The Falmouth EDIC on Tuesday, January 18, presented three conceptual plans for the revitalization of the Falmouth Station property as part of the final stages of the Master Plan Study sponsored by MassDevelopment.

The three concept plans represent three options for the property—open space, single building workforce housing, and multi-building workforce housing—and come as the culmination of the five-month study done with MassDevelopment and other consultants. The concept plans were presented by consultants from Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB), and DREAM Collaborative, which are civil engineering and architectural companies, respectively.

The Master Plan Study—which began in September with a site visit and the review of previous studies and proposed developments for the area—included a stakeholders meeting. The meeting occurred in two sessions—one in-person and one virtual—and provided the consultants with information that VHB partner Ken Schwartz said was used in the development of the three concept plans.

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The Falmouth EDIC December monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 14, was largely dominated by talk of budget, the technology park, and Falmouth Station as the board gets ready to begin a new fiscal year.

Executive director Wayne Lingafelter took to the lectern to present a short PowerPoint outlining the projected budget for the 2022 calendar year. Based on a select few budget assumptions and drivers, projected net income for the EDIC in 2022 is $88,296. Main sources of income include payments from the landfill solar array, retention of current tenancy at the Falmouth Station, and the projected sale of a parcel of land at Falmouth Technology Park. These, coupled with minimal projected expenditures and investments, would yield a projected base net income of over $240,000 before overhead and administrative costs are considered.

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By Callie Remillard, Falmouth Enterprise

The EDIC is in good financial standing as the end of its fiscal year approaches next month and is looking to solidify its budget for 2022.

Income payments from the solar fields in town and the Plymouth and Brockton bus line, which lease part of Falmouth Station, have put the EDIC in a comfortable position financially, with a strong cash balance of $373,000, as reported by treasurer Kevin Holmes.

“I would say that utilizing and optimizing the income of the station will be helpful,” Mr. Holmes said. “I would say that we are still having a slight burn on cash, so that is something that we’re going to need to be mindful of going forward.”

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The Falmouth EDIC will hold a stakeholder meeting on Wednesday, October 20, to discuss long-term planning goals for the Falmouth Station.

This meeting is the first in a multi-step process aimed at revitalizing not just the station itself, but the entire property. The project was made possible thanks to a $57,000 grant secured by the EDIC from Mass Development.

The meeting, which will include an in-person morning session and a virtual evening session, is intended to gather the input of those invited so that the EDIC and their consultants have some information to work off of before heading to a public meeting. Invitations were sent to about 80 neighbors and stakeholders who may have an interest in or idea for the project.

“We’re going into this with an open mind,” said EDIC executive director Wayne Lingafelter. “We’re doing this master planning brainstorming session with the community to gather the input around what might be able to be developed on that site. We’d like to do something there that supports the community’s interests and needs.”

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The Falmouth Economic Development and Industrial Corporation put a special focus on diversity and inclusion at its monthly meeting on Tuesday, October 12.

It was also the final meeting for vice chairman Christopher Simmler.

“I have been proud to be part of the EDIC and the work we have accomplished,” Mr. Simmler said in an email to the Enterprise. “I think the EDIC is in a very favorable position with the town and I hope that partnership continues as there are many more opportunities the EDIC can take on in support of Falmouth’s growth.”

With the departure of Mr. Simmler, the EDIC now has two vacancies on its board. The composition of the board of directors must meet certain criteria, with at least one member having experience in each of the following areas: industrial development, finance, real estate, municipal government, and a representative of low-income people. The other two spots can be anyone with either a combination of those skills or a new skill set entirely.

Board member Michael Galasso asked if the board is looking for someone with affordable housing experience, but executive director Wayne Lingafelter said the EDIC could benefit from moving in a different direction.

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Falmouth Economic Industrial and Development Corporation on Tuesday, October 13, received an update on FalmouthNet from board member Art Gaylord. In November 2020, a feasibility study funded by the EDIC was conducted by CCG Consulting, and results showed that Falmouth is, in fact, a feasible area for a fiber optic network.

“We were very grateful that the EDIC stepped forward and provided $52,000 to fund that initial study that got things going,” Mr. Gaylord said. “Since then, a lot has been happening.”

He told the board that FalmouthNet is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Mr. Gaylord also reported that FalmouthNet is currently refining its design for the fiber optic network, having recently put out a request for proposals for an engineering design that will actually consider the street-by-street requirements of implementing the network. This phase of the project, he said, was largely funded by state legislators, Senator Susan L. Moran and Representatives David T. Vieira and Dylan Fernandes. Using a combination of on-site time and virtual assets like Google street view, the engineers will be able to determine specific needs of Falmouth in terms of implementing fiber optics.

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Now about a month into his new position, executive director of the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation Wayne Lingafelter has a message to share with the Falmouth community: the EDIC is open for business.

To be clear, it was never really closed, but being under new leadership means that the quasi-governmental board is looking to broaden its connections with the business community in town and deepen the working relationships the EDIC has already.

“We want to make sure that we’re a forward, public-facing body,” Mr. Lingafelter said in a phone interview. “We’re open for business. I don’t want to imply that we were closed, but we very much want to continue our efforts to reach out to the community and understand the business community’s needs.”

Mr. Lingafelter has been a resident of Falmouth for about five years, but he originally hails from Ohio. Most of his 30-year career has been in commercial real estate, bringing him to various markets in the Midwest and mid-Atlantic, his most recent stop being in the Baltimore/Washington, DC, area. Before joining the EDIC, Mr. Lingafelter was the president of the development and construction division of a public real estate company. That experience, he said, felt like it was in alignment with what the EDIC was looking for in its search for a new executive director.

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There was an unusually large turnout at Falmouth’s Economic Development and Industrial Corporation meeting on Tuesday morning, September 14, all due to one agenda item.

About eight residents showed up to participate in the discussion of 59 Depot Avenue, where John P. Marcellino and his wife, Marion, operate The Station Grill.

The EDIC had a longtime goal of opening a food establishment in the station and in May 2018 awarded the concession to Mr. Marcellino, who had a successful past in the food truck business.

Mr. Marcellino’s three-year lease for the restaurant is up, and Massachusetts state procurement laws require certain procedures to be followed, including an impending request for proposals (RFP) for the property.

Although an RFP has not been issued yet, public knowledge of the state’s procedural requirements and speculation about what that might mean for The Station Grill prompted a group of patrons to attend the EDIC’s meeting.

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