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Monthly Archives: May 2025
Old Lyme Board of Selectmen Approves Changes from Harbor Management to Bolster ‘Law and Order’ at Sound View Beach
Decision Delayed on Which Town Landings Fall Under Harbor Management’s Purview
OLD LYME–The Board of Selectmen on Wednesday unanimously approved changes to a local ordinance that they hope will make it safer to swim and boat at Sound View Beach as early as June 3.
Meanwhile, they deferred separate changes to the same ordinance that would have laid out which waterfront recreational destinations, known as Town Landings, are under the authority of the Harbor Management Commission.
Selectmen gave the go-ahead to language drafted by Harbormaster Matthew Lynch to address concerns from the Sound View Commission about chaotic conditions wrought by water taxis, jet skis and swimmers at the public beach.
The revised Harbor Management Commission Ordinance will be up for a vote by registered voters and qualified taxpayers at the Town Meeting on May 19. If approved, it will go into effect 15 days later.
Harbor Management Commission Co-Chair Teri Lewis on Tuesday said Lynch had been working on the revision for months in collaboration with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to get the new regulations in place in time for the summer season.
“He has donated his own time – over 200 hours – along with Harbor Management Commission helping,” she said. “The Harbormaster has been really doing an amazing job trying to get some sort of law and order down at Sound View, the best that he can.”
New language in the ordinances limits jet skis to no more than 6 mph within 200 feet of the shore, docks, piers, floats, swim zones or moored vessels. Boats are subject to the same speed restriction within 100 feet.
The changes limit motorboats to 6 mph on the Lieutenant River, Back River, Duck River, or Black Hall River.
The boat lane at Sound View under the proposed ordinance is limited to vessels under 35 horsepower, which means jet skis don’t qualify to be there. Approved water taxis and emergency vessels are exempted from the regulation.
The proposed ordinance gives the Harbormaster, Marine Patrol and Police the authority to enforce the rules.
Any violations of the ordinance come with a fine of $150 each, or up to $750 in total in the case of three or more tickets on the same day.
Certain violations, including traveling faster than 6 mph on rivers or operating jet skis in the boat lane, come with fines of $150 for the first offense, $250 for the second offense and $350 for each subsequent offense.
The proposed ordinance will go to voters at at the Town Meeting on May 19. It will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall meeting room.
The Town Landing Question
The decision to defer changes related to which Town Landings are under the Harbor Management’s jurisdiction, and to what extent, came after Selectman Jim Lampos raised alarm bells that the language had been inserted at the “last minute” into the ordinance revision.
Selectwoman Jude Read told her fellow selectmen it is important to have a broader discussion on the list of town landings to determine which ones should be under Harbor Management authority and which might be better suited to oversight by or in collaboration with other local agencies.
The draft language, which was created by the Harbor Management Commission separate from Lynch’s efforts to regulate Sound View Beach, drew criticism from the Open Space Commission and Sound View Commission.
The contested ordinance provisions would have codified the Harbor Management Commission’s authority over several specific town landings, as well as, “Any other property that the Town may acquire through purchase or donation that is specifically for use as a water access point” to tidal waters.
The Town Landings in Old Lyme’s inventory range from the tiny Pilgrim Landing, with enough space for parking and some racks for kayaks and dinghies, to the 3-acre Horseneck Creek Landing that includes undeveloped coastal forest, salt marshes, educational exhibits and plans for a kayak dock.
Horseneck Creek Landing at 36-1 Buttonball Road was the subject of a dispute between the Open Space Commission and Harbor Management Commission several years back. The controversy revolved around how much access the public should have to the water, as well as who was responsible for it. The issue seemed to be resolved in 2023 by the now disbanded 36-1 Buttonball Road Committee and the Board of Selectmen through an agreement for the two entities to work together to manage the property.
The Harbor Management Commission’s draft language specified the parcels subject to Harbor Management Commission oversight “shall include, but are not limited to” Pilgrim Landing, Horseneck Creek Landing, the town dock at Ferry Road, the Ferry Road Landing at the Lieutenant River, the landing for Back River at Town Landing Road and Old Bridge Landing at the Lieutenant River.
Read, the selectwoman, agreed more time was needed to come to an agreement – but not too much time.
“The only issue I have at this point with the revision is Horseneck Creek,” she said. “It’s supposed to be a collaboration of Harbor Management and Open Space. And, therefore, I don’t think Harbor Management should have complete control there.”
Another town landing on Tantummaheag Road is the subject of a property dispute between the town and the owners of the abutting property. Lewis, the Harbor Management co-chair, said Tuesday that the property wasn’t included on the list in the commission’s draft language because of the ongoing battle over property rights.
