Meeting Snapshot
When: Tuesday, June 3 2025, 7 p.m.
Where: Virtual session (no public callers)
Length: 1 hour, 2 pages of minutes approved unanimously (motion, second, all “aye”).
“Ten out of the last twelve Saturdays it rained,” one member sighed, summing up the season in a single sentence.
Cleanup Day: 847 Households and Counting ☔️
The Highway Department tallied 847 participating households for May’s town-wide Cleanup Day—even as crews stood outside in a deluge that dumped over 10 inches of rain in May alone. Next year’s repeat is locked in for Saturday, April 25 2026. Committee members are pricing tents so residents—and highway crews—can work under cover instead of umbrellas.
Summer Newsletter on Deck
Bree will file four summer pieces for the town newsletter:
- Recycling refresher
- Town composting update
- Dark-sky lighting guide
- Textile recycling tips
A fall article on invasive species and native plants will emphasize seed collection. “Fall is when seeds happen,” Bree noted, promising a tweak before submission.
Apples, Compost and Food Pantries 🍏
Federal lunch rules require fruit on every tray, but, as one member put it, “Most of the kids don’t eat the fruit.”
- Westwood Elementary diverted uneaten apples to the Farmington Food Pantry, cutting its compost weight by roughly 50–60 percent.
- The committee hopes to add Irving A. Robbins Middle School next year but worries that could swamp the pantry.
- Tara and Sam will pull student-lunch numbers so Plainville Food Pantry (run by Susie and Justin Wors) can judge whether to pick up extra fruit weekly.
Energy Audit & Prize Wrap-Up
With classrooms empty, Sam and newly-promoted Tech Director Matt will run an energy-efficiency audit over the summer. Student contest prizes are done: a returned TUDC specialty pass was converted to Naples gift-card cash, and all winners have collected their loot.
Calendars, Babies & Council Dates
- July meeting: cancelled—Chair Garrett starts paternity leave (“Best of luck with your baby!” the committee cheered).
- August: traditionally dark.
- Next meeting: Tuesday, September 2 2025.
- Town Council: Monday, June 9 2025, 6 p.m. in the pavilion behind Town Hall; a hearing follows at 7 p.m.
Membership remains open; prospects should email Bree before Council’s nomination session next week.
Sponsor Shout-Out 😎
Need storage with air so filtered the Louvre wants a lease? Farmington Storage—155 Scott Swamp Road, Farmington, CT • 860-777-4001—keeps your heirlooms and half-composted science projects equally pristine. Thanks for supporting journalism that’s always last… to breaking news.
About the Author ☕️
Jack Beckett survives on drip coffee strong enough to etch granite—most of it poured at the Einstein Bros. on South Main. When not timing rainstorms, he writes slow-news dispatches for an audience that prefers depth to dopamine hits.
Explore zoning sagas, police blotters and more at wearefarmington.com. Debate us on X.com—Twitter, or as we call it, Twix—and subscribe to the weekly newsletter here.
Further Reading & Fine Print
Creative Commons License
© 2025 The Farmington Mercury / Mercury Local
This article, “Farmington’s Green Efforts Committee: Wet Spring, Big Plans,” by Jack Beckett is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.
“Farmington’s Green Efforts Committee: Wet Spring, Big Plans”
by Jack Beckett, The Farmington Mercury (CC BY-ND 4.0)
