Tag Archives: Lyme

Lyme First Selectman David Lahm Will Not Seek Reelection; No Candidates Announced Yet

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LYME – Newly unaffiliated First Selectman David Lahm will not be seeking reelection in November. 

“I’ll be 66 years old when I leave office,” he said from the Town Hall Tuesday night. “I’ve been a volunteer in one way or another in this town, and in the service of our country in the military, since 1975. It’s time for my wife and I to build some time for us.”

Lahm was a Republican selectman when he was appointed to the top seat in 2022 after the mid-term retirement of Democrat Steve Mattson. 

He said he informed the leadership of both major political parties back in January of his intention not to run for another term. No candidates for the first selectman’s seat have been announced. 

“All things considered, I would have liked to have spent another term, but I look at some people I know who are no longer with us, and I don’t want to be one of these guys who works and then, six months after he retires, dies,” Lahm said. 

Lahm acknowledged that he switched his political affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated a few weeks ago. He said he based the decision on “national politics” under President Donald Trump. 

“I can’t be affiliated with that administration,” he said. 

But his discontent with the situation nationally did not drive his local reelection decision, according to the first selectman. He said officials in Lyme “have a long tradition of working across the aisle.”

Lahm recalled starting out his voting life as a Democrat. He became a registered Republican in 1992. 

“I changed then because I felt the Democratic Party had left me, and I now feel the Republican Party has left me,” he said. 

Lahm began volunteering in Lyme at age 16 as part of the Lyme Fire Company. He went on to join the U.S. Army, earn his law degree, and serve in the Connecticut National Guard until his retirement as a full colonel in 2012. His service includes tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lahm was elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2021. Democrat Kristina White was appointed to take his place when he took over for Mattson as first selectman.

The board under Lahm’s leadership changed its name to the Board of Selectpeople in 2023, though he said at the time they would retain the gendered forms of their titles individually.

Republican Town Committee Chairwoman Mary Powell-St. Louis in a Wednesday phone call said the committee is finalizing its slate of candidates for all board and commission seats up for election in November. She expects to announce the full slate by the end of June.

Powell-St. Louis said she’s been the local Republican chairwoman since March of last year. She replaced Lahm, who resigned from the committee the previous December.

She said she wishes him well on “the next chapter of his journey.”

“I think he’s been a solid force for the town and I think his leadership was well received by the entire community – the Republican, Democratic and unaffiliated sides,” she said. 

She described Lahm’s decision to change his political affiliation as a personal one. 

She said the Republican Town Committee is more concerned with local issues than what happens on the national stage. 

“Speaking for myself, I think that the national politics don’t belong in the small town of Lyme,” she said. “We’re focused on the local issues and local representation.” 

John Kiker, a selectman and the chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, said Lahm’s inclusive leadership style will be missed. 

Kiker and Democrat Kristina White serve with Lahm on the three-member board. 

“He definitely sought our input on all matters,” he said. 

Kiker also emphasized Lahm’s thoughtful way of addressing problems. 

“He has a very calm way of dealing with people, taking things in and making a decision,” he said. 

White in a Wednesday phone interview said Lahm’s commitment to Lyme, a town that has always relied on volunteers, is evident. 

“I think he just exemplifies how we run the town, and exemplifies the character of the town that has always been for people to step up and volunteer,” she said. “And he did that, both as a selectman and stepping in after Steve Mattson resigned.”

Both Kiker and White said they will be running for reelection as selectmen. 

Kiker said local Democratic leadership has identified a possible candidate for first selectman. He declined to announce the name pending a vote by the full Democratic Town Committee in May.

Scientists Continue Fight Against Hydrilla Scourge; Presentation in Lyme on Latest Efforts

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This photo was taken September 2020 during an inspection of Whalebone Cove when it was found 60 to 70 percent of the waterways were clogged with hydrilla vines.

LYME – Experts on the Connecticut River hydrilla will be at the Town Hall on Wednesday to talk about plans to include Hamburg Cove in a growing, multi-year effort to reduce and control the highly invasive water weed. 

The presentation will begin at 7 p.m., according to a public notice filed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). A question and answer period will follow. 

The Connecticut River Hydrilla project, overseen by the Army engineers in partnership with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, began in 2023 to figure out which aquatic herbicides ― and how much of them ― are best suited to fighting off the uniquely pernicious aquatic species. 

The USACE said herbicides will be introduced to Hamburg Cove this summer or fall. All herbicides being used are registered for aquatic use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The project last year applied an herbicide treatment to Selden Cove and several other sites on the lower Connecticut River. 

Hydrilla degrades water quality, chokes out native plants and threatens the habitat of migratory fish like shad and herring, according to the Connecticut River Conservatory. It’s been described by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D, as, “the worst invasive aquatic species known to man.”

Wednesday’s meeting will be in-person only, according to the notice. There will be information on the project itself as well as the concerning effects of hydrilla on the Connecticut River system.

Registration is requested. Those interested in attending should email info@eightmileriver.org.

Lyme Grange Presents Recognition Awards for Long [Decades of] Service 

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LYME – Thirteen members of Lyme Grange 147 have earned recognition awards for decades  of service. 

The 129-year-old organization is based in the Hamburg section of Lyme off Rte. 156. 

Grange Secretary Nancy Beebe announced the Long Service awards in a press release dated April 10.

 “To the Grange, ‘long’ means time measured in decades, not mere years, because of its traditions of consistency and continuity in community service,” she said. “We are deeply thankful to their dedication and to their donation of time and skills.” 

