MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 8:00 a.m.
2nd Floor Conference Room
Town Hall, 302 Main Street
Chairman, Robert Fish, called the regular meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Members Present
Robert Fish, Chairman
Bruce Sherwin
Jerry Brophy
Land Use Department Staff Present
Christine Nelson, Town Planner
Sandy Prisloe, Environmental Planner
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
R. Fish said that he and B. Sherwin met to discuss the presentation of the Sustainable Saybrook website for the January selectmen’s meeting.
R. Fish explained that the selectmen meet twice a month, the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 10:00 a.m. and the 4th Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm. He asked the group which meeting they would prefer, and they agreed to make their presentation at the 7:00 p.m. meeting on the 4th Tuesday of January which is January 24th..
R. Fish talked with Heather McNeil, the Executive Director at Youth & Family Services, and she’s very interested in becoming a partner, but this is a very busy time of year for Y&FS. She said she and Sue Consoli, the Social Services Director, hope to attend a meeting of this group soon.
S. Prisloe and C. Nelson talked with Mary Jane Engle, Director of Public Health, and she is very interested in coming on as a partner as well. She is anxious to participate, and she hopes to attend a meeting of this group soon.
R. Fish asked if anyone had followed up with Maureen Hart from Chester about presenting her information on sustainability workshops and websites to this committee. S. Prisloe said he would contact her before the next meeting.
R. Fish said that Walter Smith is going to be appointed to the Conservation Commission soon, and that he will be more involved with this committee as well.
S. Prisloe talked about Constant Contact as a bulk e-mail contact list at the last meeting, and he asked members if they would like to plan to purchase it. He said Constant Contact gives users the ability to create visually creative e-mails instead of just text e-mails. The subscription is $126.00 a year for non-profits for up to 500 e-mails. S. Prisloe suggested setting that up before the meeting with the selectmen. S. Prisloe asked if R. Fish could add this to the agenda for the CC so they could vote on approving payment to Constant Contact.
R. Fish said that the town budget has to be submitted by March 1st for the fiscal year starting July 1st. R. Fish asked the group if they would want the Outreach Committee Sustainable Saybrook to be a line item for the CC, or if they would prefer the group to be a stand alone line item.
J. Brophy suggested the group ask for guidance from the selectman’s office before making this decision, and B. Sherwin agreed that this was a good idea.
B. Sherwin suggested the group purchase Constant Contact and then get reimbursed. He offered to buy it and submit the receipt for reimbursement. He and S. Prisloe said they would talk to work out the details of Constant Contact.
There was discussion about whether or not the town could make a financial contribution towards the Sustainable Saybrook website. Members asked what the costs would be, and if someone would have to be hired to maintain the web site.
R. Fish and B. Sherwin reiterated that members and partners need to work to populate the website so it will be ready for the presentation at the January selectmen’s meeting.
R. Fish asked the group if they would like to meet on December 20, 2011 because of the probability of low attendance due to the holiday. The group agreed not to meet. The next special meeting of the Conservation Commission Outreach Committee will be on January 3, 2012.
B. Sherwin said the website needs content. He said all of the priorities have been assigned; yet he hasn’t received anything since the last meeting. He would like the partners to submit their content to him soon.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Noyes
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