Monthly Archives: May 2021

Old Lyme’s PGN Library Hosts Kindness Card Workshop Tonight

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OLD LYME — Join an evening of kindness card creation. Just a few spots remain for this fun, free and educational event.

In this presentation starting at 6:30 p.m. this evening, May 4, professional designer and local resident Tracie Larson will demonstrate some creative techniques to improve your card-making skills.

After registering, you will receive instructions regarding collection of your card-making kit at the Library.

You will also need the following materials:

  • Scissors
  • Glue stick
  • A coloring tool; colored pencil, marker or paint

Register here to receive the Zoom link.

Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Hold Budget Referendum Today, Polls Open12-8pm; Griswold Urged BOE to ‘Skip Referendum’

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LYME/OLD LYME — The Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools Board of Education (BOE) are holding a referendum today, Tuesday, May 4, on their proposed budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year. 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:

Members of the BOE voted at the Budget Meeting held Monday evening to move the public vote to approve the budget to an in-person referendum scheduled for the following day.

The proposed budget 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.

This is the first time in many years that the polls will not open until 12 noon — traditionally voting in both towns begins at 6 a.m.

Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold (File photo)

Responding to a question from LymeLine questioning how this time change came about, Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold said by email, “I urged the School Board to vote the budget and skip the referendum because the budget is uncontroversial and actually has a slight decrease.”

He noted, however, “The School Board believes that it is more transparent to have an in person vote.”

Griswold went on to explain his viewpoint further, saying, “Old Lyme has about 400 voters (out of about 6,000) [who vote in the referendum, on average.] Usually, voting occurs during the hours of 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM or 14 hours. That translates to about 29 voters per hour in Old Lyme.”

He noted, “We need about 12 staff to run the polls so the Town would likely need about double that to run two shifts of about seven hours each.”

Adding, “Then, we need to have absentee ballots which means less in person voters.”

Griswold said, “In the end, we discovered this type of vote must be from noon to 8:00 PM or eight hours. Now we are up to about 50 voters per hour.”

“While the cost of running the voting in two towns is a School District expense,” Griswold pointed out, “the Towns fund the District so Old Lyme pays over 80% of the bill.”

In conclusion, he stated, “If the school budget were controversial, in person voting would make sense but this budget is not controversial. We shall see the how many people turn out.”

Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School will not be closed during voting hours — students will be following a regular school day.

Asked how voters would be kept separate from students and faculty during the period when polling station opening times overlap with school being in session, LOL Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser explained to LymeLine by email, “Voters will enter through the two exterior doors in the north corner of the gymnasium near the multi-purpose room.  They will use those same two doors to exit.  Their access will be limited to the gymnasium only.”

Neviaser said this new timing was initiated because, “the [Lyme-Old Lyme] Board [of Education] adjusted the time at the request of the Town of Old Lyme due to concerns regarding COVID.”

He continued, “Depending on how it goes this year we may consider this new time period for future referendums.  Many other regional school districts use the 12-8 [p.m.] time period.”

Neviaser concluded, “When using the school for voting, the change in time is beneficial in regard to visitor management.”

May 3 COVID-19 Update: Cumulative Cases Up One in Old Lyme to 338; Lyme Holds at 105 for 7th Successive Day

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LYME/OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report for Connecticut issued Monday, May 3, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health(CT-DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, May 2, shows that Old Lyme increased by one new case since the previous day to 338 while Lyme’s held steady for the seventh reporting day in succession at 105.

These Daily Reports are not issued by CT DPH on Saturdays or Sundays and therefore Monday’s data includes new cases from both weekend days. The next new report will be issued in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 4.

Old Lyme – Cumulative Cases Up One

The May 3 Daily Data Report for Connecticut for data as at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, May 2, shows that Old Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 327 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 11 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 338 cases.

This represents an INCREASE of ONE in the cumulative number of confirmed cases and NO CHANGE in the number of probable cases compared with those reported the previous day.

The total number of Old Lyme residents tested is 5,180, an increase of 21 over the previous day’s number of 5,159.

Lyme – No Change in Cumulative Cases 

Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 97 confirmed cases and 8 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 105 cases.

This represents NO CHANGE in the cumulative number of confirmed or probable cases compared with those reported the previous day.

The total number of Lyme residents tested is 1,391, which represents an increase of two over the previous day’s number of 1,389.

