mosher airport report

8/13/2019 Mosher Airport Report

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INTRODUCTION

Mosher Business Advisors Corp was retained by Jefferson County Industrial Development

Authority (JCIDA), thereafter succeeded by Jefferson County Local Development Corp(JCLDC) to facilitate a strategic planning process and provide advisory services for the

development of a business park to be located contiguous to the Watertown InternationalAirport. The parties involved in the planning process, in addition to JCIDA include theCounty of Jefferson (owner and operator of Watertown International and the Town of

Hounsfield (location of the Airport and proposed business park).

The community generally refers to JCLDC as the IDA. The writer here refers to JCLDC

as the IDA throughout this report although it may not technically correct given changes incorporate structure since the planning process began.

This process evolved from strictly a planning effort to include initiating and working on

certain action plans. As an example, the committee assisted in determining the best site for

the park, lands have been acquired, infrastructure is being designed and sales/marketing

efforts have been initiated.This planning process also differs from what would be found in the private sector. Capitalfor projects outside usual operating programs is limited. Recommendations were required

here so that not only could the proposed business park planning process move forward but

programs for existing businesses in the county could be enhanced as well. From anotherperspective, it was critical that the financial position of the IDA be considered.

Recommendations needed to be developed so that the IDAsother ongoing programs

would not be jeopardized by future capital investments or commitments of other resourcesin the new park.

All three entities approved and contributed to the process, both in terms of financial and

administrative support. The process is ongoing. We wish to thank all the contributors to theplanning effort for their support and ongoing cooperation that we know can result in the

creation of hundreds of new jobs for our county in years to come.

Collaboration of the Partners

We began this process with the belief that collaboration of the principal partners would becritical to starting us down the road to a successful economic development project. We are


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mindful that the real goal here is economic development and the creation of a variety of

new jobs within Jefferson County. The development of a commercial business park is a

means to the end.

The partnership of the three entities has created an economic development team. This teamhas already contributed to an exchange of information that has led to the acquisition of

lands by the IDA for the proposed park, an exchange of knowledge about infrastructure,financing and grant opportunities and FAA related issues that would affect the project, to

name just a few items. It is clear to all that have worked on this effort that the teams workhas not only led to early success but that the team needs to continue working together until

this project is completed.

It would not be possible to establish a business park contiguous to an airport without close

cooperation between the developer, airport operators and the town involved. FAArequirements, plans for runway and taxiway expansions, plans for commercial services for

both passenger and cargo customers, water and sewer requirements and the need for roads

and new buildings within the local areas all need to be shared between the parties.

The fact is that all three entities share the goal of job creation. All will prosper if theproject succeeds. The commitment to continue working together is a critical success factor

going forward.

The members of the committee include:

Jefferson County Local Development Corp

Don Alexander - CEO

David Zembiec - Deputy CEO

Town of Hounsfield

Tim Scee - Supervisor

Steve Lee - Deputy Supervisor

Peter Bryant - Economic Development Director

Jefferson County

Robert HagemanCounty Administrator

Jim LawrenceAirport Manager

Don CanfieldDirector Planning

Carolyn FitzpatrickLegislator & Chair Person

Barry Ormsby - Legislator

Jim Nabywaniec - Legislator


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David Mosher, Pres, Mosher Business Advisors Corp

JEFFERSONCOUNTY

JCIDA

HOUNSFIELD


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Why consider a Business Park and locate it near the Airport?

First, the primary objectives of the IDA, County and Hounsfield all deal with job creationand expansion of the tax base. Second, the existing business parks in the county are

nearing capacity. In addition, we have the benefit of a currently expanding airport that is

being effectively managed by our County legislators and administration. Many companieshave found that locating near an airport can have advantages, especially when the Airport

has an international identity. Watertown International has a customs presence and foreign

trade zone status. We can and should work as a team to further enhance the airportsinternational identity.

There is a conception in the public that all businesses seeking to locate at airport parks

have something to do with the aviation industry. This is not necessarily the case although

many tenant prospects will seek services from the aviation industry. An example includes

large warehouse/distribution and fulfillment centers that service a retailers e-commerceselling efforts. Another includes educational institutions that have located training and

educational centers for the many types of aviation career training programs that they offerin some other airport parks. (Seeking out these types of businesses and opportunitiesshould of course be in our sales & marketing plans going forward).

