Rec panel seeks new pool for summer camp program

By bob fleming

Staff Writer

The Marlboro Township Council is considering a request from the Recreation and Parks Commis-sion to approve a new recreation pool facility to replace the current one which is 12 years old and in need of major repairs.

The request was presented by Stephen Dick, chairman of the Recre-ation and Parks Commission, and John M. Safiotti, superintendent, at the council’s May 25 meeting.

Giving a brief history of the existing recreation pool facility — which opened in 1988 at the municipal complex — Dick said the time has come to consider a replacement, "due to the major repair work that is required to meet maintenance and safety standards in operating the facility."

According to Dick, before the present recreation pool facility was opened in 1988, the township’s recreation program used the facilities at the Marlboro Swim Club for its summer camp program.

"As our summer camp program grew, we needed our own facility," he said. "A feasibility study was done and it was decided that due to the high cost of building an in-ground pool, the best course would be to build above-ground pools to immediately fit the needs of the summer camp program."

The reason for the summer camp’s popularity is the open swim program offered to the more than 800 township children who use the pool on a daily basis during the annual six-week summer session, Dick said.

"If we were to eliminate the swimming, the program would suffer and residents would seek other camps with pool facilities to send their children to during the summer," he added.

According to Dick, the recreation pool facility is past its projected life expectancy of 10 years and requires major work to be completed on it before it opens for the 2000 summer camp program.

"The pool walls are corroding, the filter system needs replacement and the pool drainage pipe is corroded," Dick said. "The deck boards and rails are breaking and must be replaced, too."

In August 1999, the Recreation and Parks Commission was notified that a bonding and grounding certificate was required by law before the pool could reopen for the 2000 summer camp season. Estimates to complete the work required to obtain the bonding and grounding certificate range from $5,000 to $15,000, depending upon the scope of work and the contractors used, Dick said.

Dick and Safiotti presented the mayor and council members with two proposals regarding the construction of a new facility at a new location.

Under the first option, a new in-ground pool, with water slides and a kiddie area would be constructed at a new site and opened for 10 weeks instead of the present six-week summer camp session. The new facility would be open to the general public on evenings and weekends and the township’s senior citizens would have access to the facility during the entire day, instead of 3-5 p.m. as is the present practice, Dick said.

The second option is a new in-ground pool facility to be constructed at a new site, open for summer camp and senior citizens’ use only, during a six- to seven-week season. There are no water slides in this proposal.

Construction estimates for the new pool facilities are $1.9 million for the first option and $1.2 million for the second option, according to Dick.

"It is the Recreation and Parks Commission’s recommendation that a new site be selected for the construction," Dick said. "Problems at the present location, due to the pool’s proximity to the public works salt dome and safety issues due to traffic from Board of Education and township vehicles would be eliminated at a new site."

According to Dick, three possible sites for the new facility include a parcel of township-owned land on Tennent Road, at the former Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital property, and a tract of land on Boundary Road.

Funding for the new construction, if approved by the council, could be accomplished through the issuance of township bonds with a 20-year term or less and by increasing the summer camp fee.

"We are asking for direction from the mayor and council by May 31 because of the tight timetable to ensure a new facility would open in time for the 2001 summer season," Dick said.

Responding to questions from several council members, Dick assured them the present facility could be maintained with certain repairs for the 2000 season, but said it would not be feasible and most likely impossible to continue the operation of that facility beyond the 2000 session.

Mayor Matthew Scannapieco and council members are expected to review the feasibility study completed by the Recreation and Parks Commission as well as the conceptual plans, cost estimates and a proposed annual budget submitted to them, before making a decision on the proposal.