On April 15, there was a special meeting of Lyme/Old Lyme residents to vote on the approval of an $880,000 increase in the cost to renovate the senior center. The senior center has been closed for months, but the planning process has never been completed. Not only that, but a bond was also required by the towns just to get the bids which were never acquired until January.

The bids came back 88% over the planned additional $1 million that the towns budgeted. In the meeting it was shown what the proposed improvements are, but when asked what the improvements would look like if we just spent the $1 million budgeted, finance board chairman Alan Sheiness responded that the committee had not looked into that.

Another question asked was how the towns planned to pay for this increase, and incredulously Martha Shoemaker, our First Selectwoman, said that it was being discussed. So, our town has been without a senior center for months during which time planning had not been done properly; and then its residents are supposed to pay for this 88% increase without knowing what the alternatives are and what the cost to the taxpayer is. Vote "no" on May 7, for the bond to pay for this renovation.

Tom Grant

Old Lyme