The IDA has business park experience and land ownership next to Watertown

International. The County owns and manages the current airport facility. It has lands

available for future development and is developing expanded taxiways and hangars tohouse additional aircraft. It also has an effective airport committee that can assist the

efforts of airport development and expansion. Hounsfield has experience working on

infrastructure issues and outgoing sewer connections are critical to expanding the airport

and supporting a new business park.

For these and other reasons, which all would deal with creating a more healthy economicclimate, it make sense to create and locate a new business park at Watertown International

Airport.

Business Park Planning Process and Planning Objectives

The process involved representatives from the three entities meeting monthly with smaller

group meetings occurring in between to work on specific areas of importance. In addition

to meeting locally, a field trip was made to Griffiss International Airport at Oneida County,NY. We were guests there of Mohawk Valley EDGE (Economic Development Growth

Enterprises Corporation), an organization similar to JCLDC today that has business park

development responsibilities at Griffiths Airport as well as economic development roles in

other locations in Oneida and Herkimer counties.Mosher also visited with other airport park persons and authorities in other locations. Inaddition to Griffiss there were telephone interviews, email exchanges and personal visits to

Schenectady Airport Business Park, Airport Hill Industrial Park (Chautauqua Co Airport at

Jamestown), Wellsville Airport Industrial Park (Wellsville Municipal Airport), AirportCorporate Park South (Elmira-Corning Regional Airport) and Airport Business Parks 1 and

2 (Rutland Southern Vermont Regional Airport, Rutland VT). Research was a part of the

study at several other local parks located near airports at such places as Plattsburg and


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Glens Falls, NY. Airport business parks in other parts of the country were visited on line

to gain insight into marketing and incentive programs.

In New York State the local county IDAs were often involved in development/operation of

the airport business parks. It is the writers observation that many of the more rural parksare not particularly successful due to a lack of financing and staffing resources to develop

the parks. Each location, with the notable exception of Griffiss, employs more of a passivemarketing and development approach than an active and aggressive sales and marketing

posture. When adopting a passive approach to development, park and IDA representativesreport that one can expect it will take more than 20 years to sell off all lots, fill a park and

consider a project successful.

The principal objectives discussed below were developed by the planning committee

during the early meetings of the process:

Determine size and scope of Business Park Determine best potential contiguous location(s) and eliminate unsuitable locations Develop action plans for infrastructure including internal roads and sewer. (These

issues are needed for both the proposed park and future airport operations). Develop recommendations concerning future park management, sales/marketing,finance and infrastructure development programs

Other planning objectives will need to be addressed by a selected group of planningprofessionals such as engineering, architectural and construction firms.

The scope of this assignment changed as the planning process evolved. There was work to

be done that included much more than facilitating meetings and conducting research.

Mosher acted as a project coordinator between the parties.

Individual meetings were also held between Mosher and local companies including JainIrrigation, New York Air Brake, Knowlton Technology and Timeless Frames. The purpose

of these meetings was to hear their perspectives on the value of businesses being located

near airports and to help us develop incentives that all businesses would require in order toconsider locating at the proposed park. These businesses did meet with the entire group as

well. Their input is discussed later in the report.


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RECOMMENDATIONS

Size and Scope

The Park should be not less than 100 acres and closer to 200 if that could be achieved.

New job goals include 400 positions of varying categories and the time frame for these

positions would be 5 to 7 years. Ideally, all of the businesses that locate at the Park shouldbe new to the County but we appreciate the necessity of considering relocations from

within in order to retain employers and assist them with their growth objectives when those

cases arise.

There may be an interest in some local companies to be able to take advantage ofwarehousing and distribution activities at or near the airport. This type of enterprise might

be sought or considered by the developer in the early stages of planning in the marketing

and sales efforts going forward.

Location ( See following diagram page 7)

Early in the process, the firm of Bernier and Carr was retained to study the contiguous

lands to determine best potential sites. Here we call the three sides of the Airport boundaryEast (along Rt 12f), North (along Rt 180) and West (along Evans Rd). The West site was

found not suitable while the North and East sites were of equal desirable quality. The

engineering site selection process did not deal with sales and marketing issues so much aswith infrastructure, wetland and other such criteria. The East site is also where the IDA

already owned 39+/- acres of vacant land so this threw more weight to selecting the East as

a higher priority for early development. The following diagram prepared by consultants

shows the areas surrounding the airport evaluated and the blue shaded area is the East siderecommended and selected to business park development.


