REYNOLDSVILLE – Marilyn Hoare, representing the Reynoldsville Pool Committee, provided an update on pool finances at a recent Reynoldsville Borough Council meeting and explained the work that remains to be done after the first phase of construction that was completed earlier this year.
She started by discussing the amount of money that has been brought in solely through pool usage and memberships.
“We took $11,582 at the door. We also had family subscriptions of $21,110. These reports for this year are not as accurate as they should be. They’ve never broken it down before and we break it down. So we’re going to have new forms and be able to give you a better view of the situation,” Hoare said.
She then talked about the construction projects at the pool. This cost was much higher than previous projects, but it was completed with grants.
“Until this recent project we had on the pool, other than what the borough gives us, the $5,000 a year, the pool was sort of self-sufficient. We did fundraisers, we replaced over $20,000 in fences, paved parking lots and everything. This year we had to use a grant to dig all around the pool, pull pipes, lights, repair it and reinforce the structure of the pool itself to the tune of $336,000,” Hoare said.
She said the pool was fortunate to have received $150,000 in grants with the help of former senator Joe Scarnati. In previous years, the pool has raised much of its fundraising money for ATV rides, but Hoare said that fundraising isn’t working as well as it used to.
Hoare said that with the pool committee members aging, they don’t have the ability to go out and check all the trails and maintain them as they need to. The committee will meet once a month in the future with the aim of proposing a different fundraiser.
“Basically, we took in $73,613.16,” Hoare said. “We spent $56,311.70 just on wages and maintenance, like electrics.”
The swimming pool pays all its utility bills, the borough is not responsible for paying these. She said one point the committee is not proud of is the concession stand, which she says the pool lost money on. Hoare said he was not executed properly and that would change next year.
Looking ahead to next year, Hoare said toilets and sinks need to be replaced. The second phase of major construction must also be completed.
In presenting pool expenses to borough council, she asked council to consider increasing its annual donation to the pool, which is currently $5,000. She also asked the borough to work with them on opening and closing the pool. Hoare said that as pool committee members get older, it becomes harder to finish.
“We would like to know if there is any chance that we can train someone from the maintenance department or something in case something happens, to open and close the pool,” Hoare said.
She said that since the pool continues to be denied grants, it will take more fundraising to complete the projects that have yet to be done.
“We’re very lucky that the people of this town have donated to the pool, but it’s one of the few recreations we have for the community that we’re fighting to keep open,” Hoare said.
In response to the borough’s request for more money, Councilman Ralph “Tucker” August asked what the borough is getting back from the pool, saying the borough owns the pool and should get something. .
Vice President Kyle Gordon asked about projects that have yet to be completed, looking for a specific goal the board could try to help. Chairman Bill Cebulskie said he was attending pool committee meetings and they were trying to get more grants, but the Department of Community and Economic Development was “not cooperating with anything”.
“They want us to bring in an engineer from Philadelphia just to give us some kind of specification of how we should handle things, and there’s a good $100,000. It just doesn’t make sense,” Cebulskie said.
Gordon further explained that although Hoare was there to ask for a few thousand more dollars from the borough, he understood that in the “grand scheme” that money would be “a drop in the bucket compared to what you really need”.
“Considering that this is a lifeline for our community…It is an essential element for our community and something that we want to make sure that we understand how we can support it, more than drawing from it. profit,” Gordon said.
He asked that in the future she bring a specific project to the council to ask for help with the cost, saying he would prefer to see a project and a one-time payment for a long-term project to help.
#Reynoldsville #pool #committee #calls #borough #projects