Two-Week New Case Rates Place Old Lyme in Yellow (Second Lowest) Zone, Lyme in (Lowest) Gray

The report issued Monday, May 3, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) for the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks shows a significant improvement for the state as whole with the number of towns remaining in the Red Zone (indicating the highest COVID-19 new case rates) now less than 100 for the first time this year.

The number of towns in the state in the Red (highest) Zone for two-week new case rates has fallen from 112 last week to 97 this week. Old Lyme has moved down into the Yellow Zone reflecting  decreased new case rates while Lyme remains in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone.

Old Lyme is now one of the 18 towns in the Yellow (second lowest) Zone. Last week, there were 10 towns in this Zone so this is good news as more towns, including Old Lyme, fall out of the Orange (second highest) Zone.

Lyme is in the Gray Zone for two-week case rates, recording a seventh straight week in the lowest zone. Nineteen towns were in this zone last week and that number has increased to 22 this week. (Four zones are specified by the CT DPH — see details below.)

Overall, the number of towns in each zone is shown below with the previous week’s number in parentheses:

  • 22 (19) towns are now in the (lowest case rate) Gray Zone
  • 18 (10) are in the (lowest but one) Yellow Zone
  • 32 (27) are in the (second highest case rate) Orange Zone.

All the remaining 97 towns are in the Red Zone — last week’s number was 113.

Lyme joins 21 other towns in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone: Bozrah, Bridgewater, Canaan, Chaplin, Colebrook, Cornwall, Deep River, Franklin, Hampton, Hartland, Kent, Norfolk, Pomfret, Salisbury, Scotland, Sharon, Sprague, Union, Voluntown, Warren and Washington.

Old Lyme joins 17 other towns in the Yellow (second lowest rate) Zone: Brooklyn, Durham, East Granby, East Lyme, Essex, Ledyard, Montville, Newington, North Stonington, Salem, Somers, Stafford, Stonington, Suffield, Vernon, Weston and Willington.

The Orange (second highest rate) Zone now has 32 towns : Andover, Avon, Bolton, Burlington, Canterbury, Colchester, Columbia, Darien, East Hampton, Easton, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Groton, Hebron, Lebanon, Lisbon, Mansfield, Marlborough, Middlefield, New Hartford, Plainfield, Portland, Ridgefield, Simsbury, South Windsor, Tolland, Waterford, West Hartford, Westport, Windsor Locks and Woodbridge.

  • The Gray category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is less than five or less than five reported cases.
  • The Yellow category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between five and nine reported cases.
  • The Orange category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between 10 and 14.
  • The Red category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town exceeds 15.

In all cases, this rate does not include cases or tests among residents of nursing home, assisted living, or correctional facilities.

This report is issued daily, but only updated weekly on Thursdays. The most recent report was updated Thursday, April 29; the next updated report will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, May 6.

Average Daily Case Rates: Old Lyme Down, Lyme Up

LLHD Director of Health Stephen Mansfield

On Thursday, April 29, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) also issued their latest weekly report of COVID data for the municipalities within their District.

Ledge Light Director of Health Stephen Mansfield prefaces the report with the comment, “We are heartened to see a continued decrease in new cases throughout the District, with moderate decreases in the last two reporting periods. Our contact tracers continue to report clusters associated with daycares, schools, and workplaces, and transmissions linked to social gatherings and sporting events.”

He stresses, however, “Although we are making great strides with our COVID vaccination program, it is still imperative that we remain diligent in our mitigation strategies.”

The latest Average Daily Case Rates announced Thursday, April 29, (from 4/11 to 4/24) have decreased in Old Lyme but increased in Lyme. These case rates are as follows:

  • Old Lyme from 10.7 to 9.7
  • Lyme from 6.1 to 9.2

The same report shows that the case numbers in Week 1 and Week 2 respectively and recorded for the period 4/11 to 4/24  (compared with the previous two-week case rate shown in parentheses) are as follows:

  • Lyme had 1 (1) case in Week 1 and 2 (1) in Week 2
  • Old Lyme had 3 (8) cases in Week 1 and 7 (3) in Week 2

This data was updated April 29. The next Ledge Light Weekly Data Report for its District will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, May 6.

Vaccination Rates

At the request of several readers, we have started a section reflecting the status of community vaccination rates in Lyme and Old Lyme. The state changed its reporting format for vaccination rates on April 15 and their new data does not align precisely with the former data.

Lyme is ahead of Old Lyme in terms of the percentage of its total population that have received a first dose, with 72.06 percent vaccinated compared with 63.89 percent in Old Lyme.

