Questions raised by the Sound View Sewer Coalition, and their efforts to get answers, have put them at odds with Old Lyme’s WPCA and with the surrounding municipal associations’ independent WPCAs. Now, the coalition feels they are being ignored by town officials hellbent on seeing this project through, no matter what. Until recently, Old Lyme had a sewer avoidance policy, meaning the houses in Sound View and other coastline neighborhoods in Old Lyme have septic systems. The cost of installing a sewer system in the Sound View neighborhood alone was estimated at $9.5 million and in 2019 Old Lyme held a town-wide referendum to authorize funds for the sewer project. The ballot measure put to Old Lyme passed 883 to 565, and there may be a good reason for that: only the residents of Sound View are on the hook to pay for it. The project will cost each property owner tens of thousands of dollars in up-front and long-term costs through property assessments.
Everything Flows Downhill: Old Lyme residents mount challenge to sewer project