Happy Friday! The first days of March have been a bit rainy but the warmer temperatures have been noticed and the daffodils are beginning to show signs of life in the gardens around the building.

Thank you to the Lyme-Old Lyme Lions for including Old Lyme Social Services and the Lymes’ Senior Center in their Annual Night of Giving, where they acknowledge organizations that contribute to the health, joy and safety of the community.

The first week of every month is especially busy in Town Hall. I am not sure many would realize that we have had 17 meetings within the past week. The various meeting rooms are consistently booked and there is activity late into the night. Our Board of Finance meeting on Tuesday night ended about 11PM. I want to thank the many department managers who came before the board to explain their budget requests and answer questions. The majority of our board and commission chairs also attended to describe their requests for the FY 24/25 budget. Having you all present allows the board to approve the budget in a more efficient manner.

On Wednesday morning, our town engineering firm, Nathan L. Jacobson & Associates, presided over the bid openings for the Ferry Road Sidewalk project. Construction and tree removal bids were opened. Yesterday, Tim Griswold, the committee chairperson, stopped in to review the bids. We have a few questions that should be answered within the next week and then we will be ready to proceed forward with the project.

Our staff meetings this week included a presentation from our IT Director, Tom Meyer. He has created an online paid time off calendar that the staff will be able to use to request days off for vacation, personal and sick leave. The calendar will allow us to cover offices more efficiently during the summer months when many are on vacation. I appreciate Tom’s dedication to this project.

Next week the Conservation Commission is co-hosting with the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library a presentation on Foundational Fish, the presentation will be at the Library on March 13th at 6:30pm. Pre-registration is appreciated.

Daylight Saving is this weekend. As you set your clocks to “spring forward” one hour on Saturday night, please remember to put new batteries in your smoke detectors. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would also like to utilize daylight saving time changes to remind car owners to check for vehicle safety recalls. 

All my best, 
Martha