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Land Acquisition ( See Following Map page 9)

During the planning process it became known that certain acreage in the East site wasbeing considered for sale by the owners. The IDA initiated negotiations and subsequently

the IDA purchased 43 acres contiguous to its existing land bringing the land underownership to more than 82 acres. Total acreage owned is seen in the following map and is

the green shaded area.

The IDA also retained a real estate brokerage firm to approach certain other landownersand negotiations are in process at this writing for an additional 19 contiguous acres. This

land being sought is seen in the following map and is located in the blue rectangle.

The map also shows the originally proposed 2000 ft extension of runway 10-28 (to thesoutheast) that borders land where the business park is planned. This extension is the gray

shaded area on the map.1,000 ft of this extension was approved by the FAA and completed

two years ago. It is the final 1,000 ft of the original proposal that are being sought at the

present time.

The newly proposed FAA safety zone is seen in the orange shade. This change in safety

zone means that certain lands currently owned by the County may not be needed to satisfy

future FAA safety zone requirements. If indeed this is the case, then the County may be


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amenable to selling the acreage to the IDA for inclusion in the park boundary. This would

add acreage (estimated at 30+/- acres) to the park and would serve to square it off and

simplify design issues. This land is seen in Appendix B in the red rectangle. The total

acreage anticipated if the additional parcels can be acquired would then exceed 130 acres.

Additional acreage might also be obtained through future negotiations but it is premature

to move forward on other acreage at this writing.


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The Developer

Our recommendation is that the IDA be the lead party responsible for development of the

park, including the upcoming sales and marketing efforts. The IDA is currently the entitywith the experience to develop the proposed park. Economic development authorities are

often the entities that have the earliest contact with companies that are considering

relocation or expansion to a new market area. They are often contacted ahead of lawyers,accountants, bankers or brokers. The IDA has successfully developed other parks and is

familiar with the issues of filling the parks. The IDA has the mission and experience to

help business locate in our county.

A word of caution however. While there are highly qualified personnel involved at theIDA, there must also be financial resources and personnel dedicated to the success of the

project. It will help that there is now a very effective team (Jefferson County, Hounsfield

and the IDA) working together but this project of developing the park is meant to be a job

creation project, and not a profit making type enterprise project. There will necessarily becost and work sharing between the parties. Should the effort become an IDA project alone,

I fear the prospects for success in the time frames targeted will diminish significantly.Another important issue, and one of the reasons that the IDA should take the lead is that

economic incentives need to be a major part of the future sales and marketing effort here.Incentives are the daily concern of the IDA, and they will also need to be offered to other

businesses in the county regardless of their interest or ability to be located within the park.

Incentives are discussed elsewhere in this report. Private enterprise developers wouldtypically have different financial resources and objectives and could benefit from strategic

type partnerships with economic development agencies to assist business with expansion

or relocation activities.

In this writersjudgment, it is important that all future parks being developed by capable

parties be successful given the job creation issues and objectives of the IDA and itspartners. The IDA does not exist to compete with private enterprise but to find ways to

help all businesses grow and create local employment. We should welcome the private

sector to the job creation table and assist them as possible and appropriate. Second, weneed to provide the same incentives to all businesses in the county regardless of their

tenure or location. And third, there may be some strategic collaboration program found

where all proposed parks can be developed together for the benefit of the local economy.

Job Creation and Job Retention.

In this report there are numerous recommendations for assisting with the overall objective

of job creation. It is not lost with the planning group that it is equally important to

recognize that we are constantly tasked with insuring that our existing employers stay andgrow here in Jefferson County. While we are hoping to bring companies to the county, we

must do what we can to keep the playing field level for new and older businesses. A new

job is just as valuable when created by an existing employer as a new one and when wecreate incentives for new companies the programs must be offered to current employers as

well.


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There is the issue of local businesses who may wish to take advantage of the foreign trade

zone status proposed for the park. We foresee that some companies may want to consider

warehousing space for this reason at the proposed park.

A side note here is that the IDA understands the foreign trade zone issue very well and theorganization can assist other park developers or businesses to achieve trade zone status.

This status is, however a current strength and we should capitalize on it and prepare toextend the proposed park without delay.

Sewer Infrastructure Issues

Currently there is no sewer system at or nearby the Airport. Existing business and terminalfacilities use septic systems that are antiquated. The Airport and the proposed business

park both require a new system. Given current airport operations growth and possible short

term demands for business park tenants, it is possible that the permanent sewage solution

may need to be supplemented with shorter term relief in the form of temporary storage andtrucking operations.

