Lansford Borough Council isn’t sure it wants to dive into a project the community may not be able to support.

Council asked Christine Dettore, northeast regional adviser for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, to discuss the options they have moving forward Tuesday night.

All of the options cost money - a lot of money - leaving council wondering if there is enough support to fund the needed upgrades, future maintenance and operation costs of its swimming pool.

So, council is considering asking residents in a ballot question in an upcoming election – and letting them decide if they want to fund the pool.

Initial estimates put the repairs at $800,000 or $900,000, but this estimate was conservative at best.

The Friends of Lansford Recreation, also known as Friends of the Pool, has raised more than $100,000 – some of the money in large gifts to help reopen the pool that was closed eight years ago because of leaks.

The leaks were not in the pool itself, but in the piping, council discussed Tuesday night. They then learned that even if the piping was repaired, the pool walls were in jeopardy of failing in a couple years.

Dettore explained a feasibility study undertaken after the pool’s closure is now outdated. It also did not meet the department’s requirements to secure funding through the Community Conservation Partnership Program for repairs or upgrades, she said.

A new feasibility study would need to be done, Dettore explained.

“If you would be looking for funds from us to rehabilitate the pool, we’d be looking for a feasibility study,” she said. “That would be the first step.”

Council agreed to move forward with a feasibility study in March, but only received one quote from Wallover and Associates in the $50,000 range and the firm would not be available until next year, Council President Bruce Markovich said after the meeting.

Feasibility study

The study would determine whether Lansford’s pool should be rehabilitated and how much it would cost to continue to operate, Dettore said.

“So what a feasibility study is supposed to do is give the borough the framework as far as what you need to do to take the next steps,” she said. “Pools are expensive.

“Most of our municipalities are looking to repurpose pools, changing them into different things, as far as coming away from a pool, the development of splash pads and things like that,” Dettore said.

A splash pad would not require a feasibility study, she said.

Funding from the department comes in the form of a 50-50 match, which would mean a $1 million rehabilitation would cost the borough $500,000, Dettore said, noting she was just using that figure as an example.

“That’s just for repairs to the pool,” she said. “That’s not including an ongoing maintenance and management of the facility as we go forward.”

Tamaqua recently went through the process, seeking a 50-50 grant for a $25,000 to $30,000 feasibility study, and found the rehabilitation would cost $3.5 million, Dettore said.

Tamaqua then put a referendum on the ballot, asking taxpayers whether or not they wanted to see a tax increase to support the pool repairs, she said. Voters did approve the measure, but a corporation stepped in to cover the upfront costs until federal reimbursement came in, she said.

Councilman Martin Ditsky asked again about the 50-50 match.

“Now, say that comes in at $1 million,” he said. “So, the little borough of Lansford has to come up $500,000? That’s difficult. That’s going to be a lot of Friends of the Pool food sales.”

Cost

Dettore said $1 million is a low number for the Lansford pool. The estimate for just the pool repair was $800,000 to $900,000, and the facility needs a complete overhaul to meet the American Disabilities Act requirements, including s bathhouse, restrooms and pool area, she said.

“That’s on top of the $800,000 to fix the pool,” Dettore said. The cost may be in the $2 million to $3 million range, she said later.

A feasibility study would give the borough options, such as if the pool can be fixed or if a new or smaller pool would work for the community, she said.

“I can’t give you those answers,” Dettore said.

Markovich asked what happens if they fix the pool, and find out in three years that the borough can’t afford to operate it. Dettore said that is why the feasibility study is required.

“So, we’re not coming back here in three years going, ‘What happened?’” she said.

The feasibility study would also determine what fees would be reasonable to charge users based on the makeup of the population of the area, Dettore said.

Based on past funding through the National Park Service, the fees must remain reasonable, and the area also must remain accessible to the public as a park, she said.

Timeline

Markovich asked about a timeline. Dettore explained the borough would apply in between January and April for a grant for the feasibility study, and would not know if it secured the grant until the fall of 2024.

The feasibility study would take between 12 and 18 months, and then the borough would be applying for rehabilitation grants in 2025. Work would not begin on the pool until 2026, Dettore said.

Councilwoman Gwyneth Collevechio, who has been involved with fundraising with the Friends group, raised concerns about spending money on a feasibility study that will say the community can’t support the pool.

“If people can’t afford to pay it, they’re not going to come,” she said. “If they’re not willing to come and join the pool then what are we going to do?”

Collevechio noted that everyone in attendance wants a pool, but where is the rest community, she asked. People going to use Lehighton’s pool have been complaining of the cost, she said.

“I’m fearful that’s going to be our case,” Collevechio said. “I don’t mean to be negative, I really don’t. However, we have a serious decision to make. Can we maintain and keep this going?”

She said it’s not just the cost to fix the pool, but bringing everything else up to code. Plus, this expense is for three months out of the year.

“This is from June to August for this pool to be open,” Collevechio said. “Can we get the lifeguards? Can we afford the lifeguards when they come to work for us? Can we get staff?”

Councilwoman Jennifer Staines asked if St. Luke’s Hospital would be interested in getting involved, possibly a sponsorship, as it once did water therapy at the pool, or possibly doing signage around the pool.

Options

The borough can explore many different options for the park, outside of a pool, Dettore said. She has seen communities do a splash pad with a boat theme, and a grassy area with volleyball. Some have done skate parks, she said, but it’s up to the community and what it wants and needs.

Dettore suggested doing a community survey. The borough is doing a peer study on the park, but the pool was considered a separate area due to the expense, she said.

“It’s a beautiful facility. You have a large park there,” Dettore said. “You can do a lot of different things that are open to the public that would be a benefit to the residents that don’t have the maintenance costs.”

Markovich said he believed they need to ask the people with a referendum on the ballot.

“That may be the answer,” he said. “To see whether the citizens are willing to support it. If they’re not willing to support it, tax wise, I don’t think we could support it.”

Markovich favored doing the referendum before spending money on a feasibility study.

Carbon County Solicitor Robert Frycklund said Wednesday that nonbinding advisory questions cannot be placed on the ballot in Pennsylvania.

“It’s not a vehicle to ‘test the waters’ to determine whether or not a majority of the voters would be generally supportive of a future proposal,” he said in an email. “The outcome of a ballot question must result in a specific, defined governmental action.”

Dettore said that when Tamaqua went with a referendum, it asked voters if they would support the borough borrowing up to $2.5 million to repair or replace the pool.

Tamaqua based the referendum question on the borrowing amount on the estimates from a feasibility study, which had put a $3.5 million price tag on a new pool.