Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Committee Goals topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Simsbury sustainability panel adopts 2026 goals for newsletter, solar support and waste plan timeline
Summary
The Simsbury Sustainability Committee voted to adopt three 2026 goals: maintain a regular sustainability newsletter, formally support town stakeholders in meeting a self‑generated energy (solar) target, and seek Board of Selectmen endorsement of the waste plan by Oct. 31, 2026. Volunteers were recruited for working groups and events.
The Simsbury Sustainability Committee on a regular evening meeting approved several 2026 goals, including a commitment to continue a regular sustainability newsletter, a new goal to support the town in meeting a self‑generated energy target, and a timeline for the sustainability plan part 2 (waste) to be endorsed by the Board of Selectmen by Oct. 31, 2026.
Committee leadership proposed broadening the newsletter goal so the publication serves as an ongoing educational vehicle rather than a one‑off January heat‑pump edition. After discussion about contributions from local groups — including the Pollinators group, the Land Trust, the Farmington River Watershed Association and Century Bike — members voted to adopt the newsletter goal. “We continue to publish our existing newsletter with a regular cadence, subjects to be determined along the way,” the committee chair proposed during the motion to adopt the change, and members responded with aye votes and no recorded objections.
On energy, the committee added a goal to “support the Board of Education, Department of Public Works and Board of Selectmen in achieving the self‑produced energy goal endorsed in the sustainability plan part 1,” which the committee discussed in the context of the plan’s target of producing 50% of the town’s energy locally by 2030. Committee members framed the item as accountability and stakeholder coordination rather than assigning direct responsibility to the sustainability committee; the motion passed unanimously with no abstentions or nays recorded.
The committee also set a time‑bound goal for the waste plan: to have sustainability plan part 2 (waste) endorsed by the Board of Selectmen by Oct. 31, 2026, roughly one year after part 1’s endorsement. Members acknowledged the one‑year target and discussed feasibility, noting prior plan development for part 1 took roughly a year of focused drafting and stakeholder conversations.
Minutes from the Dec. 4 regular meeting and the Dec. 11 special meeting were approved earlier in the meeting. Throughout the session, members emphasized collaboration with town boards and local groups and invited volunteers to lead working groups and outreach for the fair and for drafting plan details. The committee adjourned after approving the items.
