Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Rain Barrel Program topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Garden Club president outlines low-cost rain-barrel program and asks Conservation Commission to help with outreach
Summary
Garden Club President Dina Thomaset asked the Newfields Conservation Commission to partner on a low-cost rain-barrel initiative: food-grade barrels at about $20 each, spigots and screens, volunteer assembly, and education at the Memorial Day plant sale and town venues.
Dina Thomaset, president of the Newfields Garden Club, told the Conservation Commission the club has sourced food-grade brown barrels (about $20 apiece) and plans to sell and promote low-cost rain barrels to encourage household water conservation.
"Each barrel was about $20 apiece," Thomaset said, describing the club's plan to pair barrels with more durable spigots (about $12) and inexpensive screens (roughly $7–$8). She said volunteers — including her husband — would help clean and outfit barrels and build inexpensive stands, and the club hopes to sell assembled kits for about $10 to make uptake affordable.
Thomaset asked the commission to help with outreach and education. She proposed a demonstration and sales table at the Garden Club's Memorial Day plant sale (the Saturday morning event runs with a parade) and suggested working with the town water department to coordinate rain-garden demonstrations and one-page educational materials, plus QR-linked resources rather than long printed manuals.
Commission members voiced support and offered practical assistance. One member noted the library newsletter already flagged drought concerns, and another offered to post information on town and community social media pages. Commissioners discussed combining a mailer with social media outreach to reach both older residents who read printed mail and younger residents who follow local pages.
Why it matters: The program is pitched as a low-cost, locally run way to increase household water conservation and public understanding of rain gardens and stormwater management. Thomaset said the club will seek to make the barrels affordable so residents will install them and reduce runoff when soils are dry.
Next steps: Thomaset said she will meet with the water department and provide the commission with contact information and a one-page handout for possible distribution; commission members agreed to consider a presence at the plant sale and to share promotional text on social channels.
