OLD LYME—In unconfirmed results, incumbent Democrat Martha Shoemaker held her First Selectwoman seat fighting off a strong campiagn by Republican challenger John Mesham. Shoemaker’s running mate Jim Lampos also held his seat and the third seat on the board will be taken by Mesham. Jude Read (R) lost her seat as a Selectwoman.
We do not yet have any detailed numbers on the Selectmen’s race nor results from any of the other races. We will share them as soon as we receive them.
Editor’s Note: This article was updated with comments from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesman.
OLD LYME — Armed with refined cost estimates, the Board of Selectmen is pitching a January referendum vote for a sewer project that has faced resistance for decades as leaders grapple with how to pay for a cleaner Long Island Sound.
Meanwhile, Old Lyme Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) Chairman Steve Cinami continues to warn residents a delay could cost millions.
First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker at Monday’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting told selectmen that state elections timelines and scheduling for the registars of voters will require pushing the referendum date on the Sound View Beach sewer project to Jan. 13, 2026.
She said state election law requires the town’s tabulating machines to be locked for two weeks following the Nov. 4 election. Also crowding the schedule is the Thanksgiving holiday and a state-mandated training for the registrars in December that will limit the availability of the part-time civil servants, according to Shoemaker.
Sound View is responsible for up to $17.1 million of the $70 million proposal to require residents of four beach communities to install sewers. State and federal funding would bring the amount to be covered by Sound View residents down to $8.5 million.
Selectmen last month said there were too many unanswered questions to get the question on the ballot in time for the municipal election. But increased clarity on the amount Sound View users will have to pay, combined with the impending cost sharing agreement between the town and three private beach communities, have left selectmen ready to prepare another date.
The Old Lyme WPCA, which oversees the Sound View project, has been pushing for townwide approval before construction bids expire in mid October. The urgency was underscored when the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) informed local officials that federal funding amounting to about half the project cost is in jeopardy if the town doesn’t get the project approved soon.
Connecticut DEEP Deputy Commissioner of Environmental Quality Emma Cimino in an Aug. 15 email to Shoemaker said failing to move forward with the referendum by mid October “will significantly impact” the town’s ability to pursue Clean Water Act funding for 25% of the total project cost and a forgivable loan for another 25%.
After Monday’s meeting, Shoemaker said she will send the recommended referendum timeline from the Town’s Registrars of Voters Catherine Carter and Jennifer Datum to the state agency.
She said the dates were selected in accordance with the state’s election law and calendar.
“I will tell [the CT DEEP] if they have any other way to get around this, they will have to reach out to the secretary of the state’s office,” she said.
Cinami, as head of the Old Lyme WPCA, called the proposed delay ridiculous.
He said a staff attorney with the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s Office told him locking down machine tabulators after the election doesn’t mean the town can’t hold a referendum using paper ballots.
Secretary of the State Spokesman Roger Senserrich on Tuesday confirmed the referendum could happen while the tabulators are locked.
Cinami said delaying until mid-January could be an expensive proposition.
“The registrar of voters works for the town, to do town business,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday. “This could cost the town $3 million if we don’t pass a referendum and get the project going prior to the beach associations signing contracts with the state.”
Cinami said the delay could make the town ineligible for the Clean Water Act funds if they are awarded at the end of December or early January, which is the timeline he’s been given.
“I don’t know what the town doesn’t understand,” he said. “I don’t think I’m a genius. I think the DEEP has been very clear what they plan on doing. And if you don’t listen to them, I think you jeopardize funding.”
The state going back to the early 1980s has pushed for an end to pollution emanating from local beach communities, leading to a 2018 consent order with Old Colony Beach, Old Lyme Shores, and Miami Beach that resulted in the current shared sewer plan. Sound View was added in 2019 after voters in a townwide referendum agreed to spend $9.5 million on the public portion of the project with the understanding that affected neighborhoods would fund it.
The new referendum vote is necessary because inflation drove up the total cost of the project, though the promise of federal funding means Sound View ratepayers would be paying less than the amount authorized in the first referendum.
The town is participating voluntarily in the sewer plan at this point. But the state has warned a consent order, like the one forcing the private beach associations to act, could be coming if progress isn’t made.
Cinami said the state set the mid-October deadline because that’s when the rest of the beach communities should be ready to move forward.
Bids on the Old Lyme Shores portion of the project, the last of the four beach communities to solicit offers, close on Wednesday.
“After that, my understanding is that the DEEP will allow the beach associations to start work,” he said. “And what I believe will eventually happen is that the town will be ordered to put in sewers.”
Miami Beach WPCA Chairman Scott Boulanger could not be reached Tuesday for an update on the status of the project in that community after bids came back more than $5 million over budget this summer.
By the Numbers
Selectmen on Monday tied up another outstanding issue with the presentation of a third-party report from the accounting firm HRT Advisors analyzing various budget projections.
The disparity between estimates from the WPCA, Selectman Jim Lampos, and some residents had raised questions about the true cost to Sound View residents over the 20 year life of the project loan.
