The last week of May has been busy. Jim, Jude and I were thrilled to see so many of you at the Memorial Day Parade. This is truly one of the best days in Old Lyme, as it exemplifies the spirit of our town. Many thanks to all who participated. The Old Lyme Fire Department provided us with delicious hot dogs after the parade. Lymeline published an article on our parade organizers, Tony Hendriks and Tony Vallombroso. If you haven’t read it, please do so. They are ready to train the next generation of parade organizers.

When we returned to work on Tuesday, the Registrars of Voters, Cathy Clark and Jen Datum, began preparing for the Town Meeting which was rescheduled for May 28^th. Town Clerk, Vicki Urbowicz and her assistant, Courtney Joy worked with the registrars to make sure we were ready for a larger than normal crowd. Dave Roberge informed us that we had 220 people in the audience at the Lyme-Old Lyme High School for the Town Budget Meeting. Vicki Urbowicz indicated that in the past five years, the largest attendance number was 60 people. We were pleased to see so many people taking an active role in the passing of the budget. Many thanks to Finance Chair, Bennett J. Bernblum, who presented the budget for the attendees. We also passed revisions to four ordinances and created a new ordinance for golf carts in the shoreline area. Special thanks to Old Lyme Fire Department President Rob McCarthy and Harbormaster Matthew Lynch for presenting their ordinance changes to those in attendance. The ordinances that were revised are:

• §41-1 Duty of Selectmen – originally adopted in 1958 and amended in 2003.
• §150-7 – §150-10 – Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Tax Abatement – originally adopted in 2002.
• §161-8 - §161-12 Parking on Private Property - originally adopted in 1974 and amended in years 1974, 1985, 1999, 2003, and 2006.
• §58-1 - §58-34 Harbor Management – originally adopted in 1993 and amended in 1998

The ordinances can be found on the Town Clerk’s page. They will take effect 15 days after they are published in a newspaper. We will keep you posted when they become valid.  

I want to post a special note of gratitude to Attorney Fran Sablone who volunteered to moderate our Town Budget Meeting. He made sure that everyone had the opportunity to speak and ask pertinent questions.  

Some events for this weekend:

• The Economic Development Commission will be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony at The Hideaway tomorrow morning. We are honoring José and Diana Plasencia, the new owners of The Hideaway Restaurant Wood-Fired Pizza.  This event will take place at 11:30AM.
• The Lymes’ Senior Center will hold its Grand Re-Opening tomorrow from 1-3PM. All are invited to attend. There will be a brief remarks at 1PM and then the center will be available for touring. 

Reminders for Next Week:

It is almost June. For those of you who own a dog, it is Dog Licensing Month. Reminders are being sent in the mail to all dog owners today. Please be on the lookout for your paperwork.  

The Assessor’s office will have limited hours next week. The office will be open 9-2PM, Monday through Friday. Assessor, Melinda Kronfeld and Assistant, Anita Leittieri will be at UCONN. Melinda will be teaching courses and Anita will be taking courses as she works toward her Assessor's Certification.  

We are still looking to hire Public Safety Rangers for our summer program within the police department.  This is an excellent opportunity for students 18 years of age and older who are considering a degree in the Criminal Justice or Public Safety fields.  

Finally, enjoy this weekend. Although Saturday may be a bit soggy, Sunday looks to be more like a summer day. 

All my best, 
Martha