The Daily Five: Budget and Zoning Meetings Are Like the Postal Service—Neither Snow, Nor Rain, Nor Gloom Of Night Can Stay Them

1. As of 4 a.m., there was a whole lot of blowing but so far, no snowing and no cancellations have popped up yet. Still, the National Weather Service has issued three alerts for our area. A Coastal Flood Advisory is in effect today from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m.; a Winter Weather Advisory went into effect at 1 a.m. and continues until Friday at noon; and yesterday's Wind Advisory remains in place until 6 p.m. tonight.

The snow originally predicted to begin last night didn't materialize but the morning forecast calls for a mix of snow and rain, although we may only see two inches of accumulation today and another inch tonight. Periods of snow and rain are likely throughout the day and into this evening. Weather.com is calling for a high temperature of 36 degrees and an overnight low of 32 degrees.

High winds still leave us susceptible to power outages, however, and the daily commute could be messy.   

2. The East Lyme Board of Selectmen's meeting went on until nearly midnight yesterday as the board crunched the numbers in First Selectman Paul Formica's proposed budget ... and it's not over yet. The Board of Selectmen will be resuming discussions again today at 5:30 p.m. The Board has until March 13 to approve a budget and send it to the Board of Finance. 

This coming fiscal year is complicated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposal to do away with property taxes on vehicles worth less than $28,000 and by his proposed budget, which takes away traditional revenue sources for towns, such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes and the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fund.

Both Formica and Lyme First Selectman Ralph Eno went to Hartford earlier this week, where they waited more than three hours for their allotted three-minute opportunity to testify against these proposals at the state Legislature.

These proposed changes in state funding and local taxes may or may not pass, but they leave local towns in financial limbo when it comes to planning their own budgets, because no one knows what they can count on from the state and towns have to pass their budgets about a month before the Legislature has to pass the state budget. 

3. With the wind howling and the threat of another snow storm that may or may not bury us again, it's hard to imagine sitting outside at a cafe. Yet, tonight's East Lyme Zoning Commission meeting has an agenda packed with requests from local restaurants seeking permits for outdoor dining. 

For the most part, these are renewals of previous permits granted for Main Street Grill, the Lyme Tavern, Charlie's Place, and Cafe Sol. This time, however, Cafe Sol is also seeking a permit that would allow the restaurant to serve alcohol. 

4. During the last blizzard, I met a Niantic woman at the Regional Emergency Shelter in East Lyme who, when the power went out, decided to relocate the contents of her refrigerator outside in the snow. At about 2 a.m., she had a craving for yogurt but by that time, the snow was so deep she couldn't find where she had buried it! I'm pretty sure this next item will appeal to her—and to all local lovers of frozen yogurt.  

Tonight the East Lyme Zoning Commission wil hear an application for a special permit from Bill Wild, who is hoping to open "Wild-Froyo," doing business as Peachwave Frozen Yogurt, at 170 Flanders Road in East Lyme.

5. Perhaps the biggest item on tonight's Zoning Commission meeting's agenda is the application of JAG Capital Drive for a zoning change to allow an affordable housing development in what is currently a light industrial zone in East Lyme. Although the commission didn't act on this at its last meeting, commission members asked the town attorney to draft a resolution that would oppose such a change.