Here is the text of a news release issued today by four Westporters on a telephone survey they commissioned about the location of a new home for the Westport/Weston YMCA:
OPINION SURVEY LOCATION OF PROPOSED WESTPORT Y APRIL 14, 2005
Survey results show Westporters Want Y at Baron’s South
Results of an opinion survey (“Survey”) by The Marketing Network of North Haven, CT were presented at the Westport Historical Society today. Survey results showed that:
72% OF THOSE WITH A PREFERENCE SUPPORT A SITE OTHER
THAN CAMP MAHACKENO
59% OF THOSE SURVEYED SUPPORT THE LEASE OF TOWN LANDS
AT BARON’S SOUTH TO THE “Y” AND ONLY 28% WERE OPPOSED;
AMONG “Y” MEMBERS SURVEYED, 67% MORE WERE PREPARED TO
CONTRIBUTE MONEY IN SUPPORT OF A NEW “Y” AT BARON’S SOUTH
THAN AT CAMP MAHACKENO.
(Click here for detailed results)
The Marketing Network was founded in 1985 and is a full service firm offering qualitative and quantitative research and marketing consulting services. Clients include Bridgeport Hospital, the Shubert Theater, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government SBC Communications, and Aetna Insurance, among others. The Survey completed for Westport involved interviewing 400 residents of voter age with special care being taken to include a representative sample across the nine voting districts and across four age groups: 18-30, 31-50, 51-65, and over 65. Special care was made to approximate the actual demographics of Westport as closely as possible. Members of the Y were also included in the Survey and represented 30% of the total sample.
The Survey was initiated by four concerned citizens, Donald Bergmann, Ted Diamond, Roy Dickinson, and Andy Lozyniak, with different political backgrounds, but one thing in common, a concern about the development and welfare of Westport and its families. With myriad “letters to the editor” it has become difficult to determine just what “the people” really want. The sponsors of the Survey believed a non-partisan, straight forward questionnaire would help clear the air and provide a guide for both the “Y” Board and Town authorities. It is hoped that with the information developed, the “Y” and the Town can work together to find a responsible solution to the current controversy.
Andy Lozyniak has lived in Westport his entire life and his father owned a farm at the present site of the Sherwood Connector. Andy is also a past president of Dynamics Corporation of America. Ted Diamond came to Westport in 1955 and served as Westport’s Second Selectman for 8 years. Ted was also on the RTM and he served as the head of the Committee to Save Winslow Park. Roy Dickinson arrived in 1968. He was a member of the RTM for 12 years and is a past chairman of both the Conservation Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission. Don Bergmann moved to Westport in 1979, and has become active in a number of Town wide issues. He is a regular at First Selectwoman Diane FarrelPs Brown Bag lunches. All four sponsors emphasize that they are trying to do what is in the best interest of Westport and its residents. They are supportive of the Y’s desire to relocate and three of them are actually members of the “Y”. They are all hopeful that the survey which they commissioned, and paid for, will be the catalyst to bring the Town and Y together in finding a place on Baron’s South, near the Senior Center for the new Y facility.
The complete survey and its back up data were made available to the press for anyone interested in examining the detailed responses by voting district, sex, age range, and/or “Y” membership.
For further details contact Roy Dickinson (203-226-0322) in Westport or Frank Colangelo, President of The Marketing Network at 203-248-9751.
The Press conference will be held at the Westport Historical Society, opposite Town Hall at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Avery Place at 10 a.m., Thursday, April 14, 2005.
Yeah Survey!
It’s great to hear the Voice of the people!
Keep the Y Downtown!!!
Sure, keep it downtown. But why didn’t the Y’s Trustees and Directors pursue that years ago. They could have closed the Y for two years (as other town Ys have done), let their members go to neighboring Y’s, and finished the job a long time ago. If they want to stay downtown now, I think Winslow Park is a much better site than Baron’s South. They could take a few acres there and give the Mahackeno site to the down as a partial payment.
It was pursued 10 years ago…and soundly rejected by the town as a private use of public land. Even if it were OK, you’re asking a private, charitable organization to use program funds to buy or lease alternate land when it already owns a substantial parcel in the town. No for-profit would do this; why should we ask the Y to?
It seems most everybody except the Y leaders want the Y in a more centralized place than the Maheckeno site. The Maheckeno site is simply a terrible choice. Exit 41 and Route 33 leading up to it will become a traffic nightmare. It seems to me that Mr. Foot and the others who are trying to shove this down the town’s throat no longer really care what the majority of Westport thinks and are simply going to go ahead as planned. I for one will never use the Y at Maheckeno and will not support any of its programs, because I am disgusted by the total lack of concern and shortsightedness being displayed by the Y and its leaders.
I would like to see the exact questions that were asked in the survey.
Also where in Westport did the people they surveyed live?
