Northland Pool will be closed this summer, and potentially longer, depending on what the Township Council decides to do with it moving forward.
During the conference meeting of the Township Council on Monday, January 9, members of the Vision 20/20 Committee, along with Senior, Youth and Leisure Services director Jennifer Walker and aquatics supervisor Ron Barbella spoke with the Council about the pressing needs of the pools.
Walker told the Council that if Northland were to open this summer, a decision on taking the steps to make it possible needed to be made “yesterday.”
The issue with opening the pool is that the electrical system would need to be replaced due to a blown transformer, at a cost of $70,000. It would take 14 weeks to complete, and there is no guarantee that, at the end of it, the repairs would work. If it does work, it would still take an additional $50,000 or so of upkeep to get the pool to a point where it can open to the public.
“We could spend $120,000 (to repair the pool and get it ready), flip the switch, and then nothing could happen,” Walker said.
Since the work would involve requests for proposals and formal approvals, it would also take several Council meetings for such work to even begin. Barbella suggested the pool might not be able to open, even after all this work is done, until late July.
Should that work not be done, mechanically, Northland may never be able to open again, as without water flowing through, the chlorine could corrode the pipes and cause it to seize up. Northland Pool needs additional improvements, as well. For example, due to leaks, the water never turns off during the season just to keep it full.
If Northland Pool is closed, that affects the schedule and location of camps and swim lessons. Walker said she had a plan to have all camps and lessons at Haines for the summer, but needs to know which schedule to approve before they start advertising it to families. Should Northland be closed, the YMCA would not be able to utilize Haines, as it previously, has for a fee of $1,800 per season.
Walkerpresentedthe Council with three options. First, nothing is spent on anything at Northland, and it is shut down until a permanent plan is set on what to do with both township pools in the future. This could involve the township eventually having to start from scratch on a new pool at Northland.
The second option would be to spend $70,000 to hopefully get Northland to a point where it can simply run water, though the public (Continued on Page A-6) would not be able to use the pool this summer. This would buy time until a permanent decision on the pools would be made, or to potentially reopen Northland in 2024. The Council was initially hesitant about this option, as they thought it would upset residents to see water in the pool but not open it.
“If people see the pool with water in it, but they can’t go in, they’re going to give you a hard time,” Barbella agreed.
The third option would be to spend whatever it takes to get Northland open in 2023, likely upwards of $120,000, even if that opening wouldn’t be until late in the summer.
Complicating matters is the fact that the township’s Pool Utility, which is supposed to essentially fund itself through memberships and lessons, lost more than $100,000 last year. During the last few years of the pandemic, more families built their own pools, further cutting into memberships.
Eventually, a decision will need to be made about the long-term plan for the pools, which will likely involve closing one of the two pools permanently and renovating the other. This has been discussed by the Council and the township for several years without moving forward.
Council member Ed Meinhardt wondered if Northland is closed this year, whether that would make it more likely to become the long-term pool solution, as Haines could operate as the main pool until renovations are complete at Northland. He does not agree with Northland being the sole township pool, which is why he expressed concern. When both pools are open, roughly 75 percent of attendees go to Haines.
Additionally complicating matters on a long-term decision is that a township well is located close to Haines, making expansion in the area difficult.
Council member Shawn Klein noted that he has supported renovating Northland, and once the new pool is complete, giving Haines to the school district.
Mayor Michael Vieira and Deputy MayorAlAnthony said they were fine with spending the $70,000 to try and keep Northland running.
“We don’t have a choice,” Vieira said. “If we don’t open Northland, it could close forever.”
Meinhardt and Klein also said that they were okay with that decision if that was what the majority of Council members chose. Council member Rosy Bagolie was hesitant to approve the work, considering all that would still need to be done at the pool.
Several officials with the Vision 20/20 committee agreed with Bagolie, likening spending the $70,000 to putting a Band-Aid on a problem that will only necessitate more money for repairs in the coming years.
The Council was unprepared to make a final decision on the $70,000 repairs Monday evening, but committed to only opening Haines Pool this season. That decision allowed Walker to set the camp and lesson schedule for the pool and let the public know.
“The best we can do right now is tell Jen (Walker) that Northland is going to be closed,” Vieira said.
Membership fees are expected to remain the same in 2023 as they were in 2022.
While Northland Pool will not open in 2023, the Council still needs to decide if it will pay for the electrical work, or if it will allow the pumps to likely seize as a long-term decision on the future of the pools is being made.
Vieira suggested holding a public hearing to hear what residents would like to see in regard to a community pool complex. While the well near Haines limits the options for expansion around that pool, Northland has a lot of property surrounding it, and Council members suggested a renovation of that pool could involve a larger recreational complex in the area. It was also briefly mentioned that the Northland area could potentially be home to a new and expanded Senior/Community Center.
Council members agreed that, before a public meeting is held on the subject, they should hire a firm to complete a rendering of a proposed project, so that they have something tangible to present to residents, as opposed to just ideas.
