OBSERVER CORPS REPORT JUNE 2025
The Falmouth Economic Development & Industrial Corporation (EDIC) is the Town of Falmouth’s primary agency responsible for creating and developing increased economic opportunities for both the present and the future.
EDIC’s mission is: To attract, advocate and support economic vitality and seek to constantly improve the business climate in Falmouth. It is important to remember that EDIC is, technically, a public non-profit corporation and not a town committee. In some respects, it functions as a committee, though with aspects of an agency or department.
There are seven seats, some at large and some bringing a specific area of expertise to the table. Two vacancies have been filled this past year, with expertise in affordable housing and commercial real estate. There are now two vacancies, of which one is for someone from the financial sector, who will serve as Treasurer. The other is an at-large seat, and there is some impetus to bring in a person with knowledge of digital telecommunications, as its economic importance emerges.
There is a half-time Executive Director, Wayne Lingafelter. An administrative assistant resigned in early 2025. This has resulted in the highly efficient Lingafelter adding 2-3 extra hours per week, and one of the co-chairs using Artificial Intelligence to distill tape recorded meetings into readable minutes.
I believe open meeting practices are observed. Meeting agendas and minutes are posted on the EDIC website, though the town’s website is more accurate when it comes to agendas. One bitterly cold morning last winter the meeting was cancelled at the last minute – but the website hadn’t been updated. It was a long cold wait before two members of the public and I discovered the cancellation notice, leaving us grumpy, but uninjured.
EDIC’s main financial support comes from the proceeds of electricity generated on the landfill solar farm. However, EDIC receives only a percentage of those proceeds, an amount insufficient to fund its ongoing operations, much less capitalize further investment. Careful budgeting has kept operations in the black so far, but that will not hold indefinitely. Lingafelter always has his antennae out for grant possibilities, and spends a fair amount of his time applying for and managing grant funding. Though grants don’t pay EDIC’s overhead (payroll, rent, office expenses), they do bankroll its multiple projects, as detailed on its website.
There are also a few assets that might be exploited. One is selling a small parcel in the Tech Park, a project that has gone on for several years, and is still dragging on, always with the expectation that the sale will be completed shortly.
The Falmouth Technology Park, a zoning agreement made with the Cape Cod Commission in 1979, was in some ways the impetus for formation of the EDIC in 1981. EDIC was charged with managing the development of the Tech Park’s 114 acres owned by the town. Now, all that land (less the very small bit EDIC is in the process of selling) has been sold. After several extensions, the agreement with the Cape Cod Commission has now expired. However, businesses in the Park (there are currently 15) retain some competitive advantages, and a rezoning petition to the Commission has succeeded in allowing ground-mounted solar arrays as a permitted use
Years ago EDIC gave $50,000 toward a needs study for locally controlled fiber optic cable service. Since then Falmouth.Net and the Municipal Light Board have been pursuing the possibility, cost, and probability. Costs, competitive providers, funding sources, and municipal priorities have put such a service in question, yet it seems clear that first rate internet service is vital to local economic development. EDIC is considering its role going forward as it waits to see if financing might be possible through a private company.
The big dog in the room for some time now has been the Falmouth Station. Finally, in December, 2024, there was a complete conclusion to the troubled Staton Grill tenancy on the bus station premises. It included writing off several thousand dollars in unpaid rent, and disposing of unusable kitchen equipment in the basement. All that allowed tighter management of the property, including CCTV monitoring, which reduced persistent vandalism. Arrangements have now been made for a greeting staff of “ambassadors” in the summer, thanks to the Chamber of Commerce and the three bus companies. Refreshments are now available via vending machines, a pop-up cart, a bakery, and potentially more.
Eversource excavations along the adjacent bike path created the opportunity to landscape a small plaza to join the path and the station without crossing old rail tracks or a ditch, and that work will be completed in the fall. A wobbly heating system has been replaced with a new heat pump. Lingafelter has hired a facility manager to supervise daily activities. This should both help smooth running the Station at or near a break-even point, and free up Lingafelter’s time for other matters.
As part of the state Department of Transportation’s 99-year-lease to EDIC, there is a vacant buildable parcel just below the Station parking area, and the decision has been reached to build workforce housing there, resulting in 20-40 rental units. The first feasibility study in 2022 produced drawings that alarmed the Depot Avenue neighborhood, and EDIC is working hard to include the neighbors, one of whom is Jill Neubauer Architects, in planning the development. Representatives from the condominium association across the street attend nearly every meeting. EDIC’s goal in designing the place has become to create a model process for other affordable housing developments, showing how NIMBY issues can be addressed. The state’s affordable housing crisis is likely to produce funding sources to finance construction. Architects and engineers are now under contract and moving forward.
With all these projects and responsibilities in progress, EDIC recently began a new round of strategic planning, looking at the usual Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT). The only outcome so far is to consider conversations with multiple segments of the community to get a better sense of what is and is not desirable. As the workforce housing project settles into a steady level of decision making, it may become possible to move forward with strategic planning. National political pressures on infrastructure funding may also have a heavy influence on planning. Regrettably, The Enterprise’s priorities no longer afford sending a reporter to regular meetings, unless controversy is anticipated.
I have been observing the EDIC for nine of the past ten years, which is to say longer than any of the current members or staff have been associated with it. I have seen it improve, grow, gain focus and effectiveness during that time. It is serving the town well. Although I enjoy my role thoroughly, and I never work as hard as any EDIC board member, it is often hard to stay silent when I almost feel like a respected auntie to the group. Staying silent can be difficult, and my voice is often welcomed outside of official meeting times.
—Respectfully submitted,
Carol B. Chittenden
