The Daily Five: Oswegatchie Hills Development, School Energy Savings, and East Lyme High Has Talent!

1. It's going to windy today, with gusts of 20 to 30 miles per hour, but that wind will blow any clouds away. Expect lots of sunshine, high temperatures of 72 degrees and an overnight low of 59 degrees, according to Weather.com. There is a 20 percent chance of rain overnight.

2. With Oswegatchie Hills on the agenda again, East Lyme Water and Sewer Commission promises to be packed tonight as a public hearing on whether the housing development proposed for the area can have sewers continues.

At its last public hearing on the matter, the developer argued that once the town has hooked up to New London's wastewater treatment system as planned, there should be ample capacity to support a new housing development. Tonight, the town's engineers with weigh in on the matter with a survey of their own.

The Friends of Oswegatchie Hills and Save the River, Save the Hills both staunchly oppose the proposed large-scale development of the area, saying it would be environmentally disastrous to both the land and the river, which is already precarious. 

3. East Lyme Board of Education ratified a contract last night with Santa Energy-Liberty Power, which will now provide the electricity to East Lyme Public Schools. The board anticipates that the new two-year contract will save the district $100,000 a year in energy costs. 

Sadly, this will still do nothing to solve the high school's longstanding heating and air-conditioning problem that makes some areas so cold that people want to put gloves on in the summer while other areas overheat. That problem stems from a building addition a number of years back.

The heating and air-conditioning system was supposed to be able to communicate with both the old and the new building but apparently, East Lyme Selectwoman Rose Ann Hardy reported recently to the Board of Selectmen, it's "incommunicado" and there seems to be no way to fix it. 

4. Speaking of construction, the new East Lyme High School Athletic Complex is well-underway but there's going to be a three week delay in installing curbing. The delay is not going to cost the town any additional money, though. 

High School students are, however, most put out about the lack of parking during construction. The Board of Education's Student Representative Kaley Roberts said the seniors are using the juniors' parking lot and the juniors aren't allowed to park, "although they've been creative," she added. 

Roberts also reports there's been "backlash" against the new restrictions on dance moves instituted by the high school this year. The rules were designed to address parents' complaints but the no-more-dirty-dancing has students complaining now the Homecoming Dance is drawing near. (Spirit Week has been moved forward to October 13 this year, by the way.)

5. East Lyme High School's got talent! The East Lyme Marching Band placed first in the IA competition in Meriden on Saturday and also won for best music and best visuals. Rock on!

The Drama Club is tackling The Crucible for its fall play and, "everyone's very excited about it," said Roberts. Meanwhile, the school's newest club—apparently drawing inspiration from the hit TV show Glee—is "Troubled Waters," a male and female a capella group. 

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