Ledyard — The Town Council on Wednesday unanimously agreed to apply for as much as $150,000 in available state funding to update a 2008 planning study of the Route 12 corridor in Gales Ferry.

The state Department of Transportation is seeking planning study proposals through local councils of governments to try to improve the economic climate of towns and cities.

Councilor William Saums said the town has successfully obtained grant money in the past to improve Ledyard Center, but not so for Route 12 because DOT hasn't supported a previous Route 12 study. Saums said earlier studies have had "great ideas, but were short on data and heavy on photographs." He said it doesn't matter how nice the studies looked, if the DOT doesn't agree with them. Saums said, with the oversight of the town planner, "Ledyard expects to get a workable study that we can then apply for enhancements to the Route 12 corridor."

Applications have to be submitted to the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments by May 15, with DOT awarding funding by next winter. It would require a 10% match by the town, which the Town Council also approved.

The 2008 study listed several concerns for the Gales Ferry area, including a wide variety of building styles along Route 12, with several building styles "out of character." Other concerns include parking lots and other large paved areas that dominate the roadside edges, lack of consistent plantings in commercial areas, poor pedestrian access and a lack of a central or identifiable meeting place.

Recommendations included development of specific planning and zoning guidelines, requirements of tree plantings in front of commercial and industrial sites, restricting commercial uses to defined areas and considering extending the Gales Ferry Historic District to include the Military Highway. Designating Route 214 and the Military Highway as scenic roads also is mentioned.

In other business, the Town Council agreed to have a hybrid in-person and remote public hearing April 26 at 7 p.m. at the high school auditorium to discuss the mayor's proposed budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year. A plan to hold a similar hybrid model for the budget town meeting on May 17, which would adjourn to a referendum the following day, was tabled after concerns were voiced about the hours of the referendum. The proposed resolution had the polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., but councilors wondered if the polls should be open only noon to 8 p.m., due to the usually low turnout at budget votes and the cost of having the polls open all day.

Town councilors also unanimously agreed to extend the lease local farmer Walter Majcher has with the town at the Clark Farm property on the Colonel Ledyard Highway. The council unanimously agreed to lengthen the agreement from 1 to 5 years, so Majcher can seek funding from the Farm Services Agency to convert his land to a more profitable hay-growing operation.