3/27/08- Karen Olivieri- Town Manager- Phillips

Ms. Olivieri spoke about the changes in Phillips, Maine over the last few years. She share the string of hardluck that has hit the town including the loss of many businesses especially with the mills all closing. The community has become a bedroom community for other areas of Franklin County. The village of Phillips has some great architecture and some great views to offer homeowners and that has brought new residents into the area. They see good home sales and find folks who may work in either the Rangeley area or the Farmington area are seeing Phillips as a good choice as a place to live. A big issue for the town is recreating a vibrant Main Street with local businesses. The town is working on some community planning and economic development. They are discussing things like year round farmers markets to help the local farmers and craftsmen sells their wares. The discussion in around an indoor facility to handle someone like this and also to serve as a community building for events. She shared information about how Phillips has a growth program for business with a micro-loan program which is just a start to move this initiative ahead. Over the last year or two the town has seen a very vibrant youth spot become bare bones and even to fund fuel for the Zone has become very difficult. The airports are not operational at this point in time. Ms. Olivieri's talk was both informative and encouraging as it was apparent that Phillips is working to overcome some of the issues impacting the town today.