OLD LYME — This meeting was rescheduled from Jan. 20, when the meeting had to be cancelled due to loss of internet connection.
LYME — The Lyme Board of Selectmen meet Monday, Feb. 1, at 3:30 p.m., at Lyme Town Hall. This is a meeting that will be held in person at Town Hall and take place on Zoom.
To view the agenda or see instructions on how to attend the virtual meeting, click here.
REGULAR MEETING AGENDA
Call-In Phone: 1-408-418-9388 Access Code 24735882
As the Board will convene in the Meeting Hall with limited public access, persons wishing to listen to the meeting may call the above phone number to participate in the meeting.
- Approval of Minutes: 19 January 2021
- Communications:
- TEC Associates – Vegetation Management Plan for Amtrak Corridor
3. Appointments:
- Parks & Rec Commission – 3 Year Term – John Flower (R)
- Economic Development Commis. – 5 Year Term – Sheri Cote (U) or
Mora Rowe (D)
- Halls Rd. Impr. Committee – No Specific Term – Steven Calcagni (D)
- Rogers Lake Authority – 3 Year Term – Maneesha Joshi (D)
- Sound View Commission – Alternate – 1 Yr. Term – Frank Maratta (R), Jackie Miano (R) & Paul Orzel (U)
- Tree Commission – Alternate – 1 Year Term – Fred Behringer (R)
5. Old Business
- COVID
- COVID Cases YTD in Old Lyme
- Employee COVID Protocol
- Project Updates
- Sound View Sidewalks – Update
- Hains Park Restroom Bldg. – Update
- Grassy Hill Rd. Bridge – Discuss Options
- Ferry Rd. Sidewalk – Update
- Tantummaheag Landing – Draft Agreement
- Police Union Contract – Contract Signed
- Annual Town Meeting – Citizen of the Year, Town Report, Affordable Housing Ordinance & Change in Polling Location
- Senior Center – Use of Funds for Building Expansion Consultant
6. New Business:
- Finance Dept. – Increase hours from 30/week to 35/week
- Ethics Commission – FY 2022 Budget Request
7. Public Comment:
8. Other Business:
9. Adjournment:
Date: Saturday, February 20, 2021
Time: 4:00-6:00 pm
Place: Thach Preserve, 131 Brush Hill Rd., Lyme CT
To register: e[email protected]
You are invited to a walk guided by photographer Joe Standart, to experience light before and after the sun sets.
Reservations are required. Space is limited to 10 people including the leaders. Please be safe- wear a mask when meeting in the parking lot. Social distancing guidelines will be followed.
The walk is part of the Lyme Land Trust amateur photography program: Imagining Lyme – A Visual Exploration of Lyme’s Preserves, which encourages people to expand their visual awareness while highlighting the beauty of Lyme Preserves through photographs.
The deadline for submission of photos for the fall/winter season using the category “Light” is March 19, 2021. Three photos of distinction will be chosen.
Saturday, March 13 and April 17, 10:30 am:
“Forest Bathing along the Artists’ Trail”
outdoor experience with certified forest bathing guide Regan Stacey at the Florence Griswold Museum, ($45, for either on-site event).
Register at https://
Spring Equinox Flower Walk – Forest Bathing
Date: Sat March 20
Time: 10:00-11:30 am
Place: Young Preserve, Gungy Rd., Lyme CT
Contact Email: regan@
Photo by Jonnelle Yankovich
Celebrate the day on a gentle walk with periods of reflection and guided meditation. Flowers will be provided for you to carry and take home. If you wish to bring your own, please do. The walk is about 1-mile over easy to moderate terrain. Forest bathing is a supportive practice that invites us to engage with nature as we take in the restorative health benefits of being in the forest.
$30.00 per person. Registration required. Lyme Land Trust members receive 15% off with the discount code LLT15.
To register
The group is limited. Social distancing guidelines will be followed.
For more information and to view upcoming programs:
Lyme Land Trust Events
This meeting includes an agenda item between New Business and Old Business for a Public Hearing as follows:
20-26 –Big Y Foods/Tony Coppola – 99 Halls Road & 25 Neck Road – Construct new convenience mart with retail motor vehicle fueling facility.
This is the controversial proposal to construct a new convenience store and gas station at the north end of Halls Rd. on land owned by Essex Savings Bank.
There are two opportunities to join the meeting remotely.
Via Webex:
https://oldlymect.webex.com/oldlymect/j.php?MTID=md7e689c717d8e5cc0a01ba…
Meeting number (access code): 129 901 7985
Meeting password: M2FraPiuY82
Via phone:
Call +1-408-418-9388 United States Toll
Meeting ID: 882 1266 5835
Passcode: 838868
Membership of FOWC is: Single – $15; Household – $25. To renew or become a member, send payment to FOWC, PO Box 333, Hadlyme, CT 06439.For more information about membership, volunteering, or FOWC goals & mission, send email to: [email protected]
Saturday, April 17,
10:30 am:
“Forest Bathing along the Artists’ Trail”
Enjoy an outdoor experience with certified forest bathing guide Regan Stacey at the Florence Griswold Museum, ($45, for on-site event).
Register at https://
Thursday, April 22:
Earth Day!
Get in on the count with CT Audubon’s annual Backyard BioBlitz and help count nature’s species including birds, insects, fungi, and plants with iNaturalist ID app.
