just ask, did any did everybody here get an invite? Did I know I know Evelyn did not. Did anyone not get an invite or got an invite? Can you just I I received one. Oh, you did, okay. I also received one. Okay. So, I'm not sure. Okay, I apologize to anybody who didn't receive an invite. I'm not sure what happened and we were trying to coordinate with the staff that was doing the um doing the ribbon cutting, so
011we did have a meeting with them. I did have a meeting with them, gave them a list, but somehow people dropped off, so I apologize. Uh but it was a great event. I wasn't able to attend, but I heard before, during, and after, people were very happy with the event. It was a real hit, and people that went and saw the space said it's just fantastic inside. So, if you at some point are in that area, um you know, you should you should check it out. I think that it'd be worth just, you know, coordinating a time to go and just visit as a member of the commission. Yeah, so they wouldn't mind if we stopped in, right? >> No, we can make sure we put you in touch with the Karen and the other
012folks that are, you know, running the organization, and we can say, you know, we have some commission members that want to stop in. We absolutely can help with that. Okay. Or you can, you know, we can just coordinate you a time if you want to go. Okay. Yeah. But I think it's something to see inside. It's really a beautiful facility. Good. There's some great pictures, too, that um are available. So, I think and and it really shows the um the rooms and the it's very bright and friendly, and it you know, just very happy. It's a really pediatric, you know, look to it. It's It's very very nice. Uh but that that project, you know, also represents probably about a 12 I'm going to think it's 12 12,000 square feet, and I would say that
013it's probably a, you know, 4 to 5 million-dollar project. Mhm. So, we have I just wanted to mention when Evelyn and I were on the phone before the meeting started, and Gia, she mentioned this to me, if we can get a list of the upcoming ribbon cuttings out with the dates again, there's, you know, people are forgetting which ribbon cutting is which date, that kind of thing. So, I know you're going on vacation, G, and you only have so much time tonight, but if you can ask Abby to, you know, get that out, or if you have it already, and you can just research >> Yeah, I mean, we just have the two coming up this month. The rest don't have dates yet. Um I think I sent that email out. Yeah, maybe the two
014that are coming up. I mentioned them to Evelyn, but I I think just getting the dates out to people again would be helpful. And um the um commission is on the They were on the invite and they're on Abby's list for um next week as well, but I will send a comprehensive list. Yeah, I mean, if if you're sending something out already, I think that's good. Okay. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> I think I think we Did we lose Arena? She'll be back. Yeah. So, uh going to you know, I want to go over to the corporate park for a moment while, you know, we're talking about businesses. Club Tech is in the design phase of their building. I spoke with their architect today, and I spoke with their print one of their principals
015today just to check in and see where it's going. They haven't gotten their building permits yet, in case anyone's wondering. The reason is that they're designing the space, and they're meeting weekly with their design team, and once their design is, you know, completed, they'll be moving to a process to get their building permits. So, you might not see work going on there because they're they're doing the, you know, design and planning stuff that comes before the permitting, but they are definitely in full speed gear with the project. So, everybody remembers where Club Tech is. It's in the corporate park. It's 75 Merritt Boulevard. They um are taking the whole building, um and I think that when they do a groundbreaking in the coming maybe [clears throat] month or two, we'll do a formal groundbreaking with
016them. I think that'll be something for us to celebrate as well, similar to the Henkel project. Henkel project was much bigger, but it's still a significant project, and it still has an R&D component, manufacturing component, and a uh R&D, manufacturing, and technology component that's kind of touches all three of those those areas, okay? Um In other news in the business world, everybody I think has heard that OG's is opening. It's a gelato place. It will be opening next to Prime 111. They will take a portion of the space there, and then the other portion of the space that was unaccounted for will be an expansion of Prime 111's business. Okay. So, that's that space. There is a another small business opening on Route 25, which is where Putrubecue was. It's going to be a catering
017takeout type business. And now the name of it, I had it written here. Let me see. The Me Scusi. Me Scusi. Thank you. Is the name of it. I have not met with the owner yet. I just got the contact information for the ownership today. So, I'll be meeting with them just to introduce myself, talk about their business, and so forth. Ironically, she lives next door to my aunt, so, you know, I somehow might know her. So, but their their build-out is fairly simple. They have their building permits, I believe, so they're going to be moving pretty swiftly for their space. Um We have See. I think I want to pause at the business side and ask before I go into the community development side of the report, I just wanted to ask, aside from
018the mall, does anybody have any business development questions? Okay. I want to give you a brief update on the Gateway Commons project. That is the project It's It's going to have a new name, but let's just call it Gateway Commons for now because that's what we know it by. That is the project on the Trumbull-Monroe line. It crosses the property line. We've been working on it for a number of years. It's got full approvals from both Trumbull and Monroe, and it was stalled due to financing, project financing. That project will be moving hopefully very very soon. We've been working on it for 6 months to get it moving again. We've had numerous meetings on the project with both Monroe and Trumbull, with our first selectman, with our staff, with our leadership team on economic development.
