Category Archives: Letters

Letter to the Editor: Old Lyme BOF to Consider $28K Budget Request for Weapons for OL Police, No Justification for Purchase Discussed

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To The Editor:

The Old Lyme Board of Finance is expected to vote this Tuesday, March 28, on the Town’s capital budget, and money requested by the Town Police for weapons and ammunition. Initially budgeted for $32,500, this was modified by First Selectman Tim Griswold to $28,500.

The Old Lyme [OL] Board of Selectmen [BOS] has never taken a vote on approving or recommending this, and the discussion was tabled at their Feb. 24 meeting to seek input from Trooper Matt Weber to gain clarity on this topic. To my knowledge, this has not happened, and it is unclear if it is ever going to happen. The agenda for the [OL BOS] Special Meeting on Monday lists this only in generic terms, “[Discussion of …] Recommendations to the Board of Finance”.

The budget request includes purchase of military style assault rifles, weapons of mass destruction designed to kill as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. All this raises concerns for the militarization of our constabulary /police.

We are a contracted State Trooper town, and expend thousands for their trained officers and their military assault rifles to support us. Also this unsupported request leaves the Town open to significant costs associated with updating these weapons and safely disposing of retired weapons.

We, the people of OL, have not received any comprehensive explanation of the reason for and benefits of using our tax dollars to purchase weapons of mass destruction. Indeed, many residents probably do not know this is even being considered. If these purchases are being justified as protective for our school children, there is zero evidence for this. Also, can anyone remember a time in recent history that police with assault weapons were able to stop a shooter with an assault weapon? My research says no — [see this article]“He has a battle rifle”: Police feared Uvalde gunman’s AR-15

I would like to refer readers to the following LymeLine Op-Eds, as well as Letters to the Editor and reader comments, for background :

Peter Ewart 6/1/22 and Tom Soboleski 5/27/ 2022 (Op-Eds)
Betsy Groth 6/17/22 and 7/26/22 and Charlotte Scot 9/22//22 (Letters)

Sincerely,

Betsy Groth,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: The author is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Child Advocate, a Retired Lecturer at Yale School of Nursing, and a Member of CT Against Gun Violence.

Letter to the Editor: Region 18 BOE Chair Says Board Understands Residents’ Concern, Frustration Over Lyme-Old Lyme MS Oil Spill; Details Chronology, Remediation Process (UPDATED)

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Editor’s Note: The statement below has been updated minimally by the author regarding information on PAH’s and a comment about Kropp Environmental.

To the Editor:

With the ongoing desire to provide transparency and accountability of the Board of Education and due to conversations with citizens both officially and unofficially, I submit this accounting of both the chronology and process of dealing with the oil spill at the Middle School on August 1, 2022. [Editor’s Note: The statement is published in its entirety below]

With 20/20 hindsight, our consensus is that while we on the Board are residents, we understand the concern experienced by other residents and appreciate the frustration felt. We will work toward minimizing both going forward. 

It was never the intention of the Board or any of our employees to withhold information, but to some, it may have felt that way.  It is important to understand that the decisions made were based on the best available information at the time in what was, and is, a very fluid situation. We conscientiously followed the direction of the environmental experts involved and, if at any point we had any suspicion that this issue posed a health risk to students, staff, or our neighbors, we would have notified them immediately.

We have relied upon and will continue to rely upon the competency of those experts and will increase our level of communication regarding their actions, progress, and findings.

This particular issue will be resolved with time and we will continue to improve on our sense of community. Too often we presume that our public meetings, minutes, and website are regularly reviewed by the public. We will be more aware of this in the future when it comes to issues that may impact the larger community beyond our school walls.

Sincerely,

Steven Wilson, Chair, Region 18 Board of Education (BOE),
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: This letter was co-signed by Suzanne Thompson, BOE Secretary; Chris Staab, BOE Treasurer; and BOE members Laura Dean-Frazier, Jason Kemp and Jennifer Miller.

Statement on the Chronology and Process of Dealing with Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School Oil Leak
Editor’s Note: This statement was signed by Steven Wilson and all the BOE members who co-signed the Letter to the Editor above.

August 1, 2022

At 8:00 AM a notification was received from our Building Management System (BMS) which is a computer-based system that alerts maintenance staff of issues related to the HVAC system. The alert indicated that a boiler failed to fire when the system called for heat. Upon inspection, it was discovered that a fuel line ruptured at a fitting and was spilling oil onto the boiler room floor.

Cleanup began under the supervision of CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) around 8:30 AM that same morning.In addition to vacuuming up the spilled oil, 40 tons of contaminated soil was removed from the area and the boiler room was cleaned of all residual oil.  This incident was discussed at length at the August 3, 2022 Board of Education meeting which is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlkZvwMJnEc

August – January

Under the advisement of DEEP, Kropp Environmental, a Licensed Environmental Professional (LEP), and CIRMA, our insurance company, we continued to extract any possible remaining oil from the ground via a vacuum truck and drilled eleven monitoring/ recovery wells as a way to determine if any petroleum product was migrating from the spill site. The consensus among these professionals was that there was no evidence to support that the spill would impact neighboring wells or our potable water wells.

Results from one monitoring well (MW7) on December 1, 2022 showed evidence of petroleum products in the groundwater. This result required Kropp Environmental to notify their client (Region 18 Schools) and DEEP.

DEEP was notified by Kropp Environmental on Jan. 11.

February

The initial tests of private wells on Lyme St. came back showing no contamination due to the spill. One well did show some levels of contamination, but it has been determined that it was not in relation to the spill.  A retest of that well did not produce any detectable contaminants.

