Wednesday, November 5, 2014
OCTOBER'S MEETINGS
INITIAL PUBLIC MEETING - OCT. 14, 2014
Thanks to those who came to the meeting on Tuesday night. About 40 people attended, nearly half of them (not on Facebook page) from reading about it in local media outlets. Both Tom Garrity, Town Board, and Jim Papa, P and R Board spoke, as well as others.
Briefly, here are key points of the meeting:
1. There are 547 of us, please don't assume that just a few of us will be able to make a pool happen. You will need to come to a few town meetings, at least, to show your support for the project. No support means no pool. I cannot stress that enough. Both Tom and Jim made that crystal clear. If you want a pool, please make an effort to attend Town Board meetings, the date of which I will announce on this page.
2. There will be opposition from predictable quarters. In addition to showing up at Board meetings, the best chance of passing a referendum is to get people out to vote. A very substantial number of voters live in Heritage Hills, and they vote.
3. There are many different ideas about what type of pool is best for town use. If the Town gives Parks and Rec approval to begin exploring this project, P and R will be the ones developing that plan, along with the Town Board. Probably we need to consider doing a survey, via Survey Monkey, or similar. Everyone seems to agree that costs must be kept low to have any chance of passing.
4. Jim Papa thinks that making a community center part of the deal improves the chances of passing a referendum, as it might sway senior voters. Apparently there have been requests for a community center for 30 years.
5. There is land owned by the Town which could be used for the purpose of a pool. Reis Park is not necessarily the best location, for a number of reasons.
6. Additionally ..... Somers Pointe pool, at this time, doesn't exist and has no permits. They have not responded to enquiries. There is no reliable information about it at all. Perhaps their advertisement was to gauge interest.
I believe there will be a story in the Somers Record on Thursday about the meeting. I urge people to please stay active on this blog and/or Facebook .
PARKS & REC MEETING - OCT. 22, 2014
Regarding the P and R meeting on October 22, the board agreed to draft a letter to the Town Board asking for permission to form a committee. The Town Board has to have a majority agreement to grant this approval. At that point, they (Town Board) will then decide when to put the pool issue on the agenda. We have no say as to when that will be. Meanwhile, any member of the public may go to any Town Board meeting and comment on any matter they wish during Public Comments at the beginning of each meeting. If you want to speak in support of a pool before any official meeting, you may do so.
The P and R Board, assuming they get approval to form a committee, will create a community survey to gauge public interest. There will be no further development until a survey is completed. The Board has no money to spend on a potentially fruitless project, as the last attempt cost $50,000. They don't anticipate this happening before spring. As with all government projects, it takes time. A committee will be comprised of both Parks and Rec, and members of our pool committee, and together a survey will be formulated.
My general feeling, and I think those who were there will agree, is that the P and R Board seems to be in favor of the project. However, and Jim Papa stressed this again, it will not happen without public support. The Town Board are the ones we need to convince in order to get it to referendum. When the issue goes on the Town Board Agenda, hundreds of us need to be there. A few involved people won't be able to make it happen. It takes a village, and those of us on this page, and elsewhere, are that village. Continue to stress the benefits of a town pool to your friends and family, and if you know of people not in Facebook, you might want to email this to them so they are kept informed.
Please check back for more updates, and feel free to comment. Thanks!
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