The Daily Five: On the Boardwalk, Oswegatchie Hills and Affordable Housing, Deck the House

1. Today will be mostly sunny with a high of 44 degrees, according to weather.com. Tonight will be mostly clear, with just a 10 percent chance of rain and an overnight low of 33 degrees.

2. Congressman Joe Courtney (D-2nd District) will be in East Lyme today to take a walk along what's left of the gravel side of Niantic's boardwalk with East Lyme First Selectman Paul Formica. Formica said he's hoping that Courtney will be able to help the town gain federal assistance to rebuild the beleaguered boardwalk.

FEMA and the insurance company has already come up with funds to restore the boardwalk to its original state prior to Tropical Storm Irene, but Superstorm Sandy wiped away vast chunks of what remained and there are some sections that Amtrak will need to address, Formica said. 

3. Landmark's affordable housing development proposal for Oswegatchie Hills is back on East Lyme Zoning Commission's agenda tonight. The commission is under remand from the court to adopt new zoning regulations as per Landmark's request. The regulation changes will affect all future affordable housing developments. 

A second proposal for affordable housing, this time from JAG Capital Drive LLC which is asking for approval to build 69 affordable housing units at West Main Street/Capital Drive in East Lyme was also scheduled for a public hearing tonight. That discussion, however, is going to be postponed until the next scheduled Zoning Commission meeting.  

4. Matt Bartkowski rocks! He is the first local resident to enter Patch's national Deck the House contest, which means we're now officially in the running to win $100,000 for local schools! Now I'm hoping that others will follow his bold example and enter too, because the more people we have in it, the better our chances of winning it.

If you don't want to enter, please go online and vote. The schools could really use the extra money this year as the state approaches its own fiscal cliff, which doesn't bode well for education funding although those unfunded mandates keep coming.  

5. East Lyme Selectwoman Holly Cheeseman wasn't at the Board of Selectmen's meeting last night and for a very sad reason. Her husband, Ian, passed away suddenly while on a trip to visit relatives in England before the holidays. Cheeseman is in the U.K. now making arrangements but there will be a memorial service in East Lyme next week. Our hearts go out to Holly, the couple's five children, and all of Ian's family and friends at this very difficult time.