OLD LYME–Selectwoman Jude Read is calling for the dissolution of the Halls Road Improvements Committee (HRIC) as the Old Lyme Board of Selectmen continues to back away from big picture changes to the road that have evolved over the past decade.
On the selectmen’s table now is a scaled-back plan that includes new sidewalks, but no other substantial upgrades like the bow bridge and trail system envisioned by the HRIC. First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker in May signed off on a grant application to the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) for $800,000 to install sidewalks on the north half of Halls Road.
Josh Morgan, DOT Communications Director, said in a Tuesday email that he expects the award announcements to go out in the next several weeks.
During their Monday evening regular meeting, the selectmen considered creating a new committee to guide the process if a grant is awarded. But Read emphasized the existing Halls Road committee should be disbanded before forming a new one.
“The other thing I think would be helpful – these are my thoughts – is, if and when we start a new committee, we’re careful about the charge, what the goal is, (and) how many people are on that committee.”
Read also suggested requiring a unanimous vote when appointing members to a new committee. She is the lone Republican on the board with Shoemaker and Selectman Jim Lampos, both Democrats.
Lampos and Shoemaker declined to disband the committee right now because they need more information on the status of projects that were pending when selectmen voted to put the group on a hiatus in April.
The HRIC has been controversial since it started in 2015 under Democratic then-First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder with a charge to consider a master plan for the commercial span. The result – honed over the course of dozens of public meetings, information sessions, and workshops – evoked images of village-like storefronts and apartments, a pedestrian bridge, more greenspace and sidewalks.
Reemsnyder successor Tim Griswold, a Republican, a few years later called the vision too grandiose. He said at the time that he preferred to focus on building sidewalks one segment at a time before considering such broad plans.
But opposition came to a head earlier this year when more than 550 people filled the Lyme-Old Lyme High School auditorium for a public hearing on changes to the town’s zoning regulations that the committee hoped would turn their vision into reality.
The proposal to create an overlay district in the commercial zone would have allowed as many as 40 housing units per acre to be built above, or behind, ground-floor businesses.
The plan was rejected by the Zoning Commission, HRIC Chairwoman Edie Twining subsequently resigned, and the board of selectmen put the committee on hiatus while attempting to manage the fallout.
Crossing That Bridge
Before making any decisions on whether to disband the HRIC, Shoemaker and Lampos on Monday said they wanted to get a better understanding of how much has been spent on Halls Road projects to date and which contracts remain outstanding.
At the behest of the HRIC, selectmen in 2023 hired AI Engineers of Middletown to come up with plans for a pedestrian bridge over the Lieutenant River and a trail system between Lyme Street and Halls Road. The company’s work was funded with $135,000 in federal American Rescue Plan money and a $28,500 grant through the Connecticut Recreational Trails program.
Old Lyme Finance Director Anita Mancini said the committee spent $13,500 of the trails grant so far.
The committee in an FAQ document said AI Engineers was tasked with taking charge of conceptual designs, formal designs, permitting and the construction bid process. No funding for construction has been secured.
The decision to accept or reject the designs would be up to the public, according to the committee. Old Lyme’s form of government calls for the public to vote on major decisions at town meetings, with options to send the biggest issues to referendum.
Shoemaker said the town could be responsible for returning $13,500 to the state if the town doesn’t complete the design project.
Read argued it might be prudent in some cases “to take a loss.”
“Is it better to lose $13,500 or spend another $15,000, have it designed, and not be sure if the town’s going to approve it or not?” she said.
Shoemaker and Lampos reiterated they need a better idea of the financial picture first.
They said it’s been difficult to pinpoint how much has been spent, and in which line items, in a decade of budgets overseen by multiple administrations.
Lampos credited the current selectmen with making the budget process and town procedures more transparent.
“I think there’s a lot of clarity, but there’s just so much that we can answer for what happened before us,” Lampos said.
LymeLine in April requested documents related to the amount expended so far on HRIC projects. Shoemaker on Monday said the information will be available next week.
Lampos, who wrote the grant with Shoemaker’s executive assistant Katie Balocca, emphasized there is nothing in the grant to cover the HRIC’s bow bridge proposal.
“It is currently on hiatus. We’re not addressing it,” he said.
Building the bow bridge would require the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to transfer ownership of its property on the east bank of the Lieutenant River to Old Lyme, which the agency has agreed to do as long as the town agrees to put a fishing pier, a dock for portable boats and parking spaces there.
Lampos acknowledged the idea, like other elements of the HRIC plan, is controversial. That’s why the grant application focuses solely on sidewalks.
“Almost everybody was saying, ‘forget the overlay,’ half the people were saying, ‘forget the bridge,’ and just about everyone was saying, ‘but we want the sidewalks,’” he recounted.
Read wondered if a new committee should be limited to overseeing only what’s in the grant or if they should be empowered to look at other improvements and funding sources.
“We have requests for sidewalks, lighting, signage, beautification,” she said.
Lampos put it this way: “If we don’t get the grant, I think we cross that bridge at that time.”
So we know now that First Select-person Shoemaker has authorized $163,000 for the design of a controversial bow bridge and zero dollars for sidewalks. Town residents have/had been quite clear about sidewalks first and foremost. This element of the Halls Road Master Plan in going the same way as the failed overlay zoning proposal, Lack of transparency, lack of leadership and politics will/have doom this project.
Elections have consequences, I would suggest putting any discussion on forming a new Halls Road Committee on hold until after the upcoming municipal elections in November.
I’d like to draw attention to the funding for the bridge project. $135,000 in federal American Rescue Plan money.
Let’s call that what it is. COVID money. H.R.1319 – American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
“This bill provides additional relief to address the continued impact of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) on the economy, public health, state and local governments, individuals, and businesses.” An act allocating $350 billion in assistance to state and local governments.
Is anyone out there but me offended that our town chose to waste this money on a frivolous bridge project rather than using it for something meaningful? $135,000 could have gone to helping the truly needy or bolstering a project that would truly benefit local residents.
I too, placed a Freedom of Information Act request to the Town of Old Lyme and the CTDEEP for all documents relating to the bridge project back in April. Still waiting.