The Cheshire Town Council voted unanimously Aug. 25 to approve an additional $585,000 for a proposed splash pad adjacent to the town aquatic center and to accept $150,000 in state grant funds toward the project. The council suspended full reading of the three-page resolution and moved directly to a presentation and questions before voting.
Kevin Grindle, an associate with the firm Barton and Lejudice, told the council the design team studied two systems: a once-through system that would have supported lower capital costs but was rejected by the local Sewer Commission because expected peak flows (described in testimony as “between 26,000 and 40,000 gallons a day”) could not be accepted by the sewage plant. The team therefore proposed a recirculating system regulated as a public pool by the Connecticut Department of Public Health and using industry-standard filtration, UV treatment and chemical dosing.
Grindle said the planned system will include a roughly 2,000-gallon reservoir, sand and UV filtration, routine chemical treatment and a packaged mechanical “dome pack” located adjacent to the aquatic center that draws electric and water services from the existing facility. He told the council industry guidance estimates 5%–10% of pad water is lost daily to splash, evaporation and carry-off and would be replaced with fresh water through the connected water service. He also described a drain to storm sewer and a sewer connection for backwash and filter cleaning.
Council members asked about known infection risks associated with recirculating systems, particularly cryptosporidium. Grindle acknowledged the organism has been associated with splash pad contamination in rare cases and said vendors and industry operations plans try to minimize that risk; he said regular chemical monitoring and daily testing will be required just as for a public pool. Councilors asked how operations and maintenance would be handled; Grindle said the vendor (Vortex) supplies an operations manual and the aquatic-center staff would oversee daily checks and chemical testing.
The council also discussed site details raised during the presentation: the mechanical/treatment structure location has shifted through design iterations, turf vs. natural grass for the adjacent lawn (the applicants said natural grass was chosen on a dollars-and-cents basis but a turf alternate could be bid), and whether the project includes renovating the existing kiddie pool (Grindle and staff both said the current referendum does not include a full kiddie-pool conversion).
Nut graf: Councilors pressed technical and safety questions and then approved the additional appropriation so the town can proceed to a November referendum; the council’s vote followed staff’s presentation of bids, grant commitments and prior appropriations already on the books.
Details and outcome: Staff told the council a bid was in hand for $1.3 million and the council had previously authorized $865,000 (a mix of prior grants and ARPA funds). To provide a contingency buffer, staff proposed a project appropriation of $1,450,000; the council approved an added $585,000 at the Aug. 25 meeting and accepted $150,000 from the state budget toward construction. The resolution the council adopted authorizes the appropriation, acceptance of the grant and bond issuance as needed; the motion passed unanimously. The council also directed continued work on hours of operation, access control and maintenance arrangements with the aquatic center.
Ending: With the council’s vote, the splash pad will go forward to the November referendum as a bundled referendum item. Staff said they will finalize contract placement and continue coordination with regulatory agencies (DPH and DEP) and the Sewer Commission as the design proceeds.