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Parks & Rec Recommends Raising Nonresident Fee for Waveny Pool by $25

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Parks officials on Wednesday voted unanimously to recommend a $25 increase to the fee nonresidents pay for season family passes to Waveny Pool. 

The increase would bring to $1,250 the fee paid by nonresident families for one of 100 nonresident passes that are sold following a lottery. 

Here’s a look at the Parks & Recreation Commission’s proposed fees:

 

Those voting in favor at the Commission’s regular meeting at Town Hall included Chair Rona Siegel, Carl Mason, Jack Hawkins, Laura Costigan, Francesca Segalas, Doug Richardson, Matt Konspore, Steve Haberstroh, Hank Green and Gene Goodman. Commissioner Sally Campbell, attending her last meeting as a member of the appointed body, did not indicate a vote either way. Residents, with the exception of those using nanny passes, may purchase a book of 10 guest passes for $80. The town-owned, self-sustaining Waveny Pool is open each year from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Recreation Director Steve Benko noted that the Commission had adjusted some of the resident fees last year. 

“The individual fee was a little low” prior to last year, Benko said.

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Sales of Passes, Attendance at Waveny Pool Hit 3-Year High

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Passes sold for Waveny Pool, overall attendance and revenues all ticked up to three-year highs in the season just ended, officials said last week. Total attendance reached 40,059 during the Memorial-Day-to-Labor-Day season, including a record-high 7,644 nonresident visits, according to data presented to the Parks & Recreation Commission during its regular meeting. “We had a very good season,” Recreation Director Steve Benko told the Commission during the Sept. 11 meeting at Town Hall. 

“The weather cooperated,” he added. “We had a couple of weekends with a little bit of rain, but it was a very good season.”

Here’s a snapshot of attendance going back to 2014:

 

Owned and operated by the town with costs offset by sales of passes to local and area residents, the self-sustaining Waveny Pool long has been one envy of neighboring Darien and is widely seen as one of New Canaan’s most successful endeavors.

Government

‘Taking Some Action’: Town Officials Move Forward with Proposal for Surveillance Cameras at Waveny Entrances

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Following an online petition signed by more than 2,000 people, and acting on the advice of police, town officials said this week that they’re looking to install cameras to record motor vehicles entering and exiting Waveny Park. 

Parks and Public Works officials said during a subcommittee meeting Tuesday that the cost of installation might be around $25,000, for which they would likely request a special appropriation. The main purpose of the cameras will be to “show visibility of activity coming in and out of our parks,” Parks and Recreation Commission Chairman Rona Siegel said during a meeting of the appointed body’s Camera Subcommittee. The two-person subcommittee, which also includes Parks Commissioner Matt Konspore, discussed potential locations for the cameras, focusing on the three entrances to the park—one on South Avenue and two on Lapham Road, including near the Waveny Pool. “It would just be an extension of cameras at the entrances – not throughout the park,” Siegel said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. Those in attendance included Siegel and Konspore as well as Recreation Director Steve Benko, Public Works Director Tiger Mann and Parks Superintendent John Howe.

Nancy Busak

Summer Heat Has Locals Flocking to Waveny Pool

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With sustained humidity and high summer temperatures finally hitting New Canaan, locals are flocking to Waveny Pool. The pool opened for the summer season on Memorial Day weekend and judging by the crowds, locals are loving it. 

Recreation Director Steve Benko said the pool has been very busy. Speaking about the storm Sunday, Benko said, “It was over by quarter to three, and by three fifteen people were lining up outside the pool to go swimming.”

The Waveny Pool facility features a 50-meter pool, a kiddie pool for young children and a pavilion. A variety of activities and programs are also held at the pool. 

“We try to do an activity every day, relay races, sharks and minnows, Simon says… we’ve also worked with the library – they’ve come here to do a reading thing on a Monday and Tuesday,” Benko said. The pool also hosts swim meets, with about 70 to 75 kids in the swim team, he said. 

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the pool this year, according to Benko. 

“It was a tough winter because we never got that really cold [weather],” said Benko.

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Parks Officials Address Unusual Algae Problem at Waveny Pool

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Parks officials said last week that they opened Waveny Pool last month while battling a rare problem with algae that had made its water unclear. Fluctuating temperatures in May contributed toward an algae growth that “I have only seen once in 18 years,” according to Recreation Director Steve Benko. Addressing a question raised by Parks & Recreation Commissioner Sally Campbell at the group’s June 12 meeting, Benko said workers spent time hand-vacuuming the bottom of the popular pool to rid it of algae that “affected our water quality.”

“I think we have it back to balance, we treated it,” Benko said said at the regular meeting, held in Town Hall. Asked by Campbell whether he talked to those who oversee other large-pool facilities when such problems arise, Benko said yes and added, “This is the first time that we have had this issue.”

“It’s a matter of trial and error, what works, I did put in some algaecide on Monday [June 10],” he said. Campbell said she went swimming on the day of the meeting “and it was 100% better than it was.”

“But it still has a little ways to go,” she said.