Spread the information about the Pool Solution. There are many who do not have the correct information

Do not presume that your neighbors and friends have all the information about the Pool Solution.

Tell five people today that it's a permanent steel structure, that it can sustain 130 mph winds and up to 50 inches of snow and that operating costs plummet compared to what exists right now.

Tell them the roof is composed of the same material as used over pools in Michigan that suffer Lake effect snowdumps, over the Denver Airport, and over the New England Patriots training facility.

Tell them its $2.60 per household per year.

Tell them about the 128,000 visits( NOT including the swim team) that it gets per year.
Tell them about the open sides/pavilion experience in Summer that can be opened by town staff, no more need for expensive contractors to come in and disrupt business for weeks, and that the sun worship green areas are preserved. 

 Direct them to friendsofcheshirepool.org to see the virtual tour, the FAQs, the business plan, the TV show and the details of the structure

Tell them that voting against actually means they are endorsing the current situation. The Solution is far more suited to our brutal New England Winters and we are tired of energy hogging, falling bubbles. They need to vote YES for the Solution to the Community Pool.

All the information about the Pool Solution in one place

Please visit our website Friends of Cheshire Pool to find everything you need to know about the pool solution.

• A detailed description, complete with pictures, of the Steel Tension structure
• The Virtual Tour of the proposed structure.  3d tour
• There is a page with all the Frequently Asked Questions
• A way to donate to us to help us pay for advertising and flyers
• A link to the business plan that was put together by the Pool Evaluation Committee and is on the town website.

Thank you for your support of the Solution to the Pool. Vote YES on November 5th !

Cox Channel 15, Saturday 12th at 6pm. Tune in to hear about the Pool Solution.

Post by Friends of Cheshire Pool.


For the next 3 Saturdays you will have the opportunity to see the TV debut of the Friends of Cheshire Pool. We so lucky to have as guests the co-chairs of the Pool Evaluation Committee who, as part of a 15 person team, and with the input of a pool consultant, determined that the permanent solution was the best option for our New England pool. Mr. Kevin Wetmore and Mr. John Purtill took time to describe the assessments, considerations, deliberations and finally the details of the steel tensions  structure itself.

It was a very informative evening.
The program will air on Saturday 12th, 19th and 26th.
Tune in, and have your neighbors join you.


 

Frequently Asked Questions

This weekend at several sporting events we gave out our glossy flyers and copies of frequently asked questions that we encounter regarding the pool. Here is the link to those FAQs. It's useful to have this information for when you are speaking with your neighbors and friends regarding the pool.


http://www.friendsofcheshirepool.org/pool-faqs-1.html

Please share with your neighbors and family

For our new Friends, please share this with your neighbors and family. Here is a video of the Pool Solution in the summer. The steel structure is up year round. As you can see in summer the sides are removed, the picnic tables are easily accessible and the green area is preserved.

Sun worship preserved but no chance of anything collapsing in the winter. The steel tension solution can hold 50lbs of snow per square foot and sustain 130 mph winds. No more closures, collapses, interruptions or disasters. Vote Yes to the Pool Solution.

Vote Yes for the Pool Solution - The Fall Festival recap (with photos)

The Fall Festival offered us our first major opportunity to meet with our fellow Cheshire citizens to explain the solution to the Community Pool.

We had a scaled model of the proposed solution and we were able to show how the sides come off in the Summer allowing for a swimming AND sun worship. Our video showed the virtual tour of the facility. We were able to explain that the structure can sustain 130 mph winds and can support a snow load of 50lbs per square foot. We met a woman recently moved from Wisconsin who has been in these structures all over her state and who, as a new Cheshire resident, is voting YES with great confidence and experience.

We were able to tell them about similar steel tension structure pools in Mississippi who survived Hurricane Katrina, and Michigan pools that get major lake-effect snows. We talked about the Denver Airport being a similar structure.
People were delighted to hear about getting reduced operating costs by voting YES. We talked about the solution being able to be insulated to R35. We explained that the people who vote no to the solution are actually endorsing the current pool situation.

We talked about the cost being a mere $2.60 per tax HOUSEHOLD per YEAR. Most had us repeat TWO DOLLARS AND SIXTY CENTS PER HOUSEHOLD PER YEAR. That's it? That's it!.

We had copies of the business plan and showed people how the pool generated 600,000 dollars in revenue being open 70% of the year and we marveled at what could happen when it is open 100% of the year.

So many people stopped by or talked to us in the crowd. There were seniors who take aquafitness classes, little kids just learning to swim, families who go there all the time, the fit and healthy (and incredibly polite) swim team children young and old, medical professionals who feel strongly that it's a great health asset to the town, and realtors and homeowners who know that it keeps property prices up. All were impressed by the steel tension structure and look forward to year-round swimming. There were those who don't go to the pool but understand that just like the Linear trail, the Youth and Senior Centers, the Library and our schools that the Community Pool is a true "Community" asset that only adds value to our shared Cheshire experience.

