The valuable compost being made by the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden is shown above after its first turning as it starts heating up again.
OLD LYME — If you were a contestant on “Chopped” or “Iron Chef”, what would you do with a basket of coffee grounds, banana peels, egg shells and other kitchen castoffs?
When the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden (LOLFSG) threw this daunting challenge to its microbial chefs, they responded by cooking up a dish of sumptuous compost.
In early March 2023, residents of the Library Lane neighborhood were invited to drop their household plant-based food waste at the home of Jim Ward, who is also the LOLFSG president. Since that time, approximately a dozen families have donated more than 350 pounds of cooking scraps. All the delectable tidbits are transported to the LOLFSG for incorporation into the garden’s compost system, where they are mixed with leaf litter and feasted upon by bacteria.
Unlike a TV cooking show, it will take months rather than minutes to create the final product.
Yet, a few short weeks from the inception of the project, the household organic matter has begun its transformation into luscious compost that will serve as a natural fertilizer for LOLFSG garden beds.
All produce from the garden, a fully volunteer organization, is donated to local food pantries.
In an effort to expand food waste recycling, the LOLFSG has installed a food waste collection bin onsite. The container is located outside the main gate of the garden, which is situated behind the field house at Town Woods Park. Residents are encouraged to drop any plant-based food waste such as any part of fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds and stale bread. No meat or dairy products please!
The collection bin is one of two repurposed trash containers donated by the Town of Old Lyme.
The second is not yet being utilized for food waste recycling, but is available. If you are interested in spearheading food waste collection in your neighborhood, please contact Jim Ward at jimdub@gmail.com.
The LOLFSG has installed a food waste collection bin onsite at Town Woods Park. Residents are encouraged to drop off any plant-based food waste in it.
Committee Previously Received Bulk of Monies for Bridge Design From Old Lyme’s ARPA Funds
The site of the proposed Lieutenant River bridge, which , when completed, will connect the commercial center of Old Lyme with its Arts and Historic Districts.
OLD LYME — On Monday, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes announced that approximately $9 million in state grants is being released through the Connecticut Recreational Trails Program to plan, build, expand, and improve a total of 50 multi-use trails across Connecticut.
One of the projects selected for funding relates to design work for the Lieutenant River Bridge and Trails project in Old Lyme.
The Halls Road Improvements Committee (HRIC) submitted an application for $28,500, which represented the remaining funds required for the project. This amount was determined after the bulk of the design costs for AI Engineering’s work was covered by an allocation of $135,000 made last summer by Old Lyme’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Committee.
The HRIC said in a press release dated May 17, that it is, “… pleased to announce that we have been awarded the full asking amount of $28,500 from the CT Recreational Trails Grant.”
The announcement continues, “The two grants will result in a technical plan for a public-use bridge that will connect the commercial center of Old Lyme with its Arts and Historic Districts.”
The HRIC concludes, “Once the conceptual plan is approved by the town with community input, the final engineered design will be the basis for future grants applications to cover the costs of constructing the multi-use bridge and trails along Halls Road.”
The Connecticut Recreational Trails Program is administered by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). Funding for this grant round was allocated by the State Bond Commission in July 2022. Governor Lamont serves as chairman of the commission.
Governor Lamont said, “I am thrilled to announce funding for these 50 projects, which will improve and expand recreational trail opportunities around Connecticut. The incredible response to this grant round shows the high demand for outdoor recreation in our state. Our residents and visitors continue to explore state parks, forests, and municipal open spaces and land trust preserves at record levels.”
DEEP has seen demand for outdoor recreation increase dramatically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Annual visits to locations in the Connecticut State Parks and Forests system reached an estimated 17 million in 2022 – a 75 percent increase from pre-pandemic visitation levels of between 9 and 10 million in 2019.
Additionally, the economic value of hiking, climbing, and tent camping increased by 50 percent from 2019 to 2021. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the value of outdoor recreation in 2021 contributed nearly $4 billion to the state and supported more than 40,000 jobs.
“These projects are timely and will improve our state’s connectivity and accessibility to open space, which benefits our residents and visitors physically and mentally, enhances our state’s outdoor economy, and makes our state such an attractive place to live,” Commissioner Dykes said.
She continued, “Investing in projects that support sustainable commuting opportunities, that reduce pollution from transportation, and provide safe, enjoyable alternatives to car travel are the type of projects we’d love to see in more communities across the state.”
The Connecticut Greenways Council assisted DEEP with the competitive grant selection process. Funding for program administration of 5 percent, pursuant to state statutes, is also included in the grants.
DEEP anticipates most of the awarded projects being completed by 2026.
Editor’s Notes: i) This article is based on press releases from respectively Old Lyme’s Halls Road Improvements Committee and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. ii) Visit this link for more information on the Connecticut Recreational Trails Program.
Editor’s Note: We thank Halls Road Improvements Committee (HRIC) Chair Edie Twining for sharing the following ‘Spring 2023 Update to the Community’ from the HRIC with us. Since it is such an important topic to the residents of Old Lyme, we are pleased to publish it in its entirety
OLD LYME — On March 27 the Old Lyme Zoning Commission voted 3-2 in favor of creating the Halls Road Overlay District (HROD).
Because the Planning Commission had previously given the HROD a ‘negative referral,’ it required a 4-1 vote to pass, and the measure failed.
The HROD is a significant piece of zoning regulation. It takes significant effort to understand the details. Many of the objections raised were covered by parts of the HROD proposal that apparently were not noticed or were misunderstood.
With the support of the [Old Lyme] Board of Selectmen and the heads of the commissions, we plan to reapply, and to do a better job of explaining the proposal in detail, and answering the objections raised.
The challenges that prompted the effort to make changes along Halls Road still face us.
We need to acknowledge the changing business climate and support our retail businesses in the new environment of the coming decades. The people of Old Lyme want a safer, more attractive, walkable, bike-able, mixed-use town center where they can live, work, and shop.
Smaller-scale housing remains in short supply, and Halls Road is one place where it could be built without using up the remaining open space.
Old Lyme is planning major investments in public improvements, but the Halls Road area also needs to be allowed the optionto change for the better.
Restricting Halls Road to “commercial only” now tends to favor highway services over all other uses—a thing that no one wants. Guiding our future is an important matter for Old Lyme. The HROD creates the optionfor a better future.
In the area of improvements to public infrastructure, the town has hired A. I. Engineers (AIE) to proceed with design development of a new pedestrian/cyclist bridge and trails safely connecting our main commercial district on Halls Road with our Arts District and historic town center on Lyme Street. The bulk of the funding for this project is from the ARPA grant awarded last June.
In February of this year, we also applied for a small grant under the CT Recreational Trails Program to support the bridge and trails. The Halls Road Improvement Committee and the Town of Old Lyme will work on required easements and rights-of-way.
The work of AIE on the project will include an economic analysis, site survey and assessment, and geo-tech investigation leading to preliminary phased designs. AIE will produce three options (with cost estimates) for creating the bridge and trails. AIE’s work will be available for public review, and a final design selected.
Once a final design is approved, AIE will create full construction documents (CDs) for the bridge and trails, and detail the project’s permitting requirements. The CDs will also be used to seek grants to cover the construction costs of the project. AIE will assist in seeking grants, and manage the bidding to move the project to the construction phase.
Last year the BSC Group helped Old Lyme apply for a grant under the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CT-DOT)’s Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program (LOTCIP). The grant could cover a substantial part of the construction costs for the main improvements planned for sidewalks, lighting, landscaping, etc. along Halls Road. (The bridge and trails are a separate matter from CT-DOT’s point of view.)
Our LOTCIP application is also the first formal review of our plans by CT-DOT, and we must wait for their approval to proceed on this part of the plan. The LOTCIP program has many applicants and the waiting list for review is long. This is Old Lyme’s first request under LOTCIP, and we hope to see some action on our application in 2024.
OLD LYME — The Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library hosts a two-part series on Light Pollution in the Connecticut River Valley presented by Misha Semenov-Leiva and Alan Sheiness.
Learn the effects of a brightened night sky, as well as natural cycles in aquatic and terrestrial life. Semenov-Leiva will share simple site lighting design changes that can reduce impacts while promoting safety.
Part I met at the Library on Wednesday, May 3, at 6:30 p.m.
Part II will meet at Trail 53 Observatory located in Lyme on Wednesday, May 17, at 8 p.m.
