The Old Lyme Board of Selectmen have announced that a Special Town Meeting will be held on Monday, July 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School auditorium to consider and act upon the following three items:
Agenda Item #1
To authorize approval for the construction cost of State Project #104-172: Rte. 156 Bikeway/Sound View Improvements Project in the amount of $877,000, as recommended by the boards of selectmen and finance. The board of selectmen anticipates the actual project cost may be as low as $812,000.
A federal grant being administered by the State Department of Transportation will cover 80 percent of the project construction costs, approximately $649,600 to $701,600. Although the Town will be responsible for only 20 percent of the final cost (between $162,400 and $175,400, approximately), the board of selectmen is required to approve the total project cost at Town Meeting.
The Rte. 156 Bikeway/Sound View Improvements project will construct a Bikeway along Hartford Ave. When project estimates came in higher than anticipated, the Committee decided to undertake the project in phases, with the first phase being the Bikeway, using transportation funding available through the DOT Grant. Later phases will address a new greenway and restroom facilities.
Click to read a related article, “The Case For and The Case Against” the Sound View Proposal.
Agenda Item #2
To authorize the acceptance of Queen Anne Court as a Town road with the condition that all cracks in the road be repaired to the satisfaction of the Town prior to the deed being filed.
Agenda Item #3
To appropriate an amount not to exceed $60,000 to cover excess costs of the Resident Trooper Department, including annual cost, DWI overtime and other overtime cost. The $60,000 would be transferred from the already approved municipal police budget, and is not a new allocation.
Where is the $877gs coming from?
Tonight’s vote of the Route 156 Bike Path and Sound View Improvement project was the most undemocratic process that the people of Old Lyme have ever witnessed. It began with a presentation of the project with a question answers session, which was cut short by the mediator when an opposer asked a difficult but legitimate question. Then, the topic was brought to an immediate yay or nay vote, which should have been voted on by registered voters, business owners, and tax payers who pay more than one thousand dollars per year. However, no formal restration was ever conducted, therefore the children, families, and friends of the would-be registered voters had the opportunity to voice their yay vote. The vote was difficult to determine however, in a rush to judgement the yay-sayers were given the vote by the mediator, Marilyn Clarke. Then, Bonnie Reemsnyder, first select woman, proceeded to railroaded the tax payers with this $877,000.00 project with no explanation of why the vote was not brought to ballot. We should request the assistance of the states attorney general’s office to determine the validity of this vote and the conduct of our town officials.