The town is changing how out-of-town families acquire passes to the Steve Benko Pool, officials say.
Nonresident families are charged far more (up to $1,450 per season this year) for passes to the popular Waveny facility than New Canaan families (at $455 as of 2020), and the number of passes issued to out-of-town families has always been capped.
In the past, nonresident families also have had to reapply for a pass each year through a lottery system.
This year, “we’re giving the people that were members last year first refusal,” according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe.
“Just so that the family comes, they have a great time, they don’t have to go back into the lottery,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their Feb. 11 meeting, held at Lapham Center and via videoconference. “So far so good. We’ve got about 50 families that have wanted to come back. I feel that’s a good sign that they’re enjoying it.”
The comments came during Howe’s general update to the Commission.
The town limits how many nonresident family passes are sold for the Steve Benko Pool. The town receives more than 200 requests for the passes each year and issues 125 to 140 of them.
Howe had signaled last fall that the town was looking to change the lottery system in a way that made more sense for nonresident families.
The question is “will giving preference to non residents prevent any residents from having pool access?” I understand that the goal is to make it more sense for non residents but shouldn’t the priority be for residents, isn’t that what government is for?