As a public supplier of water, we are required to test our water supply on a quarterly basis. On February 2, 2023, Whitewater (our certified water system administrator) collected a full suite of samples from each of our active potable water wells utilizing additional parameters as recommended by DEEP based on the oil spill that occurred at the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School in August.  

Chemicals were detected in potable water well number seven that belong to a class of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH’s). As a result, potable water well number seven was taken offline and water to our main campus was temporarily shut off.  PAH’s are present naturally in coal, crude oil, and gasoline. They are also formed when organic materials like coal, wood, garbage, and tobacco are burned.  We used the available health-based guidelines to inform our decision-making. 

While not impossible, based on the distance, the direction of groundwater flow, the depth of the well, the time period elapsed, and the location of our potable wells, the probability that this contamination is related to the August oil spill is extremely low if not nonexistent.  It is much more likely that the PAH’s found in well number seven come from a different source which we are actively working to identify. 

The test that resulted in us turning off the water was a test of undiluted potable water directly from well number seven. The water from well number seven would generally be mixed with water from three other wells and then pass through a chlorinating and pH adjusting system before being used on our campus.

Since the spill, we have tested our water for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) at the entry point (such as a faucet) on two separate occasions. VOC samples were collected from the entry point on 8/8/22 and 10/14/22 with no detections of oil-related compounds. 

On February 14, 2023 entry point test results were received showing that the water meets all regulatory standards for consumption with no detections of PAH’s.  Water to the main campus was turned back on with approval from the CT Department of Public Health.

Costs

Region 18 has expended approximately $75,000 out of the contingency portion (which is reported monthly at each Board of Education meeting) of the regular budget and has subsequently met the insurance deductible.  These monies have covered the cleanup, installation of 11 underground monitoring wells to measure any activity in the ground near the site, disposal, testing, and other costs associated with the cleanup and monitoring. 

Our insurance carrier is now funding the ongoing process.This timeline is also  posted on our webpage dedicated to the oil spill (https://www.region18.org/district-information/central-services/facilities-department) under the heading “Main Campus Oil Spill Updates”.

Letter to the Editor: Old Lyme Selectman Says Abutters Should Have Been Notified Earlier of LOL Middle School Oil Spill, Assures Impacted Residents Their Safety is BOS Prime Concern

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To the Editor:

Due to the growing concern around the oil spill at the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School, it is important to clarify any misconceptions.

The First Selectman and I were made aware of the oil spill during a Community Leaders meeting in September 2022.  We were informed that the spill was under control and the School District/BOE were working in conjunction with the DEEP to comply with all clean-up and remediation efforts.

In hindsight the abutting property owners near the spill should have been notified earlier by the School District out of an abundance of caution. 

I want to assure everyone going forward, especially as clean-up efforts continue, I will be available to hear your concerns. The safety of the residents impacted by the spill is our priority.  Mr. Griswold and I will remain on top of this issue and will keep residents informed as information becomes available. 

Sincerely,

Matthew Ward,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: The author is a Selectman on the Old Lyme Board of Selectmen.

Letter to the Editor: Old Lyme Zoning Must Reject Proposed Arts Overlay District, Approval Will Permit Commerce on Academy’s Site in Perpetuity

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To the Editor:

Much has been made of the required changes to the Old Lyme Zoning Regulations to accommodate a new Arts Overlay District to the sole benefit the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.  

I find it difficult to understand how an institution, much beloved in the community, has failed financially twice in the last decade.  The Town has assisted in many ways to help this struggling entity in its quest to retain its cultural contribution to our community.  So here we are for a third try, being asked to change our Town zoning laws to accommodate one organization.  The Lyme Academy of Fine Arts did not fail because zoning was too difficult, most applications by the institution for Special Exceptions have been granted.  The financial insecurity of the Academy is based in a poor business model. Its base problem is too much overhead and not enough income.  How should this relate to Zoning?  It shouldn’t.

The goal of the applicant is to make it easier to get permission to adjust their income stream by expanding their previously “student only” art store to a retail business and to expand their existing café area to a full service restaurant.  On the face of it, and if you did not live in the residential zone of the Historic District, reasonable attempts at shoring up the balance sheet.  The rub is that once these uses are allowed, they travel with the property.  So if the Academy finds itself again in unfortunately familiar circumstances and must sell the property, the uses allowed to that lovely institution to help it along, now will travel to the new owner.  That means two new commercial properties will have been allowed in a residential district.

We have zoning laws in place to prevent just this circumstance.  While this may not be considered “spot zoning”, if the underlying property changes use from an educational institution to anything else, it will be the creation of commercial use property within a pre-existing residential zone. 

Which leads me to wonder if the Board of the Academy truly believes a small retail store and a restaurant are going to save the institution or are there other plans not known to the public that will be facilitated by these changes in Zoning?  

The Applicant complains the current Special Exception process is difficult.  It should be.  It’s meant to protect the residents of this Residential Zone.

Sincerely,

Tom Schellens,
Old Lyme.

Letter to the Editor: Support the Academy, Approve the New Overlay Zone, Reject the Hysteria

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To the Editor:

Regarding the application by Lyme Art Academy for a new planning overlay zone, the loss will come if the art academy is not allowed to make the necessary changes now before the zoning commission. If these changes are not granted and the academy is forced not to exist, then the character of the town will change. This change will result when the property is converted into rental space, either affordable housing or non-affordable units. We all know that the state of Connecticut is forcing affordable housing on municipalities, Old Lyme being no exception. Yes, we need affordable housing in Old Lyme but as important is the town’s support for an institution that is a centerpiece of the Historic District and our arts community.

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.

Sincerely,

William Folland, Old Lyme.