Editor’s Note: This article was updated with comments from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesman.
OLD LYME — Armed with refined cost estimates, the Board of Selectmen is pitching a January referendum vote for a sewer project that has faced resistance for decades as leaders grapple with how to pay for a cleaner Long Island Sound.
Meanwhile, Old Lyme Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) Chairman Steve Cinami continues to warn residents a delay could cost millions.
First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker at Monday’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting told selectmen that state elections timelines and scheduling for the registars of voters will require pushing the referendum date on the Sound View Beach sewer project to Jan. 13, 2026.
She said state election law requires the town’s tabulating machines to be locked for two weeks following the Nov. 4 election. Also crowding the schedule is the Thanksgiving holiday and a state-mandated training for the registrars in December that will limit the availability of the part-time civil servants, according to Shoemaker.
Sound View is responsible for up to $17.1 million of the $70 million proposal to require residents of four beach communities to install sewers. State and federal funding would bring the amount to be covered by Sound View residents down to $8.5 million.
Selectmen last month said there were too many unanswered questions to get the question on the ballot in time for the municipal election. But increased clarity on the amount Sound View users will have to pay, combined with the impending cost sharing agreement between the town and three private beach communities, have left selectmen ready to prepare another date.
The Old Lyme WPCA, which oversees the Sound View project, has been pushing for townwide approval before construction bids expire in mid October. The urgency was underscored when the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) informed local officials that federal funding amounting to about half the project cost is in jeopardy if the town doesn’t get the project approved soon.
Connecticut DEEP Deputy Commissioner of Environmental Quality Emma Cimino in an Aug. 15 email to Shoemaker said failing to move forward with the referendum by mid October “will significantly impact” the town’s ability to pursue Clean Water Act funding for 25% of the total project cost and a forgivable loan for another 25%.
After Monday’s meeting, Shoemaker said she will send the recommended referendum timeline from the Town’s Registrars of Voters Catherine Carter and Jennifer Datum to the state agency.
She said the dates were selected in accordance with the state’s election law and calendar.
“I will tell [the CT DEEP] if they have any other way to get around this, they will have to reach out to the secretary of the state’s office,” she said.
Cinami, as head of the Old Lyme WPCA, called the proposed delay ridiculous.
He said a staff attorney with the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s Office told him locking down machine tabulators after the election doesn’t mean the town can’t hold a referendum using paper ballots.
Secretary of the State Spokesman Roger Senserrich on Tuesday confirmed the referendum could happen while the tabulators are locked.
Cinami said delaying until mid-January could be an expensive proposition.
“The registrar of voters works for the town, to do town business,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday. “This could cost the town $3 million if we don’t pass a referendum and get the project going prior to the beach associations signing contracts with the state.”
Cinami said the delay could make the town ineligible for the Clean Water Act funds if they are awarded at the end of December or early January, which is the timeline he’s been given.
“I don’t know what the town doesn’t understand,” he said. “I don’t think I’m a genius. I think the DEEP has been very clear what they plan on doing. And if you don’t listen to them, I think you jeopardize funding.”
The state going back to the early 1980s has pushed for an end to pollution emanating from local beach communities, leading to a 2018 consent order with Old Colony Beach, Old Lyme Shores, and Miami Beach that resulted in the current shared sewer plan. Sound View was added in 2019 after voters in a townwide referendum agreed to spend $9.5 million on the public portion of the project with the understanding that affected neighborhoods would fund it.
The new referendum vote is necessary because inflation drove up the total cost of the project, though the promise of federal funding means Sound View ratepayers would be paying less than the amount authorized in the first referendum.
The town is participating voluntarily in the sewer plan at this point. But the state has warned a consent order, like the one forcing the private beach associations to act, could be coming if progress isn’t made.
Cinami said the state set the mid-October deadline because that’s when the rest of the beach communities should be ready to move forward.
Bids on the Old Lyme Shores portion of the project, the last of the four beach communities to solicit offers, close on Wednesday.
“After that, my understanding is that the DEEP will allow the beach associations to start work,” he said. “And what I believe will eventually happen is that the town will be ordered to put in sewers.”
