Energy Task Force fully charged up

SHARON  — The Sharon Energy Task Force (SETF) was created by the Board of Selectmen as a result of a resolution passed on June 9, 2009.

The resolution stated that Sharon would make best efforts to obtain 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources by the end of 2010.

As an incentive for completing this Clean Energy Community Program, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund will provide a free solar-electric system for a municipal building.

The SETF comprises eight local citizens and is chaired by Scott Heth. In addition to launching the Clean Energy Community Program, its major accomplishment to date has been the submission to the state of Connecticut for Sharon’s share of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) in the amount of $33,750.

This block grant is made pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in early 2009 to stimulate the U.S. economy.

Included in the Recovery Act was the presidential priority to deploy the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable energy technologies for energy efficiency and for conservation.

The Block Grant is intended to help municipalities develop, promote, implement and manage energy efficiency and conservation projects and programs that are designed to reduce fossil fuel emissions, reduce energy usage, improve energy efficiency and to create and retain jobs.

The grant of $33,750 made to Sharon is made pursuant to these goals.

In addition to submitting and managing projects funded by the EECBG, the Sharon Energy Task Force is dedicated to helping the town of Sharon and its residents and businesses reduce energy consumption and energy costs.

Ongoing initiatives include developing an energy plan for the town of Sharon, providing a central clearing house for information on energy conservation and renewable energy sources, searching for funding for energy conservation projects for town buildings, providing education activities and materials regarding energy efficiency and renewable energy and creating a benchmark of current energy usage for each town building so that energy savings can be tracked.

As each activity is launched and as more information is available, details will be provided both over the Sharon town Web site and through the local media.

For more information contact Heth at 860-364-0520 or e-mail him at sheth@audubon.org.

Latest News

Bobbie C. Palmer

LAKEVILLE ­— Bobbie C. Palmer, born in Lakeville on Jan. 13, 1948, passed away peacefully on March 4, 2024. He is survived by his loving wife, Marva J. Palmer, son Marc (Sandra) Palmer, daughter Erica (Fleming) Wilson, two grandchildren, Andrew Yost and Ciara Wilson, and two great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents Walter and Francis Palmer and four brothers; Henry Palmer, William Palmer, John Palmer and Walter Palmer Jr.

He leaves behind a legacy of love, kindness, and laughter that will be cherished by his family and those closest to him.

Keep ReadingShow less
Finding ‘The Right Stuff’ for a documentary

Tom Wolfe

Film still from “Radical Wolfe” courtesy of Kino Lorber

If you’ve ever wondered how retrospective documentaries are made, with their dazzling compilation of still images and rare footage spliced between contemporary interviews, The Moviehouse in Millerton, New York, offered a behind-the-scenes peek into how “the sausage is made” with a screening of director Richard Dewey’s biographical film “Radical Wolfe” on Saturday, March 2.

Coinciding with the late Tom Wolfe’s birthday, “Radical Wolfe,” now available to view on Netflix, is the first feature-length documentary to explore the life and career of the enigmatic Southern satirist, city-dwelling sartorial icon and pioneer of New Journalism — a subjective, lyrical style of long-form nonfiction that made Wolfe a celebrity in the pages of Esquire and vaulted him to the top of the best-seller lists with his drug-culture chronicle “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” and his first novel, “The Bonfire of The Vanities.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Art on view this March

“Untitled” by Maureen Dougherty

New Risen

While there are area galleries that have closed for the season, waiting to emerge with programming when the spring truly springs up, there are still plenty of art exhibitions worth seeking out this March.

At Geary Contemporary in Millerton, founded by Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, Will Hutnick’s “Satellite” is a collection of medium- and large-scale acrylic on canvas abstracts that introduce mixtures of wax pastel, sand and colored pencil to create topographical-like changes in texture. Silhouettes of leaves float across seismic vibration lines in the sand while a craterous moon emerges on the horizon, all like a desert planet seen through a glitching kaleidoscope. Hutnick, a resident of Sharon and director of artistic programming at The Wassaic Project in Amenia, New York, will discuss his work at Geary with New York Times art writer Laura van Straaten Saturday, March 9, at 5 p.m.

Keep ReadingShow less