The awardees are:

  • Ruth Young, 80 years
  • Alione Cone, 75 years
  • Bruce Stark, 65 years
  • William Narducci, 60 years
  • Dorothie Smith, 60 years
  • Bill Firgelewski, 55 years
  • Charles Monte, 55 years
  • John Andrews, 50 years
  • Shirley Pennala, 50 years
  • Terri Bischoff, 45 years
  • Andrina Monte, 45 years
  • Doreen Lammer, 40 years
  • Ernest Lammer, 40 years. 

The long service awardees have over the years volunteered in a multitude of Grange activities, notably in helping to judge and administrate portions of the annual Hamburg Fair, now in its 122nd year.

Tom Bushnell of Old Lyme Named Assistant Principal at LOL High School

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Tom Bushnell will replace Lyme-Old Lyme High School Assistant Principal Jeanne Manfredi on July 1. Photo courtesy of the Lyme-Old Lyme Schools.

OLD LYME – On April 3, Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools announced that Tom Bushnell of Old Lyme will replace Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) Assistant Principal Jeanne Manfredi upon her retirement at the end of the current school year. 

The district in a press release said Bushnell, who currently serves as an assistant principal at North Haven High School, will begin his new position on July 1.

Superintendent of Schools Ian Neviaser said the district received 160 applications.

He commented, “Tom’s calm and friendly demeanor, along with his passion for working with young adults, made him stand out from a very competitive field.” Neviaser added, “We look forward to Tom joining our team and continuing to build upon the success of Lyme-Old Lyme High School.”

With four years’ experience as assistant principal, Bushnell has also worked as a social studies and math teacher at Adams Middle School in Guilford and St. Thomas More School in Montville. 

Bushnell has a sixth year certificate in educational leadership from the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree from Fairfield’s Sacred Heart University, and earned his bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College.

Bushnell lives in Old Lyme with his wife and two children.

Manfredi is retiring after more than 30 years in the district, including nine years as LOLHS Assistant Principal. She worked initially for LOL Schools from June 1991 to 1999, returning in 2003. 

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with the number of years of service of the retiring Assistant Principal.

Lyme-Old Lyme School Board to Hear from Music Department Amid Outcry About Threatened Cut to Elementary School Position

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OLD LYME—After backlash to a proposed budget cut that would eliminate an elementary school music position from the proposed 2025-26 Region 18 schools’ budget, the district Board of Education has invited members of the music department for a conversation about how to maintain a vibrant and appropriately-staffed music department amid declining enrollment.

The proposed cut comes as part of the $39.7 million budget proposal coming in at an increase of $2.7 million, or 7.39 percent, over the current spending plan. It goes to voters at a May 6 referendum.

The district school board heard from about a dozen people each at its March and April regular meetings, who were clamoring to keep the music program undisturbed. 

Neviaser in a phone interview Tuesday cited “underenrollment” as the reason the district cannot maintain current staffing levels. 

“We just don’t have the students to support that, or the student interest in music that we used to have,” he said. 

Neviaser said the remaining five music teachers would ensure continued coverage throughout the district. While the schedules have not yet been decided, he suggested a framework that could involve the middle school choral teacher moving to Mile Creek to take over both chorus and band duties, with some support from both the high school band teacher and the music teacher at Lyme Consolidated School. 

“The high school choral teacher, because we have so few enrollments in chorus at the high school, would teach two classes and the rest of her day would be spent at the middle school teaching chorus there,” he said. 

Data provided at an April 2 school board meeting shows there are 40 students in the chorus program at the high school and 73 students in the high school band. At the middle school, there are 119 students in chorus program and 87 students in the band.

Small group chorus lessons at the middle school would combine under the new framework but would not exceed 10 students each, according to Neviaser. 

He has emphasized throughout the budget season that programs available to students would not change due to the staffing cut. 

Overall, the budget proposal assumes there will be 23 fewer students districtwide in the coming year than there are currently. Data in a January budget presentation by Neviaser showed enrollment at the high school is expected to go down by 13 students, while middle school enrollment is expected to increase by 17 students. 

Sara Goldin, a 2014 graduate of Lyme-Old Lyme High School, presented the school board at their April 2 meeting with a petition she started on change.org. It has since garnered 918 signatures. 

Goldin said the change has implications that will affect to varying degrees the number and quality of the ensembles, concerts, music festivals and small group classes in which students are able to participate. 

“Ensembles would be reduced and students at both the middle school and high school level would be losing dedicated staff. This is the definition of affecting programming for students,” Goldin wrote. 

Mary Powell-St. Louis, a former district school board member from Lyme, said retaining the Mile Creek music teacher at an estimated cost of $100,000 for salary and benefits could be accomplished by paying for planned upgrades to the high school sound system and middle school lighting system out of the district’s undesignated fund balance, or ‘Rainy Day Fund,’ rather than the operating budget. 

She said the move would end up lowering the overall budget increase to 6.85%.

There is $3.1 million in the undesignated fund balance, according to Neviaser.  

He said the Board of Education will hold a meeting with music department teachers this Thursday to gauge their thoughts, “and what their solutions might be to address these underenrollment and staffing issues.” 

The school board at the May 5 district budget meeting will vote to send the budget to referendum the next day. 

Neviaser said the budget proposal can be revised prior to or during the May 5 district budget meeting. 

“You can change those numbers right up to the last minute,” he said. “We’ve done it in the past.”

The meeting will be held Thursday, April 10, at 7:30 p.m. at Lyme Consolidated School. A livestream will be available here.

Editor’s Note: This report was updated with details of the time and location of the meeting with the district school board and music department .