The Daily Five: Invasive Species, Senior Center Vacancy, Buses to Sound View, And Pump House Problems

1. Today will be sunny and slightly less windy, with a high of 50 degrees and an overnight low of 39 degrees. A few more clouds might roll in tonight, according to Weather.com, when there's a 10 percent chance of rain.

2. The town of Old Lyme is looking for a new director to run the senior center following the resignation of Lymes' Senior Center Director Sherry White. White had been on the job for eight and a half years, said Old Lyme First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder, who attended a goodbye party for White to thank her for all her hard work. 

3. Old Lyme Board of Selectmen held off on making any decision about whether to grant a waiver to the town's ordinance banning buses from driving down to Sound View to accommodate a request from The Pavilion. The Old Lyme bar is currently being advertised as one stop on a four-day party bus tour offered to University of Connecticut students on May 15.  

Reemsnyder said that Pavilion General Manager Stephanie Livesey is in discussions with her office and with police and fire officials about ways to address the town's public safety concerns. The Board of Selectmen will likely vote on the issue at its next meeting.

4. The Darrow Pond Committee made a presentation to the East Lyme Board of Selectmen last night with recommendations for what activities should be permitted on the 200 acres of the 300-acre town-owned property that is set aside for open space. One of the areas of concern is invasive species on the site. 

"We have a lot of them," said Committee Chair Jack Hogan. To ensure that native flora and fauna isn't lost to invasive species is "going to take time and it's going to take money," he said.

But, he added, the committee feels this would be time and money well-spent. The property "is magnificent," he said. "The town made a fabulous purchase. Some of us would like to just fence the area off and leave it for posterity."  

5. East Lyme Selectman Robert Wilson had to leave the Board of Selectmen meeting early yesterday because of an emergency at work. Apparently, the pump house at Giants Neck failed yesterday evening. What does that mean to residents in the area? I'll let you know as soon as I find out what happened. For now, all I can tell you is that everyone last night was working overtime to fix the problem.