019We have been working very hard to get this project moving. We are at a point where we're meeting with the developers that will be taking over the project. Um we are meeting with them regularly, and we're hoping that their project closes in the next month or so. Once it closes, and that's, you know, anything can happen, so it's not closed yet, but it looks like it's heading toward a closing imminently. They will be moving very quickly on that development project to get it constructed. Again, all the approvals are in place. It is a matter of them securing and finalizing their due diligence and their financing, and starting the project. So, we have been meeting, in addition to the leadership team meeting, we have been meeting with permitting. We started meeting this past week. We have
020another meeting scheduled for the 13th. That permitting meeting is really to iron out between two towns how the permitting is going to handle is going to be handled in fire, building, and then we have some other issues related to WPCA and how all that's going to be handled because you're dealing across the town line, and everybody does things a little bit differently. So, what we're trying to do is the most amount of coordination on the front end so that things are ready to go, and the project can proceed swiftly. So, hopefully, we're going to have a groundbreaking in the coming months on that project. I will fill you in We lost you, Arena. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay, sorry about that. Hopefully, we'll have a lot more detail on the timeline for the project.
021Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Um in the com- in the coming month or so. So, that is a very real project. It is through [clears throat] all kinds of ups and downs. It is to a point now where we we have met, like I said, with the development team that's going to take over the project. It's in good shape. I want to mention that the sewer connection is being put in soon. You're going to start to see work on 25 uh probably in the next month or so. And that is the sewer connection, the second half of the sewer connection. Uh the first half for the project was put in in the fall. And the second half is being put in now. And that's being put in by the current owner who will be
022selling off the project to the development team. They have going to still have a role in it, but they're not going to be an owner. So, that is you're going to start to see activity there. Okay? Just in case you're wondering what that is. All right? That sewer piece has to be finished um in order for, you know, the project to proceed. And Rina? Yes. That project will involve apartments and retail. Yeah. There'll be 27, roughly 27,000 square feet of retail commercial on the first floor. And then there will be two um stories of apartments, mostly one bedrooms. There's a few two bedrooms, but mostly one bedrooms. And the apartments will be some of them will be in Trumbull and some of them will be in Monroe. It is one contiguous building. Uh so, it's
023a building that basically has a property line through the middle of it. So, anything on one side of the building for permitting purposes is handled by Monroe, for the other side of the building is handled by us, but we're coordinating, I assure you. Um so, it's it's it's a lot, but it's great project. Um I do expect that the project will have restaurants and other great businesses in it. Uh they've already gotten a lot of interest. And I will tell you that on May, I think it's 20 When is our broker meeting? I think it's the 28th. I'll check that date, but we're going to have host the Fairfield County Broker Network in person at Town Hall on at the end of May. I'll get you the date. And that meeting will, if everything goes
024well with the closing and the project that we're just talking about, the Gateway Commons project, will be featuring that development team and that project at the Broker Network to to drum up interest in people leasing the space, etc. So, we're going to right on the heels of Gee? Are you Gee, were you trying to get me? I don't know, I saw you talking, so I didn't know if you were Oh, no. I'm looking for the the day on the calendar. >> the 28th. I'm not sure. Yeah. I'm look I can't get logged in on the computer, so I'm on the app on my phone. >> no worries, no worries. Um I'll get the date out to everybody, but we have it. We'll we'll put it in our calendar stuff. But um and everybody's welcome to
025attend that when we do it. It's it's a lunchtime meeting that we're going to host at Town Hall. The commission is more than welcome to attend. Many commissioners have attended those in the past and found them very helpful. It's really uh a roomful of commercial brokers who we have really great relationships with. And it's great for our our our project team to meet more people that are interested in leasing space. So, it's just a great opportunity for us and it looks like the timing's going to work out for us. Okay? So, I'm going to hold off on the mall. We talked about the mall last meeting. And we're probably going to do a more full briefing on the mall in the next meeting. Uh but right now not a lot has changed. The property is
