Pools Committee Votes To Send Funding Letter To Council

Other Committee · Meeting of August 31, 2026

Newington's pools committee voted to send the Town Council a letter seeking funding direction for Churchill and Mill Pond pools. The committee's draft request for proposals for structural design services remains stalled "without funding authorization," members said, after revising the letter's wording at member Tim Amanke's suggestion. Parks and Recreation Director Scott reported the two pools generated $72,821.50 in combined 2026 revenue, drawing nearly 3,000 children across the summer.

Churchill Pool, built in 1964, and Mill Pond Pool, built in 1958, remain under review for a possible liner alternative after a member reported Vernon's liner installation was "very slippery." Resident Bill McCarthy told the committee, "The pools have been put to referendum twice and failed twice."

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 1,895 words

Source: the Other Committee meeting of August 31, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.

The Full Article

Roll Call and Minutes

The Town Pools Project Building Committee convened at 6:29 p.m. with a quorum present: Eileen Franklin, Jim Parati, AJ Tikanakis, Nancy Capello and Tim Amanke answered present. Bernadette Conway and John Donahue were marked absent, and the roll call noted that Carol Annis "is no longer there," meaning she is no longer a committee member. The July 27 regular meeting minutes were approved on a motion and second with no discussion.

Public Participation, First Round

Resident Bill McCarthy of 206 Churchill Drive addressed the committee early in the meeting, saying he came "to see what the new iteration of the committee is going to be" and thanked the group for holding a special meeting. No other members of the public asked to speak at that point.

Old Business: Letter to Town Council on Pools Project Funding

Background and stakes: The committee has already drafted a request for proposals to solicit structural design services for both Churchill and Mill Pond pools, but members said the project cannot advance without the Town Council authorizing funding. The letter under review Monday was the committee's formal mechanism to ask the council for direction.

The question before the body: whether to approve, with wording changes, a letter asking the Town Council to clarify its priorities for the pools project and whether funding is anticipated.

Substantive content: The chair read the letter aloud for the public record. It states the committee "has completed a draft request of proposal RFP to solicit structural design services for both pool locations" but is "unable to issue the RFP or advance the project further" without funding authorization. The letter asks the council for direction on how to proceed, what priority level the council assigns the project, and whether funding is anticipated "in the near future."

The deliberation: One member objected to the letter's opening line, which framed the request as being about "the future of the committee."

"I would just say, request direction regarding the future, I would say, of the committee, because I don't think the future of the committee is not an issue. It's the future of the pools project is the issue. The committee is the committee."

The chair agreed to strike the reference to the committee and substitute language about the pools project itself. A member asked when the letter had been sent to the full committee by email; the chair found it had gone out August 27. Members also discussed how to route the letter to the council, either through the full council's next regular meeting or through majority and minority leadership during agenda-setting, with the expectation that the council could see it "tomorrow" given its own agenda-setting schedule falls the day after the committee meeting.

Procedural steps and outcome: A member moved to send the letter with the agreed correction. The motion passed on a voice vote with no opposition recorded. The committee discussed adding town letterhead and a town seal before transmittal.

Implications and what is next: The letter is expected to reach the council within days of the August 31 meeting. Members said the council's response will shape whether the committee pursues a liner option, a full rebuild, or some hybrid approach, and will determine whether the committee can proceed with the RFP it has already drafted.

New Business: 2026 Pool Season Review and Revenue

Background and stakes: The committee asked Parks and Recreation Department staff to tabulate pool usage and revenue data for the 2026 outdoor season to inform the committee's ongoing assessment of the pools' value and condition.

The question before the body: how did the pools perform in revenue and attendance in 2026, and how does that inform the project's direction.

Substantive content: Parks and Recreation Director Scott presented the figures. Churchill Pool, used by the Newington Swim Club on a set weekday and Saturday schedule for $3,937.50 in invoiced fees, saw daily drop-in revenue of $8,936 and weekly camp attendance of 198, 214, 227, 227, 222, 212 and 220 children across seven weeks, for total Churchill revenue of $12,873.50. Mill Pond Pool posted $17,902 in daily drop-in revenue, with camp attendance of 199, 207, 221, 225, 230, 226, 221 and 78 children across eight weeks (the eighth being a shortened extra week), for Mill Pond's total of $17,902. Pool passes sold totaled 575 for $16,239. Swim lessons broke down into semi-private lessons (22 total, $2,479), private lessons (10 total, $1,438), group lessons at all levels (254 total, about $21,000, averaging $83 per lesson with a resident price of $75 and non-resident price of $91), Little Swimmers lessons (17 total, $189), and special-needs and junior lifeguarding lessons (seven total, $656), for a swim-lesson total of $25,807. The grand total for the summer, excluding the Newington High School pool, was $72,821.50.

Scott said staffing performed well over the summer with few behavioral incidents and only minor plumbing issues, and credited pool maintenance staffer Tom LaPierre with handling routine chlorine and supply needs. He also reported that he, Clay Pedigo and LaPierre had met with the committee's pool-supply vendor, Greg McMillan of Connecticut Custom Aquatics, to discuss alternatives to a full rebuild. McMillan told Scott that four comparable Connecticut towns with aging outdoor pools — Cheshire, Southington, South Windsor and Vernon — chose pool liners, which commercial-grade installations typically carry a roughly 15-year life expectancy. Scott noted Churchill Pool was built in 1964 (62 years old) and Mill Pond Pool in 1958 (68 years old).