Learn more at www.ctaudubon.org
OLD LYME — This meeting will include the continuation of the Public Hearing regarding Big Y’s gas station/convenience store proposal at 99 Halls Rd. and 25 Neck Rd.,
Lyme Board of Finance will hold a Public Hearing (via zoom) for the proposed 2021/2022 budget for the town.
OLD LYME — A small but mighty single cell organism, plankton, pictured above, is the base of the marine food web.
In a free lecture presented by the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center on April 29 at 6 p.m. via Zoom, Hans Dam, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Connecticut, will speak about the evolutionary ecology of plankton and its vulnerability to climate change. His lecture is titled, The Secret Life of Plankton: The Base of the Marine Food Web.
Register to obtain the Zoom link for the presentation at ctaudubon.org/
Dr. Dam is a biological oceanographer interested in the ecology and evolution of planktonic organisms: the tiny creatures that control the biology of the sea.
He will describe the macro-power of these microorganisms and help attendees to improve their understanding of the invisible life teeming in a tablespoon of river or Sound water.
Dr. Dam’s current research focuses on how copepods, the most abundant animals on Earth, adapt to the ocean’s warming and acidification.
Another area of his work is the evolutionary “arms race” between grazers and toxic plants.
Dr. Dam has published more than 100 papers and trained a generation of oceanographers. He has also spent 20 years advising the State of Connecticut about water quality in Long Island Sound.
Included with participation in the lecture is a special offer: a dinner available for pick-up on the day of the event prepared by renowned chef Ani Robaina, formerly chef at the Microsoft Conference Center and the Pond House in Hartford and currently owner and chef at Ani’s Table. The cost is $75.
This is the third and final presentation in The Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center’s Connecticut River Lecture Series, now celebrating its seventh year with presentations that feature prominent scientists focusing on critical environmental issues. Named for the internationally and locally renowned artist, scientific illustrator, environmental educator, and conservation advocate, the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center is known for its work in environmental education, conservation, research, and advocacy.
For the past year and continuing in 2021, the Center has served young people and adults across the region with small group programs like bird walks and owl prowls, virtual CT River ecology and other courses, seasonal nature crafts and activities for kids via Zoom, as well as an upcoming multi-disciplinary, summer camp program.
More information is available at https://www.ctaudubon.org/
LYME/OLD LYME — The Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Board of Education (BOE) will hold their District Budget Meeting Monday evening, May 3, in the Board of Education Conference Room at Center School starting at 6:30 p.m.
The Budget Meeting will also be live-streamed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF2_W7yYtFwx067Ici9776Q/videos?view=57
Public comment can be made in person or virtually via this Zoom link: https://region18.zoom.us/j/83527766795 and using Meeting ID: 835 2776 6795.
Those choosing the virtual option to make public comment will be required to follow the same expectations as those commenting in person, i.e., after being recognized by the chairperson, participants must state their name and place of residence before making their comments to the board.
The proposed budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year totals $34,874, 548 representing a 0.47 percent increase over the current year’s budget. When this total is combined with last year’s decrease of 1.06 percent, the total change over two years is -0.6 percent or $210,210.
In the Letter of Transmittal accompanying the printed budget, LOL Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser and Region 18 Board of Education Chairman Diane Linderman say, “We have developed a budget that continues to support all of our award-winning academic and curricular offerings, which are commensurate with, and often superior to, both public and private schools throughout Connecticut.”
Members of the BOE are expected to vote at the meeting to move the public vote to approve the budget to an in-person referendum the following day, Tuesday, May 4.
Voting will take place from 12 noon to 8 p.m. at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School for Old Lyme residents and Lyme Town Hall for Lyme residents.
Information on absentee ballot and voter information is available at the following links:
- for Old Lyme residents:- https://www.oldlyme-ct.gov/town-clerk/pages/voter-information
- for Lyme residents:- https://townlyme.org/
Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School will not be closed during voting hours — students will be following a regular school day.
Voting will take place from 12 noon to 8 p.m. at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School for Old Lyme residents and Lyme Town Hall for Lyme residents.
Information on absentee ballot and voter information is available at the following links:
- for Old Lyme residents:- https://www.oldlyme-ct.gov/town-clerk/pages/voter-information
- for Lyme residents:- https://townlyme.org/
Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School will not be closed during voting hours — students will be following a regular school day.
LYME/OLD LYME — Can video gaming be dangerous for kids?
On Tuesday, May 4, from 7 to 8 p.m., Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau and the Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Community Coalition are sponsoring a Zoom presentation on youth gaming and gambling. The Parent Teacher Organizations of Lyme, Mile Creek and LOL Middle School are co-sponsoring the event.
This free, interactive workshop will discuss an overview of youth gaming and gambling. Learn from experts about risk factors, and protective factors for prevention, treatment, and recovery. All are welcome.
The presenters are Kaitlin Brown and Kelly Leppard, who both have extensive experience in this field.
Brown is Director of Programs & Services with CT Council on Problem Gambling. Kaitlin is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Drug and Alcohol Counselor, Internationally Certified Gambling Counselor, and holds and International Gaming Disorder Certificate.
Leppard serves as the Primary Prevention Services Coordinator for Problem Gambling Services with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and Certified Prevention Specialist.