By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
Two major issues in the Princetons Community Park Pool and possible additional shared services and/or consolidation are scheduled to be discussed at public meetings today and tomorrow.
First will be the Community Park Pool project, which is on the agenda for tonight’s Borough Council.
The pool has been the subject of much debate, with the latest action occurring last month when Borough Council failed to pass a resolution to fund the Borough’s $2.1 million portion of a proposed $6 million project.
The ordinance is expected to be reintroduced at the 7:30 p.m. council meeting at the Borough Hall at 1 Monument Drive.
The pool, built in 1967, has design flaws with no transitional area between the baby wading pool and the Olympic pool and no Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations. It also has plumbing and concrete issues.
Sticking points have included whether to redesign the site and construct a new pool, renovate what exists and what to do with the buildings on site.
Current design plans include: a reduction of the size of the wading pool, reduction and realignment of the family bay, removal of a bridge over the family bay to main pool, removal of a playground for additional green space, change of façade and referral of parking issues to the Township Committee. Locker room size would be reduced and meeting and administrative spaces are included in the design.Full plans and drawings are posted online at www.princetonrecreation.com, and include the recommendation to raze the current building and replace it with a new one, while replacing the current pool with one made of stainless steel.
The meeting on Wednesday is a presentation from the Joint Shared Services/Consolidation Commission (JSSCC).
The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at John Witherspoon Middle School on Walnut Lane and will provide an update of where the commission is; a timeline of the group’s future work; highlights of the baseline report and a dialogue with community.
Attendees will also learn how the JSSCC is shifting from an information gathering process to beginning to propose options for more shared services or consolidation based on the picture painted by the objective look at budget, debt and services of both municipalities in the baseline report.
Options that will be examined in the next phase of the commission’s work include form of government, debt and municipal services. Options will be explored through a series of lenses from least change to most change.
Residents are encouraged to view the JSSCC’s baseline report, which contains information on the current state of services and finances in Princeton Borough and Township prior to the meeting.
The baseline report can be looked at and downloaded at www.cgr.org/princeton/.

