Don't Forget to Vote: Old Lyme Voters Face Decision on Sound View Sewer Project Today

Old Lyme Water Pollution Control Authority Chairman Steve Cinami in August presented the lplan to bring sewers to the Sound View Beach area as part of a larger proposal from several beach communities. A townwide referendum on the project will be held Tuesday.

OLD LYME – The townwide referendum on the $20.5 million Sound View sewer project will be held Tuesday from noon to 8 p.m. in the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall Meeting Room.

Taxpayers will decide whether to authorize the sewer project at the expense of Sound View residents – with the caveat that the town budget might have to absorb some of the cost. That’s because a state law specifies the town can’t charge homeowners more for the sewer than the value it adds to their property.

The town-governed Sound View project is part of a combined $73.2 million initiative spanning the private beach associations of Miami Beach, Old Colony Beach and Old Lyme Shores to address almost a half-century of concerns from the state that homeowners’ shoreline septic systems are polluting local groundwater and the Long Island Sound. Sound View Beach area is under town jurisdiction, while the other three participants are governed by private beach associations.

The referendum resolution is an amendment to a 2019 approval by taxpayers of a sewer plan then estimated at $9.5 million. State and federal funding will cover approximately 46% of the new $20.5 million total, according to an information sheet approved by the town’s bond attorney.

Anyone who is a registered voter in Old Lyme or who owns property assessed at $1,000 or more is eligible to vote.

More information is available on the town website.