Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Pool consultant update

Word is that the pool consultant review may not be complete until after the budget is adopted.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just CLOSE the pool who cares?

Anonymous said...

The only way your going to make a go of the pool is to put a permanent roof over it. The design is not energy efficient and it will just cost too much in the long run to heat.

Anonymous said...

We should probably look into making it a summer facility only.

Anonymous said...

The pool cannot be a summer only facility...why? because the design and constructional materials of the pool require it to have water in year round and the water is not allowed to freeze. Why was it designed this way. to force year round use and expense?

Anonymous said...

I am not a pool consultant, but a taxpayer in town. I will not receive $20,000 for this observation/report. The pool should not be closed. As one person suggested building a permanent roof (maybe with door's on one side) will provide the energy efficiency and outdoor activities. The cost I would estimate to be $5M (after asking people who do this for a living). the $5M over 30 years is a large amount but with our bond rating and the energy savings it will be a sound choice. Solar panels provided by a company who could use us as a model pool would be great. Swim programs could be increased (more revenue $$$) because the weather will not be a factor etc. Swim teams can hold a "swimathon" similiar to "Relay- for- life", seating could be donated by local businesses, private groups, Cheshire citizens etc. These are my two cents worth of consultant fees for which I will not bill the great town of Cheshire. By the way I have never been in this pool but have been in many other town pools to numerous to mention.

Anonymous said...

The last comment is spot on and in my observation we have a bit of a dilemma. Currently we are subsidizing the pool operations with an amount of $416,000 per year. The chances of closing the facility are zero so if were going to waste the 400k yearly we should get something for our money. Construct a poolycarbonate glass structure over the pool, the ends and sides will open up during nice weather. The polycarbonate glass provides protection from the sun, less sunscreen is needed, helping to reduce oil pollution in the filtering system. The energy costs will easily be reduced by 65% even with using standard HVAC equipment. Pools that have done this are seeing up to 72% reduction in energy costs. With dehumidification the mold and rust problems are eliminated, healthier indoor air is achieved and memberships will increase by 3 to 4 times. People can use the pool everyday, even the rainy ones in the summer. Take the $400k we spend to subsidize it and spend it on the proper modifications for 8-10 years ntil the bill is paid off, we're going to spend it anyway. Within one year the pool will be self sustaining based on earned revenue from memberships and reduced operating costs. The Orange/Milford YMCA had the same problems we have, a bubble that ws not efficient, reducing memberships due to the condition of the facility. They did a market study using their own people and members, figured out what was wrong and spent $4 mil to retrofit their facility. People should visit this place to see what is possible.

Anonymous said...

I think we are better off hoping one of the Barite mines swallows the pool up.....