Marketing Committee is making strides.

Byline: Michael Kane

BOYLSTON - The town's revamped Business Marketing Committee continues to move toward defining itself, spending much of last week's meeting working out the details of a mission statement and a set of long-term goals that Vice Chairman David Frem said should ultimately lead to sustainable business in town.

The committee has met weekly since mid-August, after five members were appointed by the Board of Selectmen to ready Boylston for potential business development that may come, and to get the word out that the town is business-friendly.

The board is following the work of a previous, three-member committee that was widely praised by selectmen for its efforts that not only helped to rezone Route 140, but reached out to businesses, created a pamphlet and developed a website aimed at drawing attention to the town.

But that board also had the job of finding the best use of the Hillside complex, which was taken by eminent domain from Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1990s. Marketing, then-Town Administrator Nancy Puff argued, required continued effort and more time than a three-member board with other duties could reasonably accomplish. After several lengthy discussions, the board agreed to split the duties among two boards. The Hillside board has yet to be appointed by selectmen.

And that leaves the committee with a similar dilemma experienced by its predecessor. Hillside is owned by the town. Route 140 is privately owned. While several owners have agreed to advertise their lands on the town's website, selling the properties becomes private deals that the town has little to no influence over.

To help the committee avoid marketing properties that may later fall through, Town Administrator Martin McNamara suggested reaching out to owners to determine their intentions. For example, McNamara said he had a conversation with one landowner about a potential buyer, only to be informed the landowner preferred to lease the property.

Such information would be better to know ahead of time, McNamara noted.

"It makes it difficult when you call and are told `no, I don't want that type of arrangement,'" McNamara said.

Last week, Marketing Committee Chairman Herb Cronin noted his group had put the marketing of Hillside, some of which could be used for housing or business, aside for now, until a long-term plan for that parcel is created and vetted with residents.

But that still leaves much work to be done. First to overcome is a...