They say the survey shows that Westporters favor Baron’s South. But the actual figure is 32%, not exactly an overwhelming endorsement. (Neither is Mahackeno at 20%.) Opponents to a Baron’s South move certainly could put a spin on it that says the survey showed that most Westporters (68%)expressed a preference for someplace other than Baron’s South or simply had no preference.
It seems like people don’t remember the debate about Baron’s South that took place a number of years ago. Diane Farrell set up the Baron’s South planning committee (I think that what it was called). I personally wrote a letter to the editor and testified in front of the committee to support the Y’s move to Baron’s South. The committee and Diane decided not to allow the Y to move there. The Y accepted the decision and decided to look elsewhere. They decided Mahakeno was their best move. I can’t figure out where all these people who are against the Y were several years ago when these meetings were going on. Back then it seemed everyone was against Baron’s South but now its back again.
The elected leaders of the town decided not to allow the Y on Baron’s South. That debate is over and the Y needs to move on with the next best choice Mahakeno.
I was against the Y using public land. Still am. I testified. It’s on record. Why do so many of you hide behind cutesie phrases?
It’s like with my kids… They keep asking the same question hoping to get the answer they want to hear. People, the answer is no. The management of the Y made a serious effort to keep the Y downtown or at Baron’s South. It was not feasible. The town and many of its citizens do not consider it appropriate to put a private institution on public property. I agree with that and, since I was not surveyed, put my vote in the appropriate column. The Y is moving forward toward the goal of building a larger, better facility. Let them get on with it.
I can’t help but notice that the four people that want the Y close to the Senior Center are, in fact, Seniors (as were 58% of respondance over the age of 50).
I also noticed that of those responding only 30% were current Y members yet all 400 were counted among survey preference opinions.
The survey was set up incorrectly (in my mind) by giving 1) all opinions equal weight instead of just Y members (after all it is THEIR money building the Y) and 2) by putting a “River” location as a choice. 28% of those answering gave “No Preference”; the second highest.
Because Barons South is not even an option as far as the Town is concerned why continue to beat a dead horse?
Unless the town is willing to do a land swap for another location that is more preferable to the public AND the Y Trustees I suggest that we all let it go.
Please don’t move the Y! It’s great where it is now, in the middle of town.. that’s where it belongs.. its a community center, it belongs in the community.
and does anybody have any concern for the environment? People these days in this town seem to have absolutely no problem just completely destroying whatever few acres of untouched land are left…
god PLEASE dont move it anywhere… there’s already so much construction in this town, you can never get any peace and quiet!! stop cutting down trees, and polluting, and all that crap… the Y is really not in that bad of shape at all.. in fact, I love it the way it is.. a new YMCA would be horrible, just like all the new schools—cold, modern, and unwelcoming.
If the problem is that the Y right now is too small, well, too bad, deal with it.. just because somebody’s poor little kid can’t get into a class because there’s not enough room doesn’t mean you should destroy yet more land, and spend a ton of money and just make it hell for people trying to actually live in this town with all the construction..
the Y is great where it is right now, in the middle of town, in a nice building—just leave it!!
if it does move, i’m definitely canceling my membership… thanks a lot
First things first – I am not a member of the Y and I don’t live near Mahackeno. As such, I really don’t have a dog in this fight.
Nonetheless, it was refreshing to see someone actually poll residents to get their opinions rather than continue to hear the stock answers from the proponents and opponents of the proposed move.
Most interesting (to me) is the seeming opposition of Y members to a move to Mahackeno. As Y leadership has always spoken otherwise, I have long wondered what the collective opinion was, of the rank and file.
Most troubling to me is that the supporters of a move away from Downtown seem to only be the Y leadership, the Downtown Merchants Association, and some swimmers. As I look at it, that doesn’t reflect a broad range of either Westport or the Y membership.
While I appreciate that the Y does own the Mahackeno location already, the need for zoning variances and infrastructure upgrades makes this more than simply a decision that can be made by the Y leadership. Because of those kind of considerations, community consensus IS necessary for such a move.
The current Administration says that Barons South is not an option. But maybe a “land swap” such as M. Handley mentions can put that option back on the table. Maybe other Downtown options should be explored. But, on the current path, we’re looking at a drawn out process that will leave residents, and Y members, frustrated.
My only disappointment with the survey is that it did not include any question relating to a rebuild on the current location, similar to that of the Greenwich YMCA.
Personally, I hope the issue does become one of the central local issues of the fall Selectman’s campaign. With two sides firmly entrenched, I’d love to see a leader willing to take a clear-eyed approach to the issue, exploring all possibilities, including Barons South and Mahackeno, ultimately proceeding with a Town/Y approach that reflects some community consensus.
I don’t want a First Selectman who takes advantage of every possible photo-op at the Y. And I don’t want a First Selectman who will be contrarian simply for the sake of being contrarian. I would like to see genuine leadership in an effort to bring together the community on this issue.
Regardless of the ultimate decision, Westport will be better served by that kind of fresh look at the subject, from leadership that will not have already dug in its heels.
Chris Grimm
RTM District 5