With the approval of a bid to decommission the borough swimming pool and directing the Borough Manager Charles Kellar to execute the contract, the future of the Littlestown Community swimming pool appears grim.
The Save the Littlestown Pool Group was formed after concerned citizens learned the council had voted to decommission the pool last December. Members claimed the council did not give sufficient notice of the intent to close the pool, which the YMCA had managed for the past several years.
Cam’ela Bisch, Chief Executive Officer of the Hanover area YMCA said a decision was made in March to not renew the pool management contract but did not give further explanation. Some borough members criticized the organization’s management of the pool at recent meetings.
Borough council members have said the cost to fix, maintain, and operate the pool is just too expensive. The 2024 Littlestown Budget indicates pool expenses of $89,387 of which $50,000 was slated for pool administration wages, and $22,695 for pool supplies, maintenance, and repairs.
During public comment resident Nicole Trociuk said a group of residents had retained the services of an attorney who would be communicating with the board soon. The attorney, Arthur Becker, did not return a request for comment.
At the beginning of the meeting, Littlestown Borough president Craig Rosendale said board members would not be able to discuss the pool due to potential litigation.
In other board business, the Council voted to approve a fee resolution to update the borough’s water and sewer rates. The Council was asked to vote on one of eight options, four each for water and sewer. It approved options that call for an increase beginning in June and another in January 2025.
The average residential water customer will see a 59 percent increase in their bill, 39 percent in June, and 20 percent in January. The sewer rate will increase by 17 percent in June and 10 percent in January. Rates depend on volume use, which is about one to two thousand cubic feet for 40 percent of customers. There has not been a rate increase since 2013.
Council member Brent Sheely opposed the motion, saying that residents and individuals he had spoken with favored a rate that was levied at one time, rather than spread out over six months. “The majority of the people I spoke with said, ‘Just go ahead and get it done,” he said.
To create a more orderly meeting and provide more space for visitors, Rosendale said the council will be seeking different venues for their council meetings until they can find a permanent solution but warned that locations may change in the interim. He thanked the Redeemer Church for allowing the council to meet in their basement at Tuesday’s meeting.
A resolution adopted by the council takes place immediately that will provide guidelines for public comments and recording of meetings. There will be two opportunities for public comment, one at the beginning of the meeting to address agenda items and one at the end to address non-agenda items. Speakers should be resident taxpayers, but nonresidents may speak at the discretion of the presiding officer. Each speaker will be given a time limit of three minutes. The resolution notes that “public comment is not a question-and-answer session,” but allows individuals to provide their comments.
Use of recording devices is allowed, according to the Sunshine Act which states that anyone who attends a public meeting may record the meeting. Exceptions include anything occurring before the start of or after the adjournment of meetings, hidden devices, or distractions caused by the recording of a meeting, or recording of private conversations, not made for public consumption. Executive sessions are not allowed to be recorded.
Another motion was approved to change the first meeting of each month to a work session. This means that no official action will be taken, but the meeting will be open to the public and allow public comment.
Complete rules and regulations for borough meetings will be published and posted online.
Judith Cameron Seniura is a freelance reporter. She began her journalism career in the early ‘70s and has written for newspapers, magazines, and other media in Ontario, Canada, Alaska, Michigan, Nebraska, San Antonio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.