Wallingford Mayor Vetoes Funding For Community Pool Project

WALLINGFORD, CT — Wallingford Mayor William Dickinson Jr. has vetoed funding for the Community Pool renovation project. Dickinson notified Town Council members in a letter Friday that he was vetoing the ordinance that was approved April 28 that appropriated funding for the project.

The Town Council approved the ordinance amendment, by a 6-3 vote, that increased the appropriation and bond authorization to $7.4 million to fund the project, according to the Meriden Record-Journal.

In the letter to council members, Dickinson cited concerns over the state of the economy due to the new coronavirus pandemic. He called the Community Pool project “worthy of support” but said it isn’t “time sensitive.”

The Town Council could override Dickinson’s veto with at least seven votes. The issue has been added to the agenda for the council’s May 12 meeting.

The Save Our Pool Facebook page called Dickinson’s veto “definitely a setback, potentially permanent.”

“This is a non-partisan issue- we all have family members that have or do or would use the pool/renovated property,” reads a post on the Facebook page. “If you are so inclined please send a letter to the Town Clerk who will forward it on to the councilors - townclerk@wallingfordct.gov.”

The project includes an 8,000-square foot pool, a splash pad area, a 3,060-square foot bathhouse, a sand volleyball court, shade structures, a playground area, a picnic pavilion, an activity lawn, concrete sidewalks and a 116-parking space lot that allows for bus circulation and drop-off interior of the site.

Read Dickinson’s full letter to the Town Council below:

Dear Council Members:

We are caught in an economy/virus pandemic storm of an unprecedented nature. High winds of business closings, drenching rainfall of unemployment numbers, and a storm tracking radar that forecasts these conditions will not change for an undetermined length of time. We cannot be sure that even schools will reopen this coming September.

The state of our economy is a real concern. What will be the impact on revenues for private businesses to operate and municipal government to provide services? Predictions for state government are troubling with billion-dollar deficits in the current and future years. Those predictions include Connecticut and many other states. The news today reports that hospitals are experiencing significant financial distress.

A unique characteristic of this storm is that government has closed businesses. This is a new kind of economy downturn not experienced previously. The speed of recovery is very unpredictable. The community pool project is a project worthy of support, but it is not time sensitive. We can and should renovate the pool when the overwhelming financial hardships of citizens and businesses are no longer prevalent, when unemployment is absorbed by gainful employment.

For these reasons, pursuant to Chapter III, Section 7 of the Town of Wallingford Charter, the Ordinance entitled “An Ordinance Amending an Ordinance Appropriating $625,000 for Community Pool Park Design Services and Authorizing the Issue of $625,000 Bonds of the Town to Meet Said Appropriation and Pending the Issuance Thereof the Making of Temporary Borrowings for Such Purpose,” approved by the Town Council on April 28, 2020, is vetoed.

Sincerely,

William W. Dickinson Jr.

Mayor