Town commits to sustainability efforts

PORTLAND — The town is joining an effort to create a more sustainable community — an effort that involves energy, food and water conservation.

The program was developed by the Connecticut Council of Municipalities, the group that lobbies on behalf of the majority of the state’s cities and town.

First Selectman Susan Bransfield is pushing for the town to commit to the program. Bransfield is the president of CCM.

In announcing the town’s commitment, Bransfield said it could lead to reduced costs, better management of resources and increased livability of community, which will benefit residents while making the town more attractive to a wider range of potential new residents.

“In light of the dwindling resources that are available, we’re always looking for ways we can reduce costs,” Bransfield said, pointing to the cutbacks in state aid as part of the budget stalemate this year.

The effort is a follow-up to an earlier program, Energize CT, which the town also embraced, and which included working to find ways to reduce energy consumption — and the cost of paying for it.

That effort involved, among other things, converting streetlights more efficient LED lights, which provide a clearer, more focused light. That, in turn, worked to serve a goal established form former selectman Carl A. Chudzik Jr.: reducing light pollution as part of an effort to reclaim “dark skies.”

That can help residents see more of the night sky which, in recent years, has largely been obliterated by rampant overuse of unregulated lights.

In an outline of the sustainability program on CCM’s website, sustainability is defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” In practice, the effort “reflects the intersection of three areas of concern for towns and cities: economy, environment and equity (the inclusion of social concerns),” the CCM statement says.

However, CCM says it is up to towns and cities to determine what sustainability means to the citizens of their community.

The sustainability project is relying on support from private organizations and involves cities and towns working with Eastern Connecticut State University. Eastern helped develop a 38-page report that addresses issues such as land-use and transportation, materials management, resilience and climate adaptation and clean energy generation.

Among the towns and/or cities whose efforts are covered in the report are Guilford, New Britain, New London, Milford and West Hartford.

One of the areas that has intrigued Bransfield is community food systems, which could involve a farm-to-schools program, one that would rely upon local farms to supply fresh foods for school lunches. She is also anxious to focus on management of the town’s water supply and finding ways to reduce costs there as well, Bransfield said.

Bransfield was scheduled to bring up the sustainability program during Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen.