Voters in Lyme and Old Lyme on Monday decisively approved spending $880,000 more than the $5.3 already approved for the Lymes’ Senior Center renovation project.

Old Lyme is responsible for $660,000 of the supplemental cost, while the smaller town of Lyme is responsible for $220,000.

In Old Lyme, officials counted 175 voters at the special town meeting in the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School auditorium. They approved the appropriation with only one vote in opposition.

Lyme Town Clerk Linda Winzer said there were 86 voters at Lyme’s special town meeting in the Town Hall, also with a single vote in opposition.

Officials in the two towns were scrambling earlier this year after learning the project was about $1.3 million over budget. But the committee in a project update said architecture and construction management firms assigned to the project have identified about $600,000 in savings.

Old Lyme First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker said a final decision has not been made about how to fund the town’s portion of the expense.

“There’s definitely enough money in the reserve fund if we need to use it,” she said.

Finance Board documents show the town’s undesignated fund balance, or rainy day fund, was estimated at $13.1 million, or 32.8% of the total operating budget, as of June 30, 2023.

According to minutes from Lyme’s special town meeting, the project is currently slated to break ground on May 6. Doors are estimated to reopen at the renovated facility on March 1, 2025.

Old Lyme tackles affordable housing

In Old Lyme, voters unanimously approved the transfer of two, roughly 3-acre parcels to Habitat for Humanity of Eastern Connecticut. The nonprofit organization will build and manage one single-family house on each parcel.

The Board of Selectmen last June voted to partner with the nonprofit affordable housing organization. A $150,000 grant through the town’s $2.16 million allocation of COVID-19 relief funds will be used to offset costs incurred by Habitat for Humanity.

The land to be developed comprises six acres at the end of Flat Rock Hill Road set aside for affordable housing as part of a 2019 open space deal. The $600,000 purchase resulted in the creation of the 312-acre McCulloch Family Open Space trail system on the eastern side of Whippoorwill Road extending north of Interstate 95.

Affordable Housing Commission Chairman Michael Fogliano said the partnership will require no additional money from the town.

Fogliano in a presentation to voters said the goal is to target homebuyers who make less than 60% of the median income in the area. According to a scale set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a family of four making $68,820 or less would qualify.

He said the commission would like to encourage families who live or work in Old Lyme to apply for the homes. But he emphasized the project must comply with fair housing and fair lending laws.

“You can’t steer these things, but there are ways you can make sure word gets out to folks that could benefit from it locally,” he said.

e.regan@theday.com