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Committee readies townwide mailing and grant push with New England Smart Energy
Summary
The Simsbury Sustainability Committee said a townwide mailing from New England Smart Energy is planned around the 15th and discussed an Energize CT grant (up to $5,000) that would fund outreach if the town assigns a staff lead; committee members volunteered event ideas for tabling and cross‑promotion via the newsletter and Facebook.
Baird, a committee member leading the New England Smart Energy outreach, told the Simsbury Sustainability Committee that the group has finalized a letter and planned a townwide mailing. "They're planning if we send them the finalized letter tomorrow on doing a mailing for the whole town, by the 15th of this month," Baird said, and added that the outreach will continue across the following 12 months.
The campaign will include a landing page with a QR code linking back to committee materials already approved for the site. Committee members agreed to promote the mailing through the group newsletter and the committee's new access to the town Facebook page. The town staff member said the newsletter was recently posted to a townwide announcements list of more than 2,000 subscribers, increasing the campaign's reach.
Baird also described a grant opportunity: "Energize CT is offering grants up to $5,000 for any town that would like to promote energy efficiency," he said, noting that the grant requires a dedicated staff lead. Members discussed who could serve in that role and the committee's requirement to seek Board of Selectmen approval before applying for or accepting grants under the committee's charter.
Committee members suggested high-traffic events for tabling — including the library, the sustainability fair, and other town activities — and proposed leveraging the July newsletter to feature NESE materials and related stories like school solar and local housing redevelopment. The committee agreed to coordinate with the deputy town manager and library staff on event timing and to place the landing-page link on the committee's page of the town website.
The committee did not take any votes on the mailing or the grant request because there was no quorum. As next steps, Baird said he will circulate the finalized PDF for signatures and timelines and the committee will follow up with town staff about the Board of Selectmen schedule for grant authorization.
