At first, I thought that I was being invited to a pool party at the Candido residence in Jackson. Then I read their guest column more closely. Actually, Mr. and Mrs. Candido were not inviting anybody to swim in their own, personal pool — and, most likely, not that of any of their neighbors either (two-thirds of which, according to them, have pools in their own back yards). Gee, isn’t that nice?
So, we don’t have to worry about them or their neighbors finding relief from the long hot summer. But what about some of the other 40,000 residents of Jackson? What are they supposed to do each summer? Maybe turn on the fire hydrants like the innercity youth of New York?
Actually, some of my neighbors have pools, too — but I can’t remember the last time that any of my children swam in one of them. Although many of the points that the Candidos raised are valid, I find their stance a little condescending. It sounds a little too much like, "Let them eat cake."
I would like to see a township recreation center — and a pool or two to go with it. Maybe then some of the township youth would have something to do in the summer besides hanging out at the local mall. After all, swimming is a form of exercise the last time I looked; something from which our youth might derive some benefit.
When I was young, my father would come home from Fort Dix and pick up the five of us children in order to drop us off at one of the base pools. We would spend the entire afternoon there and come home thoroughly refreshed and ready for dinner. Had we not been able to swim in the afternoon, it would have been summer after summer of hazy, hot and humid misery. I would love that children of Jackson, not otherwise fortunate, could do the same.
To me that is the purpose of forming communities in the first place — to efficiently share all of the valuable (albeit, shrinking) resources. Instead, many of us seem to want to build a sprawling series of independent little estates, each with its own well, its own septic system and even with its own little pool. I don’t think that we can afford to live that way much longer and still preserve our precious resources. We need to act more as a community.
Some of the remarks the Candidos make about spending wisely are well taken. In fact, they make the point that some of the senior communities have a group pool. I agree. But, just how wise is it to have a majority of individual homeowners (who can afford it) build pools in their back yards (something that even they call a luxury).
To me it is more than a luxury. To me it is a waste of resources. It is just one of the reasons that communities, in general, find it hard to address the needs of the general "taxpayers" or, as some might argue, of the "common-folk." How many gallons of water go into a typical 15- by 20-foot pool — 100,000? Where does that water come from? Where does it go as it evaporates?
It seems that every time the Township Committee acts in the direction of accommodating, if not preparing for, growth they are met with an endless series of narrowly focused objections. Often these objections are sincere — but just as often, they are personal issues and they do little more than obstruct valid progress.
Peter Collins
Jackson