Author Archives: Elizabeth Regan

Old Lyme Annual Budget Meeting to Include Votes on Spending Plan, Local Laws

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OLD LYME–The $45.39 million 2025-26 proposed budget and several proposed changes to the local law books – ranging from an ordinance on golf cart usage in the Sound View and Hawk’s Nest beach areas to a $1,000 increase in the tax abatement available to volunteer first responders – will be up for a vote at the Annual Town Budget Meeting tonight. 

The headliner at the May town meeting is always the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. This time around, the plan represents an increase of $3.28 million, or 7.8%, over the current budget. 

Paying off debt from large-scale renovation projects is driving much of the added expense. 

Old Lyme’s government operations expenses come in at $11.39 million, an increase of $835,260 million, or 7.9%, over the current budget. That includes debt service amounting to $702,350, which is up $271,168, or 62.9%, over the current budget. The increase is largely attributable to payments on the Lymes’ Senior Center renovation project.

The proposal includes an additional $107,000 in health insurance expenses over the current year.

Education costs in the proposed budget come in at $31.52 million, which is up $1.99 million, or 6.72%, from the town’s current payment toward the regional Lyme-Old Lyme school district budget.

The Region 18 school district’s $39.7 million 2025-26 budget was approved earlier this month in a vote of 457 to 297.

In Old Lyme, the increase to local tax bills will depend on the effect of last year’s revaluation process on each property owner. 

At an April public hearing on the budget, budget documents showed the projected tax rate to be 16.2 mills. The official tax rate won’t be set until after the proposed budget is approved by voters.

The current tax rate is 24.4 mills. After taking the revaluation into account – and if spending did not change at all in the coming year – the tax rate would be 15.5 mills. 

The town’s grand list of taxable property grew by 57.4% as a result of the revaluation, according to final assessor’s data. That means the tax increase compared to the current year will be around 4.7% for the average homeowner whose property values mirror the overall increase to the grand list. 

Assessor Melinda Kronfeld in a memo shared by First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker said the effect of the proposed budget on individual tax bills will vary based on how homes fared in the revaluation.

She used the example of a house valued at $200,000 in 2003. The tax bill associated with the property currently comes in at $4,880.

If the house went up 52% in value, the owner would see a tax bill that is $49, or 1%, higher than the current bill. If it went up 60% in value, the owner would see an increase of $326, or 7%. If it went up 82%, the increase would be $1,024, or 21%.

On the other end, the owner of a $200,000 house that went up 40% in the revaluation – which is less than the grand list increased – would see the tax payment reduced by $336, or 7%, in the coming year.

Kronfeld on Friday said 3,312 properties in town will see their tax bills go up more than the average 4.7% increase. There will be 2,331 properties looking at an increase less than 4.7%, or a tax decrease.

The finance board last month agreed to use $800,000 from the town’s predicted $14.2 million ‘Rainy Day Fund’ to help mitigate the impact to taxpayers.

Voters on Monday will also be asked to consider one new section and four revisions to existing chapters in the local code of ordinances. 

Golf Carts in Sound View Beach Area 

Shoemaker this week said the creation of an ordinance on golf cart usage in town-owned beach areas is the local reaction to a state law passed last year. That’s when Gov. Ned Lamont last year signed allowing golf carts to be used on public roads with speed limits of 25 mph or less.

“The best thing, according to our town attorney, is to let (people) know where they’re allowed,” she said. 

The ordinance codifies existing rules in Sound View Beach and adds town-owned streets in Hawk’s Nest Beach to the regulated area. 

Golf carts registered with the town will be allowed to travel on town-owned roads in the beach areas from sunrise to sunset based on the proposed ordinances. 

There will be an initial fine of $90 for those caught driving an unregistered golf cart, driving outside the allowed areas and hours, or missing necessary equipment. The second offense comes with a $180 fine, while the third offense will result in the golf cart being impounded. 

