Business Roundtable Discusses Making East Windsor More Attractive to Business

The East Windsor Economic Development Commission and audience members discussed a number of issues during a business roundtable Thursday.

The two subjects that generated the most discussion were the upcoming sewer project on North Road and steps the town could take to make things more stable to attract businesses to East Windsor. The meeting was at .

The approved  Spazzarini Construction’s $3,447,450 bid for the project on March 16.  The project will stretch along North Road from Shoham Road east to Mullen Road.

“We’re very excited about the project getting underway,”  E. Arthur Enderle III, WPCA superintendent, said.

Residents approved through a referendum applying for federal grants to install the sewers in an area that has long had failing septic systems and other issues. Town officials say having the sewer system is a key ingredient to spurring economic development along North Road.

This month WPCA officials will meet with the state Department of  Transportation to discuss the impact of the project on North Road traffic. The construction has to be done during certain work hours because it is a state road, Enderle said.

The project is scheduled to begin by the end of April and be completed by December, when pavement with a binder coat will be laid, Enderle said. The road will be allowed to settle during the winter and the final level of asphalt will be laid in the Spring, he said.

During construction Spazzarini will install stubs to the sewers at each property, Enderle said.

Before the project begins, officials will also be meeting with business owners and residents along that stretch of North Road to talk with them about sewer connections and issues that may happen during construction.

“We want to make sure we have the least amount of impact on businesses and homeowners,” Enderle said.

Paul Anderson, WPCA chairman, said they expect the sewer line portion to be completed by the fall. The agency will cooperate with businesses to make sure the project doesn’t block their operations.

“We want people to do business,” Anderson said.

The WPCA is also trying to get water and gas utility companies to install their pipes during the project, Anderson said. Businesses looking to locate along North Road will want all of the utilities to be in place before setting up shop, he said. However, the companies don't want to pay for the expense, he added.

Officials said all of the projects will be done to town standards so they can avoid having to fix them a couple years down the line.

“We want the town to end up with assets and not liabilities,” Enderle said.

Commission members said while the North Road sewer project is important, it is not the only concern of businesses.

Commission member Josh Kapelner gave a presentation on how the tax climate in Connecticut and East Windsor can impact attracting businesses to the area.

Kapelner said Connecticut is ranked in the bottom five states in being friendly to business and ranked 49th in property tax burden.

“Connecticut ranking is business unfriendly,” Kapelner said. “East Windsor’s goal is to be  business friendly.”

Kapelner said a recent change in the town charter didn’t reduce taxes in the way people hoped. A new provision requires that if the town budget isn’t approved in three referendums, it is automatically increased by no more than 2 percent.
Although the budget increased by only 2 percent, property taxes increased by 14.8 percent during the past two years, which far outpaced the rate of inflation, Kapelner said. The town should consider making the charter restrict raising taxes by no more than 2 percent if three referendums reject the budget, he said.

Making the tax rate stable would make it easier for a business to decide whether to make a long-term commitment to a community, he said. He used as an example the Town of Enfield, which he said has had the same tax rate for four years.

Anderson said if such a provision is made in the charter, then it would also have to outline how the budget would be done to accommodate that. Kopelner said that is the role of the boards of finance and selectmen.

Selectman Richard Pippin Jr. said Kapelner was comparing apples and grapefruits because for many years East Windsor had been taking money from its reserve funds to partially fund the budget and keep the tax rate artificially low. Officials decided not to do that recently because the reserve fund was not as high as it should be, Pippin said.
“We have stopped this hemorrhaging,” Pippin said.

Commission Co-Chairman Eric Moffett said the roundtable was helpful to the commission which is the voice of the businesses. He said there are two ways to run businesses, cut costs or increasing revenues, and the commission is on the side of increasing revenues.