Category Archives: Town Hall

$880K Supplemental Funding for Lymes’ Senior Center Overwhelmingly Approved by Lyme, Old Lyme Voters, UPDATED

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LYME/OLD LYME— UPDATED 4/18 with voting numbers and quote from Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee Chair: On Monday evening, Lyme and Old Lyme residents overwhelmingly passed motions to approve supplemental budget appropriations for the renovation of the Lymes’ Senior Center. Both votes were held initially by voice and so convincing—only one ‘No’ was heard at either location—that no paper vote was requested.

Eighty-three Lyme voters approved an amount of $220,000 at their Special Town Meeting held starting at 6 p.m. at Lyme Town Hall and around 175 Old Lyme residents approved $660,000 at their meeting held in the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School auditorium beginning at 7:30 p.m. the same evening.

With these budget appropriations totaling $880,000 approved by the towns, the Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee now has all the approvals necessary to accept the trade bids opened Feb. 6 of this year so the project can move forward and construction can begin. Those bids expired May 6, and so the timing of this vote was critical.

Asked by LymeLine what her reaction to the vote was, Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee Chair Jeri Baker said via email, “I am so grateful that the confidence is there to move us forward.”

The initial $1.33 million overrun on the approximately $5.46 million project, which was identified when the trade bids were opened, had already been reduced through approximately $602,000 in construction savings.

Meanwhile, contingency funds for the project had been increased by nearly $65,000 to cover any unforeseen circumstances. Those two moves reduced the initial $1.33 million overage to $800,000.

An additional appropriation of $80,000 to cover the kitchen upgrades was requested by the towns, taking the total value of the supplemental budget appropriation for both towns combined to $880,000.

As of last night, that amount has now been approved and Building Committee Chair Jeri Baker says that—once construction begins—the committee anticipates a 10-month schedule for the completion of the project, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Lyme residents had approved an initial appropriation of $1,315,886 at last year’s Town Budget Meeting and Old Lyme residents had similarly approved an initial appropriation of $4,158,407 at a Town Referendum held June 20, 2023. Since that time, through efforts of the towns and the committee, the project has been awarded $1 million in grants from the state.

When the renovations are completed, the Senior Center will offer:

  • An additional 3,265 square feet of interior space (for a total of 8,737 square feet of interior space) that will enable the center to accommodate more members and activities.
  • Motorized room partitions that allow for multiple room configurations so programs and activities can take place simultaneously.
  • An enlarged kitchen space with multiple kitchen upgrades that allows for greater center luncheon attendance.
  • A quiet library room where members can relax and/or read.
  • A greeting area that is separate from the activities area.
  • A public entrance that can accommodate the arrival and departure of buses and emergency vehicles.
  • Redesigned entryway and hallways, improved door thresholds and additional shelving and storage space.
  • A new roof, porch, cupola, windows, walkways and landscaping.
  • New furniture throughout.

For further information on the Senior Center renovation, visit this link.

Old Lyme’s Open Space Commission Receives Grant from Rockfall Foundation for Horseneck Creek Landing Program

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Pictured left to right at the check presentation from the Rockfall Foundation (RF) to the Town of Old Lyme (OL) are Sharon Lewis, RF Board Member, Marilyn Ozols, RF Board President, OL Open Space Chair, Greg Futoma, Tony Marino, Rockfall Foundation Executive Director, Martha Shoemaker, OL First Selectwoman, Jude Read, OL Selectwoman, and Jim Lampos, OL Selectman.

OLD LYME—On March 18, the Rockfall Foundation presented the Town of Old Lyme (OL) with a grant for $1,700 to support a “Coastal Forest and Marshland Conservation and Education” program on the town’s Horseneck Creek Landing. The program will be administered by the OL Open Space Commission. 

Martha Shoemaker, OL First Selectwoman, and other town officials accepted a check from Rockfall Foundation representatives prior to the 3/18 OL Board of Selectman meeting.

The three-acre property offers excellent examples of coastal forest and salt marsh, both under serious threat. Horseneck Creek’s forest includes black, red and white oak, highbush blueberry, northern bayberry, black huckleberry, eastern red cedar, big-tooth aspen and big-leaf marsh elder, among other trees.

Saltmarsh habitats are described as “blue carbon” for their ability to capture significant amounts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and to store it in grasses and soils, mitigating climate change.

