Municipal Initiative Program

The map above shows the towns and areas that have participated in the Muni Initiative Program.

In 2000, NEMO staff, in collaboration with theNonpoint Source Section of the CT DEP, developed the Connecticut Municipal Initiative. The Municipal Initiative allows the NEMO Team to focus more resources on selected municipalities, establishing relationships between the program and these towns from the initial educational workshop through implementation of on-the-ground changes.

Applying for the Municipal Initiative

Each year, NEMO distributes a Request for Proposals (RFP) to all 169 towns in Connecticut, soliciting admission into the Municipal Initiative. The one-page application form is quite simple, but its purpose is to have municipalities commit to the process of working with the University as partners on a long-term

educational program with specific goals. Three to five municipalities, one from each of the major Connecticut river basins, are chosen each year. (View example RFP from year 2005.)

Selected towns must designate a contact person for the program who will be responsible for facilitating communication both between the program and the town, and among various bodies within the town. In addition, a NEMO Task Force must be established whose membership includes, at a minimum, members of the following commissions or boards: planning, zoning, inland wetlands, conservation and the office of the chief elected official (town council; board of selectmen, mayor’s office). Other groups, such as town departments, land trusts and economic development commissions are also encouraged to participate.

Task Force and NEMO staff agree on a list of specific town objectives, drawn from the general categories suggested by NEMO but heavily influenced by the needs and interests of the town. In addition to the educational presentations, NEMO provides support through guidance documents (fact sheets, publications, CD’s), internet tools, GIS and remote sensing information and consultation via telephone or meetings.

Become a Muni Initiative Participant

Proposals for Year 5 will be sent out Summer 2006 and a copy of the RFP will also be posted here. The focus of this year's Municipal Initiative will be for towns in the lower Thames River Valley.

For more information contact John Rozum, CT NEMO Program Director.

Phone: 860-345-5225.

This website is funded in part by the CT DEP's
Nonpoint Source Program and US EPA Region 1.

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NEMO is a program of the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR).
Land, Sea and Space Grant collaborating.