Pool towers

Are they redoing them?  Really sad to see them disassembled.


You worry about those fighters, I’ll worry about the tower.


jamie said:

Are they redoing them?  Really sad to see them disassembled.

I hope they are just redoing them.  Otherwise, one less reason to join the town pool.


Looks like an invitation to bid for repair and replacement of the diving towers went out in February. 

There’s a 60 page document of instructions to bidders you can read for further details here :https://www.maplewoodnj.gov/Home/Components/RFP/RFP/2/284?sortn=RFPStatus&sortd=asc


A debate is surfacing (see May 3 TC meeting on YouTube) as to whether the pool is a country club or a town facility.  Should the taxpayers be paying for repairs and providing in kind services if only fee paying members are able to use the facility?  Should swimming lessons at the pool be open to the entire town if not everyone pays to join?  


joan_crystal said:

A debate is surfacing (see May 3 TC meeting on YouTube) as to whether the pool is a country club or a town facility.  Should the taxpayers be paying for repairs and providing in kind services if only fee paying members are able to use the facility?  Should swimming lessons at the pool be open to the entire town if not everyone pays to join?  

That’s wild. Wouldn’t that open a major can of worms in every community that has a town pool? An awful lot of people won’t be able to afford to join municipal pools if they raise the membership fees to cover expenses to be paid only by members. 


Heynj said:

joan_crystal said:

A debate is surfacing (see May 3 TC meeting on YouTube) as to whether the pool is a country club or a town facility.  Should the taxpayers be paying for repairs and providing in kind services if only fee paying members are able to use the facility?  Should swimming lessons at the pool be open to the entire town if not everyone pays to join?  

That’s wild. Wouldn’t that open a major can of worms in every community that has a town pool? An awful lot of people won’t be able to afford to join municipal pools if they raise the membership fees to cover expenses to be paid only by members. 

An awful lot of people can't afford it now


The pool is not a line item in Town's budget.  The pool is a utility and is a separate legal entity from the Township.

The pool's budget is funded by the pool fees.  The Town has floated bonds in the past for capital investments and updates at the pool and there have been some other exceptions.

I'm not sure what all this will mean to the recent debate about access for all versus access only for paying members.


yahooyahoo said:

The pool is not a line item in Town's budget.  The pool is a utility and is a separate legal entity from the Township.

I didn't listen to the township meeting, but while it's not a line item, I believe the Township's staff from the Recreation Department provide significant time/effort (e.g., on pool construction/opening/hiring/membership payments and management system, etc.)  I assume the township pays for this time, software, etc., and not the pool fees.


max_weisenfeld said:

An awful lot of people can't afford it now

The town pool is one of the gems in South Orange's crown.  The difference in cost between SO and Maplewood is revelatory.


GoSlugs said:

max_weisenfeld said:

An awful lot of people can't afford it now

The town pool is one of the gems in South Orange's crown.  The difference in cost between SO and Maplewood is revelatory.

What is the difference in operating cost as opposed to who pays for it.


I've never lived in a place where the pool is considered a private club funded by membership fees. Is that common in New Jersey? What's the history on that? Everywhere else I've ever lived, the pool is part of parks and rec, is funded by taxpayer dollars, and is open to all residents for a nominal entry fee or ID card fee.


The municipal pool in the New Jersey town where I grew up had the same paid membership type system. However, in the years since I moved away, they change the name of the facility from "[TOWN] Municipal Pool" to "[TOWN] Swim Club," perhaps to make the membership requirement clearer. 


In any case, the S.O. pool is not free.  It is just a question of who pays the operating costs.


SO pool requires one to be a resident of SO whereas there is no residency requirement for Maplewood pool membership. 


the18thletter said:

SO pool requires one to be a resident of SO whereas there is no residency requirement for Maplewood pool membership. 

This is the first year that Maplewood has not had a residency requirement.  The Maplewood Pool is set up as a utility and is funded by the fees/dues that "members" pay. 

The South Orange Pool is required to be available to all South Orange residents for a nominal fee because of the deed under which the land was given to the town.

The two towns have completely different legal structures for their pools and the fees are very different as a result.


When I was a kid, Millburn had the swimming hole at Taylor Park. It cost ten cents for a tag that was good for all summer..... I don't know why they bothered. Nights were for adult swims. 

Taylor Park is located in walking distance for all of Millburn but not the northern part of Short Hills. 

Attendance was for about 200 kids each summer day.  

Nobody drowned but once or twice a summer, a kid would get a cut on a rock on the bottom of the stream.

Damn, but it was fun.

Then --- around 1970, Millburn Rec. or town or both got the idea to end swimming in the stream and build a swim club. It is almost at the Livingston boarder and in walking distance to maybe 3% of the town's kids. There was gonna be a bus from Taylor Park to the pool but that never materialized. And balls, to the kids whose parents couldn't afford the membership. I wonder how many people now even know the pool exists. 

            


Formerlyjerseyjack said:

When I was a kid, Millburn had the swimming hole at Taylor Park. It cost ten cents for a tag that was good for all summer..... I don't know why they bothered. Nights were for adult swims. 

Taylor Park is located in walking distance for all of Millburn but not the northern part of Short Hills. 

