Baldwin Council to Consider Raising Swimming Pool Rates

Rates to use the Baldwin Borough Swimming Pool may rise in 2013 by $5 per season pass. At the same time, rates to use the pool for only a half-day or a half-season may fall.

Borough Manager John Barrett told the Baldwin Council at its meeting on Tuesday night that he and borough pool Manager Chris Milius spoke recently and came up with those suggestions as ways to raise revenue for the pool, which officials say is losing money.

"It wasn't built to make money off of," Councilman John Ferris said. "You're never going to make money off of that pool. A swimming pool is nothing but for the residents, for their convenience."

Nevertheless, the council agreed informally that setting its sights on ways to offset the pool's increasing costs is a good idea.

"There's starting to be (increased) fees," Councilman Ed Moeller said, pointing, for example, to a handicapped-access chair as a new requirement for the pool to have. "We have a brand new filter in there. It costs more to run that pool."

In 2012, Baldwin Borough residents could purchase two season pool passes for their households for $50 each, while non-residents were charged $75 each for the first two passes in their households.

The third, fourth and fifth season passes per household cost $30 each for Baldwin residents, while non-residents paid $65 each for the third and fourth person and $45 each for the fifth and sixth.

Passes for the sixth Baldwin resident per household cost $20 each.

Senior citizens (aged 65 and older), however, could purchase season passes in 2012 for only $8 each (residents and non-residents), and season passes for preschoolers cost $15 each.

Should council approve Barrett and Milius' suggestion of a season rate increase, each of those season prices—including those for seniors and preschoolers—would jump by $5 each.

Also for the council to consider is cutting the price of season passes in half for those wishing to start using the pool on July 20 or later. The idea is to entice buyers with a prorated price.

"When you get to the middle of July, (some potential buyers) start saying, 'It doesn't make economic sense for us to buy a full season pass."

Also being suggested is cutting the price of a daily pass ($6 in 2012) in half at around 4 or 5 p.m. each day. The pool is typically open during the summer from noon to 8 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays and holidays.

In 2012, borough officials charged $200 to use the pool for a party (two-hour time window). Barrett and Milius are suggesting that that fee be raised to $225.

The council will make a formal decision regarding these suggestions at a future meeting.

Click here for more Baldwin Borough news.

And check back with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch on Wednesday for more Tuesday night's council meeting.

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