New Council to Oversee Town Efforts in Old Saybrook, Connecticut

OLD SAYBROOK - The town that touts itself as where the "River meets the Sound" has taken the lead once again in protecting the environment.

It is the first in Connecticut to create its own council on environmental quality, said Karl J. Wagner, from the state's environmental quality council, who spoke at the Old Saybrook Conservation Commission's Dec. 11 meeting.

First Selectman Michael Pace said the council will act as a "guardian of policy for the town" and ensure that environmental progress made by the Board of Selectmen for the past eight years "gets institutionalized in government and doesn't hang on an administration or a group of people."

Pace reported that some of the town's environmental successes include the "greening" of Saybrook Point, the reduction of Main Street noise pollution by lowering the speed limit, and the conversion of a former landfill into a park.

The Old Saybrook council is expected to develop baselines for local environmental indicators to measure environmental progress.

Those baselines would then be released in an annual environmental quality report with recommendations, fashioned similarly to the report released by the state's council and available at www.ct.gov/ceq/AnnualReport.

"At the local level, you can have more colorful indicators. In one town, a local politician wears bright white sneakers and records how far he can go in the water until he can't see his shoe. It's the sneaker index," Wagner said.

Such an indicator, Wagner said is "scientifically based because it measures the acidity of the water."

Other possible indicators for this shoreline town include nitrogen and oxygen levels in Long Island Sound and the restoration rate for tidal and inland wetlands.

The council will be charged to focus on a number of environmental areas such as clean water, clean air, recycling, energy conservation, and the implementation of the 20% by 2010 Clean Energy Resolution.

That resolution was recently signed by the Board of Selectmen which promises the town will purchase 20 percent of its municipal energy from clean energy sources.

Pace is recommending residents sign up for Connecticut Clean Energy Options through Connecticut Light and Power.

It would mean an additional cost of $5 for the average household.

59 Old Saybrook households have enrolled and for every 100, the town will receive a 1 free kilowatt energy system.

Wagner noted that the City of Glastonbury has enrolled over 300 households.

The Old Saybrook Environmental Energy Council is also anticipated to focus on citizen well-being, conservation of natural resources and habitat, open space acquisition and stewardship, promotion of local foods, environmental education and culture, compliance with environmental laws, and political action on state and national environmental issues.

According to the council's mission statement, it will act as a seven member ad-hoc committee and members will be appointed by the Board of Selectmen.

Conservation Commission member Jerry Brophy has been appointed to the committee and Tenzin Namdol, a member of the Great Land Conservation Trust, is expected to soon be appointed as the second member.

The council hopes to have representatives from the clean energy campaign, business community, school system, a service organization, and the Connecticut River Area Health District.

First Selectman Michael Pace is requesting residents of Old Saybrook or surrounding communities interested in being on the council should write a letter to the Board of Selectmen at Old Saybrook Town Hall, 302 Main Street, Old Saybrook, CT. 06475.