The WPCA in an August presentation put the cost to construct the system at $1,939 annually over 20 years for a typical user, not including annual fees estimated at $565 by the CT DEEP.
The HRT analysis, applying a 5% construction contingency for unexpected costs, estimated that construction costs and connection fees to the East Lyme sewer system enroute the New London wastewater treatment plant would amount to $2,241 per year.
Applying an 8% contingency, the number would rise to $2,292 per year.
There appeared to be consensus among selectmen to use the HRT figures as the official estimate going forward.
The HRT report noted Cinami’s estimate included an outdated price tag of $4.1 million for the shared pump station, which is now $4.8 million after the low bidder dropped out. The accountanting firm also included interest on the bond accrued during the construction period.
Cinami on Tuesday agreed the third-party estimate was fair. Taking into account that he’d applied the connection fees to the annual operations and maintenance category rather than construction costs, he said there was only about $70 separating his figures from the accountant’s estimate using the 5% contingency.
Lampos, who is both a selectman and resident of the Sound View Beach community, said the numbers prove the project is too expensive for the residents, who will have to foot the bill.
He referenced the state “rule of thumb” articulated last year at a public meeting by agency project engineer Carlos Esguerra. The rule, based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidance from the 1990s, says the cost is affordable to residents if it does not exceed 2% of the town’s median household income (MHI). Esguerra at the time identified Old Lyme’s MHI as $122,000, which equated to $2,440 a year.
Connecticut DEEP Spokesman James Fowler has not provided an updated affordability estimate despite several requests from LymeLine over the past few months.
Based on the accountant’s lower estimate, the cost per user goes up to around $2,800 per year when annual operations and maintenance costs are included. Lampos described that figure as “well north” of the affordability threshold.
The CT DEEP did not confirm whether the federal affordability threshold includes annual operations and maintenance costs. Cinami has said it does not.
Lampos and Shoemaker said they have not been able to get confirmation from the state agency on the affordability calcuation or its implications for this project.
Shoemaker called for answers from the state.
On Wednesday, the CT DEEP spokesman in an emailed response to questions from LymeLine said there is no affordability criteria that would allow pollution to continue because the cost was over a certain threshold.
“Affordability would only be used to determine a suitable compliance schedule,” Fowler said.
He described a financial impact assessment used by sewer service providers – sometimes referred to in shorthand as an “affordability” assessment – when a corrective plan is needed to address a pollution problem. If the assessment indicates a higher impact on residents, communities can break up projects into phases to reduce the financial impact, or seek increased funding.
“In Old Lyme’s case, DEEP offered $15 million to lessen the impact,” he said. “In bigger communities like Hartford, its sewer utility is under order and has phased projects on a priority basis and is following a specific compliance schedule to work projects to address the pollution.”
Lampos told selectmen that taking a couple weeks to get the accountant’s analysis did not add to the overall project delay. That’s because negotiations on a Cost Sharing Agreement between the four beach communities are still being ironed out and the bids for Old Lyme Shores remain outstanding.
He maintained that understanding the cost to Sound View residents and ensuring they are represented throughout the project is critical.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Sound View resident Mary Daley commended the three selectmen for their work on the complex issue.
Daley, a vocal project opponent, was appointed to the WPCA last year.
She said Lampos, Shoemaker and Selectwoman Jude Read each kept their campaign promises from two years ago.
“Because, Jude, you promised to listen, and you certainly have. And, Martha, you promised to do this also, and to ensure that Sound View was represented on the WPCA, and you have accomplished that. And, Jim, you have gone over and beyond all expectations to affect and to ensure that Sound View is treated fairly in the sewer project, and we so appreciate your efforts,” she said.
OLD LYME–The Old Lyme Board of Selectmen’s plan to hire a third-party accountant to review cost estimates for the Sound View Beach sewer project has raised concerns that delaying a townwide referendum could put millions in state funding at risk.
The selectmen on Monday during its regular meeting reaffirmed a plan to bring in a consulting accountant to analyze various budget projections for Sound View’s portion of a total $70 million sewer installation project to be shared by four beach communities.
First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker said she needs more clarity on the financials before asking voters to approve it at a townwide referendum.
“I know that no one in government will go forward with any type of referendum on a budget application unless they know that these numbers are firm,” Shoemaker said. “I am not putting it to a referendum resolution until it’s taken care of.”
She said it’s already too late to put the issue on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election based on scheduling deadlines from the Office of the Secretary of the State.
The Old Lyme Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA), which oversees the Sound View project, has been pushing for townwide approval before construction bids expire in mid-October. Meanwhile, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is warning that roughly half of the project cost is in jeopardy if the town misses the Oct. 15 deadline.
Shoemaker said the selectmen are also waiting to see how the finances play out for the Miami Beach Association, where bids came in about $5 million higher than expected last month, and for the Old Lyme Shores Beach Association, which is in the process of going out to bid.
Lampos after the meeting said the cost estimates under review came from the Old Lyme WPCA, its engineer Fuss & O’Neill, residents, and state officials.
On Tuesday evening, Shoemaker said over the phone that she hired an accountant in consultation with the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, a regional planning organization. The consultant, whose firm she could not specify while away from her desk, will start on Sept. 16.