Golf carts must be registered annually and can only be operated with a valid driver’s license. The registration fee for this season, which lasts from May 1 to April 30, is $25. Rates will be set annually. 

The ordinance specifies each golf cart must have numerous safety features to ensure drivers can see and be seen. Locking brakes, a horn, a flag, various lights and reflectors, seatbelts and a windshield are required. Children’s car seats may not be installed in the golf carts. 

Golf carts cannot be driven at night or during inclement weather, according to the proposed ordinance. Vehicles are only allowed on Route 156 if they are crossing from Hartford Avenue, Swan Avenue or Portland Avenue to the corresponding extension on the other side of the road. 

If golf cart spaces at the bottom of Hartford Avenue are taken, registered golf carts can use the town parking lot. 

Harbor Management Commission ordinance

Selectmen earlier this month 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. 

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.

‘Tax Abatement’ for volunteer first responders

Proposed amendments to the ordinance affecting members of the Old Lyme Fire Department and Old Lyme Volunteer Ambulance Association would raise an incentive meant to recruit and retain more members from $1,000 to $2,000 per year for each volunteer. 

The proposed ordinance would also allow volunteers serving for at least 25 years to continue receiving the benefit even if they aren’t active volunteers anymore. 

Old Lyme Fire Department President Robert McCarthy in an interview at the Town Hall this week said the fire and ambulance companies asked town officials to consider updating the existing ordinance on the volunteer incentive. He cited changes to state law, which was updated in 2021. 

The original $1,000 incentive was implemented locally in 2002 as a tax abatement. McCarthy said officials in 2018 worked out a plan to deposit the incentive into a retirement account for volunteer first responders instead of using it as a tax break. The plan was vetted by Town Attorney Jack Collins and an attorney with Pension Administrative Services Inc, according to McCarthy.

Volunteers that year were given the option to continue with the tax abatement or take the money in the retirement account, McCarthy said. Any volunteer who joined the fire department or ambulance association subsequent to the 2018 agreement received the benefit as retirement savings. 

The revised ordinance language again makes it possible for volunteers to choose between a tax break or retirement savings, McCarthy said. 

The 2018 retirement plan states that volunteers are vested after six years of qualified service. Benefits are paid out after members stop serving or they turn 65, whichever comes first. 

Sound View Parking ordinance 

Proposed updates to a longstanding parking ordinance in the Sound View Beach area address private parking lots leased by local businesses, such as Kokomo’s, for customer use. 

The language specifies patrons and employees in the leased lots cannot be charged a fee for parking, “nor can the normal price of goods sold by a business be increased with a special surcharge for parking.” 

The hours of operation of the leased lots, which must be monitored, cannot exceed the hours of business operation.

The proposed updates come with a $200 fine for each violation, plus $100 per day as long as the violation continues. After five repeated violations, the parking permit will be revoked by the Board of Selectmen.

Newspaper Notice

Proposed changes to the ordinance governing the publication of town meetings would reverse a provision put in place in 1958 and amended in 2003 to make it more widely known to seasonal residents when off-season votes on big-ticket items over $25,000 are scheduled. 

The current ordinance requires posting the notice of town meetings in major newspapers from November through May, according to Shoemaker. She said the cost of posting these announcements has risen in the past two years. 

The proposal would strike the requirement to post meeting notices in newspapers in Hartford and New Britain, as well as Springfield, MA. 

Shoemaker in a selectmen’s meeting late last year said a survey filled out by 341 residents revealed “not a lot of people are reading the newspapers that we are publishing in.”

She said only eight people responded that they read the New Britain newspaper.

The proposed ordinance language would require notices to be published only in newspapers in general circulation within town borders, such as The Day and The Courant.

The Annual Town Budget Meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 19 in the Town Hall Meeting Room for residents and qualified taxpayers.

Editor’s Note: i) This article was updated with additional information from the tax assessor.

