The Town of Bethlehem is looking for a new director of economic development and planning, as Mike Morelli approaches his retirement date at the end of this week.
Morelli has worked for the town for eight years and has spent his entire 33-year career in the public sector. He is set to retire on Friday, June 28.
“I’ve worked for a county, city, state and town,” he said. “I joke that I should find a village to work for first to round out my resume.”
Morelli said his career has been very rewarding, but has opted to retire to help his wife with a new health and wellness business she started out of their home.
“I’ve done this my whole life and it’s time to pursue other interests,” he said.
Over the past eight years, Morelli has played a key role in the development of major projects in the town, and there are a number in the pipeline he will pass the torch on. He could have retired two years ago, but decided to wait a few years because he wanted to see the Vista Technology Campus go “from a vision to reality.”
“I had some goals and I knew we were really close to construction of Vista,” he said. “So I thought, why not go a few more rounds and help get it off the ground?”
Morelli said Vista is one of the largest projects he’s ever worked on and he’s pleased with the way it is unfolding. He is happy that the infrastructure is in place and he saw businesses open before his time with the town was over.
He said it will take years before Vista is fully spaced out because there’s fierce competition to attract tech companies from similar campuses in the area. But the site is now shovel ready and open for business. With most of the secondary use space now claimed by retail businesses, medical facilities and banks, the rest of the space will be filled by tech companies over time.
“I almost wish we called it something different, instead of Vista Technology Campus, because I think it confuses people,” he said.
Other initiatives undertaken on Morelli’s watch have been changes to the town’s Comprehensive Plan and updates to the town’s land uses code that have helped bring businesses to the town.
“The Town of Bethlehem, not unlike other suburban communities, developed the reputation that it’s a hard place to do business,” he said. “We work with developers, show them our issues, make sure it meets town, state and federal guidelines. We never have really been challenged.”
Morelli said some of his favorite projects while he’s worked with the town have been those involving redemptive reuse of old businesses. He cited the old Saratoga Shoe Depot that is now the new Berkshire Bank on Delaware Avenue and the former CVS site across the street, which is now Community Care Physicians. He also said Glenmont Plaza had over 100,000 square feet of vacant space, but has been completely redone.
“Adaptive reuse and in-field development is a goal of the Comprehensive Plan and we wanted to achieve that goal,” he said.
The Planning Department also has been working to diversify the types of housing in town to allow its aging population to find a more comfortable living situation but stay within Bethlehem. Morelli said a recent review of the Comprehensive Plan shows their plan is working and the town should stay on track.
The town is seeking applications for a new Director of Economic Development and Planning until the end of the month.
Morelli is in charge of two departments with a total of 11 employees. He said whoever fills his position next should be able to work well with people and know it’s a demanding job. His departments have lost 24 percent of their staffing through attrition in recent years and everyone is doing more with less.
Morelli said he did not know if the new hire would also take on his work with the town’s Industrial Development Agency. It all depends on who takes the job.
According to the town’s posting, candidates will need a background in regional planning, economic development, or business management, with between six to eight years of experience. A master’s degree is preferable. The position also calls for promoting the town to businesses for the purpose of economic growth.
Supervisor John Clarkson said because of Morelli’s retirement, the town and IDA would be pushing back a plan to hire a part-time employee in the Economic Development and Planning Department that would have been mostly funded by the IDA. Clarkson said it is more important to first find the appropriate person to fill Morelli’s position.
“He has done such great work for us over the years and we will miss him greatly,” said Clarkson.
Morelli said he believes he will miss the people he’s worked with the most.
“I’ve formed a lot of friendships both within the town and with developers,” he said. “And I can honestly say, there’s been very few boring moments.”