Six months after Village Council pulled a request for proposals for Graydon Pool modifications, members of the pool's subcommittee indicate an RFP draft nears completion.

Subcommittee members Melinda Cronk, Jane Morales, and Suzanne Kelly confirmed that an RFP should reach council soon. At issue, of course, is whether the pool will be natural-bottomed or concrete—or somewhere in between.

Cronk and Morales say the request is written to allow any proposals to come in. Kelly disagrees.

"Sure, it does not have the word 'concrete' in it, but that doesn't mean anything," the co-chair of the Preserve Graydon Coalition says. "They say that to placate us… Issuing this RFP takes a step in the direction of a concrete-bottom pool."

Members of the Ridgewood Pool Project, Cronk and Morales say decades worth of research indicates Graydon membership dropped because residents want clearer water in the pool.

Kelly says that negative publicity—spurred on by the pool project—has caused members to swim elsewhere. In fact, she says, the pool was cleaner last year, and no one talks about it.

Either way, Village Council will have final say on issuing a proposal, and, later, which proposal to endorse. But who will be on that council?

With a May election looming, four candidates seek two seats to be vacated by Mayor David Pfund and Councilman Patrick Mancuso (incidentally also members of the pool subcommittee). Preserve Graydon has already split the candidates into two pool camps: preservation and renovation. It believes this election will decide the fate of Graydon.

"The council that's there now isn't the one making these choices," Kelly said.

Moving toward an RFP

In a July 1, 2009, report issued by the Ridgewood Pool Project, Cronk and Morales recommended that Graydon be converted to a "traditional swimming pool, thereby allowing disinfecting chemicals to be used against bacteria in the water." By doing so, they said, membership should increase and the facility—currently operating in the red—would become solvent.

Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Nancy Bigos agreed with their findings and endorsed the RPP's proposal to Village Council in a June 30 memo.

"I feel strongly it is our clear choice and the only way to ensure that Graydon is preserved as a thriving attraction for many generations to come," Bigos wrote.

The Preserve Graydon Coalition disagrees with the assessment on many levels. Primarily, Kelly says Cronk and Morales went into the project with a concrete agenda—literally and figuratively—and that mentality drove membership down.

"Membership was going down before. Every few years a couple of hundred dropped… Then the year the pool project got involved, and there was a 1,300 member decline," she says.

Although accurate in aligning the timeframe of RPP involvement and the large drop, Kelly underplays the true decline.

In 1999, membership was over 6,000. By 2006—the season before the big dip—only about 4,000 Graydon residential members existed—about a 33 percent decline over six seasons. The RPP report refers to a winter 2009 survey where 5,050 residents committed to join Graydon if a concreted-bottomed pool were built—a 53 percent increase.

Cronk and Morales deny a pre-conceived opinion. "Our job was to fund out why people left and bring them back. That's what we tried to do," Cronk said.

Working with the village government, the RPP went on site visits, consulted environmental data and conducted opinion polls (Kelly disputes the findings, and says they neglected to visit a natural pool).

Research—conducted by various village groups over 15 years and three years by them—points to adjusting the facility. "We kept getting the answer that there is a preference among a lot of residents for a 'pool-like' facility," Morales said.

If that's what people want, then give it to them, they said.

"It's not about swimming, it's about community. It's about a place to be social," Cronk said, adding over 100-village families have joined Hillsdale or Paramus pools, thus avoiding the pool in their own backyard.

After compiling research and gaining the Parks and Recreation Department's approval, the RPP presented its report to council and expected to issue a request for proposals to get the project started. However, public pressure and media attention made council reevaluate its options.

"I think the council stepped back and allowed the debate to get out of control," Cronk said. "I mean you certainly need public feedback, but it wasn't constructive."

Added media attention, notably from The New York Times, provided further fodder for discussion.

Council then created a subcommittee—including Pfund and Mancuso—and invited Preserve Graydon and RPP members to participate. After initially requesting conditions, Kelly agreed to join. Her co-chair, Marcia Ringel, declined.

Since November, Morales said the group has met and listened to proposals.

"All we're doing is listening to presentations that could be RFPs," Morales said. "The perception that a RFP means a cement pool. That's not in there."

Kelly disagrees, saying that while some language in the RFP changed, its parameters really only allow for concrete options to be submitted. 

A slippery slope

Kelly argues that a RFP can and will only result in a concrete-bottom pool. She said she didn't support it, and won't offer suggestions to the final RFP as it's too late.

The fact is the RPP was tasked to recommend methods to return residents to Graydon. Kelly and Preserve Graydon disagree with their recommendations.

So how can Graydon get residents back without overhauling the facility?

"An active marketing campaign by our town to let people know what are the facts. I swim there, and my kids swim there. I wouldn't let them swim there if it wasn't safe," Kelly says.

Water quality levels are well within the state's safety standards, but it goes beyond that. Cronk and Morales say the Department of Environmental Protection's approved levels of hypochlorite—a type of chlorine—only allow for it to control algae and not kill bacteria, so the water remains murky.

Kelly recognizes the DEP restrictions, but says after the village started using a new biocatalyst, the water became clearer while cutting chlorine usage by 70 percent. The murkiness has been replaced with a 12-foot visibility, she says.

In a July 31 Ridgewood News article, Bigos said, "The quality of the water has never been better at Graydon... but unless [the residents] experience it, how do they know?"

Graydon's fecal coliform count came in at 10 parts per million (ppm), well under the permitted 200 ppm, according to the article. 

No, you'll never be able to completely see your kids—as is the case in any pool due to the ripple effect—but perceptions are killing Graydon, Kelly says.

"We're making progress and negative information is drawing membership down… People should realize they're lucky to swim in a natural pool."

Cronk and Morales dispute using the term "natural pool." Yes, natural spring clean well water replenishes Graydon's water, but it's a man-made facility.

"This is a water issue. It's not a health and safety issue. People want a clearer pool, not necessarily a box pool like Paramus… but one where they can see their children under the water," Morales said.

An election looms

One fact not in dispute is that Doug Cronk—Melinda's husband—is running for council. With running mate Brian Dowd, Doug Cronk seeks a resolution of many lingering issues throughout the village—including parking, Valley Hospital and, yes, Graydon.

Cronk and Dowd told Ridgewood Patch in an interview March 10 that people aren't coming together at Graydon anymore and residents are losing a "community fabric."

"Should we have a liner? I don't know. I know we need a place where our kids go and make memories, and that's not happening now," Cronk said.

As Melinda's husband, Cronk says he understands people will lump him into the RPP camp, but wants to make this election about more than one issue.

"If I lose a vote because someone thinks I'll pave over Graydon, then that's that. But to keep the same old problem and deprive our kids from being involved with a great part of our community is not an option," he said.

"Sure, I'd be lucky if my last name was 'Smith' … but I think we're selling Ridgewood short if we can't think of a solution to this problem."

But Kelly says if Cronk and Dowd get in "they will vote for a concrete pool. [Councilman] Paul Aronsohn already supports it."

Preserve Graydon says candidates "who want Graydon preserved" will attend the group's March 23 meeting at Temple Israel. Candidates Tom Riche and Bernadette Walsh will be on hand, it said.

For now, the subcommittee will finish up its RFP, and ultimately submit it to council. The five-member body will listen to recommendations and go from there. The May 11 election may decide the fate of Graydon, or it may keep the debate alive. Either way, new council members take office July 1—at the height of Graydon's 100th-anniversary season.