1. Reduce pesticide use on town fields and school campuses to protect our children. Reduce the use of lawn chemicals town wide to protect well water purity.
2. Rogers Lake –develop a long term plan –promote it as a high priority item for the 2010 Town Plan of Conservation and Development-coordinate with Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions, Rogers Lake Authority, and Rogers Lake Associations
3. Purchase open space while land values are stable
High priority
1. Promote the Incorporation of Low Impact Development and Best Management Practices for Old Lyme’s next round of development by:
- Reducing clear cutting, the size of impervious surfaces, and lawn size
- Requiring replanting after clear cutting, especially bordering water bodies
- Establishing rain gardens, stream buffers, and earthen berms to reduce the impact of run-off into our water bodies
- Identifying and protecting vernal pools
- Reducing outdoor lighting pollution
2. Preserve the remaining farmland and promote farm activities and gardening
3. Revise subdivision regulations in connection with the open space program
4. Revise Planned Residential Conservation Development Regulations to provide better incentives for developers
5. Revise the subdivision regulations to make sure that the location of dedicated open space is in fact suitable for “parks, playgrounds, and recreation areas,” that the town or a trust is assigned the task of monitoring dedicated open space for a homeowners association, and that conservation easements in the favor of the town be regularly checked for compliance by a person hired for that purpose
6. Work on the establishment of a town wide interconnected trails network
Next level priority
- Air quality – Promote radon testing. Monitor the new bus barn
- Encourage bicycle use throughout the town
- Recycling – Establish a central electronics recycling site
- Establish a town leaf and brush composting (chips) site
- Work on stream improvement and habitat improvement
- Promote Solar panel and geothermal heating and cooling installations
Contact George James at 860 434-5589 or [email protected] if you would like to take an active part in our program.