Selectmen vote against going Pure Green

SHARON — At their regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 14, the selectmen voted against switching to an environmentally friendly energy plan for all  town-owned buildings.

The town’s energy supplier, Viridian Energy, offers two environmentally friendly energy plans to its customers: The Everyday Green plan supplies customers with energy from 20-percent renewable energy sources; the Pure Green plan supplies customers with energy from 100-percent renewable  sources.

The town is currently signed up for the Everyday Green plan.

At the meeting, Selectman Meg Szalewicz said she is in favor of switching to Pure Green. A representative from the company estimated that the Pure Green plan would cost the town an additional $400 a month, with potentially higher costs in winter.

“This would be a demonstration of our concern for the environment,� Szalewicz said. “It would be a minimal cost increase in cost to the town.�

Selectman John Mathews argued against the switch.

“I would just like to wait until budget season to consider it,� Mathews said. “Right now I’m getting a lot of phone calls from residents who are worried about taxes. I think we’re spending a lot of money and people are seeing that. A lot of older of people are worried. I got jumped at a grocery store recently by two people who said, ‘You’re just spending us dry.’�

Mathews said he was not against the idea of changing over to the Pure plan, but he said it would be more prudent to consider doing so next spring, when the selectmen begin to plan the budget for the next fiscal year (which will begin July 1).

Szalewicz said she strongly disagreed with Mathews.

“It would be a huge statement for the town that we care about the environment,� Szalewicz said.

“But we already are making a statement by being on the [Everyday Green] plan,� Mathews said.

After some debate,  Szalewicz made a motion for the town to switch over to the Pure Green plan.

She voted in favor of it; Mathews and First Selectman Bob Loucks voted against the motion, defeating it.

Latest News

Classifieds - December 4, 2025

Help Wanted

CARE GIVER NEEDED: Part Time. Sharon. 407-620-7777.

SNOW PLOWER NEEDED: Sharon Mountain. 407-620-7777.

Keep ReadingShow less
Legal Notices - December 4, 2025

LEGAL NOTICE

TOWN OF CANAAN/FALLS VILLAGE

Keep ReadingShow less
‘Les Flashs d’Anne’: friendship, fire and photographs
‘Les Flashs d’Anne’: friendship, fire and photographs
‘Les Flashs d’Anne’: friendship, fire and photographs

Anne Day is a photographer who lives in Salisbury. In November 2025, a small book titled “Les Flashs d’Anne: Friendship Among the Ashes with Hervé Guibert,” written by Day and edited by Jordan Weitzman, was published by Magic Hour Press.

The book features photographs salvaged from the fire that destroyed her home in 2013. A chronicle of loss, this collection of stories and charred images quietly reveals the story of her close friendship with Hervé Guibert (1955-1991), the French journalist, writer and photographer, and the adventures they shared on assignments for French daily newspaper Le Monde. The book’s title refers to an epoymous article Guibert wrote about Day.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nurit Koppel brings one-woman show to Stissing Center
Writer and performer Nurit Koppel
Provided

In 1983, writer and performer Nurit Koppel met comedian Richard Lewis in a bodega on Eighth Avenue in New York City, and they became instant best friends. The story of their extraordinary bond, the love affair that blossomed from it, and the winding roads their lives took are the basis of “Apologies Necessary,” the deeply personal and sharply funny one-woman show that Koppel will perform in an intimate staged reading at Stissing Center for Arts and Culture in Pine Plains on Dec. 14.

The show humorously reflects on friendship, fame and forgiveness, and recalls a memorable encounter with Lewis’ best friend — yes, that Larry David ­— who pops up to offer his signature commentary on everything from babies on planes to cookie brands and sports obsessions.

Keep ReadingShow less