June 11, 2008

Mayor urges summer safety

In a press release today, Mayor Art Ward had this to say:

In a prepared release, Mayor Arthur J. Ward stated, “This summer we can anticipate more people taking advantage of municipal recreation services because of the tight economy and cost of travel.” Ward went on to say, “Swimming and other activities are excellent opportunities for family fun, but families need to be aware of the risks and take steps to prevent unnecessary accidents. Whether at a municipal swimming facility, lake or family pool, vigilance is key to keeping people safe near water. Do not rely solely on the lifeguard staff at a public venue, always know where your family members are and that they are practicing water safety.”

Along with the Mayor’s suggestions, Guy Morin of the Bristol Building Department stated that “With the advent of warm weather and the upcoming summer months, the Bristol Building department has begun to receive inquiries and permit applications for home swimming pools.”

Morin points out, “Pool Retailers and stores have begun to advertise inflatable and PVC- framed above ground pools. These ‘portable’ swimming pools range from 24” to 42” deep by 12 or 18 feet in diameter.

Any swimming pool having a depth at any point of 48 inches or more will require a Building Permit and some type of ‘barrier’(fence and self closing gate) enclosing the pool entry ladder which meets the State building code. Morin went on to say, “The ONLY pools that do not require building and electrical permits are those pools that DO NOT have a Filter, and are emptied EVERY NIGHT, and are LESS THAN 48 inches deep.”

If you are looking for the local outdoor or indoor pool hours for this summer, you can call the Dennis Malone Aquatic Center at 584-3837 or the Park Department at 584-6160. If you have internet access, you can go the City of Bristol website at www.ci.bristol.ct.us and click on Park Department. Any questions concerning the construction or set up of swimming pools or hot tubs should be directed to the Bristol Building Department at 860-584-6215.

*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bristol's swimming facilities are great, especially the Dennis N. Malone Aquatic Center.

The ladies doing the swim lessons are great.

We love Bristol!

Mayor Ward is a father and a grandfather. Thank you Mayor Ward for looking out for the kids!

Anonymous said...

Art Ward probably didn't even know this press release went out, much less wrote it or had the idea for it. His secretary did it, just like she all the things for Stortz. Wake up, 5th generation and smell the reality of what we elected.

Anonymous said...

Does summer safety include all the drunk guys who drive after boozing at the Legion?

Anonymous said...

The mayor won the election. I did not vote for him. But he is our city's mayor and deserves our respect.

I think that he is doing a very good job and shows more cooperation than the past two previous mayors.

Anonymous said...

He missed mentioning the stealing of tires.

Anonymous said...

How dare you call our veterans a bunch of drunks.

Anonymous said...

Legion, Elks Club, fill in the blank wherever it makes you happy.

Anonymous said...

Interested in kids, bit can't show up for most of the functions that include kids (unless a photo is to be taken).

Anonymous said...

"Legion, Elks Club, fill in the blank wherever it makes you happy."

Elks Club doesn't have anything to do with veterans and just because these clubs have bars in them certainly doesn't mean that every member is a drunk. Enough of the veteran bashing already.

Anonymous said...

The men and women at the Elks Club are nothing but self-less volunteers. They donate a ton of their free time to provide nice, tasty, low cost meals to families. They also do countless good deeds for the community. I know this to be true because I have been a proud volunteer at the Elks.

Anonymous said...

"Art Ward probably didn't even know this press release went out, much less wrote it or had the idea for it. His secretary did it."

~ Hey James Bond, you got a bug in the mayor's office or have you been peeking in the windows?

Anonymous said...

Heavy hitting stuff from the Mayor's Office again!

Wow, and people get on Cockayne for grabbing headlines by pushing the GASB 45 issue or campaigning for the people's right to vote on the COO.

Anonymous said...

4:53, Maybe that's because Ward doesn't yank his arm out of the socket grabbing the headlines or trying to pat himself on the back the way Cockayne does.

Anonymous said...

This mayor is a good example of "you do what you can do", or ones rising to their level of incompetance.

Anonymous said...

and another article today about our good mayor worrying about poor and elderly this winter. How about worrying about the three contracts that are in negotiation right now, and what can be done to save some bucks there? Talk about misplaced priorities.

Anonymous said...

~ Not to worry 4:11, I do believe our "good mayor" is perfectly capable of dealing with important city contracts while also expressing concern about the welfare of the poor and the elderly this winter. With the cost of heating oil being out of reach for many of Bristol's citizens, a bad winter could potentially be a deadly one....doesn't sound like a misplaced priority to me.

Bob Merrick said...

Come on 4:11 pm. A lot of people are concerned about next winter. If your not concerned then you are either uninformed, insensitive or both.

It is no mystery that Bristol has a large stock of homes built prior to 1930 that are not very energy efficient and are very costly to renovate to substantially improve their energy efficiency.

