Board of Selectman Regular Meeting Materials (linked)

Cindy Dupointe
From: James Auwood <jwauwood@snet.net>
Sent: Friday, September 9, 2022 7:35 PM
To: 
Brian Flaherty
Cc: Gail Boehm; william.turnier@snet.net; First Selectman
Subject: Re: PB
Categories: First Selectman
Thank you Brian for sending over the plans. I parceled out pages 8-16, which I believe are the pertinent
docs. Did not realize that these courts were built when I was a sophomore at UConn!!! That’s the last time I
was a good tennis player! Speaking with some of the other Towns that have undertaken the
construction/reconstruction of their courts, I learned of the Co-op Purchasing consortiums and was curious if
Waterford had done the same. Was Guardian selected because Waterford has a history of working with them
with favorable results? I had not heard of them-before today so I hope they will provide you with updated
numbers that are workable. I noted that the Leary Park portion of the proposals had the incorrect number of net
posts and tennis nets - three - the same number used for QH and WBP. Presumably it’s a scrivener's error but it
brings to mind our one suggested modification to the Leary plans that call for the 2 southern courts to remain as
dedicated tennis courts, and the 2 northern courts to be tured into 4 dedicated PB courts. The footprint at
Leary would accommodate 6 USAPA tournament sanctioned courts with the necessary spacing between and
I appreciate receiving the plans in time for our meeting with the First Selectman. I suspect this project will
continue to be a tough sell with budgetary demands not only here locally but also on the state and national
level. Forty-seven years ago the Town made a good investment but the return on that has seen its day. The
WBP courts are potentially dangerous for injury from the uneven surfaces and cracks where the more recent
repairs have been made. Based upon your CIP plan narrative and your comments at the 8/23/22 Rec
Commission meeting that the QH courts are in the poorest condition of the three sites, I fear it’s only a matter of
time before something bad happens.
Once again thank you for your past efforts and continuing efforts in the future. Lastly, I wanted to give you the
latest numbers update for pickleball play at Leary and WBP - since the 8/23/22 Commission meeting, we have
had 17 playable days with a total of 618 picklers enjoying Waterford’s two venues with PB lines.
Take care, talk to you soon and have a good weekend.
Jim
On Sep 9, 2022, at 2:46 PM, Brian Flaherty <bflaherty@waterfordct.org> wrote:
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Hi Sim:
Please see the CIP plan that we submitted on 12/2/22. Thanks for your continued interest! Have a great
weekend,
Best,
Brian
rian W. Flaherty
Brian W. Flaherty, CPRP, CYSA
Director
Waterford Recreation & Parks Commission
24 Rope Ferry Road
(Mailing Address: 15 Rope Ferry Road)
Waterford, CT 06385
860-444-5881
=] Please consider the environment before printing this email,
From: James Auwood <jwauwood@snet.net>
Sent: Sunday, September 4, 2022 9:29 PM
To: Brian Flaherty <bflaherty@waterfordct.org>
Ce: Gail Boehm <gvboehm@gmail.com>; william.turnier@snet.net
Subject: Re: PB
Brian: thanks for getting back to me, and as I said to Rob when he responded yesterday, no need
for apologies - Town officials’ time clocks never wind down. I don’t expect you or him to use
your holiday time to get back to me, but I also understand that’s when the engine slows down a
bit. Ji’s my understanding that my email and statement is on the Correspondence Agenda for this
week’s Selectmen’s meeting and then Rob plans to put the pickleball issue on their agenda for
further discussion on Sept 20th. Rob indicated that he would meet with Gail, Bill and myself
sometime before that meeting. We have proposed 3 dates during the prior week (14th, 15th or
‘1 6th); so if you haven’t sent me the old CIP plan by that date, I will bug you once more.