026for sale, which everybody here knows. There's robust interest in the property. Um that's going to play out over the next month or two. Uh we are on top of it, meeting with the right folks, keeping everybody apprised. Anybody interested in the property that I'm talking with or that reaches out to me, we are connecting to the property. Um so, everything is is where it should be at this point. So, there's no real update. I expect we may have an update next month uh potentially. So, we'll be we'll be sharing that with you. Pat, do you have your hand raised? Yeah, I did raise my hand. I also saw that the Sono Mall is also for sale. Do you think that's going to have an impact on our activity? No, because it's a different it's a
027different project. It's that is a that mall is, how do I say this? It's a that's a it's not a redevelopment scenario. Right. So, it's a retail traditional >> Mall as is. sort of mall sale. Um could they convert it into something else? I suppose they could, but the amount of money it would take to do it is astronomical. And the amount of debt already on that project because of the cost of construction when they constructed that is a lot. So, I I see it as a a straight-out sale of a mall property. But, you know, hey, I don't know. I don't have any inside information. Um ours is both a mall and a redevelopment scenario with all this potential that's been outlined in the zoning and and our study and in the broker listing
028that I think you were you received. I read that. It was very comprehensive. Yes. And the broker listing, did everybody see the broker listing? I just Yeah. It went out in the um with the agenda. Yeah. And what you need need to look at, I think this is another thing to make sure that, you know, people that are asking, they think, "Oh, this is just nothing happened." You know, they don't know what's happening. They don't understand it. And I understand that. They're they're just, you know, people trying to figure out what's going on. But what this is is the broker, if you read the broker listing, it backs up everything we've done. It talks about the study. It talks about the rezoning. It talks about the community I mean the the town support for the
029redevelopment, all of that. Why? Because they know that that has tremendous value, it attracts attention, is attracting buyer interest, okay? So, if you saw that, you can clearly see how aligned the study process was, the research that came out of the study, the the all that, how aligned that is with the zoning that Planning and Zoning passed unanimously, how aligned that is with the broker listing and how they're marketing the property. It's all aligned. It's not separate. People, you know, don't quite understand it, but it's very hard to explain. So, right now we don't have much more than that. Um but again, we'll put it on our list for next month and/or the following month for a more comprehensive update um on that property and project. If anything happens before that, um obviously we'll move
030we'll reach out to the commission and we'll update you before that, okay? So, I wanted to move over to community development if folks have unless they have other questions. So, on the community development side, you know, which incorporates commercial development around housing, which and other community projects and infrastructure and that kind of thing, right? That's community development. So, on the community development side, we've talked a lot about the 12 Cambridge project, which is next door to the storage facility that's being constructed. It's not replacing the existing office building. So, please make sure that anybody that asks you knows that the office building stays. It's still a commercial office building that's probably about 80%, maybe more, occupied. Um that this is the property next door to the office building. It's sort of surplus property. And there
031will be 124 units of senior housing with 10% of those units being affordable designated as affordable. That is the development. It's been working its way through for several years. They are to a point of getting their building permits. I just want folks to know that it has moved through. It's got all its approvals. They fine-tuned whatever projects. They finished their design work. And they're in for their building permits, okay? Which means that the project is going to be going under construction. What was the percentage again? I'm sorry. 10% is affordable. Can you repeat the number of units again? I'm sorry. >> 124. 124. Okay. Evelyn, did you have No, that was she answered it. I was I wanted to know what percentage was for affordable. Okay. Um So, that'll be getting under construction. So, >>
032[clears throat] >> one thing I want to remind folks, and Rob Rob touched on this when he was here a few weeks a few months ago. He um mentioned, you know, the different projects, but one of the things we we need to think about is the amount of construction happening in a small area at the same time. So, we have 12 Cambridge that'll be going under construction. We have six Cambridge, which is a storage facility that's next door to that, which is going under construction imminently. It's demolished and click the site work is getting underway. And then on the Reservoir Avenue side that butts up to this, you have the 48 units of um townhouses that's approved. Mhm. Okay. And there's still a project pending. It was denied by the commission um right next door