Greater Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce Makes Surprise Announcement

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Andrew Surprise will begin as executive director of the Greater Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce on June 2. Photo courtesy of the chamber.

OLD SAYBROOK–The Greater Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce has announced a new executive director. 

Chamber Board of Directors President Kara Pachniuk in a Thursday letter to members said Andrew Surprise, who previously served as executive director of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce, will take over for Executive Director Judy Sullivan. 

Pachniuk credited Sullivan with two decades of exceptional leadership. 

“Judy’s dedication, vision, and tireless commitment have left a lasting legacy on our organization and the community we serve,” Pachniuk said. “We are immensely grateful for her service and the strong foundation she has built.”

The Lyme-Old Lyme Chamber of Commerce merged with the Old Saybrook chamber in 2023. 

Sullivan on Friday said Surprise will start work June 2. She will remain through June 30 to ease the transition. 

Pachniuk said Surprise brings experience in chamber management, economic development, and community engagement. 

She described Surprise as a strong leader who launched impactful workforce development initiatives and forged strong partnerships with major regional employers at the Windsor chamber. He previously revitalized the Quaboag Hills Chamber of Commerce in Massachusetts, she said. 

The search committee including the chamber president as well as Alex Foulkes, Brett Elliott, Sharon Lewis, Dave Carswell, Judy Sullivan, Lindsey Goergen, and Sally Ann Lee helped “identify the right leader to take the Chamber into its next chapter,” according to Pachniuk.

“We are confident that Andrew will build upon the Chamber’s legacy, advocate for our members, and lead with the same dedication and passion that Judy has demonstrated over the past two decades,” she said. 

Lyme-Old Lyme High School Senior Christopher B. Gibbons Awarded National Merit Scholarship

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Christopher Gibbons has been named a National Merit Scholar. He is among 2,500 students with the “strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success” out of 15,000 finalists, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Photo courtesy of Lyme-Old Lyme High School.

OLD LYME–A Lyme-Old Lyme High School senior is among 2,500 National Merit Scholars honored as the most accomplished in their states. 

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation in a press release identified Christopher B. Gibbons, of Old Lyme, as one of 30 honorees from Connecticut to receive a $2,500 scholarship from the corporation.  

The winners were chosen because they showed the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success out of the 15,000 finalists identified nationwide in this year’s contest, the nonprofit corporation said. 

The corporation will continue to announce National Merit Scholars through July.

LOLHS guidance counselor Jo Williams in an email praised Gibbons’ “wonderful, curious mind.” 

She described an intense schedule over the past several years that has helped prepare Gibbons to study linguistics at the University of British Columbia in Canada. 

High school coursework included seven Advanced Placement and college-level classes, including AP Calculus as a sophomore. 

Gibbons speaks Mandarin, Spanish and Polish in addition to English. He attended an ACES International trip to China over the April break that his guidance counselor described as “quite an immersion.” 

Gibbons is a member of the National Honor Society, the Environmental and Community Service Club and the Chinese Honor Society. He volunteers at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library and was a Boy Scout from 2018 to 2024, achieving the Star Scout rank. 

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation said the number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.

The first group of appproximately 830 Merit Scholars was announced in April, the corporation said. About 360 more students will be announced in June and July.

As part of a years-long process, the corporation said the current swath of National Merit Scholars were first identified beginning in October 2023 as high school juniors taking the PSAT. The highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors, were named semifinalists. More than 16,000 semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.

Over 15,000 of the semifinalists met the very high academic standards and other requirements to become finalists. 

More than 6,930 finalists by the end of the summer will have earned the Merit Scholar title and received a total of nearly $26 million in college scholarships, the corporation said.

Old Lyme Selectmen Propose Increased Incentives for Volunteer First Responders

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OLD LYME–Volunteer First Responders could see up to $1,000 more per year in incentives over a longer timeframe if voters approve a change to the local law books at the Town Budget Meeting on May 19. 