Horseneck Creek Landing also offers wonderful opportunities to see osprey, egrets, cormorants, and great blue herons during the summer, and in colder months, brant and various ducks, including brightly colored hooded mergansers. Bald eagles may also be spotted, and the State of Connecticut reports that seaside sparrow and saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrows, state-listed birds, may be in the area.

The grant program will complement the existing trail with a virtual guide. A botanist or biologist will collaborate to highlight featured flora. In addition, an interpretative weather and vandal-proof color sign will be produced and installed for visitor information.

Offsite conservation will include sponsorship of a local lecture on coastal forests and salt marshes to encourage their protection. A simple fact sheet will memorialize the message and be physically distributed and be posted for download.

A split-rail barrier fence has been constructed to preserve marshland. While the fence is not within the project scope, it will be part of the program’s friendly message explaining that simply walking on fragile flora can be damaging.

The Open Space Commission looks forward to partnering with Audubon to promote the property as a birding site. Visitors will be introduced to birding apps such as Merlin ID, and an eBird Hotspot has been created. 

Greg Futoma, Open Space Commission Chair, added, “As the Harbor Management Commission works to establish a kayak/canoe launch on site, Open Space looks forward to working cooperatively with its fellow commission to make this beautiful property a treasure for residents and visitors.”

The Rockfall Foundation is one of Connecticut’s oldest non-profit organizations committed to promoting natural resource conservation, sustainable development and environmental education in the Lower Connecticut River Valley.

Public Information Session on Lymes’ Senior Center Renovation Additional Funding to be Held Tonight in Lyme; Votes in Both Towns Scheduled April 15

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The exterior of the Lymes’ Senior Center on Town Woods Rd. in Old Lyme. The Center is currently closed pending its renovation. File photo.

LYME/OLD LYME, CT – The Towns of Old Lyme and Lyme will host Public Information Sessions respectively on Monday, March 25, and Wednesday, March 27. Both sessions will be presented by the Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee and cover the status of the Lymes’ Senior Center renovation and a request for an additional appropriation of $880,000 in total—$660,000 from Old Lyme and $220,000 from Lyme—from the two towns.

The 3/25 session for Old Lyme residents was held in the Old Lyme Town Hall Meeting Room.

The 3/27 session for Lyme residents, also starting at 6:30 p.m., will be held in the Lyme Consolidated School gymnasium. It cannot be held at the Lyme Town Hall because early voting for the Presidential Preference Primary will be taking place there.

Both Towns will then hold Special Town Meetings on Monday, April 15, at which votes be taken on the additional funds requested.

The Old Lyme (OL) Board of Selectmen and the OL Board of Finance approved the Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee’s request for an additional $660K of funding at their respective regular meetings Monday, March 18, and Tuesday, March 19. Both votes were unanimous.

The additional funds are being requested by the committee due to construction bids that came in higher than anticipated and the newly-added request for a kitchen upgrade that the Towns of Old Lyme and Lyme made last month. 

According to the committee, the supplemental appropriation breaks out in brief as follows: 

• The cost overrun has been reduced to $800,000 – a figure, which reflects approximately $600,000 in constructions savings and an increase in contingency funds of nearly  $65,000 to cover unforeseen circumstances. 

• The kitchen upgrade is estimated to require an additional $80,000. • The total supplemental appropriation being requested from both towns is $880,000. • The Town of Lyme’s share of that cost (25%) comes to $220,000. 

Both the Lyme Board of Selectpeople and the Board of Finance have reviewed and approved the  supplemental appropriation request, but the funding still must be approved by the voters of Lyme at a Special Town Meeting that will be held on Monday, April 15.  

At the March 27 Public Information Session, representatives from the Lymes’ Senior Center  Building Committee, including members of the Lyme Boards of Finance and Selectpeople, will discuss the budget in detail and take questions from the public.

The committee’s goal is to have the budget appropriations approved by both towns before the construction bids expire on May 6. 

Lyme residents approved an initial appropriation of $1,315,886 at last year’s Town Budget Meeting and Old Lyme residents approved an initial appropriation of $4,158,407 at a Town Referendum held June 20, 2023. Since that time, through efforts of the towns and the committee, the project has been awarded $1 million in grants from the state.

When the renovations are completed, the Senior Center will have: 

• An additional 3,265 sq.ft. of interior space (for a total of 8,737 sq. ft. of  interior space) that will enable the center to accommodate more members and activities. 