033to the the uh 48 units. There's a uh apartment, I think it's 150 approximately. They had lowered it, but it's an apartment development that was rejected by planning and zoning. Whether that comes back to planning and zoning or go straight to court or both, I don't know. It's you know, it's it might be simultaneous where they take it back to planning and zoning and go to court, but it it was denied and it is in a court process, going to a court process definitely if if planning and zoning doesn't uh work with them on some kind of compromise. So, that would also be in the same area next door. So, that would be like four major projects in the same area. So, that's something we're going to talk about in an ongoing way because that's
034that's really something that has to be coordinated very carefully. Mhm. Um So, still on community development, but totally different. I would just wanted to mention last year, you'll recall we got a grant through Sarahkit helped us with um State Representative Sarahkit uh to do the community garden over. Folks Some folks came to the ribbon cutting and so forth, which is just a real real great project. Part of that grant was to do a smaller community garden at the senior center. Uh it was, you know, much much smaller, but it was in order that folks at the senior center could do some gardening and programming. Um you know, and there was a focus on nutrition and recipes and you know, using food, you know, growing your own food from an economy, you know, you know, helping
035with your budget, that kind of thing. So, that project Michelle um Jacob, she's our director of our senior center. She's wonderful. Uh she's been our partner on that as long as well as Demetri Paris, who's our park superintendent, who's wonderful. And the three of us have been working jointly on both of these projects. Um but Michelle is going to be doing planning workshops and programming. Demetri has already laid the slab for the community garden there and they will be putting in the water spigot and some other um beds, these raised beds. You'll If you've gone over to our other community garden, you'll see the raised beds there and what they did there. If you haven't, I would really encourage you to go visit our community garden. It's amazing. It's wonderful. And it's it's so this
036is a a small a mini version of that with the raised beds and they are um they are for folks that have mobility issues and it's fully ADA accessible. Both community gardens are fully ADA accessible, which was part of the goal of the project. So, that will get underway soon. It's already underway with the slab being laid and other infrastructure and and I expect it for the growing season, they'll be able to do some work like that um programming at the senior center. Um Also on the community development side, we are raising money for the schoolhouse, the the Long Hill Schoolhouse project. Um anybody that has any ideas for companies or groups that may want to contribute to the project um the Long Hill School restoration, it will be on the campus of the town
037hall. Um is everybody aware of this project? I just want to Yeah, I have a question. Is this the same project that's involved with the Trumbull Historical Society? Yes. Okay. Yes, they're on our team. Um I saw the announcement when I was in town hall. There was a statement and a description Yeah. >> as you walk in the building. Yes, yes. And and they're going like hotcakes, right, Jay? She has to constantly put new flyers out there. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I mean, I often see people stopping to read the sign. I think people are excited about it. Yeah. So, we've John Neyer, who if you don't know him, he works for Christian Heritage School. He's amazing. Um he's been just he's on our project team and he's just been working with me on fundraising
038and just he's done a lot of work getting contractors and other people to donate certain things. So, we have a whole coordinated Um and we meet monthly. [clears throat] Um maybe a little more frequently coming up. We're going to start meeting a little bit more frequently. Um but really the project is pretty far along from a design um the architectural stuff. We have an architect working with us volunteer. So, it's really um a community true community effort. We could use some more corporate donors. I have a list that I'm following up with, people that I'm trying to get money out of, but if you know of anyone, there will also be opportunity down the line at least two times we're going to have community builds days. Yeah, that's nice. will come out and so you'll
039hear about those ahead of time. We're not there yet. We're really working on the design, the um you know, making sure that the architectural pieces are in place so that we can build it properly. Um you know, and and making sure that we have enough sort of volunteer assistance that's professional that can help us with this. So, we we have a whole lot of stuff to do yet, but I think it's it's really an exciting project. Um I would want you to know exactly where it is. So, if you've seen the write-up, you could probably think about where it is, but if you're in the town hall parking lot and you know where the book nook thing is there, the the there's like a book nook building. It's like a blue building that's next to
040the library. Right. If folks know where that is. So, right next to that facing Churchill Road. Oh, okay. Okay? So, it's going to be there. So, it's sort of, you know, you can see it when you drive by Churchill Road, which is what we want, right? We want it to be visible and really get the community excited about this piece of history that's been preserved. Um but also we wanted it to be functional, too. So, I think we've struck the right balance. I think you'll be really excited as the project moves forward, but if you have any ideas on the fundraising, even if it's $1,000 or $500, anybody that you think wants to contribute financially, I would like to talk to. Um we want to raise at least 20 to 30,000 in cash if we
