Study gets green light on how to grow tourism

Itend to nod off a bit — not unlike, I suppose, former President Donald Trump in his hush-money criminal trial — when people start talking about the creation of a government task force charged with studying something.

Maybe it’s just my prejudice against bureaucracy, but I tend to think of task forces as a proposed solution to some near-insoluble problem, like nuclear waste storage.

But I am excited about the prospects of a new study group — to be fair, it’s called a “working group” not a task force — that got a green light in the closing hours of this session of the General Assembly.

It is tasked with the creation of a tourism expansion plan for the entire Mystic shoreline region — from New London to the Rhode Island border in Stonington — with a wide range of participants, a big mandate and a tight deadline.

I know. I know. A lot of people around here, especially in Mystic, already think there is more than enough tourism and a better topic might be how to close the gates rather than trying to open them wider.

But the tasks assigned to the group include many suggestions for coping with the increasing number of tourists, from looking at the development of a multi-modal transportation center to green solutions for better moving people around.

Water taxis, dredging the Mystic River, new parking areas, bike lanes and trolley services are among the options to be looked at.

The enabling legislation also suggests researching federal and state money available for infrastructure improvements in the region, a study of the workforce and analysis of tax revenues and how they might be best directed.

Rep. Aundré Bumgardner of Groton was instrumental in also including language that directs the group to look at the flooding impacts of climate change and how to better address that, especially in low-lying, floodprone Mystic.

Bumgardner said after the Senate’s unanimous yes vote on the study bill late Tuesday that the measure was the work of the region’s entire delegation.

“It was all hands on deck. There is a lot of momentum,” he said. “And we are all fighting for tourism, but in a way that balances so many of our other needs, housing affordability and education.”

“I suspect a host of things will come up.”

The work is supposed to be on a tight deadline and start right away, within two months of passage. The deadline for a report is Jan. 1, 2025.

The makeup of the group, as directed in the legislation, is remarkably inclusive, from representatives

of each municipality, including traffic experts, delegates from the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes, someone from the governor’s office as well as representatives from the major tourism attractions, business, hotel and hospitality associations, a historical society, a group that advocates for climate resiliency, state agencies and some lawmakers.

The group will get logistical and clerical assistance from the General Assembly’s Commerce Committee.

That’s a wide representation of interests, but I hope the group will also reach out to the community, with open meetings and public hearings to solicit input from the people who matter most, those who are being asked to host more and more tourists in their towns.

I didn’t hear back from messages left for Gov. Ned Lamont, asking if he would sign the bill.

I don’t think of the governor as a big advocate for the region, but I don’t suspect he would stand in the way of a focused look at its problems and possibilities.