Attendance was for about 200 kids each summer day.  

Nobody drowned but once or twice a summer, a kid would get a cut on a rock on the bottom of the stream.

Damn, but it was fun.

Then --- around 1970, Millburn Rec. or town or both got the idea to end swimming in the stream and build a swim club. It is almost at the Livingston boarder and in walking distance to maybe 3% of the town's kids. There was gonna be a bus from Taylor Park to the pool but that never materialized. And balls, to the kids whose parents couldn't afford the membership. I wonder how many people now even know the pool exists. 

            

The Millburn pool is super crowded all summer. There was a bus (maybe once an hour or did a town wide loop) when I moved to the Wyoming section about 20 years ago but it was shut down a few years later before my kids were old enough to use it. The pool is awesome and my kids loved it when they were younger. I know a lot of adults who still go to the pool even with no kids at home which baffles me but I am not a pool person. For the price it is hours of entertainment for younger kids and provides a lot of jobs for HS and college students. It would be great to have it closer but I frankly can’t imagine what traffic would be like if it was still in Taylor park!


wendyn said:

The Millburn pool is super crowded all summer. There was a bus (maybe once an hour or did a town wide loop) when I moved to the Wyoming section about 20 years ago but it was shut down a few years later before my kids were old enough to use it. The pool is awesome and my kids loved it when they were younger. I know a lot of adults who still go to the pool even with no kids at home which baffles me but I am not a pool person. For the price it is hours of entertainment for younger kids and provides a lot of jobs for HS and college students. It would be great to have it closer but I frankly can’t imagine what traffic would be like if it was still in Taylor park!

Pool information...... if you see a guy standing still in the pool, looking abstractly at the sky, you know what he is doing. If you see bubbles, run like hell.


yahooyahoo said:

the18thletter said:

SO pool requires one to be a resident of SO whereas there is no residency requirement for Maplewood pool membership. 

This is the first year that Maplewood has not had a residency requirement.  The Maplewood Pool is set up as a utility and is funded by the fees/dues that "members" pay. 

The South Orange Pool is required to be available to all South Orange residents for a nominal fee because of the deed under which the land was given to the town.

The two towns have completely different legal structures for their pools and the fees are very different as a result.

Who built and paid for the Maplewood pool initially? I'm accustomed to the model where a municipality owns and manages the pool and the costs are covered by taxpayers/residents. 


Anyone knows if they will be using the pool for swimming lessons for Columbia kids? I heard some people talking about having mandatory swim classes, after a Columbia high school kid drowned two years ago. But the pool at Columbia is closed, maybe permanently?


Jaytee said:

Anyone knows if they will be using the pool for swimming lessons for Columbia kids? I heard some people talking about having mandatory swim classes, after a Columbia high school kid drowned two years ago. But the pool at Columbia is closed, maybe permanently?

Columbia H.S. kid drowned two years ago and results in pressure to teach kids to swim. I have no problem with swim lessons. But the H.S. pool has been closed for years and will cost millions to re-open.

I have no problem with the idea of teaching safety in schools. But let's look at this. Drownings result in three or four articles in the Ledger, each year. People killed in car accidents? Probably five per week. M.V. injuries? Who knows. 

Schools used to have Driver Ed, including one period per day for one month of behind the wheel, on the road training. If we are going to focus on spending money on making our kid's lives safer, Driver Ed. would be a better focus on where money should go.


Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Columbia H.S. kid drowned two years ago and results in pressure to teach kids to swim. I have no problem with swim lessons. But the H.S. pool has been closed for years and will cost millions to re-open.

I have no problem with the idea of teaching safety in schools. But let's look at this. Drownings result in three or four articles in the Ledger, each year. People killed in car accidents? Probably five per week. M.V. injuries? Who knows. 

Schools used to have Driver Ed, including one period per day for one month of behind the wheel, on the road training. If we are going to focus on spending money on making our kid's lives safer, Driver Ed. would be a better focus on where money should go.


Kids still take Drivers Ed at Columbia High School when they turn 16.  It replaces P.E. for one quarter.  It's in the classroom only, they have to take road lessons on their own dime.


yahooyahoo said:

Kids still take Drivers Ed at Columbia High School when they turn 16.  It replaces P.E. for one quarter.  It's in the classroom only, they have to take road lessons on their own dime.

It's the "behind the wheel" that's more cost effective. Why not both? If we had the money and we were not paying 5 figure property taxes, "both" would be a great idea. 

So --- Behind the wheel is cheaper than $millions for a pool. AND Behind the wheel would save more lives than swimming lessons.

AND if we are talking, saving kids lives --- lets look at gun violence and gang violence. What can school curriculum do about that? One district kid killed in a drowning accident, another shot and killed on the athletic field.

When I was teaching in Jersey City, we had gang violence assembly programs.


Formerlyjerseyjack said:

 Why not both? If we had the money and we were not paying 5 figure property taxes, "both" would be a great idea. 

Because we're paying 5 figure property taxes. Jeez, I don't even have kids, this is basic US high-school ****.


Swim lessons are currently being offered at the Maplewood Pool to all residents, through the township recreation offerings, regardless of pool membership:

https://maplewood.recdesk.com/Community/Program

(select "Pool")



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