The Town of Bethlehem and its Industrial Development Agency may soon be partnering to hire a new, part-time employee to work on economic development.
Supervisor John Clarkson discussed the idea with the Town Board at a Wednesday, May 8, meeting after previously getting the preliminary approval of IDA members. The individual would act as a “single point of contact” for developers looking to bring new projects to the town.
“Mike Morelli is the director of both economic development and planning, and as you can tell … he has many, many things on his plate,” said Clarkson.
Although Morelli constantly promotes the town’s economic activity in his daily duties, Clarkson said, there is no staff member solely responsible for economic development within the town. Morelli acts as the contact person for developers, but Clarkson said he and the IDA would like to see a more proactive campaign.
The IDA had gone before the Town Board last year with a plan to hire a consultant to work in a similar capacity. Clarkson said at the time he supported the concept. However, after interviewing several individuals and groups, the IDA tabled the idea after not hearing a proposal that would fit the town’s needs.
Clarkson outlined the idea of hiring a part-time employee to work on economic development in his State of the Town address. The cost of hiring an additional employee would be paid for mostly through closing costs collected on IDA projects. It is expected through the partnership, the town would pay about $10,000 of the person’s salary, but the exact details of the contract still have to be worked out by the town and the IDA.
Clarkson said the position is not expected to be permanent and the employee would serve at the will of both the Town Board and IDA. The person’s contract would be reviewed each year, and if either entity felt the person wasn’t working up to their potential, the position would be eliminated.
Town Board members were generally in favor of the plan, but said they would like to see more specific details before it was approved.
Councilman Jeffrey Kuhn asked whether after five years without a person dedicated solely to economic development, if the town has seen a lack in development to show that filling the role was needed.
“I’ll answer it this: the economic professionals within the town … feel we’re not doing enough,” said Clarkson. “It’s hard to say during those five years what happened because it also coincided with an economic downturn.”
Councilwoman Joann Dawson said the details of the person’s duties should be in place before moving forward so one entity does not take up the person’s time more than another, especially since the IDA would be paying a greater share of the salary.
Councilman Kyle Kotary suggested it might help if the person could focus his or her efforts on developing certain areas of town, in order to measure how well they’ve done.
Clarkson said the employee would serve under Morelli, but would also attend IDA meetings. He did not feel the partnership would result in a struggle over the person’s time. He also said he brought up the subject merely to get a consensus from the board before the IDA and town staff did the work to seek out candidates.
The supervisor said the plan my not be able to go forward, or may take some time, if no one deemed qualified applies for the position.