At a foreseeable $5 to $6 a gallon for heating oil next winter many people living in the homes on Federal Hill, North Main, the West End, off of Burlington Ave, and other locations throughout the city could be paying $5000 to $12,000 for heating oil next heating season if they use 1000 to 2000 gallons.

Many multi-families properties with central heating systems include heat and hot water in the rent. The $600 to $700 market-rate monthly rents received by the landlord do not support higher oil costs and the tenants are not in a position to afford higher rents. Many landlords ate these costs last winter and can't get rid of their properties because they have negative operating costs and their properties may be worth less than their mortgage values.

The absentee landlord problems we have now will become worse with higher oil costs as maintenance and code improvements will be put on the back burner and many properties could go into bankruptcy.

Cutting the city workers and reducing their salary and benefits is not going to solve these problems and in fact could add to our problems as more people enter into the unemployment pool and other business and services follow suit.

Many city employees make far less than $50,000 per year, a salary that is not extravagant in today's marketplace.

If you think everyone should be paid minimum wage salaries then we will have a far more serious problem in America than the current energy crisis is causing and cities, like Bristol, will become much less desirable places to live.

In my opinion, Mayor Ward is trying to make the best of the situation. He has shown a willingness to reached out to different members of the community and listen to their ideas regardless of the political party they belong to.

Everyone needs to work together. There needs to be respect and understanding from both sides of the issue whether union or nonunion, pubic or private, young or old, rich or poor.

Americans have always risen to cooperate in a crisis. These tough economic times are no exception. We may not be able to make a huge difference in the policy being set in Washington, D.C. but we can in our own city of Bristol!

Anonymous said...

7:57

He doesn't ????

Anonymous said...

? - 4:11pm -
sounds to me that you are one of those self-centered "me, me, me" idiots who has the compassion of a snake - how about thinking about someone other than yourself or do you want the mayor to do that for you too?

Anonymous said...

There goes Bob "the city employee and friend of the unions" Merrick attacking another fiscal conservative.

Bob are you a little sensitive about being a city employee? Are you not aware of the perks that city employees get. And that these poor people you supposedly have so much compassion for don't even come close to getting these perks?

How can you Bob say this person
"4:11" is uninformed? What are you so informed about? You live in an over-educated-na-na-land.

"4:11" makes a good point. Negotiating these city union contracts on behalf of the taxpayers is good for working people. But not necessarily for coddled public employees like you Bob Merrick.

Anonymous said...

Bob Merrick:

"In my opinion, Mayor Ward is trying to make the best of the situation. He has shown a willingness to reached out to different members of the community and listen to their ideas regardless of the political party they belong to"

-Well it looks like Ward has the Republican Town Committee endorsement partially wrapped up.

Anonymous said...

"How about worrying about the three contracts that are in negotiation right now, and what can be done to save some bucks there?"

--I can find absolutely nothing wrong with this statement. Only a typically arrogant public stooge with a guilty conscience would attack this statement.

Anonymous said...

Bob Merrick:

Is "4:11" or anyone really talking about laying off public employees? Where did your minimum wage comment come from? We know none of the public employees make minimum wage that's for sure.

What about negotiating these three (we must assume one is your's) public employee contracts on behalf of the tax payers? Many people in the private sector are getting NO raise if they're lucky to still have a job.

Why not accept a cost of living increase equal but not greater than the rate of inflation FOR ONCE!

Anonymous said...

Good move Art!
By expressing concern now, you get great headlines. But where were you when the budget was approved making it more difficult for theses people to meet their basic needs?
Unless you are planning a rebate, their taxes will be going up and have to be paid. Are you going to do anything about that?
Art, I feel for the people to, but YOU were/are in a position to do something about it. Apparently you were given a heads up last year and did nothing then. Your comments now are self-serving bit do nothing to help those you are talking about.

Anonymous said...

3:36

Don't tell Kenny Johnson that Ward has locked up the RTC support.

He'll be very dissapointed.

Anonymous said...

Bob,
Your opinion doesn't really have any solid connection to reality.

1) Won't high energy costs make multi-family houses more attractive to owner-occupiers than absentee landlords?

2) You may not consider $50,000 "extravagant" but it's still excellent compensation coupled with the "generous" bennie package etc. that you public employees get.

3) Why do big-government liberals (which you apparently are) think the solution to all problems (in this case; slums in the older sections of town) is creating more, expensive government? With your two master's degrees can't you figure out how to make our city government more efficient without growing it? Otherwise we could just elect a Democrat.

Anonymous said...

STEVE -- THIS IS ABOUT THE POOLS....TODAY'S ARTICLE IN THE PAPER.

NOWHERE in this blog article from June does it say that the large portable pools are illegal in CT. This is information that I would have wanted to know before I went out and spent $300 on a pool for my kids.

Why did Morin leave out such an important piece of information and why isn't the City or the State going after the retailers that are selling something that isn't legal in the State of Connecticut???