Proposed amendments to the ordinance affecting members of the Old Lyme Fire Department and Old Lyme Volunteer Ambulance Association would raise the incentive, which is part of efforts to recruit and retain more members, from $1,000 to $2,000 per year for each volunteer. 

The proposed ordinance would also allow volunteers, who served for at least 25 years, to continue receiving the benefit even if they aren’t active volunteers anymore. 

The town meeting on the 2025-26 proposed budget, which comes in at $45.39 million, will give residents and qualified taxpayers the chance to vote on five ordinance proposals in total. Four are revisions and one is new.

Old Lyme Fire Department President Robert McCarthy in an interview at the Town Hall this week said the fire and ambulance companies asked town officials to consider updating the existing ordinance on the volunteer incentive. The proposed amendments were approved unanimously by the Old Lyme Board of Selectmen on March 3.

State law in 2021 was updated to allow cities and towns to expand the incentive program, which had been implemented locally in 2002.

Initially, the ordinance existed to give volunteers a break on their taxes. But McCarthy said the program has evolved along with the town’s retirement fund for volunteer fire and ambulance personnel.

The last major change came in 2018 at a time when federal law looked at property tax reductions received by volunteers as taxable income. McCarthy said town officials addressed the problem by working out a plan to deposit the incentive into the retirement account instead of using it as a tax abatement. He said the plan was vetted by Town Attorney Jack Collins and an attorney with Pension Administrative Services Inc.

Volunteers that year were given the option to continue with the tax abatement or take the money in the retirement account, McCarthy said. Any volunteer who joined the fire department or ambulance association subsequent to the 2018 agreement received the benefit as retirement savings. 

“With this ordinance, we’re trying to revisit it all and see if we can let people have a choice again,” he said. “They’ll be able to get the tax abatement if they desire, or they can still have the money put into a retirement account instead.” 

The town also puts money into the retirement fund each year separate from the incentive authorized through the tax abatement ordinance, according to McCarthy. He said that benefit currently amounts to about $980 per year.  

In the proposed 2025-26 town operations budget, which is also up for a vote at the May 19 Town Meeting, the emergency services retirement line item amounts to $172,000. 

That’s enough money to provide 61 volunteers with the proposed $2,000 incentive, according to budget documents. 

There are currently about 55 fire department and ambulance service volunteers in the retirement plan currently, according to McCarthy. 

Old Lyme Tax Collector Suzanne Thompson said about 20 of those volunteers opted to receive the incentive as a tax abatement. 

McCarthy said using the $2,000 incentive as a tax abatement can be more advantageous for some volunteers than for those whose tax bills don’t amount to $2,000.

“Say we’ve got a young member who owns a car and their taxes are at $400 a year,” he said. “They should let the money go to the incentive plan and get all of it into their retirement account rather than only getting $400.”

He said allowing members to continue receiving the benefit once they are no longer actively responding to calls is an important change. He pointed to members who have been volunteering for more than half a century and are slowing down. 

“And they’re the ones that, under the current abatement, wouldn’t be able to get it for the rest of their lives,” he said. “They’re 70-years-old now and have been doing this for 50, 60 years.”

The 2018 retirement plan states that volunteers are vested after six years of qualified service. Benefits are paid out after members stop serving or they turn 65, whichever comes first. 

He said volunteers over the age of 65 would likely choose the tax abatement option. 

The Annual Town Budget Meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 19 in the Town Hall Meeting Room.

New Owner of Old Lyme’s ‘Hideaway’ Believes Pizza is Recipe for His Family’s Success

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José Plasencia, the new owner of The Hideaway Restaurant Wood-Fired Pizza, has put his own spin on the place while retaining much of the original menu.

OLD LYME–José Plasencia, the new owner of The Hideaway Restaurant Wood-Fired Pizza, lives by two codes: family and pizza. 