The deliberation: One member raised what she called her "annual crabbiness" about how pool revenue is calculated, arguing camp fees that effectively pay for swim lessons and pool access should be counted toward pool revenue to give the public a fuller picture before any referendum. Scott agreed the comparison had merit and offered to pull five years of historical data for comparison. On the liner question, a member reported visiting Vernon's liner pool personally.

"Unfortunately, they found it very slippery. The kids found it slippery. The lifeguards found it slippery. They thought that it was difficult to navigate. Many of them took to wearing shoes like water shoes in there just for some traction because it was tough."

Another member argued the committee has time to explore the liner option before any referendum and should not dismiss it based on one town's experience: "I can ask three people and get three different opinions of whether they like something or not. ... So I think we should explore it." A member cautioned that neither a liner nor the existing concrete-pool RFP would resolve other costly problems, estimating bathhouse renovations alone at "easily low-end $500,000," plus deck replacement and other checkpoint repairs identified in an earlier structural study.

Procedural steps and outcome: No formal vote was taken on the liner question. The committee directed Scott informally to gather additional information, including contacting pool directors in Cheshire, Southington and Vernon for feedback, and to explore whether Connecticut Custom Aquatics could provide tiered liner options (entry-level, medium, high-end) for further review at a future meeting.

Implications and what is next: The revenue and liner information will factor into whether the committee updates its draft RFP to include liner options for one or both pools, pending the Town Council's response to the funding letter.

Public Participation, Second Round

Bill McCarthy returned to the podium and connected the funding request to the town's broader referendum history.

"The pools have been put to referendum twice and failed twice. There's a lot of support and there's a lot of opposition. ... This has been going on for over 20 years, and I like it that we have some new leadership in the Parks and Recreation Department."

McCarthy said he opposed a liner "because it's a cosmetic thing" and recalled an earlier structural study that photographed voids beneath plumbing and electrical lines, arguing the pool houses' condition is what residents actually see and judge. A committee member who had visited Vernon clarified for the public record that a liner would only "encapsulate what the current pool footprint is" and would not fix bathhouses, plumbing, decking or the structural voids McCarthy described; those repairs remain necessary regardless of which pool-surface option the town chooses.

Resident Dana Havens of 113 Stoddard Avenue asked the committee directly what it wants from the council: direction to focus on a single pool, or a directive to stop meeting until funding materializes. She urged the committee to keep researching options "even though there's no funding right now" because funding or grants could appear in a future year. She also corrected an earlier technical point, saying pool piping runs only to fill points such as faucets rather than under the entire pool basin, meaning a repair would not necessarily require removing an entire liner.

Next Steps and Adjournment

Members agreed to keep a September meeting on the calendar, contingent on receiving either a Town Council response or further vendor information from Scott. One member warned that halting meetings would cost the project momentum: "Once we stop meeting, the momentum ... agreed, nothing happens." Another member raised the longer-term possibility that the town might eventually have to run its summer camp program with one pool or none, given the pools' age, while acknowledging "we don't have a magic ball" on timing. The high school pool, built in 1970, was also mentioned as an aging asset, though a member noted it falls outside the committee's jurisdiction. The meeting adjourned at 7:22 p.m. on a unanimous voice vote.

WHO WAS THERE

Eileen Franklin, committee member, present. Jim Parati, committee member, present. AJ Tikanakis, committee member, present. Nancy Capello, committee member, present. Tim Amanke, committee member, present (also referred to once in the meeting as "Mr. Menke"). Bernadette Conway, committee member, absent. John Donahue, committee member, absent. Carol Annis, formerly a committee member, no longer serving. Scott, Parks and Recreation Director, staff, presented pool season data. Tom LaPierre, Parks and Recreation Department staff, referenced for pool maintenance work. Clay Pedigo, attended remotely, participated in the vendor meeting with Scott and LaPierre. Bill McCarthy, 206 Churchill Drive resident, spoke twice during public participation. Dana Havens, 113 Stoddard Avenue resident, spoke during the second public participation period.

ORGANIZATIONS AND DOCUMENTS REFERENCED

Connecticut Custom Aquatics (CT Custom Aquatics) — the committee's pool-supply and service vendor; its representative, Greg McMillan, provided information on liner options and comparable towns' experiences during the new-business discussion. Newington Town Council — the body the committee's letter was addressed to, seeking funding direction for the pools project; the committee anticipated the council could take up the letter as soon as its next meeting. Newington Parks and Recreation Department — supplied the 2026 pool usage and revenue data presented by Director Scott. Draft request for proposals (RFP) — a design-services solicitation the committee has already drafted for both pool locations; cited as the item blocked without Town Council funding authorization. Earlier structural study of the pools — referenced by resident Bill McCarthy, who recalled photographs of voids beneath plumbing and electrical lines; the study's author was not named in the discussion. Comparable municipal pool programs in Cheshire, Southington, South Windsor and Vernon, Connecticut — cited by Scott via vendor Greg McMillan as examples of towns that chose pool liners over rebuilding; one committee member personally visited Vernon's installation and reported mixed feedback on slipperiness.