Mosher assisted Hounsfield with initial meetings to explore current and future sewer

requirements for both Watertown International and the proposed business park. Meetingswere arranged and held with the Villages of Dexter, Brownville and the City ofWatertown. A private nearby business was also included in discussions as it has an existing

but inactive sewage treatment plant that could serve the airport as well. A professional

engineering feasibility study is required at this time. Funding for this study and for anytemporary or permanent sewage program remains an issue to be resolved however.

Sales & Marketing

The Marketing Effort

Branding. The Park should be Branded, that is to say we should identify types of

enterprises that would be good additions to our proposed park and county employer lists,direct our future sales and marketing efforts to these types of enterprises and develop an

environment to which these types of companies will be attracted.

We think that the location will of course, be conducive to the types of businesses that

normally choose to be located near air travel and freight centers. Other types of businesswill not be so greatly interested and these would include heavy manufacturing, retail or

local service businesses.

Good prospects will likely include companies in the logistics and fulfillment industries,

technology companies, importing/exporting companies, and aviation related businesses.

The IDA today has targeted prospect lists that will work well here including some of theseexamples as well as Defense contractors and FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate)

industry types of businesses.

Website Development. The proposed park will require its own website and it can be an

addition to the current IDA website. Other marketing materials will also need to bedeveloped. The costs and commitments to this effort will need to be evaluated internally as

part of a total budget for the project.


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The Sales Effort.

We know that the greatest number of new jobs for the county will come from finding park

tenants from businesses that are outside the area. It would not be a priority to just relocate

businesses from one part of the county to another. There are phases in the sales effort to fill

a business park with good tenants The selling phases include the targeting and searchphase, the negotiation and sales phase and the relocation assist phase.

The search process should be professional and proactive.

The IDA should not only respond to inquiries that are the result of a good marketing

program, but think like a company searching for an acquisition. Investment banking firmsuse a sophisticated approach to reach out and identify prospects within targeted industry

groups. It takes capital, up to date databases of enterprises on an international scale and

personnel to seek out qualify and negotiate with prospects. To be proactive and effective

requires trained and dedicated staff.

The service to do the search phase can be outsourced but the serious and in depth

negotiations must come from the local developer. I suggest that the search phase be

outsourced to professionals until the park objectives are completed successfully. This time

consuming and labor intensive part of any search process is best handled by trained staffwhere the commitment to this sort of overhead is temporary.

The Negotiation and selling effort should be handled by a Dedicated Executive and Airport

Park Manager.

There are two parts to this recommendation. First the present load on the shoulders of

current staff at the IDA will not allow for a person to concentrate on all that needs to bedone on the Airport project, maintain other existing responsibilities and get it done within

the time frame we have established. The IDA does have all the sales and marketing

expertise and experience required, but to add all the job description requirements of anairport park manager to the shoulders of current staff will create a threat to the completionof the current mission objectives. This position would not need to be filled immediately but

would be necessary once a commitment to a park is made and a proactive sales and

marketing program is initiated.

The third phase in the sales effort involves assisting a company with relocation services .

The second role for an Airport Park Manager is that of a dedicated exec to assist prospect

companies located outside the area with their efforts to research coming here and then to

coordinate on their behalf with the local issues necessary for the opening of a new facility.

A local go to person is worth cash to aprospective company. The IDA currently

provides these types of services to new and existing businesses today. Assisting withfinancing or grant application issues, energy or training matters are examples of things

companies typically seek with local development execs.


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Other Related Objectives

Develop Strategic Relationships. It will take considerable time and expense to develop

inroads into the best worlds of tradeshows, conferences and other arenas where businesswith intensions of expanding and relocating are found. Many trips can be non productive

and expensive. There can be referrals as well from sister agencies in nearby parts of upstateNew York. Additionally there are sometimes things to be learned from the successes and

failures others have experienced in the area of economic development utilizing the vehicleof airport business parks. I believe that EDGE, referenced earlier, should be considered for

a particular strategic partnership in the marketing effort for prospects. The organization has

considered this idea and is willing to explore it further. The sharing of resources andknowledge between strategic partners puts the pedal to the floor in the marketing effort

with fewer costs but with the added benefits and commitments of resources.

NYS Certified Shovel Ready Status.This status would be a great advantage for the

marketing and sales effort. The IDA staff is well aware of all that this status entails and thecosts of achieving the designation. It is likely a six-figure expense. However, until the park

configuration is known and layout can be determined the decisions about this status cannot

be made. The option exists for designating part of the park or handling the certification in

stages.