• Motorized room partitions that allow for multiple room configurations so programs and activities can take place simultaneously. 

• An enlarged kitchen space with multiple kitchen upgrades that allows for greater center luncheon attendance. 

• A quiet library room where members can relax and/or read. 

• A greeting area that is separate from the activities area. 

• A public entrance that can accommodate the arrival and departure of buses and  emergency vehicles. 

• Redesigned entryway and hallways, improved door thresholds and additional shelving and storage space. 

• New furniture throughout. 

The Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee has prepared a comprehensive FAQ so that residents in both towns can appreciate fully all the factors involved in planning the project and its future timing. Note the document is identical for both towns.
View the document at this link for the Town of Lyme.
View the document at this link for the Town of Old Lyme. .

Editor’s Note: This article is based on a press release issued by the Lyme Board of Selectpeople.

Old Lyme BOS, BOF Approve Additional $660K for Lymes’ Senior Center Project; Public Info Meeting to be Held, March 25, Town Meeting Vote, April 15

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LYME/OLD LYME —The Old Lyme (OL) Board of Selectmen and the OL Board of Finance approved the Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee’s request for an additional $660K of funding at their respective regular meetings Monday (March 18) and Tuesday (March 19) evening. Both votes were unanimous.

On Monday, March 25, the BOS will host a Public Information Session at 6:30 p.m.in the Old Lyme Town Hall Meeting Room to discuss the additional funding.

On Monday, April 15, a Town Meeting will be held at which residents will vote on the additional funding. Details of the time and location of that meeting have not yet been confirmed.

Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee Responds to $1.3M Budget Shortfall—Project Savings Agreed, Additional Funds to be Requested: $660K from OL, $220K from Lyme,

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The exterior of the Lymes’ Senior Center on Town Woods Rd. in Old Lyme. The Center is currently closed pending its renovation.

Lyme BOS has Already Approved its $220K Share of Additional Funding

OLD LYME — 3/16: Lymes’ Senior Center (LSC) Building Committee Chair Jeri Baker was at pains to stress in a phone conversation with LymeLine last Thursday (March 7) that the committee had agreed some, “Really good savings,” during its deliberations at its Special Committee Meeting held the previous day without reducing space in the renovated Center or compromising its integrity.

She explained that the initial $1.337 million overrun had been reduced through approximately $602,000 in construction savings.

Meanwhile, contingency funds for the project have been increased by nearly $65,000 to cover any unforeseen circumstances.Those two moves reduced the $1.337 million overage to $800,000.

She added, “We are also requesting an appropriation of $80,000 to cover the kitchen upgrades the towns requested in February 2024.”

This means the LSC Building Committee will be requesting a total of $880,000 to continue the renovation project with the amount to be divided between the two towns. Using the 75:25 ratio between Old Lyme (OL) and Lyme, which has been employed consistently throughout the life of the Center, the amounts to be requested from each Town respectively are $660,000 (75%) from Old Lyme and $220,000 (25%) from Lyme.

Significantly, the current bids, which were opened Feb. 6 in the OL Town Hall, expire May 6. The LSC Building Committee is therefore anxious to advance their requests for additional funding in a timely manner so that the bids remain current.

In order to achieve that, OL First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker explained in a text to LymeLine, “The [OL] BOS will hear from the [Lymes’ Senior Center] Renovation Committee on 3/18.”

Baker told LymeLine that she would be presenting the LSC Building Committee’s request to the OL BOS at this evening’s meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. in the OL Town Hall.

Shoemaker noted, “I would hope the [OL] BOF (Board of Finance) would add it to their agenda for the 19th.”

Assuming those two meetings go as expected a Public Information Session would be held in OL on March 25, and then a Town Meeting on April 15 at which OL residents will be able to vote on the additional funding request. The locations and start times for both these meetings are yet to be determined.

Lyme Selectman John Kiker told LymeLine via text that the situation is slightly different in Lyme, where the Town’s BOS and BOF, “… have already approved the additional fundraising needed for the Senior Center.”

Kiker continued, “Our informational meeting is Wednesday, March 27, time TBD. The Town Vote is Thursday, April 18th, start time [also] TBD.”

The LSC Building Committee has prepared a comprehensive FAQ so that residents in both towns can appreciate fully all the factors involved in planning the project and its future timing. Note the document is identical for both towns.
View the document at this link for the Town of Lyme.
View the document at this link for the Town of Old Lyme.