Author Archives: Christina J and Thomas D Gotowka

Letter to the Editor: Clarification of Some May 7 Lymes’ Senior Center Referendum Issues for Old Lyme Voters

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To the Editor:

Christina and I attended the April 30 town meeting at which the Resolution “authorizing the issuance of bonds and notes to finance an existing appropriation* for the planning, design, and construction of an expanded joint Old Lyme/Lyme Senior Center was discussed by First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker and the Board of Finance (BOF) Chair, Bennett J. Bernblum.

I am writing to clarify a few points of confusion that were raised that night; which could be useful for those “non-attendees” as you prepare to vote on Tuesday, May 7.

The May 7 referendum in Old Lyme is not for resident approval of funding for the renovation and expansion of the Lymes’ Senior Center. Old Lyme’s portion of those required funds was approved on June 20, 2023 and April 15, 2024. (i.e., the “existing appropriation*” in the above.) 

Rather, the First Selectwoman and the Old Lyme Board of Finance (BOF) seek resident approval and authorization to formally explore and potentially commit to bonding for all or part of its Senior Center funding obligation. Note that “exploring.” the issuance of bonds does not obligate the Town—it just provides some important information that the BOF will use to prudently determine which funding alternative to take. Note that these funds are currently available at favorable rates and Old Lyme enjoys a high rating as a municipality seeking funds. 

Per [BOF Chairman] Mr. Bernblum in his 04/27/2024 LTE [published on LymeLine.com]; “if it is defeated, then Old Lyme will not have the option to issue bonds for all or part of its $4,107,656 obligation. 

Instead, it will have to draw funds from its undesignated surplus, thereby substantially reducing the sums that would be available to mitigate the tax impact from the Region 18 renovations coming down the pike in a year or two. This would be a serious mistake.”  

Note that the current undesignated surplus is estimated at $13 million. At the meeting, Mr. Bernblum also discussed a few fiscal “rules of thumb” regarding the amount that should be maintained in Old Lyme’s “rainy day fund.” 

A referendum on the Region18 Board of Education 2024-25 budget of $36,920,881 that was approved in February will also be held on May 7.

Sincerely, 

Christina J and Thomas D. Gotowka,
Old Lyme.

A Special Memorial Day ‘View from Our Porch’: Town Budget Meeting Reflections

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By Christina J. & Thomas D. Gotowka

This “View” was supposed to be “Electric Vehicles: Can Elon overcome the legacy of the Beach Boys?”, but Christina encouraged me to ignore the plan and provide some follow-up on last week’s annual town budget meeting. 

We were troubled by the article by Elizabeth Regan and published on May 16 in The Day, which characterized the meeting and the residents’ interactions with the BOS as disorderly, e.g., “the room erupted”; “Moderator Vicki Lanier called for calm; let’s try to keep some order in this meeting”; and “lengthy debate about what constitutes an ‘assault weapon’ turned Monday night’s meeting into a fight about guns”. 

This essay begins with our reflections on what we thought were the key issues and concerns raised by residents that Monday evening; but as the topic developed, it became clear that this ‘View” was something that was appropriate for consideration on Memorial Day.

We felt that the gathering was nothing more than a typical New England town meeting, which historian Frank Bryan describes in Real Democracy as a public forum that enables residents to share their opinions on issues; “while engaging in deliberation and democratic decision-making” regarding laws and budgets. The residents of Old Lyme seemed very serious about their participation; and there were appropriate questions and comments when information appeared incomplete or absent.

Many were shocked that the proposed FY23/24 budget included expenditures of $29,500 for 7 patrol rifles,10 Glock 45s, and ammunition; listed under “Public Safety”. Those expenditures generated discussion and questions about exactly what comprised the “7 patrol rifles”, and why do we need them? Some expressed alarm that the patrol rifles might be AR-15s. 

Old Lyme is not immune to School Violence:

Selectman Matt Ward, who was a Connecticut (CT) State Trooper for 20 years, and a part-time police officer in Old Lyme; and Resident Trooper Matt Weber justified the expenditures as essential because our schools are vulnerable; — “shootings happen everywhere, including close to home”. Mr.  Weber’s comments were in The Day, not in person at the meeting. 

Surely, none of us living in Connecticut can be indifferent to the terrible school shootings that have impacted our confidence in the safety of our children while in school. 

Just in the past decade, they have included, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Dec. 2012, where 20 children and 6 adults were murdered; Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in 2018, where 14 students and 3 staff members were murdered, and 17 seriously injured.

Just last year, we witnessed a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo where 10 people, all of whom were African-Americans, were murdered and three seriously injured; and another at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were murdered. The slow response by Uvalde Police Department, which cost lives, remains under investigation

A few months ago, on March 27, three children and three adults were murdered at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn.