My asking about the Selectmen’s tabling the proposal last FY was not an attempt to dwell on the
past. Having spent 20+ years in local government/politics elsewhere, I am keenly aware that the
blame game is a non-starter. So that was not my intent. Being new to Waterford governance, I
always want to know the landscape, the stakeholders and the history of the subject matter I
commit my time and energy to - case in point, when we first met on April 7th and we were just
asking for PB lines, you advised us that there was a Dept. CIP plan with 5 proposals, including
the tennis court improvements, and that the RTM approved only one - I believe the Children’s
Playscape - and that the other 4 proposals were “tabled” ........ it wasn’t until the August 23rd
Rec Commission meeting that I heard for the first time that it was the Selectmen that tabled the
proposal. So when I received a call last Saturday from an RTM member asking me about my
post they saw on our TeamReach site giving the history of the PB courts, there was concern that
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erroneous info about the RTM was out there - I assured them that a correcting post would be
posted, it was posted and I hoped that there was no blowback from the incorrect information.
So, I simply want to advance the idea of dedicated PB courts here in Waterford, which is a future
goal ..... so that is where I want to dwell. Not being able to find any minutes on the matter, I
seem to ‘be pointed in the direction that the Board never tabled the proposal. So unless you have
other information, I will use that as my historical understanding of where we are presently and
going forward I have a Board that is getting a great deal of fresh stats and info on PB. Rob said
he had spoken with you on Friday and he wanted to meet further with you and the Finance
Director to examine options and opportunities. Given that we won’t meet before the 14th with
Rob, I trust he will be able to accomplish that piece of the puzzle. As Ihave said in the past,
should you need any assistance with your plans, we are available. Rich Walton has been in
touch with contractors, and I have followed up with other Towns that have taken the plunge and
what that entailed. :
While we must look to the future, I don’t want to look back later and regret not having "dotted
all the I’s and crossed all the T’s” Take care, and hope you get to spend some quiet holiday
time what’s left of it. Be well and talk to you soon.
Jim
P.S, PICKLEBALL USAGE AT LEARY and WBP - since starting the count the day after the
8/23 Rec Commission meeting, in those 12 days, there have been 460 players on the courts!!!!
On Sep 4, 2022, at 2:11 PM, Brian Flaherty <bflaherty@waterfordct.org> wrote:
Hi Jim:
Sorry in delay in getting back to you. I was waiting to see the First Selectman’s
response. It looks promising.
I suggest we don’t dwell on why the project wasn’t approved. It can be
mentioned, but I would focus on the future. Rob seems very supportive in his
letter and when I met with him last week.
The old CiP plan I-can send you next week. I also asked for updated figures. We
can narrow it down further when we get a conceptual plan put together.
Keeping track of the usage is a great idea.
Best,
Brian
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 30, 2022, at 12:57 PM, James Auwood
<jwauwood@snet.net> wrote:

Te TT a a Te ta ae me
be _ CAUTION: This email originated from. outside of the organization. :
: Dor not click links or. open attachments ‘unless you recognize the sender's. email addres
content is safe.
Brian:
Back on August 15th when I stopped in the office and dropped off my
Commission letter, you said you'd be able to provide me a copy of the original
$600K estimate for the tennis courts improvements. Would you still be able to
do that for me? I would like to familiarize myself with the scope and
description of the work that was priced out so that I have some point for
reference when Gail, Bill and I meet with Rob Brule.
Also I haven't done an exhaustive search of the BOS minutes, but do you know
when the BOS tabled the proposal in the 2022-2023 CIP plan?
I'm also starting a daily count of PB play at Leary and WBP for future
reports. Between last Thursday 7:30am and Friday 9:00am we had 55 picklers
at WBP alone. We have evening play on Tues and Thu nites there. Today
we've had 34 this moming between the 2 venues and expecting 10-12 more this
evening at WBP. And for those doubters out there, no tennis players during the
same periods. I've been anticipating some evening tennis activity but we've only
seen 2 nice high school tennis players once in the past few weeks, Maybe
they're at their "home courts" at WHS.
Thanking you in advance for your response. Take care and have a good day.
Jim
<CIP 2022.pdf>