A Local Extra Incentive Toolbox. This recommendation is most important for the

success of a local sales and marketing effort. Businesses with intentions of expanding or

relocating to an international airport business park will be evaluating many financial and

operational incentive programs available to them during their site selection process.

Today Jefferson County is on a par with the incentives offered by most other IDAs in

NYS. So within NYS we are, as far as incentives are concerned, on a level playing field.Being located near the airport with foreign trade zone status may give the IDA an edge in

cases where prospects want an import/export capability. However, New York State may bewell behind many other states in incentives offered. We fall behind the curve when

competing against other states.

To win in the selection process we must be proactive in several areas. Building a better

local Incentive Toolbox is one way (not the only way) we can tilt the scales in our favor.But to do so we must seek financial and non financial means to be successful. Examples of

innovative incentive tools might include:

Adding bonuses to the already approved limits for new jobs created. After an FTEposition is created and filled we might pay a cash award for training for every newhire.

A special Business Development loan or lease fund at no/low/deep discountedpricing.

Assistance with grant or loan applications Assistance for importers/exporters Engaging in or arranging for training for new hires (also see below) Developing an program or source for lower cost energy (there is a special program

under consideration by the IDA at the present time).


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We must not overlook the commitment to existing local businesses. While this project is a

job creation endeavor it is an equally important objective for the IDA and the partners to

retain jobs already here and to provide incentives to existing businesses that have growthplans. We will be looking for incentives that can be used across the board for all

companies in the county.

On these last three points (website, Shovel Ready and special incentives) I would lead youto the website of the Warren/Washington Counties IDAwww.warren-

washingtonida.com/airport-industrial-park.asp. They have put together a good site and

achieved shovel ready status for their airport industrial park. In addition, they have worked

on local incentives that exceed the incentives offered by some other agencies in the state.

Training Assistance.We know that all businesses require that new hires be trained and that existing staff have

training needs as well. During interviews with some of our largest employers (referenced

earlier) training assistance was often referred to as one of the greatest aids that the localIDA might offer. In addition some other states and regions offer to train workforces if a

company will agree to relocate to their areas. The recommendation here is that a strategic

relationship be established with educational facilities at a variety of levels and that

professional training programs be developed specifically for our existing and prospectiveemployers.

In more than one case Jefferson County businesses have been offered programs whereby

their future staffs would be trained and madeready as an incentiveif they would agree to

relocate. This type of program would be important not only as an incentive tool forprospects but may help us keep existing companies here.

This last point is critical because our best local employers are constantly being solicited to

consider incentive packages to relocate to other areas. I do not think we should ever feel

that none of our local companies are immune for the prospects of leaving Jefferson Countyin the future.

Project Development, Funding and other unanswered questions.

There currently is not capital existing in the IDA for developing the business park

proposed here. It was not the mission of Mosher to evaluate the financial position of the

IDA and determine if it was financially capable of moving forward given its financial

resources. It is assumed that all three partner entities would contribute to the costs andwould provide appropriate people resources to the project but no agreements have been

proposed at this writing about how, or to what extent each might participate.

There are several aspects of development to be considered here which all require peopleand financial resources to complete. The services of Engineering, Architectural, Financial,

Legal and other professional firms are naturally required. We cannot gage all the costs yet

because we have these final land acquisitions, infrastructure requirements, and decisions

yet to be made in such areas as staffing commitments and spec buildings.
http://www.warren-washingtonida.com/airport-industrial-park.asphttp://www.warren-washingtonida.com/airport-industrial-park.asphttp://www.warren-washingtonida.com/airport-industrial-park.asphttp://www.warren-washingtonida.com/airport-industrial-park.asphttp://www.warren-washingtonida.com/airport-industrial-park.asphttp://www.warren-washingtonida.com/airport-industrial-park.asp


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Sources of capital

There are some monies potentially available through grant programs, but there is a great

deal of knowledge and experience required in the credentials of a dedicated grant writing

specialist. There are also many sources of grants to be accessed but a specialist must knowwhere to apply, when grants are available, award announcements and how to accumulate

the points necessary for the grants to be awarded. David Zembiec, Deputy CEO at the IDAhas the required credentials as does Don Canfield, County Planner for Jefferson County.

Hounsfield has expertise in the grants area as does the County where infrastructure issuesare concerned. The current workloads on all persons on the project team may not allow for

any of the team members to be more dedicated to this project.

