The first issue I wanted to get out to you involves the proposed 14 units of affordable housing in front of Beachport on Rumberg Road.
Apparently this proposal was DEFEATED by the Cheshire Planning and Zoning this past Monday night.
I don’t have all of the details and I am sure the local paper will expound on this, but it had something to do with the developers wanting a variance regarding setback. THAT PART OF THE SITE PLAN WAS DEFEATED.
The zone text change from R-20 to affordable housing was passed by the P&Z but because a requested variance on setback was not passed, the SITE PLAN could not be passed because the three buildings would violate the setback requirements.
The applicants: TO Design have five years to come up with a different site plan.
Click here for minutes of the P&Z hearing of March 23, 2009
Unfortunately or fortunately depending on what side you are on, the developers needed a minimum amount of units to get grant money to fund the project, so they might not be able to eliminate one of the three proposed buildings.
We will just have to wait and see.
Now the next issue was the budget hearing session on the Community Pool. You know, I like the pool-I go to it winter and summer, mostly in the summer because I can just walk in with my bathing suit on-dry off in the sun and then go home without having to change in the lockers. TOO MANY STEPS for me. I like it simple.
Plus, I just love showing off my fantastic bod in public. It looks really good considering I AM an old lady!!
When I look at some of the budgets for these departments, especially the salaries, I can see WHY we are having monetary problems. AND NOT JUST IN CHESHIRE-MOSTLY ALL MUNICIPALITIES OVERPAY-especially for starting salaries.
These cities and towns could get PLENTY of applicants, even if the starting wage was $12 to $14 per hour-EVEN WITH NO BENEFITS.
Case in point, not that long ago, a local home improvement warehouse was hiring and they literally had to beat people off with sticks!! Several hundred showed up for 25 slots!!
I know it sounds bizarre, but let’s face it-if beginning municipal salaries were reduced to what the public sector is paying-most cities and towns WOULD NOT be having a budget crisis!!
Back to the Community Pool-as I stated before-I like the Cheshire Community Pool-I like Sheila Adams and Bob Ceccolini. Both do a fantastic job and very dedicated. But this pool is costing more and more money just to keep it going,
Now, the pool has to be resurfaced-the bottom of the pool and the sides. When the pool first opened, it was painted-I DON’T KNOW WHY?? They should have installed the vinyl siding right off the bat-it lasts 25 years!!
The painting only lasted six!! That is because of the chlorine which eats through the paint and causes it to flake and chip off.
Apparently, the vinyl siding is the cheapest way to go-according to Park and Rec Director Bob Ceccolini. He estimates the vinyl siding which comes in sheets and is glued onto the bottom and sides of the pool, would cost between $95,000 to $100,000. This sounds extravagant, but the vinyl lasts 25 years.
In comparison, to “paint” the bottom and sides of the pool would cost $60,000 and according to Ceccolini, that estimate is two years old!!
One of the Town Council members asked if the pool bottom and sides could have been left “bare” just concrete. Both Ceccolini and Adams said that was not possible because the chlorine would eat through the surface and destroy it. So that was NOT an option.
There just was NO planning with this pool- I am sorry, there wasn’t. This town could have driven 20 miles down the road to Milford to see what the Milford/Orange YMCA had done.
They also had an inflatable bubble up to a few years ago. They now have a clear polycarbonate glass enclosure that opens on all four sides and the top for summer use. In the winter the top and sides are closed up and this acts sort of like a greenhouse and heats the pool.
Unfortunately, the price tag on this structure was WELL over a million dollars-and with the economy in a mess and state funding up in the air-it would not be prudent AT THIS TIME to construct this type of permanent structure.
Possibly that inflatable dome that I had highlighted several months ago when the Pool Bubble Study Committee met to discuss possible alternatives to the inflatable bubble, would be the right path at this time.
I know the company that manufactures these domes is located in Canada, so the structure would be able to handle any type of snow load.
The town of Cheshire dropped the ball on this pool. They did not research-they hurried it up and now we are paying the price.
Case in point, and I have stated this before, the town has to pay a company approximately 38,000 thousand dollars a year to put the bubble up in the fall and take it down in the late spring (around Memorial Day).
The Milford/Orange Y had VOLUNTEERS take their bubble up and down and no cost. Why you ask, can’t the town of Cheshire do this?? THE DESIGN STUPID!!
The cement “wall” has a hinge of some sort that requires a professional. This is rediculous. Spending all this money for nothing. If the town had consulted with the Milford/Orange Y and copied their design, this money would not be flying in the wind in plain English!!
STOP EVERYTHING-OMG!! DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR!! CHESHIRE HAS AN EVIL COMMUNITY POOL TWIN!!
Also, brought up was fees. The Town Manager did admit that the original day pass fees at $4 a day and the family pass at $275 for the year which was set six years ago when the pool opened-was too low.
So, when the town tried to raise rates-people balked. And that is understandable. The town SHOULD HAVE DONE what the Southington Y did. They charge $10 for a daily pass and approximately $500 a year for a full membership-this includes their pool, which is indoor, their gym, ALL THE AMENITIES.
That is another thing, Cheshire SHOULD have had a fitness center included with this pool. Then they could have justified charging what the Southington Y charges.
So, what makes more sense at the Southington Y-paying $10 for a daily pass or a little over $500 a year for the membership?? Of course-paying the full membership!!
A question came up about making the pool one season-of course that went over like a pork chop over Palestine. But economically, it doesn’t make sense.
I guess both Adams and Ceccolini felt that even more revenue would be lost-the swim teams would not use the facility. Both Adams and Ceccolini said the pool took in approximately $180,000 in swim lessons last year. A good part of that revenue would be lost if the facility was just a summer use pool.
It seemed that Adams, Ceccolini and our Town Manager (who does start to crinkle his face when he doesn’t want something-or should I say WANT SOMETHING)-are dead against a one season pool.
Adams said she has a waiting list for swim lessons, and for the first time in the pools history, had to turn people down.
So, the idea of a one season pool-is floating down the river of no return. What to do??
WHO KNOWS!!
Now moving on to another topic: Police Reporting Systems.
When I attended the Public Safety Budget workshop, I THOUGHT I heard the Police Chief speak about the “reporting system” they were using and that it might not be suitable anymore.
I know when I covered Orange for the Amity Observer, I would go to the records room and the secretary would print out the “list” of calls the department would respond to for the day. This was the police log.
In other words, every dispatch sent out to the officer-would be logged onto this computer: i.e., 9 a.m. burglary reported at so and so address; 15:30 p.m.-car accident; 16:00 break in at 123 Main Street and so on.
OK HERE IS EXACTLY WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. THIS IS HOW THE BERLIN POLICE DEPT. DOES THEIR DAILY BLOTTER.
FYI: BERLIN, LIKE ORANGE, HAS A POLICE COMMISSION. AND BERLIN HAS A TOWN MANAGER FORM OF GOVERNMENT!! This is what I want to see from Cheshire-NOT THAT RED RACE SHEET BOOK!!
Well, I did some research into this and came up with a few suggestions:
NexGen Reporting System Software
Hopefully, the Police Chief will give me some more info on our reporting system-if he can. But I think he is mad at me because I wanted a sign in the back of the police cruisers that said “YOU ARE BEING RECORDED”
