By Suzanne Hodgson
Staff Writer

Ways to promote economic development in Kennebunk – underground, downtown and within town hall – are on the agenda.
The planning board will formally begin discussing the town-commissioned Crane Report, which makes 26 recommendations for economic improvements to the town. They include addressing the current economic crisis, business visitation programs to prevent business foreclosure and a new sewage system.
On Dec. 7, the planning board will present recommendations on the report, including the possibility of zone changes in the downtown area to allow housing. The Economic Development Committee has reviewed the report since March and has discussed what would fit the town’s economic needs. The board of selectmen have also had a chance to look over the report. After selectmen review the report and decide the focus of economic development, citizens will have their turn. Residents will have the opportunity to vote on elements of the report being added to the Comprehensive Plan either through referendum questions or at the June town meeting.
The process began three years ago when the town’s Economic Development Committee wanted to explore development possibilities within the town. The committee allocated funds for a Vermont consulting specialist, Michael Crane, to study economic issues facing the town.
Crane interviewed business owners and community leaders, conducted an analysis of commercial and industrial land uses and data in housing, demographics and local economy, according to the report.
Town Manager Barry Tibbetts compared the process to the town being in a fishbowl and someone else looking in. He said he hopes to include parts of the report in the town’s comprehensive plan as “guide document of what we might want to achieve.”
The economic report differs from a community development plan in that the focus of “economic development seeks to import dollars” while “community development seeks to retain those dollars and circulate them within the town,” according to the report.
Some of the suggestions  have already been implemented or are in the process of being reviewed by the planning board and selectmen.
One of the first suggestions made in the report is to hire an economic director for the town. Tibbetts had made changes to the structure of the town departments almost a year ago, adding new positions and combining duties. Last week selectmen approved Caroline Segalla to fill the new director of community development position
Segalla’s position will not quite fill the role suggested by the report – she will  not recruit new businesses to the area. But she will act as a liaison from the town to businesses and supervise the town planner and codes office.
“She’ll fill grants and build relationships with businesses. She’s not just doing economics, she’s steering the ship of planning and codes,” Tibbetts said.
Another recommendation  already under way is the  downtown revitalization. In 2007, Kennebunk worked with Landscape Architecture firm E.G.&G., Inc of Ohio, to make a list of improvements to the town center.
“The plan will change the sidewalks, change the trees, change lightening, change the curbs,” Tibbets said.
Voters approved the project in November with $1.3 million allocated for improvements.
At the time Crane’s research was conducted, the downtown area had approximately seven closed storefronts. Four have since been been filled.
Tibbetts listed at least six new stores coming to Main Street since research in January. He says that while some may have come because of upcoming improvements to the street, most moved for better exposure and increased foot traffic.
The revitalization project hasn’t started yet, but there are a few new businesses looking for a home in Kennebunk and on Main Street, Tibbetts said.
“Sebago Brewing is definitely coming in I think,” Tibbetts said.
Away from downtown, Stop & Shop, once the fourth largest employer in Kennebunk, closed its doors last month, but Tibbetts is optimistic the large store will be filled in the near future.
“Stop & Shop is not hurting us tax wise, but I believe the store will be filled fairly quickly. My conversations with the developer were very optimistic,” he said.
Underground, a new sewer line is being put into place near Industrial Way. Selectmen unanimously voted on Nov. 24 to give the project $27,500 out of the TIF fund after the project went over budget due to a water main leak.
The line will run under Route 1 in West Kennebunk near Pillsbury’s. The $600,000 sewer system and pump station was built to allow business development and a $150,000 grant was awarded to the town for sewers allowing business expansion in that area.
 With the new system, existing businesses  will be able to grow and new businesses will be more likely to come into the area with the new sewage system, according to the report. Kennebunk hopes to continue the new sewer line further down the road toward Shields Meat. Business owner Rolland L’Heureux spoke at a recent meeting and said he couldn’t currently lease his building because he was still on a septic tank that had a very small capacity.
Suggested improvements to town center  include the addition of apartment complexes or other housing to foster activity in the downtown at all times of the day.
New business and growth are not the only areas addressed in the report; business retention plays a very big role for Tibbetts and the town.  
“It is far more cost effective to retain the towns existing businesses than to recruit new ones,” according to the report.
“Last year we had a workshop for businesses sponsored by Kennebunk Savings Bank, on how to market yourself in hard economic times. It was free to businesses in Kennebunk,” said Tibbetts, who hopes to hold another seminar next year.
Kennebunk, according to the report, is an ideal location for a satellite college campus or culinary school. Tibbetts said the town has no plan to bring in a campus with so many colleges nearby.
The report lists an abundance of gas stations in Kennebunk’s downtown as “conflicting with the long term land use goals of this area and prohibit efficient infill development.”
The gas stations take up 1.2 acres of land in the downtown. While Tibbetts agrees the four gas stations in downtown are unusual, he says he wants, “all our business to succeed,” and that the gas stations, “bring people downtown.”
 According to the report, the local economy in Kennebunk is already strong. If the report recommendations are used as a guide, according to Crane, jobs will be created and the town can sustain its healthy economy.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.