We met so many people. We were able to do exactly what we set out to do - get information to the voters so they can make an informed decision. We are very confident that with that information they will vote YES to the Pool Solution.

Here are some photos to give you an idea of our day. If you have any shots of our volunteers do feel free to share.

Every hour on the hour a new team of us went out in the crowd, armed with information-packed brochures, recyclable grocery bags with our info, and answers to questions. We had some pretty neat tshirts too.

We had some familiar faces at the booth

It was great to have a model to explain how the solution works

We had the opportunity to speak to many, many members of the Community who stopped by.

We could tell by all the people in the crowd toting the blue bags and wearing "Vote Yes to the Pool solution" stickers that our workers were very, very successful! Thank you to our volunteers and supporters for a terrific day. Please continue your good work by talking with your neighbors and friends and getting everyone to Vote YES to the Pool Solution.

Fall Festival Booth September 7th

Our big event this weekend is the Fall Festival. Friends of Cheshire Pool will be there ! We have a great booth location near the moon bounce We have ample brochures to hand out and some nice takeaways including recyclable grocery bags and stickers. In addition we have some good 'show and tell' features- a scaled model of the pool solution, and hopefully, with a crack audio-visual team, a virtual tour of the Pool Solution airing on a loop on a projector. Not too shabby considering the Council only sent this to referendum on August 27th Our group has been working really hard to be ready for this. The Fall Festival is a major community event. We have an opportunity to speak to many other booths, businesses, sports and civic groups, and get a chance to reach a true cross-section of the community. It's a great opportunity to get the facts to the voters. Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday !

The Solution to the Pool

From 5 to 7 pm tonight the Cheshire Y Sea Dogs will hold their registration for Short Course season. With swim community goodwill, tenacity, and indefatigable spirit the coaches and team have secured pool time in numerous locations so that the kids can prepare to bring further pride to Cheshire at State Championships, Y Nationals, Junior Nationals (and in Olympic years Olympic trials). I would expect to see many of them come from registration to the town meeting tonight just as they did on school nights in Spring and exactly as they did during the vacation days of August. In the audience too were those who have children with special needs who find respite, joy and exercise at the Community Pool. We had seniors in attendance, some for whom the pool is the only place they can safely move, some rehabbing from hip surgery, some just getting their groove on at AquaZumba! Lap swimmers, many lean and fit, attended to find out if their winter swim would continue. High school kids, worried about homework time being cut into as they travelled out of town for a sport that requires so much time commitment already, they were all there. Multi-generational families that travel as a group to the pool to enjoy a day or evening of swimming and fun sat in attendance to find out the progress of the town asset. 

 The Pool Evaluation Committee has answered all the requests that the town asked for. It provided a pool solution with no downtime unlike the bubble, it cut energy costs by giving an option with insulation rates of R35 (better than many of our attics), it found a solution used over pools that survived Katrina and Lake Michigan snow dumps, it held onto the summer feel by providing a pool with sides that could be removed to allow for a pavilion like structure. Best of all it cut the cost of the previous proposal by more than half.

 Those who complained of energy costs have been heard, those who complained of unavailability are satisfied, those who worry about collapse should have no fear, and those who worry about their tan, well they too were considered
The solution to the pool is a good one. We are confident that tonight it will go to referendum, and we will work tirelessly to let our community know that this is the sensible future of the Cheshire Community Pool.

Recap of the August 20th Capital Budget Hearing

The public hearing went well last night. We had a great turnout. It was a very positive atmosphere. Thank you so much for coming to show your support and thank you to those who spoke in favor of the pool.

Highlights of the evening
Mr. Wetmore who co-chaired the Pool Evaluation Committee addressed many of the concerns of those in the audience who are still making up their minds. He has put together a business report that will be available online, at the Town Library and the Senior Center. He reminded us that the pool is not a business but a municipal entity. He gave us the reality-check figure that the solution to the pool would cost the average homeowner a paltry $2.60 per year. $2 and 60 cents for a solution. He talked of community and how he doesn't use the youth center, have kids in school, use the library and the senior center but pays for it as part of the community "cover charge" as it were. We all pay for roads we don't use and venues we don't attend. It is disingenuous to single out the pool. He commended the volunteerism of the Evaluation Committee and supporters and urged us all to work hard to get the solution passed. 

 Robyn Housemann gave a stirring account of the health challenges facing our society and contrasted them with the benefits of using a pool. She spoke of seniors who often can only exercise in water because of mobility issues. She spoke of the advantages of swimming with regard to heart disease, obesity and diabetes. She urged Cheshire to continue its record of encouragement of activity as evidenced by the existence of the linear trail, open space and Park and Rec programs. She called the pool a "social asset" outlining the mental health benefits of going as a family to swim, in a group to exercise, or individually improving your health.