The Numbers:

The data are daunting and gut-wrenching. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released the most current national mortality data and reported 45,222 firearm-related deaths in the United States in 2020, which is a new peak.

Worse yet, the previous analysis, which examined data through 2016, showed that firearm-related injuries were second only to motor vehicle accidents, both traffic-related and non-traffic-related, as the leading cause of death among children and adolescents. That gap narrowed; and in 2020, firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death in that age group

Further, the United States has far higher rates of firearm death than any of the two-dozen other high-income countries that were studied, which included Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom. We kill each other with firearms 25 times as often as the study group. 

Finally, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), the rate of mass shootings escalated during COVID and has persisted since; and 2021 became the worst year for mass shootings since tracking began in 2013 with 690 across 44 states and Washington, DC.

Incredibly, by May 1, of this year, there were already 235 mass shootings in the United States; which puts us on track to pass 700, which would be a new peak. 

There is no doubt in our minds that we have a problem in this country with gun violence. 

M-4s, Not AR-15s:

Our elected officials initially seemed unwilling to specify the exact rifle model that was to be purchased, and that led to concerns from residents. 

Eventually, Selectman Ward informed us that Old Lyme Police Department’s (OLPD) patrol rifles would be M4s. He emphasized that the rifles would not be routinely carried by officers on patrol, and would remain locked and secured in police vehicles and only deployed with authorization from a supervisor. This was corroborated by two members of OLPD who attended the meeting in uniform.

An advantage of the M4 is that it is also used by CT state police, with whom we already have a close working relationship. 

As we understand, equipping the OLPD with M4s in this manner will enable more rapid deployment of armed officers for containment of an active incident. The Resident Trooper stated, “It’s going to be my Old Lyme officer that’s the first one in that door.”

After some additional discussion and a motion to remove the firearms from the budget failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority, those in attendance voted to approve the proposed budget with no change. 

Through the Looking Glass:

These expenditures were presented as having been endorsed by the Old Lyme (OL) Board of Selectmen and approved by the OL Board of Finance (BOF). However, a BOF member said at the meeting that the board received no information from the OLPD describing the purchase, nor did they respond to a request to explain the need for the weapons.

In contrast, The Day reported that the Resident Trooper told them in March that his department, “… is requesting Colt M4 carbine semiautomatic rifles.”

All in all, and borrowing from Lewis Carroll’s Alice, the situation becomes, ‘curiouser and curiouser.’

Perhaps more eloquently stated, former Old Lyme Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal, in a response to The Day, stated, “The crux of the issue is not whether these arms are necessary but the lack of transparency and justification for the need for what would be a new purchase for the town.”

America’s Rifle?

The shooters in Uvalde and Buffalo used AR-15 style weapons. The CT State Police reported that Adam Lanza used a similar .223-caliber Bushmaster XM-15 E2S semi-automatic rifle at Sandy Hook.

In 2020, the National Shooting Sports Foundation estimated that 19.8 million AR-15 style rifles were in circulation in the United States; surging from about. 8.5 million since a federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004.

In 1993, and again after Sandy Hook, the CT General Assembly passed laws prohibiting the sale of certain “military-style” weapons, including the AR-15 and its many variations.

About 80,000 AR-15s purchased prior to 1993 were “grandfathered in” and then re-grandfathered” after Sandy Hook.

Governor Lamont has announced that he is seriously considering repealing the exemption. 

We Need a Plan:

The outcome of the meeting demonstrates that residents acknowledge America’s gun violence problem and the attendees now realize, “Shootings happen everywhere, including close to home.” While approving the purchase of the proposed firearms for OLPD is a step towards containment of an active shooter incident, we have not touched on prevention or deterrence.

Last June, after the Uvalde school shooting, the Region 18 Board of Education approved armed school security guards, who would be retired, trained police officers., However, the school district did not purchase firearms. 

Rather than have another Old Lyme Arms Summit in 2024, Reverend Steve Jungkeit, senior minister at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, called for a, “Wider conversation about public safety.”  He said, “I don’t feel safer as a human being by having a lot more guns out there, even carried by people that I trust because good people do make errors of judgment.”

Elections:

Per The Day, — “with little publicity”, town officials, proposed amendments to local ordinances that would have changed the Old Lyme Town Clerk and Tax Collector from elected to appointed positions; and lengthened the current respective four-year terms to six. The vote from the floor was virtually unanimous in rejecting the proposed change. 

Author’s Thoughts:

We are concerned that it appears that Old Lyme is now using an honor system rather than verification of identification in order to confirm a person’s status as an “elector or citizen eligible to vote” in important Town Meetings. 