The 33-year-old restaurateur forged his focus in Ecuador, where he grew up watching his grandfather, father and mother toss pizza dough into circles. 

It’s a tradition he and his wife, Diana, continue for their 7-year-old daughter, Sydney. 

“Kids like when we float the dough around,” he said. 

This week, Plasencia told his story from a table opposite the restaurant’s new counters built around a wood-fired pizza oven. 

The Hideaway, a Halls Road fixture since 1990, had built its reputation on an extensive menu of American fare. But Plasencia knew right away he had to put his own spin on the place. So he added Wood-Fired Pizza to the restaurant name, which now boasts a menu featuring the savory pies as well as more than half of the traditional Hideaway options. 

One neat pile of wood can bring the temperature in the oven to 950 degrees, according to Plasencia. That’s hot enough to cook a pizza in three minutes. 

They churn out as many as 280 pies on a busy weekend night. 

“That’s my thing,” he said. “Pizza.” 

Plasencia recalled coming to this country when he was 16 years old because Ecuador was not safe. He said the decision to leave his homeland was as much about protecting his mother and sisters from harm as it was about building a prosperous future. 

“It’s all about family,” he said. “That’s one of the codes I have.”

José Plasencia and his wife Diana take a brief break from work.

Plasencia got his first job working for then-Hideway owner Jim Caramante before following his passion for pizza to Mango’s Wood-Fired Pizza Company in Mystic. His brother-in-law, José Luis Marin, worked in the kitchen at The Hideaway for 16 years. 

Now Plasencia is at the helm of Hideaway, while Marin owns The Stumble Inne across Halls Road. 

Both men purchased the businesses from Caramante in March. Caramante ran the Hideaway, which opened in 1990, for over two decades after buying it from original owners Carl and Lois Lutender. He opened The Stumble Inne in 2022. 

“What a small world,” Plasencia said. “After 13 years I’m coming back to the Hideaway, but as the owner.” 

Penny Smyth, a Lyme resident and one of the earliest customers at the new Hideaway, said she heard Plasencia’s story from a coworker in the real estate business, who happened to be the daughter of the original owners. 

She said it touched her heart to hear about Plasencia’s transition from teenaged cook to owner.

But it was the new pizza menu, with its fresh ingredients, that whet her appetite. 

“The wood-fired pizza is really a distinguishing factor that caught my attention after many years of not going to the restaurant,” she said. 

She ordered a Funky Fungi Festa pizza and a vegetarian pizza on her first visit, she said. The first delivered a base layer of mushroom puree made with garlic, mushrooms and wine topped with mozzarella cheese, spinach and blue oyster mushrooms. She upgraded the second pizza to include bacon. 

“I was floored,” she said. “I was so delighted with everything about it.”

She said she began posting about the restaurant on her Facebook page right from the table. 

“I think it’s a personal value of mine to try to support local businesses,” she said. 

José Luis Marin (left) and father-in-law Ruben Plasencia help out at The Hideaway Restaurant Wood-Fired Pizza owned by José Plasencia. Marin, who is José Plasencia’s brother-in-law, is the owner of The Stumble Inne across Halls Road.

Plasencia, who said he works about 70 hours per week at the restaurant, gets help from family members including his father, his mother and Marin. 

“Now, because I own the place, I’ve got to be here seven days a week,” he said. “Trying to spend time with my daughter is a little hard right now.”

But he ekes out time for Sydney while looking toward a future at the restaurant he hopes will feed his family and the Old Lyme community for decades to come. 

“This is my dream,” Plasencia said. “I always want to be a success in the country. I always work hard, hard, hard, doing nothing bad. Just trying to prove myself for the people.”

Plasencia said it was important to him to retain all the staff members employed by Caramante. 

“I want to make sure they have a job for their families,” he said. “The only thing we add is our family.” 

Editor’s Note: The Hideaway Restaurant Wood-Fired Pizza at 19 Halls Road is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.