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The Town of Killington fabulous Annual 4th of July celebration will again take place at the Johnson Recreation Center on River Road, Killington. Join the folks in Killington for a good old fashioned parade at 10 am, starting at the Route 4 end of River Road. There will be fire trucks, creatively designed floats put together by local groups, music, the dirty girls garden club entourage, scouts, jugglers and more! At the conclusion of the parade the Fireman’s BBQ fundraiser feast begins, with burgers, hot dogs, salads, desserts, watermelon and more – don’t miss the great food and an opportunity to help out the fire department at the same time. After the BBQ you may enjoy the refreshing swimming pool, field games, tennis courts, basketball court, Silent Auction, library book sale, and for the little ones a wonderful and safe playground with swings, sand box, and more. Or, you can just relax and enjoy the peaceful scenery and folks enjoying themselves in the beautiful Sherburne Valley. In the evening, a concert band will entertain you until at dusk the inimitable Ken Keim presents a fireworks display of historic proportions! Don’t miss this great day on July 4, 2008 in Killington!

At the June 3 meeting of the Town of Killington Economic Development and Tourism Commission it was noted that Phil Black had asked Bill Bauer to be put on the agenda to follow up on the proposal he presented at the May 22 meeting. He was not present and the Commission took this opportunity to enter into a discussion on how they want to address these types of requests in the future. The general consensus was that they do not want to discourage people from coming before them, however it was noted that it is important to build the framework of the Commission and have it in place, or at least well on its way to being in place, prior to reviewing requests.

Dave Lewis felt that the EDT Commission will be walking a fine line as people need to be assured that things can and will happen prior to 2009, but also need to be assured that the Commission is not spending money before they have an idea of what they are about. It was suggested that requests should be in writing and people should be made aware that the Commission is still in the process of being organized. If a proposal is time sensitive, such as the Killington Classic was, the Commission will do all it can to review it and move it along.

Another thought was to encourage people to start formulating their ideas and funnel them through the appropriate VRCD Committee. It is anticipated that within the next month or so the Commission will be well on its way to getting organized. Bill Bauer asked Dave Lewis to see if other towns that have similar departments have a “request packet” and set of procedures which the EDT can use. The Commission asked Dave to invite each of the four VCRD committees to the June 17 meeting.

Next on the agenda was to discuss the revised job description, salary, advertisements, hiring schedule etc for the new director of the EDT position. Dave Lewis distributed the revised job description and reviewed the incorporated changes. Commissioner Ted Bridges provided Dave with a list of websites for posting the ad.

After the Commission approved the ad, Dave Lewis distributed the draft job ad for review. The Commission made some minor changes and authorized Dave to post the ad as soon as possible with applications due by August 1. This would enable the Commission to conduct interviews during the month of August and possibly have a director on board by October 1 or November 1 at the latest.

The Commission then discussed the establishment of a framework, goals, objectives, philosophy and procedures for short and long term goals for the Commission and EDT Department. Some of the items and thoughts that were discussed:

Should the Option Tax revenue be used only on town initiatives or do we want to leverage it through partnerships on public/private initiatives?

The Commission will be more productive if right from the beginning it finds ways to work on things that everyone agrees is important rather than consider things on which they are divided.

There needs to be a system of checks and balances in place, as well as a way to monitor, analyze, and evaluate events and programs.

The Commission cannot only look at events. The VCRD report noted that infrastructure is also needed.

The Commission needs to develop a long-term comprehensive strategic plan along with a short-term plan for things that can be started now.

How is the Commission going to function? How does it see itself interacting with the VCRD Committees and the Chamber of Commerce? The Commission does not want to compete with the Chamber. It was suggested that the Chamber representatives be invited to a future meeting.

The Commission discussed bringing in a facilitator or consultant to help them work through their questions and ideas to develop a framework. The Killington Growth Initiative had sent out a RFP and received proposals from several consultants. One of the consultants had worked with Stowe and it was suggested that Dave Lewis contact her to see if she would be interested in attending a future meeting. There was concern over the cost of hiring a consultant and the thought was that she may initially be willing to have just time and expenses covered. If more is needed, the Commission could look at a proposal and possibly look for grant money.

Each Commission member needs to think about and document their personal philosophy – what is important for the community and for the Commission? How is the Commission going to define success? What is the Commission going to be involved in and what it is not?

The Commission needs to look at what it can do now: using existing facilities; to create a reason to come to Killington; to launch new efforts; to support existing efforts. It is important to concentrate on things that provide a good return on its investment and benefit the community as a whole.

Dave Lewis then asked the Commission to think about and respond to the following questions before the next meeting:

What events and facilities do you feel would be advantageous to the community?

How do you see all those things fitting together in an overall goal and philosophy of the Commission?

How do you see the framework of the Commission/Department operating vis-à-vis other entities such as the Chamber, Committees, private sector, grants, internal operations?

Bill Bauer then asked Dave Lewis to contact the consultant who did the work at Stowe to fill her in on where we are, and indicate that we would like to engage her and her expertise for a meeting or two and see where things go from there.

Dave Lewis noted that any expenses that the Town will be paying needs to be approved by either the Town Manager or this Commission.