041can. You know, not cash, but you know, donations. We're raising tons of money. I mean, tons in donated supplies, donated equipment, donated labor, those kinds of things. We we're going to continue that, but we need just sort of some money to supplement but to make sure that we have enough to pay for certain aspects. Rina, is there any mon- uh state money available? any state money or in most of the money on the historical societies and the history societies uh we're not the history What is it? SHPO? I forget what it's called. See acronym for State Historic Preservation Office is mostly planning and projects in similar, but we don't really qualify, so to speak, for those grants. So, we haven't found anything on the grant side yet that's a fit. We're still looking. Deb Silver
042and Nancy Fisher have been also part of that. They were looking into that as well. So, I think we're going to we're the corporate donation piece is going to be big. Um Like I said, I have a hit list that I'm following up on, but if people have ideas, even if it's small amounts, and they want to be noted as a contributor or they they want to also contribute and then maybe also have their staff be part of a community build day, those are all things that we can you know, work on, but it would be great to have the commission, anybody on the commission that knows people, just put the word out. >> [gasps] >> All right, so that is um kind of the community development report. Does anybody have any other community development
043questions? There's other lots of other things going on, certainly, but Okay. Um I think that on the grant side I don't have We were going to We did a um application with Congressman Himes' office for um Stern Village. Mhm. Um and if that application is selected by um the congressional office as one to get funded, and I think we had a great meetings on it, and I think they viewed our application very, very favorably, but we haven't, you know, gotten word yet on that. Then it goes into a process that it goes into a committee process um for the federal budget, which takes time, and it get often gets delayed. But the project for Stern Village is um pretty it is multi-faceted. It includes roofs on the congregate. It includes um multiple, you know, things
044in the bathroom improvements, um safety improvements for the bathrooms. It um Let's see, door locks. There's a number of different elements that have been on the radar screen for Stern Village to improve. And this is an opportunity for us to get uh grant funding to make a lot of different improvements that affect all of the residents up there sort of, you know, with I you know, probably about a $600,000 roughly grant. So, we'll see what happens with that process, but it's been submitted, and we're in the sort of waiting game at this point. But I think it's I think it's going to be I I think they were excited about it. G you sat in on my meeting with them. Do what did you think? I thought they were very excited. Yeah, I do too.
045I think they were trying to come off as um neutral as possible, but they seemed they seemed excited. Yes. Yeah. So, we was reading between the lines. So, we'll see. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I think I think we had a great application, and we'll see what happens from there. Now, when you do these applications, the front end is the easy part. Um it's sort of the it's the application is not a big lift necessarily. It's the back end if you get selected that's a bit of a nightmare, but we've worked through this nightmare before, and we'll keep working through it. So, we were also going to apply on the Senate side um for an earmark is what they're, you know, it's basically got another name, but it's basically an earmark
046in the federal budget, but um the Senate side they had really narrowed their focus um in terms of the kinds of projects that would really that we can see be successful at. Um so, we tried uh a few different avenues. We had a meeting with them, but we decided that right now it probably wasn't a good time for us to apply to that. Also, they rarely give you both a Senate and um house ap- appropriation in the same year. So, you know, we we decided that right now we didn't have a good project for that funding at this time, but we did I did have a great meeting with the Department of Agriculture. And that meeting ended up really giving me some new resources um that we can pursue for a potential for a transfer
047station in the future and some other things. So, I'm going to follow up more on the leads that she gave me and the programs that she exposed me to, meaning the Department of Ag- Agriculture lady. So, it's always good to call around, talk to people, you learn new things, right? So, the only other grant that I'm going to is the micro grant that we did last year. I think it was last year. Um and we're going to do it it's through the Metro Cog and the Department of Transportation. These are $5,000 grants. We did bike racks um the last grant, and those were, you know, out throughout town. Um and Rob and Demetri uh Paris worked with us on that. And one of our interns actually last I think it was last summer, G. Yeah.
