PARAMUS ­— Fees for the borough swimming pool will rise by as much as 70 percent when it opens this summer for the first time since dangerous levels of PCBs and other containments were found throughout the property almost two years ago.

Borough officials say the rate increases are necessary to offset the more than $2.5 million they spent cleaning the soil and updating the facility without passing too much of the expense on to taxpayers who don’t use it.

But the rate increases, passed by a 4-2 council majority on Tuesday, highlighted friction between the Democratic majority and Republicans Maureen O’Brien and Cathy Bentz, who voted against the measure. The pair said the fee structure puts too much of a burden on residents who are already struggling in the economic downturn.

“I don’t think we should increase the rates this year,” O’Brien said. “I think we should leave it so people could see what a beautiful pool we have this year, and next year maybe a lot of people will come, and if you’ve got to raise the prices then, you’ve got to raise the prices.”

Most of the money for the soil remediation and swimming pool upgrades — such as a new kiddie pool, new plumbing and a new slide — came from bonds the council approved last year, before Bentz and O’Brien broke a Democratic monopoly on the council in the November elections. The Republicans raised the pool-spending issue during their campaign.

They contend that the borough should have concentrated on the state mandate that contaminants be removed from the soil, and that the upgrades could have been made later.

Now, they said, the borough is attempting to bump the rates too quickly, a strategy that could backfire if too many people decide to continue with alternative arrangements they made last year, when the pool was closed.

They also said their council colleagues did not give them enough time or information to fully consider the decision after they had raised concerns about the price increases at a work session last week. They said they did not know they would be voting on new rates until the issue appeared on the meeting agenda, and they did not know what the proposal would be until an informal meeting about an hour before the vote.

Councilmen Fred Hayo — the swimming pool liaison — and Richard LaBarbiera shrugged off the criticism, saying the new rates were in line with what other towns were charging.

 “The fee is still extremely competitive and probably one of the best bargains around,” LaBarbiera said. “To not increase it would have been an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer, which at this time would have been inappropriate.”

They also said they addressed Bentz and O’Brien’s concerns about the first draft of the rate structure when they introduced the final proposal, scaling back the fees and adding one-month memberships.

“The rest of us were flabbergasted by the vote,” Hayo said. “I don’t know where this is coming from. It stinks of party politics.”

Borough manager Anthony Iacono said the swimming pool, which is supposed to operate on its own revenue, has a deficit of about $300,000, which the new rates are meant to reduce. He said the pool was not sustaining itself even before it closed in 2007, when it had about 5,500 members.

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Article from NorthJersey.com

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