We know that Old Lyme’s BOS have been reticent in the past to comment on social issues, but it seems that it is time to make a statement in support of developing some common-sense rules and enforceable regulations to curb gun violence and make our children safe in school.

After all, “shootings happen everywhere, including close to home”. 

Sources:

Boschma, J., Merrill, C., and Murphy-Teixidor, J. “Mass Shootings in the US”. CNN.  5/04/2023

Bryan, Frank. “Real Democracy: The New England Town Meeting and How It Works”. University of Chicago Press. 2010

Carroll, Lewis. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” & “Through the Looking-Glass”. London: Macmillan & Company. 1865 &1872.

Goldstick, J. E., Cunningham, R.M., and Carter, P.M. “Current Causes of Death in Children and adolescents in the United States” NEJM. 05/19/2022

Lallanilla, M. “What Makes the AR-15 Rifle ‘America’s Gun’?” LiveScience. 09/17/2013

Loh, M. “America has 20 million AR-15 style rifles in circulation, and more guns than people in the country”. Business Insider. 05/30/2022

Pazniokas, M. “Lamont may go alone in seeking end to ownership of AR-15s in CT”. CT Mirror.12/09/2022

Regan, E. “Some in Old Lyme oppose arming police with semiautomatic rifles”. New London Day. 05/16/2023

South, E.C., Hemenway D., Webster, D.W. “Gun violence research is surging to inform solutions to a devastating public health crisis”. Preventive Medicine, 10/27/2022.

Vigdor, N. “State Police: All 26 Newtown victims shot with assault rifle”. CT Post. 01/24/2013

Op-Ed: Give Some ‘Power to the Palette,” Old Lyme Zoning Should Approve Proposed Arts Overlay District

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Editor’s Note: This op-ed was submitted by Old Lyme residents Christina J. and Thomas D. Gotowka.

We are writing to express our strong support for the arts overlay district on Lyme Street that has been proposed by the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts; and which would amend Old Lyme’s zoning regulations and create “a more flexible arts and social district or districts”. Note that their site at 84 Lyme Street is zoned residential”, although the Academy, with its extensive studios and classrooms, has operated on that site as an educational institution for decades; and has really become an anchor for Lyme Street and may often be a visitor’s first impression of our town.

Clearly, Old Lyme recognizes and celebrates its long-standing community relationship with and support for the arts; which began in 1899, when Miss Florence Griswold opened her family home to artists. This “Old Lyme Art Colony” became influential in the development of American Impressionism; and produced many important works illustrating their Old Lyme environs; — e.g. “The Church at Old Lyme”, by Childe Hassam, an early resident of the Colony. 

The Hartford Courant reported in 1907 that: “the most talked about art colony in America today is at Old Lyme, Connecticut”.

The Lyme Art Association, which was incorporated in 1914, is an early “offspring” of the Colony and began its exhibitions of impressionist paintings in 1902, held at the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library every summer until 1921; when the original Lyme Art Association gallery opened at 90 Lyme Street.

The Lyme Academy of Fine Arts was founded in 1976 by Elisabeth Gordon Chandler “for the teaching of sculpture, figure drawing, Illustration and painting dedicated to the fine arts”. In 2021, after severing a relationship with the University of New Haven, the Academy made the strategic decision to restructure in accordance with their founding principles; as an academy, not a college. “We want to re-activate our campus as a center of fine arts education and a community hub”.

The Connecticut Audubon Society’s Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center at 100 Lyme Street, appropriately named for the renowned artist, naturalist, author, environmentalist, and of course, Old Lyme resident; is dedicated to the conservation and preservation of the Connecticut River Estuary ecosystem and watershed, through science-based research, education and advocacy. The Center is located along the Lieutenant River at the former Bee and Thistle property.

Michael Duffy, Chairman of the Academy’s Board of Trustees, has stated that they seek “a predictable set of guidelines so they can plan, knowing that their activities are “in conformance with the regulations”.

The Town’s Planning Commission determined in October, by unanimous vote, that the proposed overlay district is consistent with the Town’s “Plan of Conservation and Development”, which was adopted in February, 2021. They referred the proposal to the Zoning Commission, and it was on that Commission’s November 14 agenda; continuing through December and January. 

The proposal raised concerns with the Town’s Historic District Commission. 

The primary driver of this proposal has been the Lyme Academy; but previously, Rebekah Beaulieu, then-executive director of the Florence Griswold Museum, stated, “the Museum and the Lyme Art Association remain committed allies to our peers at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts and the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center in their petition. We aim to support current and future mission-oriented non-profit organizations in our shared goal to build sustainable operating models while serving the Old Lyme community.” 

