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Otis Revitalization Committee reports 655 survey responses, $25,000 grant; local businesses voice concerns about food trucks
Summary
The Revitalization Committee told the Selectboard it has 655 survey responses, a $25,000 real estate technical services grant and a forthcoming UConn contamination summary for Terranova Market; some local business owners said regular food-truck visits have hurt brick-and-mortar trade.
Stacey Schultze, a member of Otis’s Revitalization Committee, presented the committee’s quarterly report to the Selectboard on Nov. 25, saying the group has received 655 survey responses and was awarded $25,000 for real estate technical services to study up to three underutilized properties in the town center in coordination with MassDevelopment.
The committee reported that business-focused conversations and focus groups found staffing to be the top challenge facing local businesses. Schultze said the committee has partnered with the University of Connecticut on a contamination summary for the Terranova Market site; that report is expected in a few weeks and will serve as a starting point for potential rehabilitation work.
Schultze and volunteers described the town’s food‑truck program, which ran into the fall and at times offered two nights a week of vendors. She said the program helped bring people back to the town center and demonstrated demand for additional dining options. The committee also said it is preparing a fact sheet for interested businesses and has invited organizations such as Habitat for Humanity to brief the committee in the future.
Several business owners and participants pushed back. Terry Gould said that while the food‑truck idea worked initially, having vendors every week or twice weekly sometimes drew customers away from restaurants trying to operate in town and should be re-evaluated before next year. Resident Larry Gould urged the committee to prioritize and promote existing local trades and businesses rather than focusing primarily on attracting new enterprises, citing long winters, a difficult mud season and a flood plain along Route 8 as ongoing structural challenges.
A business owner also questioned why the survey asked for financial information; Schultze said that question was optional and intended to capture business size, and that alternative measures — such as asking for number of employees — could be used instead.
Next steps the committee outlined include continuing the MassDevelopment scoping, awaiting the UConn contamination summary for the Terranova Market site, keeping the survey open for additional responses, and planning a spring community day and events tied to Otis’s 250th celebrations.
