This has been a wonderful week, with signs of spring popping up all over. The temperature has been in the 50’s and the daffodils are beginning to wake up in our gardens.

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to tour the Lymes’ Senior Center with Peter Lucchese, Chair of the Lymes’ Senior Center Board of Directors. We were both amazed at the progress that has been made in the last few weeks. This week the wallpaper and fireplace surround were installed. Erik Olsen, Facilities Director, Stephanie Gould, Director of the Lymes’ Senior Center, and Caitlyn Perkins, Assistant to the Director of the Lymes’ Senior Center, began training on some of the various systems that are being used in the new building. Next week, we are anticipating that some final inspections will be carried out as well. Once we have a Certificate of Occupancy, we will continue to work with our town vendors on finishing wiring and installation of computers. We understand that the furniture should be delivered to our vendor on the last day of March and then we will determine an installation date. We also must coordinate the delivery of the items that were placed in storage. Please remember that the building is still an active construction site and has not been turned over the towns at this time.

On Sunday, I attended the Lions Club Pancake Breakfast. It was well attended, and I have heard it was one of their best years. It was so nice to see members of the Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) Robotics team sharing their knowledge with the young children that attended the event.

On Wednesday afternoon I met with the Town engineer and officials from Crowne Castle, Eversource, and Frontier to discuss planning for the redesign of the Grassy Hill Road Bridge. These are initial conversations that need to take place if we are to begin construction in the spring of 2026. There will be another meeting in April, as we continue to gather more insight into the steps that need to be taken. The Town has already set aside money for this project, and we have a grant from the State of Connecticut as well. I will provide you with updates after our meetings.

The Road and Public Safety Committee met on Wednesday night and invited guests from the Public Works, Fire, Police, Ambulance and EMS departments to attend. The committee is researching various traffic calming solutions for our town. They heard from the departments regarding their concerns about placing speed humps on public streets. This week they also had a presentation from Traffic Logix Solutions on speed cameras and ticketing. This presentation will be placed on their page once it is received at Town Hall.

DEEP has made us aware of a presentation that will be held at DEEP Marine District Headquarters, Education Center/ Building 3, 333 Ferry Road, Old Lyme, CT on Thursday, April 10^th at 6PM. The presentation will feature the updated version of the guide “Connecticut Beach Association’s Guide to Coastal Activities and Permitting,” that covers many topics of interest for our shoreline residents. This presentation is open to beach associations, municipalities, owners of shorefront property, recreational clubs, or anyone interested in learning more about DEEP’s regulation of beaches and associated recreational activities. Please RSVP to Kathleen Perzanowski at Kathleen.perzanowski@ct.gov no later than 12PM Tuesday, April 8^th.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank the young family that was picking up trash alongside the road on Flat Rock Hill and Mile Creek on Monday afternoon. Thank you so much for caring about our town and teaching your children to be aware of the environmental impacts of trash on our land.

The Town Hall staff is sending our best wishes to our LOLHS Varsity Basketball team as they play Shepaug Valley in the Division V Championship game at the Mohegan Sun Arena tomorrow at 12:30PM. Go Wildcats!

At the March 3^rd Board of Selectmen meeting the Selectmen voted to declare March 15, 2025, as David Ruggles Day. The full proclamation for this special day can be found here. You can learn more about David Ruggles in a blog post written by Jim Lampos on Explore Old Lyme's newly-created America 250 page. The webpage will feature stories by local historians as we lead up to America's 250^th anniversary on July 4, 2026.