The move comes after upwards of 60 people gathered in the Lyme-Old Lyme High School auditorium late last month for a contentious back-and-forth between Old Lyme WPCA Chairman Steve Cinami and residents of the Sound View Beach area.
A major concern was the uncertainty over how much each Sound View homeowner will have to pay. They also cited a lack of current testing to show a pollution problem exists and questioned why Hawk’s Nest Beach and White Sand Beach were excluded from the project.
CT DEEP Spokesman James Fowler in a Tuesday email said the town will still be obligated to address “community pollution problems that can arise from areas of substandard septic systems” even if they lose their state and federal funding by failing to act quickly.
“The Department will be reaching out to the Town this week to set up a meeting to discuss next steps and timing, as we look to continue to assist the Town with resolving this important issue,” he wrote.
‘With or Without the Town’
Scott Boulanger, chairman of the Miami Beach WPCA, told LymeLine in a Tuesday phone interview that the association is trying to figure out how to proceed “with or without the town.”
Acknowledging the Miami Beach costs came in higher than expected, he said the project will only become more expensive once the existing bids expire.
“If this doesn’t go through in October, everything would have to go out to bid again, which basically says the cost is going to be escalated even more,” he said.
He said he is working with officials from the other beach associations and the CT DEEP on potential ideas to save money, such as eliminating parts of the project for now.
The state, going back to the early 1980s, has pushed for an end to pollution emanating from local beach communities, leading to a 2018 consent order with the three private beach associations that resulted in the current shared sewer plan. Sound View Beach, which is under Town control, was added in 2019 after taxpayers across the town agreed to spend $9.5 million on the public portion of the project with the understanding that affected neighborhoods would fund it.
The town so far has been participating voluntarily in the sewer plan under the threat of a consent order from the state.
Now, inflationary costs have triggered the need for another referendum on the Sound View project after the bottom line increased by $7.6 million. But state and federal funding announced last year promised to reduce the price tag by about half, leaving Sound View residents responsible for less than the amount approved in 2019.
“Eventually, I think what’s going to end up happening, if I had a crystal ball, would be the project might go forth without [the town], which is what was planned like a decade ago,” Boulanger said.
Then the town, he said, “will just end up paying a lot more whenever they do get put into the system, which they will probably get forced to do one way or the other.”
Old Lyme WPCA Chairman Steve Cinami in a Tuesday phone call predicted that delaying the Sound View referendum will cost the town its 25% forgivable loan from the state. WPCA documents show the loan amounts to about $2.6 million.
He worried that taking the time to hire an accountant could needlessly jeopardize the funding.
“I’m surprised there’s an accountant out there that knows how to assume costs to run a pump station, but that’s what they seem to be doing,” he said.
He attributed the delay to resistance from what he described as a small group of people.
“There’s almost 200 residences in Soundview and only about, from what I can tell, 30 to 40 residences at most were represented at that informational meeting,” he said. “It leads me to believe that 160 people don’t care or don’t care enough to show up.”
He emphasized the demands from the state won’t go away if the project moves forward without the town.
The Case for Waiting
Mary Daley, a longstanding opponent of the Sound View project, who was appointed to the Old Lyme WPCA last year, applauded the delay during the public comment portion of Monday’s selectmen’s meeting.
“I totally support the idea of retaining an independent auditor to do a forensic audit of what has been spent, what is owed, and what will be owed if this project goes forward,” she said as one of the meeting’s remote participants.
She warned that the combined impact of annual sewer payments and increased taxes could push some older adults out of their long-term homes.
Selectman Jim Lampos, a Sound View resident, acknowledged a lack of verified numbers has been a sticking point among property owners from the beach community, who will be responsible for construction costs as well as annual fees.
“I think the suggestion of hiring a third party to take a look at it and to vet all the different estimates that are out there, and to render an opinion, could only help breed confidence,” Lampos said. “Having different estimates floating around doesn’t help.”
Selectwoman Jude Read called on her fellow selectmen to give a clear directive and timeframe to the consulting accountant.
“Because this can go on for a long time,” she said.
Lampos, who is currently working with the four beach communities to formalize a cost-sharing agreement, with another meeting set for Sept. 22, agreed.
“It has to be done quickly,” he said.
OLD LYME — The Federation of Old Lyme Beaches Inc. (FOLB) will hear from Old Lyme candidates up for election this November at its Meet the Candidates event on Saturday, Sept. 13.
The forum will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Shoreline Community Center, 39 Hartford Ave.
FOLB in a press release said candidates for the office of selectman and other municipal elected offices will be in attendance. All Old Lyme residents are invited to attend. The four selectman candidates will each present brief remarks regarding their vision for Old Lyme as well as challenges the town faces. Audience members will be able to ask questions of the candidates.
FOLB represents the beach or shore communities of Old Lyme. The purpose of the Federation is to benefit and promote, by united action, the common interests of the beach and shore communities of Old Lyme in their relations with the local government and people of Old Lyme.
For more information, contact FOLB President Scott Boulanger at scottjboulanger@gmail.com.