048Uh yeah, last summer. She really got into this, and she did the micro grant largely herself for us. So, that was a great project for her. She's used it on, you know, when she talks about things she's worked on, and you know, when she was here and references and stuff like that. So, it was really great. Um so, this year I think we're going to do another micro grant um project, and it's going to be potentially if there's and I'm just checking to make sure when the deadlines are and stuff, but it would be for helmets, bicycle helmets, or um helmets for whatever these e-bike or helmets or I don't know what kind of helmets they use, but you know, helmet project and also some programming, safety programming type things too. So, we'll we'll split
049the grant into equipment that we're going to buy to give away to people, they and um some kind of [snorts] programming to support safety. Okay? Those are the grants that I Am I missing anything that people want to know about at the moment? I think I've covered it in previous meetings, but Okay, so, um lastly is events, and so we already talked about we're going to host the Fairfield County Broker Network. We need to get the date out to you. Um if you want to come, it's a free lunch. They say there's no such thing as free lunch, but truly there is at this meeting. >> [laughter] >> So, uh we're going to have lunch, and I think it'll be a great opportunity for the commission to see commercial brokers in action and working with
050us and get a sense as to what that is and how tight our relationships are with them. Um and how much that makes a difference because, you know, you want you want space leased up, they're looking they're hungry to get space leased up, and when we're all working together, um it really elevates our efforts. So, um I don't have any other specific events for this half of the year um right now. I think we all know we're going to do our annual breakfast um in the fall. I need to confirm what's going on at the Marriott just to make sure that the space is available. Um so, that's something we have to do. Probably, G, when you get back, we'll start talking to them about dates and and what's going on cuz I don't want
051to run into a situation where we don't have a date secured. Uh or we have to move our event, and we, you know, it's hard to get a large facility. So, Okay. On the to-do list. Yeah, so we'll we'll hopefully, you know, you know, they're going to be under renovation, but I'm not quite sure exactly what where they're starting within the facility. Is Are they starting on rooms? Are they So, I'm going to reach out to the general manager for an update. Fred, I don't know if you've talked to him in a while. Have you? No, I no, I have not not recently. Okay, I don't know if he's been engaged with the chamber that much. He was initially. Um so, I'm going to reach out to him, but Yeah, let me know how you
052make out, Rina. This is Dan. >> Dan. How are you? Um Yeah, we uh we actually reached out to him about a week ago. I haven't heard back, but I did see Beryl and told her to poke him a little bit cuz we're working on something as well. Um and I wanted to get a sense of their timeline for the renovation cuz it might impact what we do. Yeah, I think we really need to talk to him. So, I'm going to chase him down, you chase him down. Let's compare notes because, you know, one, they should be chasing us down for this, but let's just, you know, um we want to make sure that, you know, if they if they have business coming there that it's secure, and if we have something an event that
053we can't do there that we have enough time to find another space. Which is going to be tough for the numbers that we have. We might have to limit our numbers to accommodate a smaller space. So, Okay. Anything else, Rina? No, I don't have anything pressing. Does anyone have any questions? All right, well, we can turn out to Dan. BRBC update. Thank you. Always a pleasure to see everybody, and just a quick uh thank you to Rina who uh joined us remotely for our last chamber meeting at River Valley uh last month. Um appreciate you taking the time to join us. It's always the highlight of of our meetings, really. Um so, on that note, uh our next meeting for the Trumbull Chamber will be Thursday, April 23rd over at Four Core Financial uh on
054Nutmeg Drive. >> [clears throat] >> Um those meetings start at 8:30. Uh and if you recall, uh uh commissioners, um I had asked last month if you, you know, run into businesses or people within your neighborhood or network that's uh looking to get connected in their community, whether they're in business for themselves or not, um but if they live in in the region or work in the region, you know, I I welcome you to invite them to these functions that we have. Uh and I appreciate G uh forwarding all the information um on on our events and activities and get-togethers. Uh so, thank you, G, for for doing that on our behalf. I appreciate that. Um but this is your Chamber of Commerce, as I said last month. So, the more you can help us