 The swim teams were represented by Greg Han who told of his personal journey from child to young man and the life lessons he took from swim team's "intense" regimen. He credited his swim achievements with his acceptance to Amherst. Paul Robinson found out from council that there is 275K from insurance regarding the bubble collapse and was assured that it would be spent on pool-related expenses. Denise Bishop, a swimmer's mother, told of her conversion from a parent dropping her child at the pool for practice to an active participant in all the activities that the pool has to offer. She pleaded with the Council to vote for the solution.

 Matt Levine, also on the Evaluation Committee, reminded us all that this is a "community" pool. It serves young and old of all abilities. He noted that the pool was the site of the National Dual Meet record and was a huge source of pride then and should continue to be so. He promised the Council that we would work tirelessly to get the solution passed in referendum.

The Council now takes all these comments into consideration and on the 27th (Tuesday) will vote on the items to be included in the Capital Budget. We will know on Tuesday if the solution will go to referendum in November. Our work then will be getting the information to all our friends and neighbors and making sure that they get out to Vote Yes to the Pool solution. We will be relying heavily on each and every one of the Friends of Cheshire Pool to secure a yes vote. Judging by the performance of everyone so far we are well up to that task !

August 20th meeting- Critical that you attend

We have two very important meetings this month for you to attend.

It is absolutely critical that every supporter attend the Capital Budget meeting on the 20th. The Council will take comments and questions from the public on the Pool Evaluation Committee's choice of the year-round steel tension structure. This is the mid-tier option of 3.2 million dollars. It is designed for a snow load of 50" and can withstand 130mph winds. It will vastly reduce the operating costs of the pool. It is a very good choice.

The meeting is on Tuesday, the 20th at 7.30pm in the Town Hall. We need each and every one of you, your family and your neighbor. We expect this to reach standing room only quickly as the anti-pool contingent are well mobilized this year. Come early and secure seating.

We will also ask you to attend the final vote on the 27th.

There will be several items on the agenda. We ask that you speak at this meeting letting the Council know how much of an asset the pool is to the town, to all our citizens young and old.

 

Our pool benefits our seniors by providing a safe and accessible place to keep fit and mobile.

It benefits those with injuries, allowing them a place to rehab long after insurance stops paying for physical therapy.

It helps those with special needs and sensory issues find a safe and comforting form of physical activity.

It provides swimming lessons that benefit a person throughout their lives.

It provides a place for a family to have fun together in a healthful environment.

It provides a venue for our young children and teens to become disciplined, fit community members  through grueling training that provides lessons for life.

It is a place for fun, alternative, cardiovascular activities including the exuberance of Aqua Zumba, the intensity of underwater hockey and water polo, and the magical experience of scuba and generating revenue along the way.

It acts as a counter to many of our society's challenges; obesity, disenfranchisement of youth, senior loneliness and the long, cold, cabin-fever winters of Connecticut.

 

It is one of the few Town Assets that everyone in Cheshire can avail of, regardless of age or ability. It deserves our support.

Asking for help

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the public information session on June 27^th a success.  I think we all got a glimpse of what we are up against. To get facts out to all the public will take a huge effort but we are up to the challenge.

Now it is necessary to raise funds to wage an effective large scale campaign for a year round pool.  We are asking that you please make a donation so that we can share the facts with more members of our community.   Funds raised will be used to purchase advertisements and signs, to produce information brochures, and to otherwise inform the public and obtain support for the pool. Any amount will help.

For this to be a successful campaign, it is critical that we have your financial support.

Please donate today.  Send personal checks* made payable to Friends of Cheshire Pool to: P.O. Box 238, Cheshire, CT 06410 or by visiting www.Friendsofcheshirepool.org and clicking on the Donate tab.

Thank you for your support,

Friends of Cheshire Pool

 

Note:  On July 23, 2013 the Pool Evaluation Committee will make its recommendation to the Town Council.   We need to secure the vote from the Town Council to take the recommended structure option to referendum in November.   Please mark your calendars and attend. 

 

* State law prohibits contributions from business entities.

Compelling facts about the Community Pool

The Cheshire Community Pool is an asset to the community.

  Here are some compelling facts:

·         Since installing the new bubble the pool was more popular than ever.  Ms. Adams, at the May 9th meeting stated that there was a 45% increase in visitors to the Community Pool after the new bubble was installed last year.

·         This past fiscal year the pool was on pace to bring in a record $600,000 in revenue. 

·         Pool revenue has grown consistently by 5% a year

·         Without a town pool, the town will spend $69,000 dollars approx. to transport the high school teams and rent another facility for their swim season should there be no pool available.

·         Closing the pool would cost between $1.25million and $1.5 million dollars and the town will be left with a further $1.5 million in bonds.

·         Cheshire Community Pool hosts numerous swim meets including State Championship meets.People come from all over the state to attend these meets.

·         The meets draw an large amount of people bringing a huge, captive, spending audience from all corners of the state benefiting businesses on Main Street.

·         The Cheshire pool is an important asset that regularly benefits the local economy.