Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Seriously?

A "Save The Sandwich Pool" group started on Facebook today -- and already somebody from Osterville wants to know if they can vote to increase the taxes of Sandwich residents to repair the pool for their own use!  




10 comments:

Anonymous1 said...

Going gangbusters trying to save this pool at the "Save Sandwich Pool" Facebook page. Trips down memory lane. How nice. I can go down memory lane and remember when officials of a town were held accountable for mishaps and poor budget planning. I wish we lived in a town where this wouldn't be an issue, that money would be set aside for repairs and maintenance. I wish we were never put into this position in the first place, again! Everything is a damn crisis. I don't know yet how I'm going to vote. I'm sick and tired of watching this town's properties crumble and fall. It's our dirty little family secret. I feel that voting for this expense will just sweep our secret under the rug once again. Shame, shame, shame should be brought to Bud Dunham's attention. I suppose I'll vote yes for this with one condition. That we get rid of Bud. He's a nice guy and all, but he's been in this position long enough and just isn't very good at it. In my opinion, he never really was. I don't want my taxes going up without someone being held accountable for the mess this town get's itself into. BUDGET MAINTENANCE you idiots.

Also, I don't remember having absentee ballot's available for Town Meeting. I'm sure it's not the first time, but I just don't recall it being an option, even for the public safety building vote. So they can stuff their envelopes and have their money.. but heads need to start to roll. Accountability needs to start at the top. In my humble opinion.

The Truth Maker said...

If I heard correctly the plan for the pool will not include any use by outsiders for some time.

That would include adults living here in Sandwich as well as those from other towns.

Unless that changes, the pool in its present use will be for school district use only. That was part of the presentation to the board of selectmen when Dr. Canfield was asking for this money at the last board meeting.

Dr Canfield has established a very rigit program as part of the new pool structure once it is up and running.

Anonymous said...

Its amusing they only want "positive" comments on their Facebook page.

It was the same "head in the sand", "do it for the kids" attitude that caused them to ignore all of the symptoms that eventually killed the pool -- lack of maintenance and improper funding.

Anonymous said...

If you want to vote to spend Sandwich's money, then yes, you do need to be a resident of Sandwich, dear.

Good grief!

The absentee ballots are for the election, not Town Meeting.

Aqua Boy said...

It's obvious these people aren't getting it.

All the warm, fuzzy feelings are pointless if they can't afford to maintain the damn thing.

You can't pay bills with happy smiles and dazed expressions.

I think its amusing that the people who started the FB page weren't even willing to put their own name on it.

What matters most said...

Lots of facebook “likes” for the save the pool page. Most of the likes come from minors (non voters) and out-of-towners (also non voters). Funny how so few people who actually pay property taxes have “liked” this page.

Craig Canning said...

I have 2 options for the pool, one will cost $20 the other will be approximately $750,000……….

- Option 1, a small length of chain and a padlock for the door and move on, won’t cost more than $20, no tax increases or fund raisers necessary

- Option 2, sell the not so free fire boat that we do not need, I believe the price tag was around $750,000 for the boat itself and use the money to fix the pool that we do not need, no tax increases or fund raisers necessary
(the sad part is unfortunately we probably cannot sell the fireboat, we might get blackballed from future grants for things that we do not need nor can afford the long term maintenance)


I have seen a lot of numbers being thrown around of what it is going to cost to fix the pool, has there been any discussion of a factual annual operating budget moving forward and where that money is coming from.

Lastly, our taxes are close to double other towns on the cape and what do we get for it? Less services, buildings that are falling down, athletic fields that pale in comparison to our neighboring towns and the list goes on…………

More to follow…………..



Anonymous said...

hey has anyone gotten an estimate of how much the concrete to fill the pool in and call it a classroom would cost????? At least we wouldnt need to worry about the window sills then......thinking outside the box....unlike our town officials..

Anonymous said...

I like the comment by a previous poster about "only positive comments." 1000 likes on the FB page is impressive. Save the pool is a good slogan, but they need to add something else if it were to be truly honest. Save the pool but at what cost to other services and needs. I hope there is a real plan in place and discussed about operating cost and maintenance and how the school department is going to plan for those. In theory, I would like to see the pool stay in place, but I am tired of political talk when we need to see real proof that the people we pay a lot of money to who are in charge of these things have worked out a good plan. The "town" is the people our tax dollars pay to keep it together. It is foolish, especially given our recent history, that we not demand real operational plans prior to town meeting. I hope the school committee gets on this and makes that happen.

The Truth Maker said...

Town meeting will be stacked to pass this onto the taxpayers to vote on and I am fine with that process, because if it fails or passes at the ballot box is the only true test .

Given the recent news of today and the $300,000 judgement plus a 12 percent fine I am sure that this will be playing in the minds of any one who are voting and it just may be the final straw for some voters.

Where is the cultabilty by the town as to why a 15 year old building now needs to be repaired ?

I have posted this before and I will reenforce it again and that is the pool belongs under the Recreational Board and the towns budget. The school would be given top priority to its use and then the general public, but only on week ends and after school hours.
Every user would pay the fair share of the cost for the time the pool would be open to the general public, where 100 percent of the cost would be divided among the general public users and the town operation budget.