Faced with the expensive prospect of re-plastering Waveny Pool’s surface, the volunteer municipal group that oversees the self-sustaining town facility plans to sell 100 passes to nonresidents this season in order to cover costs.
Though 350 New Canaan families have signed up for passes and another 370 are expected to do so prior to the pool’s Memorial Day weekend opening, that won’t be enough to cover capital and operating costs for this year, according to the Park and Recreation Commission.
“By agreement when first constructed, operations and capital costs were to be attained from pool revenues, not from the tax base,” the commission said Monday in an email to pool pass purchasers.
“For several recent years, the pool operated at a loss and the capital reserve fell below requirements. Specifically, as a result of the recession after 2008, the pool saw a decline of over 200 family passes sold. Because of this, the Park and Recreation Commission and town officials have taken considerable time and effort to place the swimming pool back on a stable financial trajectory.”
What happened in 2008 with the downturn, recreation officials have said, was many New Canaanites were forced to give up memberships to private clubs in town. When those books opened up, many families that had been going to Waveny Pool switched to the clubs.
That, in turn, caused a shortfall at the pool that was covered last year by nonresident passes sold. The same will happen this season, though at a higher price—$1,000 per nonresident family pass, as decided by the Board of Selectmen.
Meanwhile, the commission is spotlighting the facility—its 50-meter pool (the only one in town, for now), popular food concession (run by the inimitable Emad Aziz), changing rooms and shallow kiddie pool with fountain. Town officials have vowed to work with community volunteers to create and promote even more activities and promotions there.
Commission Chair Sally Campbell said in the email that New Canaan taxpayers understand that the pool must meet its financial obligations.
“Further, ours is a welcoming community, non-residents walk our sidewalks, eat in New Canaan restaurants, shop in town stores,” she said. “Realtors are happy because non-resident pool pass purchasers are likely prospects for home sales in town.”
One New Canaanite who is uniquely positioned to speak to the Realtor as well as the town perspective on the matter is John Engel, an agent at Barbara Cleary’s Realty Guild as well as a member of the Town Council.
Asked by NewCanaanite.com for his thoughts in both areas, Engel said: “As a Town Councilman, we have heard from residents on both sides of this issue. And as a Realtor, I’m proud of our pool, proud of their operations and how the Recreation Department runs it, and I applaud what Sally Campbell and the Park and Recreation Commission is doing.”
Last summer, some people complained about the town selling passes to nonresidents. The Town Council has heard testimony from both sides, Engel said: Some feel the pool should be exclusive to New Canaanites, while others describe that point of view as non-inviting and feel the Waveny Pool experience was improved by opening it to nonresidents.
The pool is 13 year’s old, according to the commission’s letter.
Recreation Director Steve Benko said: “Some new equipment and repainting the showers are among the things on this year’s list, but next spring we anticipate having to re-plaster the pool surface, and that’s major project.”
There’s no shortage of interest from out-of-towners in using the pool: There are 250 nonresident families on a waiting list.
Commissioners have said they’ll look at the financial situation anew each season, and that information about revenue against costs will inform their decisions about whether or how many nonresident family passes to sell. For this season, the selectmen had capped that figure at 100.