'A margin of less than 500 votes' is a pretty big margin when only 2,565 votes were cast. 60% of the voters wanted to invest in the pool. That's practically a landslide in politics. Good for Chatham.

The vote doesn't necessarily mean there will be a pool in the borough. It was not a spending referendum. Maybe the council will still find the insanity in spending $387,000 for the 100 people who use the pool.

Not everyone in Chatham can afford memberships to country clubs. More people would use the pool if it were updated.

This passed only because there was no organized effort to present the "No" viewpoint. Chatham residents apathetically gave this one to a small vocal minority of pool supporters. The vote was not truly representative. Spending $400k in this economy with 2% caps so that a couple of dozen people can have a place to swim is not a sensible use of public funds. The referendum was non-binding; now the Council needs to decide. Wake up people, and get to a Council meeting and let them know what you think. At a minimum pool fees should rise to cover the cost of the debt service.

The vote was a clear message to the Council that a majority of people in the Boro want to save the pool. The cost of repairs and upgrades is less than $400k. Many of the funds are already in place as part of the Memorial Park upgrade project that has already been planned. My understanding is that there are also possible upgrades from the Shephard Kollack upgrades. I think that most people can afford $15.00 per year on their tax bill, especially to pay for something besides athletic fields and legal fees. Pool fees have indeed risen to help defray costs and, by the way, as of 2010 Township residents are able to join the pool, paying a slightly higher fee than Boro residents.