The percentages for both towns for the age segment 65+ are very encouraging with Lyme now having 100 percent of seniors 65 and above fully vaccinated and 92.85 percent of the same age segment also fully vaccinated in Old Lyme.

The detailed data below was partly updated April 29, but we will add to it as we analyze the new format. One change is that the state is now reporting 65 and above as one group, whereas it was previously split into 65-74 and 75 and above.

Old Lyme
Total population:  7,306
Estimated population age 65-74:  1,067
Estimated population age 75 and above:  794

[table id=12 /]

Lyme
Total population:  2,316
Estimated population age 65-74:  372
Estimated population age 75 and above:  274

[table id=11 /]

Three Fatalities in Old Lyme Since Pandemic Began, None in Lyme

According to the report mentioned above, there have now been THREE fatalities in Old Lyme. Asked Tuesday, Feb. 9, for details of this third fatality, Ledge Light Health Department Director of Health Stephen Mansfield responded, “We have not been notified of any recent deaths in Old Lyme. Keep in mind that that report is compiled by the Connecticut Department of Public Health; deaths are not reportable to local health districts.”

He added, “I can’t speak for their data sources.”

The two fatalities from Old Lyme previously reported in 2020 were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.

No fatalities have been reported in Lyme.

Connecticut Hospital Occupancy

At the request of several readers, we have added a new report showing the respective rates of hospital occupancy at local hospitals. The data for this report is obtained from the Connecticut Hospital Occupancy Report published weekly by the CT DPH and extracted from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) facility-level data for hospital utilization aggregated on a weekly basis (Friday to Thursday).

The most recent report is dated Feb. 19 and covers the two-week period from 2/12 to 2/18. No subsequent updates have been issued.

[table id=10 /]

Editor’s Note: The state issues a COVID-19 metric report daily around 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, which includes current data up to the previous evening. In light of the ongoing rise in Coronavirus cases, we publish a new weekday update reporting confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in Lyme and Old Lyme. 

Youth, Gaming & Gambling: Learn About Trends, Warning Signs, Prevention in Free Webinar Tonight

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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.

Register for the presentation at this link.

Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Budget Meeting Tonight, Referendum Tomorrow with New Voting Hours, 12 to 8 p.m.

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Lyme-Old Lyme Schools Superintendent Ian Neviaser. (File photo)

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 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.

Region 18 Board of Education Chairman Diane Linderman

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:

Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School will not be closed during voting hours — students will be following a regular school day.

Asked how voters would be kept separate from students and faculty, Neviaser explained to LymeLine by email, ” Voters will enter through the two exterior doors in the north corner of the gymnasium near the multi-purpose room.  They will use those same two doors to exit.  Their access will be limited to the gymnasium only.”

This is the first time the polls will not open until 12 noon — traditionally voting begins at 6 a.m. Neviaser explained that this new timing was initiated because, “the [Lyme-Old Lyme] Board [of Education] adjusted the time at the request of the Town of Old Lyme due to concerns regarding COVID.”

He continued, “Depending on how it goes this year we may consider this new time period for future referendums.  Many other regional school districts use the 12-8 [p.m.] time period.”

Neviaser concluded, “When using the school for voting, the change in time is beneficial in regard to visitor management.”

Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold (File photo)

Regarding the time change, Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold commented to LymeLine by email, “I urged the School Board to vote the budget and skip the referendum because the budget is uncontroversial and actually has a slight decrease.”

He noted, however, “The School Board believes that it is more transparent to have an in person vote.”

Griswold went on to clarify his thinking on the matter saying, “Old Lyme has about 400 voters (out of about 6,000) [who vote in the referendum, on average.] Usually, voting occurs during the hours of 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM or 14 hours. That translates to about 29 voters per hour in Old Lyme.”

He noted, “We need about 12 staff to run the polls so the Town would likely need about double that to run two shifts of about seven hours each.”

Adding, “Then, we need to have absentee ballots which means less in person voters.”

Griswold said, “In the end, we discovered this type of vote must be from noon to 8:00 PM or eight hours. Now we are up to about 50 voters per hour.”

Concluding, “While the cost of running the voting in two towns is a School District expense,” Griswold pointed out, “the Towns fund the District so Old Lyme pays over 80% of the bill.”

In his final comment, he stated, “If the school budget were controversial, in person voting would make sense but this budget is not controversial. We shall see the how many people turn out.”

Editor’s Notes: 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.