Old Lyme Tree Commission members gather to pot tree seedlings in preparation for Saturday’s Spring Seedling Giveaway. From left to right are Emily Griswold, Anne Bing, chairman Joanne DiCamillo, Fred Behringer, Joan Flynn, and ‘Hydrangeas Galore ‘ owner Mark Comstock. Missing from the photo is the commission’s Clerk/Secretary Martha Hansen, who joined the event. Commission members, who were unable to attend the ‘Potting Day’, are Peter Edmonstone and Michael Gaffey. All photos by SuzanneThompson.
OLD LYME — The Old Lyme (OL) Tree Commission welcomes all town residents to come and pick up native tree seedlings to plant in their yards. The Commission’s first ‘Tree Seedling Giveaway’ will be held Saturday, April 29, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Old Lyme’s Memorial Town Hall.
Residents can select up to three trees – a choice of either White Dogwood or Eastern Redbud for a flowering tree, a choice of either Sugar Maple or Scarlet Oak, which grow well in some shade, and an evergreen.
Old Lyme Tree Commission members worked hard to pot the tree seedlings at ‘The Kingsville Grower’ ready for Saturday’s event.
The plants were purchased from the Arbor Day Foundation while the pots and soil were donated by Mark and Belkys Comstock, owners of The Kingsville Grower in Old Lyme, where commissioners potted up the seedlings earlier this week.
“We need to start a new generation of trees,” said Joanne DiCamillo, OL Tree Commission Chair. “Over the years, diseases, insect pests, drought, climate change and roadside salt have all taken their toll. We had to take down a lot of old trees that had died.”
Old Lyme Tree Commission member Fred Behringer (left) was clearly enjoying the commission’s combined potting effort. Meanwhile, ‘Hydrangeas Galore’ Mark Comstock, center right, demonstrates potting techniques to Joanne DiCamillo (right foreground) while Emily Griswold (right, at rear) completes a potting task.
Since 2018, the town has taken down 148 trees and the commission planted 10 trees, according to DiCamillo. So the Commission decided to enlist the community’s help to plant more trees. And then fortuitously, Mark Comstock showed up at one of their monthly meetings and offered to help with materials and to provide a spot to pot up the seedlings.
DiCamillo continued, “We need new cover in the Town of Old Lyme, with residents helping us by planting the trees of the future in their yards now. That will really be helpful.”
It was a busy day of seedling potting for Tree Commission members.
The commission researched the best place to purchase the tree seedlings and decided on the Arbor Day Foundation. The Old Lyme Board of Selectmen then endorsed the commission’s proposal to spend $450.00 of its budget on the trees.
“We agreed that purchasing 250 seedling trees would be more practical and enable us to give them away to the Old Lyme community, as opposed to charging a fee for them,” explained DiCamillo.
She added, “Keeping in mind our primary goal to ‘Plant Native,’ we selected five native species that would be wonderful sources of food and shelter for wildlife, songbirds, bees, deer, squirrels, butterflies, and so on. We focused on trees that we thought would appeal to homeowners, and eventually provide color, beauty and shade to their property and become an asset to our town’s landscape.”
The Tree Commission will provide written instructions with the plants at the ‘Giveaway’ on Saturday.
The Arbor Day Foundation recommends that residents, who take the potted seedlings, should get them into the ground as rapidly as possible, ideally in a garden border or bed where they can nurture it. Avoid direct sunshine areas. Gently spread out the roots, do not plant the tree too deeply, keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. Mulch around the seedling is also very important so that the tree’s roots do not dry out.
Plan to water the trees regularly throughout this summer and well into the fall. Young trees and shrubs need regular watering for at least two years after planting.
“Rain or shine, we will be there,” said DiCamillo.
‘View across ‘The Kingsville Grower’ at146 Neck Rd., where the potting day took place. The nursery is on the border of Old Lyme and Lyme – look for the ‘Hydrangeas Galore’ sign.
The Old Lyme Tree Commission is very grateful to the Comstocks, who made their nursery available to members to pot the seedlings. Comstock also provided advice and materials. Comstock grew up in Ivoryton but subsequently moved out of state. He returned to Connecticut about 10 years ago with his wife and young son to open his current business. Comstock also is well known in the world of bonsai for growing pre-bonsai specimens.
Stop by to see Comstock’s plants at the nursery at 146 Neck Rd. and watch for more information about The Kingsville Grower/Hydrangeas Galore in future LymeLine.com coverage.