While there are grants potentially available for direct costs of infrastructure as well as for

other preliminary project expenses, this project has lost in its bid for grants during the pastmonths. To be successful going forward, the combined knowledge of the team is critical in

order to take advantage of all grant opportunities. It is important to be aware of timing

issues related to application deadlines.There are also increased chances for approvals if the

team stays together and becomes co-applicants when ever possible and appropriate.

Other Unanswered Questions

Land Issues1) At this writing, there are about 50 acres (the 19 two parcel pieces and the estimated

30 acres owned by the county in the blue square area described earlier on pages 6-

8) that are important to be acquired before moving forward. Until the runway isextended and the current protection zone is moved, the park will likely not be of

adequate size to proceed. This is because the current runway protection zone

extends through too much of the proposed park area.

2) There is a small scattering of Federal wetlands included on the property alreadyowned by the IDA. This issue needs to be studied before proceeding.

3) There is a runway safety zone off the approach end of runway 25. This safety zoneis seen on the map on page 8. It goes over IDA property already owned includingthe parcel owned for some years as well as the new parcel purchased this fall.

Research needs to be conducted to determine what, if any, restrictions on building

heights or new construction are currently in effect. There are also some easementsthat are likely related to the Runway Protection zone but the deeds or the consulting

engineers that the cover these issues for the county need to be consulted.

Infrastructure Issues1) Which community will be the source of sewage treatment? How long before all

piping and construction can be completed and is funding available for this project?

2) Roads. Internal roads have not been planned. Ownership of the roads (county ownsin some other parks) and funding is not determined.

Park Design

1) Clearly cannot be done by the proper professionals until the land issues areresolved.


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2) Spec buildings are always an issue with park development. The relocation-consulting world holds that having buildings ready is a major benefit for developer

parks. This is probably true. However, we have capital limitations and the dates for

park development are not yet known. Financing for this type of need is far from afavorite type of loan investment for traditional lending sources. We have discussed

this issue with other developers and have seen many buildings stay vacant for

extended periods of time. This creates additional financial burden to keep specs ingood repair. This is an issue that should be brought back to the table when park

design and infrastructure matters are being addressed.

Incentive Toolbox

1) A few suggestions were put forth earlier on this topic but this area needs specificattention from the IDA because the thinking process needs to include programs thatalso can be extended to existing local companies. Several innovative economic

development agencies that have developed parks across the country were visited

online and programs are often designed to be compatible with other local programs

and available financial resources.

2) Included in this area of incentives is a needed discussion of energy costs. The IDAhas had meetings with a private enterprise company that had developed the ability

for us (on paper) to create our own energy company and supply electricity to park

tenants at a lower cost that is proposed to be at materially lower rates than can beexperienced from National Grid.

This idea, on the surface, has a great deal of merit and needs to be evaluated. There

is research and due diligence necessary but given the early stage of our project andthe lack of people resources to do this work, the analysis will wait until the scope of

the park project becomes more clear.

Strategic Relationships

1) We have favorable indications from EDGE that a relationship is likely in the salesand marketing arena. It remains to be seen how this relationship could be designed.

This unanswered question could be worked out quickly as the park does not need tobe functional for an agreement with objectives to be formulated. Both organizations

would benefit from a relationship. I also suspect there would be savings within our

future project operating budgets found and we could learn from some of EDGEspast experiences seeking prospects for their parks.

2) The need for more training assistance was covered earlier. There are alreadydiscussions and plans being formulated to assist more local companies with their

training requirements. These efforts can be further expanded to potentially includetraining programs by local schools of all types, perhaps even locating a facility at

the park. Negotiations can begin now in this area.


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Conclusion

This project has confirmed our earlier belief in the value of the working relationshipbetween the partners. It has identified the different but connected roles that each has in the

process. If we were not sharing information about our various plans I am certain that the

sewer project would not yet be in motion, the lands purchased may not have been acquiredand we would not be in a position to take on a few new tenants at the park by next summer.

(We could actually do this if necessary).

Given the very real and significant resources required for the objectives of this proposed

business park to be achieved in the time period proposed, the partnership needs to

continue. Each entity will need to contribute to the financial analysis and budgets that arepart of the upcoming planning process.

The commercial growth and success of Watertown International is expected to continue. It

would be a mistake not to capitalize on this success and make an associated business park

with so many new jobs a part of the success story being written.

The question now is if the three partners have the financial, human and other resources

necessary to go forward with the next phases of this endeavor. Determining the overalllevels of commitment and formalizing agreements to complete this project should be a

priority for the partners today.

mosher airport report

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