Category Archives: Letters

Letter to the Editor: Local State Legislators Advocate for Republican Team in Old Lyme

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To the Editor:

In the upcoming Old Lyme election on Tuesday, November 7th, we encourage voters to consider the Republican team found on Row B. The team is being led by Jude Read for First Selectwoman and Chris Kerr for Selectman. Both have years of experience in Old Lyme municipal government and strong small business credentials. We believe both would do an admirable job for the town.

We think voters should also consider several other candidates running for office on Row B including Grub Garvin for Board of Finance, J. David Kelsey for Board of Finance Alternate, Tim Griswold for Board of Assessment Appeals, and Dan Montano for Zoning Board of Appeals. In addition to them, the town is fortunate to have several very qualified cross-endorsed candidates, including Vicki Urbowicz, who is the perfect successor to longtime Town Clerk Eileen Coffee, and Paul Orzel, Alan Todd, and Rick Goulding. We know all will work hard for the community.

Please make sure to exercise your right and get out and vote on November 7th.

Sincerely,

State Senator Paul Formica & State Representative Devin Carney

Letter to the Editor: Improving Hartford Avenue Needs Leadership (Maybe New)

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To the Editor:

I am a property owner on Hartford Avenue, and I have been working with my business partner on plans to improve my property.  I have been very disappointed with the lack of leadership and assistance from the town for the last two and half years to try and get something done.

We have made some good proposals to the town but it seems that there is absolutely no interest in their desire to help.  For example, we offered to demolish all the properties that we own in return for keeping our existing zoning or negotiate potential zoning in its place and that was declined.

We want to improve significantly from the old structures built in the 1930’s now on the properties, but we need to have zoning changes and understand the plans for sewers.  This was the same situation with the last owner, who also hit a wall with the town in 2006, and whose plans were also a great improvement to the streetscape.

We have recently submitted new plans with the generous help of the (SVC) Sound View Commission and that failed too.   Most people don’t understand (including the town) the new FEMA guidelines of constructing new projects in a potential flooding area.  Our design for residential housing would have started the beatification of Hartford Ave and would have helped others on the street to do the same.

For at least two years, I have been talking to groups starting with the board of selectmen who passed us along down the line.  I feel that to make anything change, groups like the zoning board, the WPCA and the planning commission need a strong leader who can sit everyone down and make things happen so that people have confidence to invest and to make our town a better place.  It seems like each board or commission does their own thing, and there is no leadership at the top.  We need to change this.

Sincerely,

William Randazzo,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: The author is the owner of 52-56 Hartford Ave.

Letter to the Editor: (Still Unfinished) Boathouse Project Cost to Town Now $550K Over STEAP Grant/Donations; Elect Read to Regain Fiscal Responsibility

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To the Editor:

Old Lyme Town Ordinance 20-8 states: “The responsibility for the management, control and development of the Town’s recreational facilities and expenditures made in connection therewith is vested in a Parks and Recreation Commission” (PRC). Thus, PRC requested that it review and approve plans proposed by the ad hoc Boathouse/Hains Park Improvement Committee (BHPIC), as it did for the original Boathouse in 1987 and all three phases of Town Woods Park.

While PRC supported the plan to upgrade the existing Boathouse submitted with the $478,000 STEAP grant, PRC raised serious objections to subsequent BHPIC plans involving $405,000 in Town funds.  So, First Selectwoman Reemsnyder decided to overrule Ordinance 20-8, and requested the previous Town Attorney justify her decision. That factually inaccurate “justification” was unambiguously refuted by a highly respected local attorney on legal grounds.  However, Ms. Reemsnyder continued to ignore PRC concerns about BHPIC-proposed Boathouse plans and likely cost overruns.

The result:  the Boathouse phase of the project exceeded the budget presented to the community in Jan 2016 by over $175,000 – primarily due to structural and code issues and related design errors and omissions; and the project is still not complete, due to on-going drainage issues.

Because the Boathouse cost overrun consumed funds earmarked for the project’s second phase:  upgrading the park’s ADA accessibility and restrooms for use by both rowers and the public, Ms. Reemsnyder requested an additional $150,000 be incorporated into Old Lyme’s 2017-18 Annual Budget to complete the project.  This brings total Town costs to $555,000, in addition to the STEAP Grant funds and donations.

We need experienced community leadership that respects important checks and balances, and will restore governmental and fiscal responsibility to Old Lyme.

Please elect Jude Read First Selectwoman!

Sincerely,

Bob Dunn,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note i): The author is the Old Lyme Parks & Recreation Commission Chairman, former chairman of the Town Woods Park Building Committee.

Editor’s Note ii): The author is also a member of the Boathouse/Hains Park Improvement Committee. We apologize that this detail was omitted from the original posting of the letter.

Letter to the Editor: Wayland, Lord Are Both From Lyme, For Lyme, Understand Lyme

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To the Editor:

I am pleased to have served the Town of Lyme for many years as a selectman, school board member and for 30 years as state representative in Hartford. During that period, I worked with some great selectmen in Lyme who knew the importance of maintaining our essential services with one of the lowest property tax rates in the state.

I am now confident that, when elected, Mark Wayland will continue with our tradition of having exceptional people serve our town as its chief executive officer. He grew up in Lyme and knows firsthand what our residents appreciate and in fact why many have moved here from other towns in the state.

I hope you will vote for Mark and his running mate, long time Board of Selectmen member, Parker Lord, on Nov. 7. They are both from Lyme and deserve to be elected.

Sincerely,

John J. Tiffany II,
Lyme.

Letter to the Editor: Reemsnyder, Nosal Are ‘Minding the Store’ in Old Lyme, Listening to Community, Saving Taxpayers Money

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To the Editor:

Old Lyme’s Sound View Improvements project is mischaracterized and misunderstood by Sloan Danenhower in his letter printed in The Day on 10/22, and in LymeLine.com on 10/26.

This long-desired project is not funded by the State.  Rather, a federal transportation reimbursement grant, contractually signed before the project began, covers 80% of the cost of the improvements.

The project has local and regional support by our 17-Town Council of Governments. The bi-partisan Sound View Improvements Committee held numerous public meetings and informational presentations for the public; and the voters overwhelmingly approved the plan and design and construction at Town Meetings.

Sound View has received no significant attention in decades until the current Old Lyme administration was elected.  With this valuable grant, construction will cost the town only $182,220.  However, new ADA-accessible sidewalks and drainage alone would have cost taxpayers about $500,000 without the grant.

The infrastructure project was completed substantially under budget, allowing for 80% reimbursement for improved road drainage and paving of the project area, making it safer to drive and bike now, sewers are years away.

Reimbursements are being received regularly, and some residents are improving their property too as a result of the project.  Bringing more bicyclists and pedestrians to Hartford Ave. will provide economic opportunities for the community.

There is no doubt that this Administration is “watching the store,” listening to the community and saving money for taxpayers.

Sincerely,

Angelo Faenza,
Old Lyme.

Editor’s Note: The author is a member of the Sound View Improvements Committee and a Sound View resident.