The Daily Five: A New Look, The Word On Noise, Budget Background, Town Property

1. Today will be mostly sunny and dry with a high temperature of 45 degrees but it’s going to be windy, according to weather.com, with westerly winds blowing at 20 to 30 mph and occasional gusts over 40 mph.  Tonight will be clear with an overnight low temperature of 28 degrees.

The National Weather Service issued an alert for our area yesterday warning people that the risk of wildfires is higher than usual because we’ve had so little rain and the winds are high.  

2. Notice anything different? That's right, The Lymes Patch has a whole new look and we've made it easier than ever for you to post your own events, announcements and blog! As with anything new, there might be a few technical hiccups along the way. Let me know if you need help and let us know what you think!

3. The town of East Lyme is considering a joint purchase with Friends of Oswegatchie Hills to buy the Bayreuther property, a boatyard site on Oswegatchie Road. The Board of Selectmen will hold a special meeting in executive session tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss the issue.  

4.  It’s highly likely that the East Lyme Board of Selectmen will finally vote tonight on a proposed noise ordinance. The board wanted to give East Lyme’s Resident State Trooper Wilfred Blanchette time to review the proposed ordinance to get his feedback on whether it would be a useful tool for law enforcement.
Deputy First Selectman Mark Nickerson also wanted to find out just how loud ATVs and dirt bikes are, because he wanted to ensure that the town wasn’t creating a de facto ban on these vehicles when it sets decibel levels.  

5. So, most of you missed the Lyme-Old Lyme Board of Education’s Budget Forums but you’ll still be asked to vote on it. The Annual Budget Meeting and Vote for the Regional School District 18 will be held on May 6 at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School Auditorium. Voters are being asked to adopt a budget of $31,741,789 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014.   If you’d like to get a closer look at the budget in detail, the budget book is now posted on the school district’s web site.