Read emphasized the importance of quickly resolving the question regarding which Town Landings are under Harbor Management jurisdiction.
“I don’t want to kick these things down the road by six months or a year,” she said.
Selectmen voted unanimously to put the jurisdiction issue on the agenda for upcoming Board of Selectmen meetings, with promises of “substantive progress” by July 4.
Any changes to the ordinance would have to go back to a Town Meeting for a public vote once formalized.
Lewis on Wednesday after the vote said she was amenable to the selectmen’s decision.
“They need to do a bit more due diligence,” she said. “I’m OK with that.”
Editor’s Note: This article was updated to correct the name of the Black Hall River.
Lymes’ Senior Center Hosts ‘Soft Opening’ to Welcome Back Members to Renovated, Expanded Facility
OLD LYME—On Monday, May 5, more than 150 people turned out for a celebratory pizza party at the Lyme’s Senior Center in honor of its “soft opening.”
The Center on Town Woods Rd. has finally emerged from a major renovation and expansion project. Those who attended were able to explore the now much improved facility while also viewing the new design and improvements for themselves.
Director Stephanie Gould and Assistant Director Caitlin Perkins were on hand to welcome back the seniors, who have been pursuing Center activities at various venues in town during the construction period. WIth the reopening of the Center, all the activities are now relocated back at the Center
Five Old Lyme Town Hall staff—First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker, Vicki Urbowicz, Courtney Joy, Michele Hayes, and Katie Balocca—attended the celebration to assist with the festivities.
Shoemaker told LymeLine by phone on Friday, “It was an absolutely wonderful event. There were so many happy, smiling faces.” She added, “People were just so glad to see each other again.”
An official Grand Opening of the Senior Center is planned for Saturday, May 31.
Essex Savings Bank Announces New Name, Prepares to Celebrate 175th Anniversary
ESSEX–The Essex Savings Bank is shortening its name.
The institution, which has a branch in Old Lyme, announced it will be known as Essex Bank as of Oct. 1. Its new logo is shown at left.
President and CEO Diane Arnold in a press release said the new name better reflects the bank’s expanding services, including trust and wealth management services.
“As we prepare to celebrate our 175th anniversary, we have been listening closely,” Arnold said. “Again and again, our customers tell us, ‘You are so much more than a savings bank.’ And they are right.”
The bank was founded by a group of local shipmasters, businessmen, and entrepreneurs in 1851. The bank said the founders’ tenets of highly personal service hold today, with team members answering each customer phone call, and the Bank’s Community Investment Program – which it said is the first of its kind in the state of Connecticut — supporting hundreds of local nonprofit organizations each year.
Essex Savings Bank is an FDIC-insured, state-chartered, mutual savings bank established in 1851. The Bank serves the Connecticut River Valley and shoreline with six offices in the area. Apart from the Old Lyme one, the remaining offices are in Essex (2), Chester, Madison, and Old Saybrook.
Together the offices provide a full complement of personal and business banking. In addition, the bank has been instituting more modern technologies, digital platforms, and lifestyle features.
Along with the October name change, Essex Bank will also launch a new website with expanded resources for customers to understand their banking options.
Death Announced of Henry ‘Hank’ Dugan of Lyme; Father of Kelly of Lyme, and Ryan
LYME, CT —Henry ‘Hank’ Dugan, aged 82, died peacefully on May 5, 2025 at home in Lyme, CT. Hank was born and raised in Central Falls, RI after which he attended Northeastern University and RI College. He attended OCS at the Coast Guard Academy, becoming an Academy math instructor and basketball coach. Hank spent his professional life in marketing and sales for tech companies while living in CT, MA, NJ, CA and Wash, DC until retiring to Ocean City, NJ and then Lyme.
His lifelong interests included: playing golf (2 holes-in-one), cycling, bridge, the Yankees, handball, gin, UConn women’s basketball and the beach. He played on Northeastern’s first team to make it to NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen, and won competitive matches as a senior handball player in the DC area. His bridge game was outstanding.
He is predeceased by his wife, Ann Gibbons Dugan, of Providence, RI, his mother, Dorothy Peterson, of Pawtucket, RI, and his father, Henry ‘Dixie’ Dugan, of Cumberland, RI. He leaves behind his daughter, Kelly Dugan, of Lyme, CT, his son Ryan Dugan and his wife Sarah Smith, of Glen Burnie, MD as well as three amazing grandchildren: Olivia, Makayla, and Tristan. Of his many first cousins in the Siok family, Carl Romanovich was like a brother to him.
Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in Hank’s name to the Central Falls Public Library or The Nature Conservancy. To celebrate his life hit a golf ball, have a VERY DRY martini, and root for the UConn women next spring.