Ridgewood March 28, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Graydon Pool survey highlights summer planning by John Koster A fee scale that is both old and new, and a survey indicating some continued concern with water quality at Graydon Pool are harbingers of Ridgewood’s summer program for 2012. The ordinance recently introduced by the Ridgewood Village Council provides for the same day camp fees this year as in 2011, but offers two new categories of fees. The fee for the 2012 summer camp is $500, and will not increase to $525 until 2013. Two new options are included in the ordinance. The first option is that non-residents may send their elementary school youngsters to the Ridgewood camp, which is held at the Lester Stable, Graydon Pool, and the facilities of the nearby Ridgewood Library. The fee is $675, and will increase to $700 for 2013. The summer camp provides crafts, athletics, swimming, and entertainment for younger children. Ridgewood High School students act as junior counselors, and college students and recent graduates are senior counselors. The second option sets a fee of $600 for 2012 and $625 for 2013 for an “off-site camp” in case any community outside the village wishes to retain Ridgewood staffers’ expertise to set up a Ridgewood-style camp in another municipality. Ridgewood Village Clerk Heather Mailander said that, at present, no other community has applied to Ridgewood for the optional franchise, but the fee scale is now on the books in case anyone does apply. At the same council meeting, Village Manager Ken Gabbert briefly quoted a synopsis of interviews with members of Graydon Pool who chose not to renew their memberships. The survey is of some interest because, two years ago, Ridgewood residents ardently debated whether to replace Graydon Pool with multiple rectangular concrete pools, or to gradually improve the water quality while retaining the lake-like appearance of the existing pool. Some traditionalists called the concrete upgrade “a water park” while advocates said that, at the time, Graydon was unsanitary and that the water quality reduced pool membership. The issue drew standing room only crowds at several council meetings, and dried up only after Councilman Patrick Mancuso reported, after hearing from both sides at some length, that Ridgewood did not have the money for the $12 million pool construction, even if admission fees were projected to defray the bonding. The non-renewal survey of March 2012 found that the issue of water quality remains the major area of concern for residents who opted not to renew their memberships at the facility. The random sampling of 50 resident former members who chose not to return to Graydon this year showed that 26 of the families who chose not to return cited water quality. Conversely, a third of those who responded said Ridgewood should leave the pool the way it is. Among those residents who are leaving, 16 said they were too busy or had schedule conflicts, six said their children had outgrown Graydon, four said their children did (continued on page 21)