The Londonderry Town Pool Study Committee has published its final report and recommendation to the Town Council. The committee was created on Aug. 2018 and was charged with researching and making a recommendation to the Town Council as to the feasibility, interest in, and need for a town pool in Londonderry.
The committee researched the situation regarding the town pools in nearby communities, the construction and ongoing maintenance costs, including of the personnel operating the facility on a daily or seasonally basis, the liability issues, the potential locations in Londonderry for such pool and the general interest among the locals.
The initial final date for the committee’s recommendation to the Town Council was Dec. 1, 2018, but Assistant Town Manager Ms. Lisa Drabik, who was representing the town in the committee, indicated that it was unable to complete the task and requested for more time, which was granted.
Eventually, the committee gave its final recommendation in the Town Council Meeting last month (Mar. 18), recommending against the idea of building an outdoor town pool in Londonderry.
The committee mentioned as part of its recommendation the lack of an easily “buildable” spot in the town for an outdoor public pool, the estimated high cost of this kind of facility ($1.2-$1.5 Million) and the very limited summer times in New England, where the pool will actually be available for public use. Other than that, the face that around 35 percent of the residents in Londonderry already have their own backyard outdoor pool, and many others (An exact number was not given) have an access to a pool through their condo or apartment complexes, made the estimated number of people who will be using the town pool to low and led to the committee’s recommendation against building one.
The committee did vote in favor of a different, much larger recommendation and urged the Town Council to “pursue a community center which would better serve the needs of Londonderry residents than would a standalone, outdoor pool”, per the committee’s report.
The estimated cost of a community center is between $5-$10 Million (As the committee’s researched found out) and the committee recommended that the town would engage in discussions with the YMCA about the potential private/public partnership. These kinds of community centers can be found in different towns in New Hampshire.
The Town Pool Committee members were Ms. Drabik (Chair, Town Manager designee), Al Sypek (On behalf of the Planning Board), Kevin Foley (On behalf of the Recreation Committee) and residents Noelle Bristol, Cheryl Hass, Debbie Johnson, Laura Pallotta, Sy Tebbetts and Jen Kenney.