OLD LYME — The Sound View Sewer Project in Old Lyme passed comfortably by 883 votes to 565, after all votes were double-counted in Tuesday’s referendum. The proposal therefore secured a margin of 318 votes with 61 percent voting in favor of bonding $9.44 million to fund the proposed sewer project and 39 percent voting against. A total of 1448 residents and/or property owners voted representing less than 30 percent of registered voters.
After the result had been announced, Old Lyme First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder commented, “I think the people spoke and it is time to move on to next steps. We made sure that everyone had a chance to vote with a full day of a referendum, absentee ballots available and several public info sessions.”
Asked for his reaction to the result, Frank Pappalardo, who is chair of Old Lyme’s Sound View Commission and a director of the Sound View Beach Association, Inc., told LymeLine.com in an email, “Today’s referendum vote in favor of a $9.5 mil bond for sewers is disappointing. I believe that many in Old Lyme were not aware complexities regarding the sewer issue facing Old Lyme and specifically the Sound View area.”
He added, “The cost recovery method of placing the entire burden on a small group of property owners is unprecedented. And to further the concerns are the unrealistic individual property owner costs in excess of $15,000 and reaching over $100,000 for some.”
Pappalardo concluded, “We’ve work so hard to unify the town and beach community and have made great strides. Now with this vote we have created a schism: Sound View vs the Town. And set in motion a number of legal challenges. There must be a way to find common ground and make this work for all in Old Lyme.”
For a fuller account of the implications of the referendum, read Mary Biekert’s article titled, “Old Lyme voters approve $9.44 million Sound View sewer project,” published this evening on theday.com.