Formation of Pool Committee Put on Hold Again

After nearly an hour of discussion by members of the Chatham Borough Council and the public, a resolution to form an advisory committee was pulled from the consent agenda at Monday night's meeting for .

Residents Martin Selzer, Sandra Roos, Madison Roos, Anna Tivade and Gerard Malanga told the council that they wanted an advisory committee formed right away to make sure that the pool opened in time for the 2011 season. Creating the committee would be"in the best interest of the residents," Selzer said.

"We need to have input on the design with Vince DeNave, he said he doesn't do this by himself." Roos said.

DeNave, the borough's engineer, clarified to the council that there was not any real design aspect to the project.

The size of the main pool will remain the same, DeNave said. The children's pool, which currently sits downhill from the main pool, would be raised to the same level. The deck area would be expanded, the fencing would be improved to include screens and possibly raised to enhance privacy and a water feature would be added to the children's pool.

"Based on the estimates that I've done, the pool is going to be repaired, and I think that the scope of that repair was made pretty clear by the committee that was in place last year." DeNave said. "I'm not sure that a committee has to be put in place to look at a design. ... There's really not much to talk about as far as design goes.

"I do have certain items that I don't believe I should be the decision-maker on, but they're more aesthetics and things that I think people who are more involved with the pool would have good input toward. But I think the list is limited to four or five items," DeNave said.

The items, listed by Council member Jim Lonergan, are "the color and texture of the new pool deck, the style of the new water feature of the kiddie pool, the location and height of the screen of the fence and the location of the new ADA lift."

"We're not looking to rebuild and redesign this pool," Lonergan said. "[The plan] has been approved. This committee put together a good plan for the pool."

Lonergan said that since the Borough Council formed the original pool committee, they should "take the committee that we already have formed, that is in theory still running, get them together one time with Vince, let that committee ... make the simple decisions."

Meanwhile, the council will create a more detailed list of goals and laws for the new Pool Advisory Committee, which will be formed in January, and will look for pool members who want to sit on that committee.

The council agreed that this was a better idea than moving "precipitously," as Council President Jim Collander said.

"We've been waiting for this pool for 30 years," Collander said. "Another four or five weeks won't make a big difference."