Miami Beach WPCA Chairman Scott Boulanger could not be reached Tuesday for an update on the status of the project in that community after bids came back more than $5 million over budget this summer.
By the Numbers
Selectmen on Monday tied up another outstanding issue with the presentation of a third-party report from the accounting firm HRT Advisors analyzing various budget projections.
The disparity between estimates from the WPCA, Selectman Jim Lampos, and some residents had raised questions about the true cost to Sound View residents over the 20 year life of the project loan.
The WPCA in an August presentation put the cost to construct the system at $1,939 annually over 20 years for a typical user, not including annual fees estimated at $565 by the CT DEEP.
The HRT analysis, applying a 5% construction contingency for unexpected costs, estimated that construction costs and connection fees to the East Lyme sewer system enroute the New London wastewater treatment plant would amount to $2,241 per year.
Applying an 8% contingency, the number would rise to $2,292 per year.
There appeared to be consensus among selectmen to use the HRT figures as the official estimate going forward.
The HRT report noted Cinami’s estimate included an outdated price tag of $4.1 million for the shared pump station, which is now $4.8 million after the low bidder dropped out. The accountanting firm also included interest on the bond accrued during the construction period.
Cinami on Tuesday agreed the third-party estimate was fair. Taking into account that he’d applied the connection fees to the annual operations and maintenance category rather than construction costs, he said there was only about $70 separating his figures from the accountant’s estimate using the 5% contingency.
Lampos, who is both a selectman and resident of the Sound View Beach community, said the numbers prove the project is too expensive for the residents, who will have to foot the bill.
He referenced the state “rule of thumb” articulated last year at a public meeting by agency project engineer Carlos Esguerra. The rule, based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidance from the 1990s, says the cost is affordable to residents if it does not exceed 2% of the town’s median household income (MHI). Esguerra at the time identified Old Lyme’s MHI as $122,000, which equated to $2,440 a year.
Connecticut DEEP Spokesman James Fowler has not provided an updated affordability estimate despite several requests from LymeLine over the past few months.
Based on the accountant’s lower estimate, the cost per user goes up to around $2,800 per year when annual operations and maintenance costs are included. Lampos described that figure as “well north” of the affordability threshold.
The CT DEEP did not confirm whether the federal affordability threshold includes annual operations and maintenance costs. Cinami has said it does not.
Lampos and Shoemaker said they have not been able to get confirmation from the state agency on the affordability calcuation or its implications for this project.
Shoemaker called for answers from the state.
On Wednesday, the CT DEEP spokesman in an emailed response to questions from LymeLine said there is no affordability criteria that would allow pollution to continue because the cost was over a certain threshold.
“Affordability would only be used to determine a suitable compliance schedule,” Fowler said.
He described a financial impact assessment used by sewer service providers – sometimes referred to in shorthand as an “affordability” assessment – when a corrective plan is needed to address a pollution problem. If the assessment indicates a higher impact on residents, communities can break up projects into phases to reduce the financial impact, or seek increased funding.
“In Old Lyme’s case, DEEP offered $15 million to lessen the impact,” he said. “In bigger communities like Hartford, its sewer utility is under order and has phased projects on a priority basis and is following a specific compliance schedule to work projects to address the pollution.”
Lampos told selectmen that taking a couple weeks to get the accountant’s analysis did not add to the overall project delay. That’s because negotiations on a Cost Sharing Agreement between the four beach communities are still being ironed out and the bids for Old Lyme Shores remain outstanding.
He maintained that understanding the cost to Sound View residents and ensuring they are represented throughout the project is critical.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Sound View resident Mary Daley commended the three selectmen for their work on the complex issue.
Daley, a vocal project opponent, was appointed to the WPCA last year.
She said Lampos, Shoemaker and Selectwoman Jude Read each kept their campaign promises from two years ago.
“Because, Jude, you promised to listen, and you certainly have. And, Martha, you promised to do this also, and to ensure that Sound View was represented on the WPCA, and you have accomplished that. And, Jim, you have gone over and beyond all expectations to affect and to ensure that Sound View is treated fairly in the sewer project, and we so appreciate your efforts,” she said.