MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
Tuesday, April 17, 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
Jerry Brophy
Pat Ingellis
Partner Group Members Present
Sara Keaney, Old Saybrook Land Trust
Ann Gamble, Old Saybrook Land Trust
Heather McNeil, Youth & Family Services
Susan Esty, Main Street Business Association
Land Use Department Staff Present
Christine Nelson, Town Planner
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
R. Fish was pleased to announce that he spoke with C. Fortuna about the energy program, and C. Fortuna is very positive about it. Fire Marshal Donn Dobson is working on a grant to replace the heating and air conditioning control system in the Town Hall building so the air conditioning can be turned off on the weekends.
R. Fish also mentioned that today, to conserve energy, although the temperature is supposed to be in the low 80s, the air conditioning has not been turned on in the Town Hall building.
R. Fish distributed an article on Sustainable Saybrook in the Spring 2012 issue of “The Habitat”, a newsletter of the CT Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions.
Discussion of partner/director roles
B. Sherwin wanted to define and clarify the difference between a “partner’ and a “director”. Partner refers to a group or organization that has a similar goal to Sustainable Saybrook’s goal, who is interested in co-sponsoring events and activities. A director, or liaison, or correspondent, is a person, not a group, who is willing to funnel content back to Sustainable Saybrook. For example, the Old Saybrook Garden Club may be a partner, but there would be a liaison, or director from the Old Saybrook Garden Club, who would be in charge of directing information to Sustainable Saybrook. He said eventually, each correspondent could have an account and post web site content themselves.
The group was supportive of this idea. Some felt the terms “director” and “partner” sounded very corporate and off-putting, and they preferred the terms “liaison” or “correspondent.”
Updates on partner outreach
S. Keaney and S. Prisloe met with Abby, the head of the “green team” at the Saybrook Point Inn. She said the Saybrook Point Inn uses all LED lights. They have a gas co-generating plant, and they are not using any oil. They take their pre-consumer food scraps, put them in a special collection garbage pail, and All Waste picks them up twice a week, taking them to a composting site. If other restaurants in Old Saybrook wanted to partner with them in this effort, this would reduce the costs.
The Saybrook Point Inn has sent out an e-mail inviting people to attend their “green tour” on April 18, 2012 from 3:00 to 5:00.
S. Keaney also spoke about the health pillar. She is waiting for Sherry Carlson to contact her. Mary Jane Engle has recently resigned from the regional health district.
B. Sherwin has been in contact with Mary Roche from the OS Garden Club. They are going to be submitting some OS Garden Club events, which B. Sherwin has offered to post on the Sustainable Saybrook web site.
B. Sherwin will be speaking to the Economic Development Commission at their May 10, 2012, 7:00 P.M. meeting about Sustainable Saybrook. B. Sherwin asked them if they might be interested in taking over the “business placard” idea in which businesses that meet certain sustainability criteria, could advertise that they are Sustainable Saybrook partners.
H. McNeil said Youth & Family Services held a social services event at Grace Episcopal Church this past week. The CT Department of Social Services bus came with their dental clinic. Old Saybrook residents booked all of the available appointments. The DSS bus was there for 6 hours. 35 applications were processed for heating assistance, etc. This event raised awareness that Old Saybrook does have a pocket of need. It was a successful effort.
S. Esty reported that the Main Street Business Association is updating their web site. Their summer stroll is going to be on Friday, June 29, 2012. Also, there will be a “sale a bration” that weekend, and the Farmer’s Market will be open that weekend as well.
R. Fish asked if S. Esty has had a chance to put anything on the economy page for the Sustainable Website. S. Esty said she would be working on it soon.
Promotional materials: logo, cards, bookmarks, etc.
A. Gamble met with her friend, who is a graphic artist, yesterday, to discuss the feedback on the logo from the last Sustainable Saybrook meeting. A. Gamble will bring the new proposed logo graphics to the next Sustainable Saybrook meeting on May 1, 2012. A. Gamble would like to set up a table at the Farmers’ Market offering small bookmarks with the Sustainable Saybrook logo and web site on them.
R. Fish said S. Prisloe has been working on a design for a Sustainable Saybrook bookmark as well.
B. Sherwin uploaded a QR code to the Sustainable Saybrook Facebook page.
J. Brophy brought in a “Think Local, Buy Local” paper bag as a suggestion. S. Esty said the Main Street Business Association is putting bags together as well. The idea is that if customers bring their bag in to participating local stores, perhaps they could get a certain percentage off of certain store merchandise.
S. Keaney brought up the idea of a Main Street Walking Tour. S. Esty said the Chamber of Commerce puts together a map with a walking tour already. It highlights the different types of architecture in town, it preserves the character of the town, and it draws attention to local businesses.
B. Sherwin said that a resident provided feedback through the Sustainable Saybrook web site that he’s interested in participating in a community cleanup group.
S. Keaney suggested sponsoring a local town cleanup. C. Nelson suggested asking the resident who voiced his concerns if he would be interested in spearheading that effort.
S. Esty suggested a Founders Park cleanup. S. Keaney, who is part of the volunteer weed whackers group for Founders Park, said she would mention this to Barbara Gunther.
- Gamble offered to check with the boy scouts about park cleanup.
S. Keaney suggested putting a question on the Sustainable Saybrook Website asking people what they are doing for Earth Day. B. Sherwin said he has already put something on the Sustainable Saybrook Facebook page.
Event Submissions
A. Gamble asked that there be an announcement on the Sustainable Saybrook Website that the community garden, which supplies produce for the soup kitchen, is looking for volunteers.
Group members shared ideas for places Sustainable Saybrook can advertise locally such as Walt’s Market, the local churches, The Kate, laundromats, the Paperback Café, Starbucks, bank lobbies and local convenience stores.
H. McNeil suggested putting a Sustainable Saybrook table up at Youth & Family Services Family day in September.
S. Esty thought Sustainable Saybrook should have a flier or bookmark to hand out at the Wednesday night summer concerts on the Town Green.
S. Esty suggested Sustainable Saybrook make a presentation to the Chamber of Commerce. She would like to put Sustainable Saybrook on the agenda for their 8:00 A.M. meeting on Tuesday, May 29, 2012.
The next special meeting of the Conservation Commission’s Outreach Committee Sustainable Saybrook, will be Tuesday, May 1, 2012, Town Hall, 302 Main Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room at 8:00 A.M.
The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 9:00 A.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathleen Noyes
Recording Clerk
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