Washington Borough - Letter to Residents re Borough Pool

June 29, 2010

RE: Borough Pool

Dear Washington Borough Residents:

As you are aware, there has been a lot of debate as it relates to the Borough Pool. The question of whether or not to have the pool open this season has been a very contentious theme throughout the 2010 municipal budget process. Due to this, I wanted to take the time to clear up any rumors and misinformation that is out there by informing residents as to the “how” and “why” we are in this predicament, and why the pool is not open yet.

Let’s start at the beginning….

All municipalities begin to work on their municipal budget the prior year. In this instance, we began working on the 2010 budget in November of 2009. This process involves the initial compilation of the various components of the budget; which include but are not limited to departmental requests, debt service and statutory obligations. Once this cursory document is created, we begin the review process to separate the “wants” versus “needs” in order to create the “draft” budget. Subsequently, numerous “Budget Workshops” were scheduled for the Borough Council to review the draft budget, as well as hear directly from department heads on the specifics of their budget requests.

April 7, 2010 (Budget Workshop)

Various budget issues were discussed by the Borough Council. During this discussion, the Council requested a detailed breakdown of the operation costs of the Borough pool, as well as anticipated 2010 revenues.

April 14, 2010 (Budget Workshop)

The Recreation Department budget was presented to the Borough Council by the Recreation Director. With very few exceptions, recreation programs and events are self-funding. Specifically, these programs are funded via user fees from participants, not through tax dollars. During this meeting, the Recreation Director advised the Borough Council that the Borough Pool ran at a $66,000 deficit in 2009. As a result of this deficit, tax dollars were needed to subsidize the operation of the pool to make up the shortfall. This amount equated to approximately 1.75 cents on the tax rate.

After presented with this information, the Borough Council began their deliberation as to whether or not keeping the pool open in 2010 was feasible do to the recently presented financial shortfalls. Until a decision was made, all expenditures associated with the pool operations were halted, as we did not want to spend time and money opening the pool if a decision to close was made.

April 20, 2010 (Regular Council Meeting)

At this meeting, the Borough Council continued their deliberation on whether or not to close the pool for the season. After testimony from several members of the public, the Council decided to delay their final decision until a corrective action plan relating to the pool proposed by a resident could be developed

It should be noted that at this meeting, the Borough Council adopted the 2010 Recreation Department Fee Schedule via Resolution 88-2010. Adopting this resolution ensured that should the pool remain open, the proper fees have been approved.

May 4, 2010 (Regular Council Meeting)

A corrective action presentation was made by a resident which outlined both short-term and long-term changes that can be made to the pool in order to make it financially stable. After the presentation, the Borough Council decided to keep the pool open for the 2010 season with the stipulation that the Recreation Director present Council a detailed financial analysis relating to the pool around September/October 2010.

Additionally, at a public meeting the Recreation Director advised that as a result of the Borough Council doing their due diligence in deciding whether or not the pool should open, he was several weeks behind the in the preparation period. As a result, the “best case scenario” would have the pool opening the weekend of June 19, 2010.

Post Pool Opening Approval Actions

Purchase Orders authorizing the purchase of materials and supplies needed to open the pool were approved ASAP, and the respective items were ordered.

The following were some of the major items that needed to be addressed in order for the pool to be opened:

Cleaning and repainting of the pool.

Occurred during the week of May 24, 2010.

Concrete repair on the walls of the pool.

Occurred during the weeks of May 31, 2010 & June 7, 2010.
Repairs could not occur until paint fully cured.

Replacement of water heater and various plumbing fixtures in the pool bathrooms.

Occurred during the weeks of June 7, 2010 & June 14, 2020.

Repair of Water leak in main water line.

Troubleshooting this leak had been ongoing during months of April and May. This process was delayed as the water lines were plastic, not metal, so traditional leak detection techniques did not work.
Leak located on June 17, 2010 and temporary repair made.
Final repair made on June 21, 2010.

Repair of damaged well pump used to fill the pool.

Investigation of repair was being conducted by Recreation Director in order to obtain cost requirements.
On-site meeting with well pump repair company to be scheduled in the immediate future.

Ordering of miscellaneous pool supplies and materials.

Ongoing

Site cleaning and landscaping.

Ongoing

Filling pool with water

The Recreation Director had advised that the pool was scheduled to be filled on Friday, June 18, 2010 via the fire hydrant, and that the Fire Department and New Jersey American Water (NJAW) were aware.

NJAW notification was confirmed by the Manager on June 16, 2010.