Claudia Weicker, chair of the board of directors of the Estuary Center, said, “I view the cultural overlay district as something which would be beneficial to the town” and that would establish parameters and the ground rules under which we all could operate,” 

We feel that approval would place the Zoning Commission in closer step with Town administration, who has regularly provided some financial support to these four organizations; both as budgeted “211 Grants” or additional awards this past year from the American Rescue Plan. The latter includes a grant to the Academy for “the improvement of walkways, stairs, ramps, and doors to provide unfettered access to individuals with mobility issues; and also, to the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center to support “the creation of an accessible science discovery and environmental learning center for children”.

Approval would also provide the Academy with the tools that would assist them in their programmatic planning and enable thoughtful and sustainable growth in the arts district that maintains the “look and feel” of our historic district.

Old Lyme’s Zoning Commission must bring its courage and skill to bear on to this proposal and create a cultural/arts district that should probably extend from the Academy grounds through the Estuary Center.  

We acknowledge the words of our Greater Library Lane neighbor, Bill Folland, who recently wrote with some passion that “Residents of Old Lyme must reject the hysteria surrounding necessary survival plans for the art academy as well as objections put forth by our Historic Commission.”

In closing, we reminisce of the 1960s, and with some gratitude for Old Lyme’s history and arts culture, say “Provide a little Power to the Palette”.

Letter to the Editor: Seeking Kittens, A Respectful Request to the Lyme-Old Lyme Community

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To the Editor:

We are on the lookout for two adoptable kittens.  We hope to find a pair of orange tabby sisters, but we are flexible, assuming that they are, too.

We lost Finn last year with an inoperable carcinoma diagnosis.  We are grateful that our veterinarian was able to help all three of us get through Finn’s final few months.

Finn was a rescue, and started life in the NYU freshman dormitory; remaining there until expulsion appeared inevitable (n. b., Finn’s expulsion). She re-located to Old Lyme and remained with us for more than fifteen years.

Our new kittens will have big paws to fill. Finn was a true raconteur and was very willing to share her world view with either of us. She had the gift of reflecting our emotions and responding in kind.

Finn was predominantly an indoor cat, but would occasionally venture out into the gardens with either of us. There’s now a very active fox population in Greater Library Lane, so our next kittens will likely be exclusively indoors.

Finn was very proud of her birding life list, and we assume that our new kittens will have that same hobby. Our home’s design enables clear views of the marsh, the bird feeders, and the Duck River from many comfortable spots in the house.

          In return, we offer a loving home, great conversation, solid veterinary care, good food, and clean litter.

Note that we are already on a few waiting lists in SE CT.

Sincerely,

Christina J. & Thomas D. Gotowka,
Old Lyme.

Letter to the Editor: Multiple Reasons to Support Halls Rd. Master Plan, Improvement Committee Commended for its ‘Thoroughness’, ‘Clarity’

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To the Editor:

We are writing to express our interest and support for bringing the Halls Road Master Plan to fruition. We reviewed the Plan and had attended one of the recent information sessions.

We want to acknowledge the thoroughness of the analysis completed by the Halls Road Improvement Committee [HRIC]; and the clarity of both the recommendations and the thoughtful vision for the future.

The Plan seeks to develop Halls Road into a district that would “resemble the small-town, mixed-use neighborhood that Lyme Street was before 1960”.

We applaud the HRIC in prioritizing improvements to roadways and sidewalks required for the safety of walkers and bikers.  The team’s vision is to create pedestrian and bicycle connections amongst Old Lyme’s town center, the “Arts District”, and the proposed “Halls Road “Village District”.

We are walkers, and crossing Halls Road towards the Lyme Art Association can be very perilous. Creating this “safe and attractive pedestrian and cyclist route” will be a daunting challenge. Halls’ position between and amongst four exits and entrances to Interstate 95 North and South will require creative traffic management. Certainly, speed and traffic jams on Rt 156 and Boston Post are good barometers for issues on the interstate.

That said, we are also excited about the reconstruction of the Bow Bridge and access to some new green space along the Lieutenant River. That could provide an historic connection to, or at least a reminder of, the American Impressionists residing and working at Miss Florence’s boarding house.

In closing, we want to congratulate the team’s proposal for the creation of Design Guidelines that will help ensure that new development along Halls Road is required to go beyond the “nuts and bolts” of zoning regulations to assuring the “look and feel” is compatible with Old Lyme’s “small town feel”.

We are very glad that the team recognized that the residential aspects of the “Village District” will not only provide options for those moving into the community, but also enable older residents’ attractive opportunities to remain in Old Lyme.

It’s time to put a Halls Road, whose primary goal is to serve as an interstate service area pit stop, in our rear-view mirrors.

Sincerely,

Christina J. Gotowka and Thomas D. Gotowka,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: This is a shortened version of a letter submitted by the authors to the HRIC in support of its Master Plan.