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Conservation Commission requests $7,000 to restart communications, discusses charter updates and a dashboard
Summary
On Oct. 9 the commission voted to request a $7,000 budget allocation to restart communications and data work (including a dashboard). Commissioners also discussed modernizing charter language to add sustainability and clearer budget authority and agreed to research the charter-opening timeline.
The New Canaan Conservation Commission voted Oct. 9 to request $7,000 to restart communications work, including compiling transfer-station and other environmental data into accessible formats such as a dashboard. The motion, moved and seconded during a lengthy discussion about the commission’s authority and role, passed by voice vote.
Commissioners argued the town charter’s current language — which directs the commission to "advertise, prepare, distribute books, maps, charts, plans and pamphlets" — is dated and could be read to allow modern communications tools such as dashboards and social media. Several commissioners urged adding explicit references to "sustainability," climate resilience and the authority to seek and manage grant funds.
"I would definitely ask for whatever it was, 5 or $7,000 to do data management and aggregation to access the data from Tiger that shows what we've been doing from a conservation perspective to aggregate all that stuff and put it into a dashboard," said Commissioner Tom Cronin. Commissioners discussed the town’s budget calendar: submissions typically begin in November, a public review happens in winter and final approval occurs in April.
Town staff said some historical data is already collected in departmental spreadsheets. Tiger, the staff member responsible for transfer-station reporting, told the commission the department maintains the records and will share them: "Most of the data actually gets published in our accounting at the end of the year... the data is housed in my department, about the best way to describe it."
The commission asked the chair to investigate the formal process and timing required to request charter revisions and to report back on whether language in the 10-year Plan of Conservation and Development could be used to inform updates. The chair agreed to research the charter timeline and to prepare next steps for the November meeting. The $7,000 request will be submitted as a budget item for consideration during the town’s capital/operating budget cycle.
