The Daily Five: Freezing Rain, No School But Meetings Are On, State Workers Stay Home!

1. After being hit with record snow fall, now comes the rain. According to Weather.com we could receive nearly half an inch today and winds will be high, at 20 to 30 mph. The high temperature today will peak at around 47 degrees, with low temperatures dropping overnight to 33 degrees with early evening showers. 

How that's going to affect all the snow we have remains to be seen but be very careful on the roads, watch for flooding and black ice. 

2. Schools are closed in East Lyme, Old Lyme and Lyme today, mainly because of the condition of the roads. Main roads are mostly clear but many still have compacted ice and large snowbanks where children would normally wait for the bus. Not all side roads are plowed. Many private roads—of which there are many in Old Lyme and a few in East Lyme—and very long driveways in Lyme are not plowed, because few private contractors have the gear needed to move such heavy snow.  

3. Governor Dannel P. Malloy is asking all nonessential state employees to stay home today as the clean up effort continues. However, evening and midnight shift employees should report to work as normal on Monday.

“Getting streets clear and making them safer for everyone is a priority, so I am asking nonessential state employees to stay home tomorrow,” said Governor Malloy. “I understand that everyone wants to get back to normal as quickly as possible. Crews are working around the clock to accomplish that goal. But the last thing we need at this point is a typical morning rush hour commute. Traffic build-up will only delay the effort to clear our roads."

The Department of Motor Vehicles will be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday is a national holiday marking Lincoln's Birthday. East lyme, Old Lyme, and Lyme Town Halls will also be closed on Tuesday. 

4. Although many daytime activities have been canceled, many of the meetings scheduled for this evening are still on and they are all pretty important.

• East Lyme's Board of Education will meet tonight at 7 p.m. On the agenda: a discussion of and possible action on the school budget as proposed for 2013-2014; a discussion of after-school activities at Lillie B. Haynes Elementary School; capital improvements and school security.
• Old Lyme Board of Education will hold its first public forum on the proposed school budget for 2013-2014 at 6:30 p.m. at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School's Auditorium. 
• Old Lyme Board of Selectmen will meet at 7:30 p.m. at Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall. The Selectmen will also meet at 5 p.m. to discuss a settlement in the lawsuit Rose v. Town of Old Lyme.
• Other meetings scheduled for tonight have been postponed. That includes the Zoning Commission meeting, which was to consider a proposal for a Dunkin' Donuts on Lyme Street. That is something a number of residents oppose, by the way.  
• Old Lyme's Anti-blight Committee has also postponed its meeting originally scheduled for tonight. 

Even with the cancellations, there's no way I can cover all these meetings without cloning myself. Still, I'll do my best to get to as many as possible and let you know what happened. 

5. East Lyme First Selectman Paul Formica said yesterday that the town planned to pick up garbage today as scheduled. Old Lyme has canceled garbage pick-ups for Monday.