Kennedy, Phelan lay out plans for economic development

LYNN – City Council President Timothy Phelan and Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy have rolled out separate development agendas featuring ideas ranging from selling the city?s water to making it easier for restaurants to open downtown.Phelan, in an Oct. 8 Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce briefing, and Kennedy, in an interview, mapped out what they said are clear paths to greater economic success for the city. The pair face off in the Nov. 5 final election.Phelan has dubbed his plan the InvestLynn Project, and built it around incentives intended to attract new businesses and jobs to the city. He said tax dollars helping to fund the city?s $266 million budget should be deposited in banks willing to give low-interest loans to businesses interested in setting up shop in Lynn.The right to hold city deposits could, he said, be put out to bid.?It?s creative – a real incentive to bring businesses in,” he said.He said businesses seeking tax breaks should talk to city officials about making commitments to hire local residents.Kennedy said local jobs will result from her efforts to bring the Market Basket grocery chain to the Factory of the Future site on Federal Street and continuing her success in convincing Chelsea commercial soup maker Kettle Cuisine to move to the Lynnway.?I?ve taken a hands-on approach to getting businesses to locate here,” she said.She anticipates work on the Market Basket store will begin by next fall with the store opening early in 2015. Kennedy said Kettle Cuisine has already hosted a job fair in Lynn to attract local workers.Phelan said the InvestLynn Project includes creating a small business assistance center – “a city agency dedicated to assisting businesses.” Kennedy said her administration has compiled a “tremendous” business assistance record by aiding 54 businesses over the last three years with $3.2 million in financing instrumental in hiring 231 employees.She pointed to Veterans Memorial Auditorium in City Hall as a hallmark of her city development strategy. Kennedy said an expanding show schedule in the 2,200-seat hall has attracted showgoers from outside Lynn who return to the city to dine in downtown restaurants.?Restaurant business can increase 20 percent on an auditorium night,” she said.Phelan said city planners must consider ideas not currently on the development agenda. He said the Water and Sewer Commission?s high-quality drinking water and Garelick Farms Lynnway bottling operation should combine forces to market and sell city water.?It?s a resource we?ve never looked at,” he said.He also said 16 to 20 acres of city land on Route 1 not designated conservation land and not part of Lynn Woods should be leased or sold. He thinks the land could command $750,000 to $1 million an acre in the real estate market, with the profits rolled into public school repairs.?This would free up capital to do other things in the city of Lynn,” Phelan said.Kennedy said downtown development successes during her mayoral tenure include city assistance in keeping All Care Visiting Nurses Association in Lynn with 150 workers employed in the organization?s Market Street building. She said the former school administration building at 20 Central Ave. has been transformed into an office building with the Lynn Community Health Center?s administration offices as a key tenant.Phelan said improving downtown must include a discussion on moving the Lynn shelter and My Brother?s Table to a new location. He noted that the organizations? leases are slated for negotiation in 2014 and said the shelter hurts downtown condominium values.?We are not saying they are not welcome but we have to find a better location. We have to talk about it,” he said.Kennedy said special permit requirements for siting restaurants downtown should be lifted so that permit-free “by right” zoning allows restaurants to open with ease. She said experts advising the city on development policy underscored the importance businesses place on not facing barriers that prev