055uh get connected with the business community uh and and individuals that live and work in the region is is a good thing for all of us. >> [clears throat] >> Um beyond that, we have um an opportunity for new members uh or or potential members or people who want to learn what we're up to. Uh that'll be May 6th. Uh it's a Wednesday. We call it Coffee and Connections, and we kind of rotate these around uh the region each month, and the times tend to vary. But the next one will be May 6th. It'll be at Mayfair Center for Health and Rehabilitation in Trumbull right off Reservoir there between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. So it is in the afternoon. So hopefully if there's some folks that are around and you folks of course are always
056welcome to come as well to join us. It's a good way to figure out and see and hear what we've got going on and an opportunity to meet some other business owners, existing members and potential new members that we hope to enlist in our in our membership. Um and then I just want to make reference to April 30th, the end of this month. The BRBC in partnership with the Milford Chamber of Commerce will be hosting kind of a state of the nonprofit sector on April 30th. It's a free event and it is an invite to our nonprofit community very specific cuz the space is limited. I really want our nonprofit community leaders to have an opportunity to be there, but it will be at Dinosaur Media in Milford. They're hosting us for breakfast. It'll be
0578:00 a.m. and we do have some state officials that will be providing some input specifically Jean-Carl Cass, who is the president and CEO of the of the Connecticut Nonprofit Alliance. So he's got very good connectivity with all the legislation and the federal cuts and all that stuff that's happening across the the country and and in the state of Connecticut. So we thought it'd be a good opportunity to bring our nonprofit partners together from greater Bridgeport so that they can hear and learn about some of the impacts and some things that they may or may not be able to take advantage of from a resource perspective cuz they're busy running their their organizations so they might not be aware of certain resources that are out there for them. So it's it's we're looking forward to it
058and again it's a free opportunity for our nonprofit partners. So if you know any nonprofit members or not ever members but just organizations, they don't have to be members of the chamber. Um although we've got a lot of them. I invite them to to register on our website at brbc.org. I suspect Geo will probably put the link and the registration all that stuff in our follow-up email which I appreciate again. But that's kind of what we're up to. The legislative session is kind of you know we're in the final stretch here. We have been working pretty hard as a chamber and as a business council with CBIA on on a few bills that have been very specific to the small business community. One of which was the Association Health Plans. Um It looks like I
059just do that's why I was a little bit late for this particular meeting. It looks like the house kicked it back to the Appropriations Committee. So I suspect that's where it will probably die for this session as it always does when it gets sent back to committee. It's a little bit unfortunate [clears throat] because I know the governor has some plans assuming he gets reelected to create a Connecticut Connecticut option to help with the small businesses that can't afford um healthcare. We thought and felt that this would be a very good and responsible step in the right direction. It wouldn't necessarily compete with the Connecticut option depending on what that looks like cuz that's going to be well over a year before they figure that all out. Um so it's a little bit unfortunate but
060it looks like that it got sent back to committee. So that's kind of the big news I guess of the day as it relates to the legislative session. And that's all I have for you. Dan, can would it So I don't know if Geo when she's doing her follow-up or whatever, would it be helpful if we sent out the invite to our nonprofit list or Trumbull nonprofit list? Yes, 100%. We are asking them to register because we can probably get about 60 people. The registration is right on our website. There's a flyer there. Geo, if you need me to forward it to you, I can but I think you can download it right off the off the events page. Again, it's April 30th. I forget what day of the week that is. It might be
061a Wednesday. But >> Thursday. Thursday. Thank you, Patricia. After you have a question? No. Oh. All right. I don't think there's anyone from the community, is there that you know of, Bill? Rina? No. >> Um let me see. I don't I don't Let me just check. All right. I'm not seeing >> I don't see anyone. Okay. Thank you all. And we look forward to next month and continuing all of this robust activity in Trumbull. Exciting. Thank you. Just a motion to Have a motion to Motion to adjourn. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. Thank you. Have a great night, everyone. You too. Thanks, everyone. Good night. Um Rina