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Economic development staff report on brownfield work, strategic plan update and new property‑listing platform
Summary
Economic development coordinator Nicholas Gower updated council on a $300,000 EPA Brownfield grant, environmental site assessments, an upcoming strategic plan and a shared commercial-property platform launching June 1 to increase property visibility.
Nicholas Gower, the city’s economic development coordinator, briefed the council on multiple initiatives intended to support redevelopment and business investment in Titusville.
Gower said the city was awarded a $300,000 EPA Brownfield grant to assess and prepare sites for cleanup and reuse. “The grant is being used to combat blight,” he told the council, and staff reported 22 Phase I environmental site assessments, five natural resource assessments (including wetlands and endangered species surveys), and three Phase II investigations completed to date, with additional Phase I work underway.
Gower described progress on an updated economic development strategic plan: the office is finalizing a SWOT analysis and awaiting a land‑use capacity analysis before drafting strategies and recommendations for fiscal year 2025 implementation. He said staff conducted three stakeholder workshops with public and private sector participants.
On marketing and property visibility, Gower said the department is developing a marketing, communications and public‑relations strategy focused on tourism, resident attraction and business investment. He also previewed a commercial‑real‑estate mapping platform, ReSimplify, that the city will deploy with the North Brevard Economic Development Zone. “For a modest shared investment of $3,000 we will be deploying a live online map,” he said; later in the discussion he clarified the platform’s total annual cost is $6,000 and the city’s share under the existing MOU would be about $3,000 for a one‑year trial.
Council members discussed prioritizing jobs and industrial/commercial property activation over tourism promotion. Gower said the platform is targeted for a June 1 deployment, that the city has provided property files to the vendor, and that the platform will be accessible from the city website. No formal action was taken; staff offered to return with implementation details and, if requested, a funding request after the one‑year trial.
