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Outreach to take a proactive liaison role for community-cleanup funds after board discussion
Summary
Staff proposed that outreach staff act as a liaison to help towns use the CSWD community-cleanup fund (about $100,000 total); outreach will help with project identification, pre-approval forms and budgeting to increase utilization beyond the current roughly 9% spend rate.
CSWD’s outreach team proposed on June 24 to take a more active role in connecting towns with the district’s community-cleanup fund, which staff said holds nearly $100,000 in town-allocated funds but was used at about a 9% rate in the current fiscal year.
Outreach staff (Joey) said the procedural steps — including a requirement that towns submit a project via an online form and demonstrate local budget availability for initial payments — can impede uptake. Outreach will offer proactive assistance: identifying projects, helping towns complete pre-approval forms, explaining reimbursement mechanics (district pays the town, which then pays third-party vendors), and presenting to town bodies as needed.
Commissioners and town representatives described common hurdles: perceived bureaucratic complexity at the town level, the timing of municipal budgets, and uneven local awareness of the fund. Several commissioners recommended outreach staff contact towns early in the fiscal cycle and offer short presentations to select boards or conservation commissions to encourage planning for eligible projects.
Examples of eligible uses include tire cleanups, neighborhood cleanups, container purchases for community recycling projects, and pilot environmental projects; staff noted prior flexibility (e.g., allowing a town to access multiple years of funds for a large tire cleanup) and said outreach will also track pipeline projects to avoid surprises in budgeting.
The board expressed support for outreach-led assistance and asked staff to proceed with outreach and early engagement to increase fund utilization.
