MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 8:00 a.m.
2nd Floor Conference Room
Town Hall, 302 Main Street
Chairman, Bruce Sherwin, called the special meeting to order at 8:00 a.m.
Members Present
Robert Fish
Bruce Sherwin
Partner Group Members Present
Sara Keaney, Old Saybrook Land Trust
Janice Holland, Old Saybrook Land Trust
Ann Gamble attended today’s meeting as well. She is an organic farmer in town. She is involved with the soup kitchen gardens, and she is on the board of the Old Saybrook Land Trust. She also is a freelance newspaper reporter.
Land Use Department Staff Present
Christine Nelson, Town Planner
Sandy Prisloe, Environmental Planner
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
E-mail blast submission
S. Prisloe distributed a “Sustainability Tips” draft to the group.
He would like Sustainable Saybrook to be sending out sustainability tips monthly. The goal should be to solicit input from the community at large. A link will be put into the e-mail so the public can submit ideas through an e-mail address that will be set up specifically for accepting tips. B. Sherwin and S. Prisloe will discuss the specifics of the e-mail set up. There will be a link to the Sustainable Saybrook web site on the tip page, and people should be encouraged to get their friends and neighbors to subscribe.
Website and Facebook analytics
B. Sherwin updated the group on the number of people visiting the Sustainable Saybrook web site since the last month. The graph is trending in the positive range. During January, there were 90 total visits. In February, there were 138. Interestingly, there have been a number of people from other countries visiting the web site.
A. Gamble asked about creating an RSS feed. She suggested adding others’ RSS feeds to the Sustainable Saybrook web site. She offered to look into this, and B. Sherwin said he would further investigate this as well. The group supports this; however, they want to be sure the web site maintains a local focus.
Event submissions
S. Keaney informed B. Sherwin that the date of the Old Saybrook Land Trust event on organic lawn care, presented by Kathy Connolly at the Pasbeshauke Pavilion should be changed on the Sustainable Saybrook web site to April 10, 2012. The meeting date has been changed because there is a Town Meeting on March 27, 2012.
There is going to be a Green Lifestyle Fair at the Water’s Edge on March 24, 2012. S. Prisloe asked if it should be advertised on the Sustainable Saybrook web site. C. Nelson suggested that next year, Sustainable Saybrook set up a booth at the fair.
A. Gamble said Trish Bassett, Market Manager, has invited Sustainable Saybrook to set up a booth at the Old Saybrook Farmer’s Market. Also, Patty Dowling, Executive Director of the Old Saybrook Soup Kitchen and Pantry, offered to put a link on their web site to the Sustainable Saybrook web site.
C. Nelson suggested advertising the CT River Coastal Conservation District plant sale, which is going to be on April 21, 22 & 23, 2012, on the calendar as well as local farmers’ markets.
J. Holland talked about “Green Drinks” in Middletown. It’s a social cocktail time where people talk about the environment, conservation and sustainability.
“Meet your greens” is another group C. Nelson suggested Sustainable Saybrook tap into as a networking opportunity.
J. Holland talked about what a great job the Saybrook Point Inn has done in terms of making their business “green.” She suggested asking someone from the Saybrook Point Inn to give a presentation about what people can do to incorporate “green” tips into their businesses and their homes. She offered to contact Steve Tagliatela, owner of Saybrook Point Inn to discuss this with him.
S. Prisloe suggested the group profile businesses like the Saybrook Point Inn on the home page of Sustainable Saybrook to show what local businesses and homeowners are doing in our community to make themselves more sustainable. He said the home page should be dynamic, and there could be an archive of local businesses and people to profile on a regular basis.
S. Keaney asked if anyone was aware of any local Earth Day events. She suggested that next year, Sustainable Saybrook be more involved in promoting Earth Day.
A. Gamble suggested profiling on the web site what the local schools are doing to celebrate Earth Day.
S. Prisloe suggested a “Did you know?” spot on the web site with fun sustainability themed facts about Old Saybrook. There could be a database with a number of fun facts that would change every time a user logged on.
B. Sherwin said that information could be put on Facebook too.
Organizational structure
B. Sherwin would like to create a meeting structure that would be more effective in keeping the profiles, tips, and pillars current and fresh to keep the public engaged.
He would like to create a Sustainable Saybrook Board of Directors so there would be a person or group in charge of updating each pillar.
He asked members of the Old Saybrook Land Trust to take charge of the environment pillar.
A. Gamble offered to be in charge of the food pillar. C. Nelson suggested some people she could put in contact with A. Gamble who also would be interested in working on the food pillar.
S. Keaney, who is a nurse, offered to work with Mary Jane Engle on the health pillar.
B. Sherwin said at some point, he would like each director to make the updates and edits on the web site. He would give them the administrative information, but for the time being, he will remain in charge of that.
Meeting structure, dates and times
B. Sherwin suggested the group meet as a whole once per month, and the directors meet at a separate meeting which will also be once per month. The second meeting would be for the executive committee to discuss things such as budget, recruiting new directors and partners, organizing a trade show, and any other business that does not have anything to do with any of the pillars.
B. Sherwin said with the two meetings a month, the group could be more efficient because the meetings would have two different purposes. He asked for input for days and times that may attract more members of the public.
The group responded positively to B. Sherwin’s proposal of the new meeting structure.
B. Sherwin suggested the new meeting schedule be discussed at the next special meeting of the Conservation Commission’s Outreach Committee Sustainable Saybrook, which will be on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Town Hall, 302 Main Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room at 8:00 A.M.
The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 9:12 A.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathleen Noyes
Recording Clerk
| 