Friday, June 18, 2010 – Notified by NJAW that there was not sufficient water in reserve capacity to allow us to fill the pool at this time.

Pool filling was rescheduled to Tuesday, June 22nd & Wednesday, June 23rd. Borough Manager was in daily contact with the Recreation Director and all indications were that the pool would open on June 26th.

Note: NJAW donated the water needed to fill the pool, so there was no cost to the taxpayers for this service, which resulted in a savings to the tax payers of $1000.00.
Chemicals can now be added to the water.

As this is a public pool, chemicals can only be administered under the supervision of the Certified Pool Operator (CPO).

June 24, 2010 (Thursday)

Borough scheduled and passed State-mandated electrical inspections.
Advised by Recreation Director that water tests would be scheduled accordingly in advance of pool opening date.

June 25, 2010 (Friday)

At 3:30PM, the Recreation Director tendered his resignation.
As the Borough no longer employed a CPO, legally, we could not place chemicals into the pool itself. (See above).

June 26, 2010 (Saturday)

A CPO was hired at 11:15AM.
This would allow the Borough to move forward with treating the water in the pool in order to pass the required water quality test when ready.

June 27, 2010 (Sunday)

Throughout the day, chemicals were added in accordance with proper water quality standards.

June 28, 2010 (Monday)

Additional chemicals were added to the pool to ensue safety standards.
Outside water quality test called for in order to meet State requirements.

Test scheduled to occur on Tuesday, June 29th or Wednesday, June 30 as outside contractors schedule allows.

If all goes well, the pool should open later this week.

As you can see by the above narrative, the opening of the Borough pool has been riddled with delays and miscommunication on many levels. This includes the Borough Council, Manager, municipal employees and both appointed and non-appointed volunteers. With few exceptions, as Manager, I am ultimately responsible for the operation of all municipal departments. If an employee is not meeting the goals I have set, whether or not I know about it, both they and I are to blame. In terms of the Recreation Department, there are only two (2) part-time employees that work for the Borough, while the remaining employees are all temporary/seasonal during the busy summer months. As a result of the limited staffing in this department, the Borough relies heavily on its volunteer base, which unfortunately is very little.

As an example, at a previous public meeting, there were dozens of residents that volunteered to assist in getting the pool open in an efficient manner, but very few actually helped this project move forward, which aided in the delayed opening.

In order to ensure that this does not happen in the future, greater departmental oversight in the Recreation Department has been imposed. This includes rigorous departmental accountability in the following areas:

Program panning and preparation.

A detailed list of all programs and activities, along with their appropriate preparation timelines will be developed and adhered to each year.
Each program, upon season conclusion, will have their respective head prepare a detailed financial assessment of said program detailing what was successful and what is needed to build/enhance the program for the following season so that the Recreation Director can properly plan.

Facility maintenance and repair.

A detailed preventative maintenance program will be developed for the pool.
A “checklist” of what items will need to be purchased on a yearly basis, and/or what items need to be inspected as part of the annual pool start-up will be developed.
A detailed schedule will be created and adhered to so that things are not done “last minute.”

Department accountability.

When goals in the Recreation Department are not met as dictated by the Borough Council, Manager and/or Department Head, appropriate action will occur.
The new Recreation Director, once hired, will provide the Manager with a detailed written monthly report on all recreation activities and schedules from the middle of October through the end of March as well as a Bi-Weekly written report starting the second week of April through the last week of September. The manager will include this report in the Council packet so that all parties have the same information.

Volunteer accountability.

Members of the Recreation Committee will be held accountable for any sport/program they have been assigned to oversee, as will be required to provide the Recreation Director with timely and accurate reports on their programs as well as schedules of games/practices and signups.

Financial oversight

Detailed, yearly review of all programs and activities to ensure is profitability and overall benefit to the community as a whole. Those that are not self-sufficient will be re-evaluated to determine whether or not they will remain in subsequent years.

In summary, there are many factors to consider when identifying why the pool did not open on time, and I am not here to make excuses for myself, the Borough Council, municipal employees and both appointed and non-appointed volunteers, as there is enough blame to spread around. The bottom line is that we have made many positive strides to improving the Recreation Department, and I do not want to focus on past actual or perceived negative action as this is counterproductive.

The taxpayers deserve better and my goal is to do whatever we can to make this the best Recreation Department possible, and provide the highest level of service to all who use our facilities and participate in our recreation programs. In order to reach this goal, we all need to work together in a positive, productive manner; otherwise we will not reach this target.

I thank all residents in advance for their understanding and look forward to working with everyone in the future.

Sincerely,

Richard Phelan
Borough Manager