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 !

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.

Let them know you're coming tomorrow, Thursday at 7.30

Please share -
Here are the email addresses of the Town Council members. Let them know that you are going to the meeting tomorrow Thursday at 7.30 pm and that you support a year-round pool.
pafh@aol.com,  michaele584@aol.com, sspn13@cox.net, dsschrumm@cox.net, tomruocco@snet.net, aafalvey@cox.net, petert111@cox.net, jrs7@att.net, tslocum@snet.net

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.

What to do about the Pool? The Process of Decision.

 

Some thoughts, and some facts from the  5.2.2013 Cheshire Community Pool Meeting.

 

The sense here in town is that the pool is a good thing. The overwhelming wish is to get it right this time. The users of the town pool include the very young and the very seasoned, the uber-fit,  the rehabbing injured, the differently abled, the exuberant Zumba ladies, the sugar-fueled birthday party goers,  the hard-working high school teams, the scuba crew,  the frazzled families and their friends. The membership and usage at the pool has grown in leaps and bounds. It is a popular resource and it's absence for a few months was a huge hole in the daily lives of many in our community.

 

Our pool is an oddity in terms of its standing as an asset in the town. There is no other service that is a standalone entity on the town's budget. The WPCA would be the closest and even that does not reflect the principal and interest on any of the costs of the debt related to it. Other town facilities fall under Public Works for building maintenance and repair. Not the pool. All these costs come out of the pool's own budget.  (minutes of 5.2.13 CCP Committee Meeting) When we think of assets like the Senior Center and the Library we cannot compare apples to apples. The pool simply costs less than those.

A shocking number came out of the very first meeting of the CCP Committee Meeting. Ms. Adams, The Aquatic Director, stated that the pool brings in $600,000 annually in revenue. There is no way, even if we all forgot our library books that other assets could generate that kind of revenue.

 

We also forget that our swim teams host huge State Championship meets several times a year. As well as attracting in swimmers to the local team on a regular basis they also bring in hundreds of carloads of hungry swimmers and their families who stay in the area for up to four days at a time for large meets. A captive audience, a spending boom of carb-gobblers from the entire state. Our economically hammered Main Street needs all the customers it can capture.

 

The committee is tasked with coming up with a viable solution. Taken directly from the minutes " The committee must make a decision on a design to be recommended and provide support and evaluation of the pros and cons of its selection, along with the pros and cons of the design which was not selected, all the financial aspects, cost of structure, cost of operation, and life cycle costs." As well as being a very long run on sentence that is also a very tall order for a motley crue of members. The committee is made up of town council members, pool users from different groups, public works, town citizens who are skeptical, and supporters. It is wonderful to have the skeptics. It keeps everyone thinking from all points of view. Some of the more skeptical were surprised by the figures, the structural challenges and the history of the pool. Some admitted that they had preconceived notions that had been blown away by the meeting. It was a great venue for all concerns to be aired.

 

The committee outlined in general the various options that they would be exploring. That, Pool Friends,  is our next installment.