To: Madison Board of Selectmen ([email protected]) and the Surf Club Planning Team ([email protected])

We, the undersigned residents of Madison, thank the many volunteers who have given countless hours to the Surf Club master plan process. We share their goal: a Surf Club that serves Madison well for generations to come.

We are submitting this petition because the Town's current survey doesn't give residents a way to express these views. It has no open text fields: residents can't explain an answer, add context, or write in an alternative, and the one "Other" choice doesn't let anyone say what "other" means. Several questions also combine options in ways that limit the answers residents can give. For example, sand replenishment is offered only as part of dune restoration, stabilizing the existing seawall is paired with "do nothing further," and no question shows what any option would cost or asks about funding ongoing maintenance. A survey designed this way can't capture what many residents actually want.

The Surf Club has brought our town together for decades. Its building is beautiful and practical, and its beach is the part of the park residents value most. Both have suffered from years of deferred maintenance. The Town's FY2026–2030 capital plan includes no funding for repairs to the Surf Club building, only $100,000 in its final year for a study, and states that Surf Club projects not related to routine maintenance have been postponed until a master plan is complete.

Deferring maintenance is a significant decision. Residents were never asked to make it, and never asked for it. In the Town's own public input for this master plan, residents named "maintenance & cleanliness" as a priority issue. Public hearings allow comment on the capital plan, but residents don't decide what goes into it. Our only vote comes on the annual town budget, where any single item is bundled with many others. Meanwhile, each year of deferral takes a toll on both the building and the beach. The building's condition worsens and repair costs grow, while the beach keeps losing the sand that protects the seawall and the park behind it. The longer this continues, the more likely it becomes that costly replacement and transformation are presented as the only options, at far greater expense to taxpayers. Residents should have a real say before that path is set. We ask the Town to put preservation and maintenance first.

We ask the Town to:

1. Maintain and improve the existing building

• Set aside dedicated maintenance and capital funding for the Surf Club, starting with the current capital plan, rather than continuing to defer it while the master plan is developed
• Publish the existing building assessments (DRA 2021, Colliers 2019) and the itemized repair list
• Explore every option for working within FEMA's limit on repairs to flood-zone buildings (currently cited as about $600,000), including an updated independent appraisal, eligibility for historic designation, and phasing repairs over time, before concluding the building must be replaced
• Fully evaluate renovating or elevating the building in its historic location, with costs, before considering replacement or relocation

2. Restore the beach without transforming the park

• Bring sand back to the beach. The Town's own master plan consultant has said the Surf Club beach hasn't had sand replenishment in at least 100 years, and there is no longer enough beach to protect and support the seawall.
• Stabilize or replace the seawall as needed, alongside sand replenishment, so repairs aren't undermined by continued sand loss
• Explore other reasonable measures to reduce future erosion, while preserving the park's open lawns, picnic areas and character
• Plan and budget for shoreline maintenance on a regular cycle, as other shoreline towns do, with the understanding that every shoreline requires ongoing care

3. Keep the Surf Club focused on residents

• Keep the event space right-sized and affordable for the gatherings residents actually host
• Prioritize resident access and resident-first booking
• Present any proposal to add other uses to the building to residents openly as a separate decision

4. Put costs in front of residents before decisions are made

• Share cost ranges, including bond interest and long-term maintenance, for each option before the plan is revised, including the cost of maintaining and improving what we have
• Survey residents again once costs are known, with space for open comments

We are not asking the Town to do nothing. We are asking it to invest first in caring for what we already have, and to restore the beach without reinventing the Surf Club in the process. We respectfully request a response before the master plan is revised.

Respectfully submitted,
The undersigned residents of Madison, CT