TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—As the tropical weather continues during another hot and hazy New Jersey summer, the former private Washington Township Swim and Recreation Club remains closed for a third straight year as its new owners — the township — decide through its administration what to do with the dilapidated 6.1-acre property.
Mayor Peter Calamari said July 11 that he had a preliminary meeting with township engineer Boswell Engineering to discuss the property, the lay of the land, “and what we will be able to do in light of it, so they’re working on it.”
He did not mention the study in his mayor report but rather mentioned it in response to a subsequent public comment seeking an update.
Calamari also did not respond to multiple Pascack Press inquiries about the Boswell study, including its timeline. He has repeatedly mentioned doing a facilities feasibility study before undertaking further actions at the swim club and other local recreational facilities but offered few details.
The township closed on the property, on Ridgewood Boulevard North, in late April. Plans focus mostly on recreational use, mainly for baseball and other fields. Calamari has also said he didn’t want to see the land go to developers.
During its first failed attempt to bid on the property, the township proposed operating the site as a swim club for two years, which appealed to many residents who want a town pool. That provision was eliminated and not made in the town’s second, and successful, purchase offer.
At the July 11 council meeting, Council Vice President Stacey Feeney said she would like to see the club reopen as a town pool.
Pascack Press has requested a walkthrough of the public property several times, from the mayor and council leadership, but these requests have not led to the gate being opened.
On July 19, councilman Steven Cascio speculated to Pascack Press that it might take up to five years before the property is ready for use by residents.
He said that the topography of the site makes it likely that only one recreational field can be placed there. And he said he was opposed to trying to reestablish a functioning swim club on site. He cited “astronomical expenses,” around $300,000 a year, to operate a town pool there.
He said to demolish all the structures there, including the pools, and start from scratch to make the site into active and passive recreational uses would likely cost $2.5 million to $3 million.
He noted swim clubs might not be as popular as they were decades ago, when people did not go on vacations as much, and he said he would not want “to put taxpayers on the hook for that.”
He said dealing with the existing topography on site to configure recreational fields was likely to cost taxpayers heavily.
Cascio said that he had no additional details about the Boswell study of uses. He criticized Calamari for not consulting the council about next steps — saying it was “kind of backwards” to do a study and not ask council members what they would like to see on the site to help determine future uses.
He said consulting with council members about the property’s study “is a very easy two-way street” but nevertheless Calamari has not done this.
Cascio also noted that the mayor had said he would not conduct DPW operations from the site but that nevertheless the town is storing vehicles and equipment there, to the consternation of neighbors, one of whom recently complained of stagnant water and mosquitoes.
Cascio said that the DPW had “too much equipment” for the DPW’s size and that one solution to storage might be to “get rid of stuff that you don’t use” and store the remaining equipment partly at Sherry Field and partly at the swim club site.
He said it’s “quality employees” who make the difference in DPW operations, not excess or redundant equipment.
Voting to approve the swim club bond ordinance on Feb. 7 were Council President Desserie Morgan, Vice President Stacey Feeney, and members Tom Sears and Daisy Velez, who ran with fellow Republican Calamari in the 2021 election.
Cascio, who had voted in favor of the first bid, was absent.
After acquiring the property this year, following an initial failed attempt in 2021, Calamari said that a feasibility study would be done on the site, given constraints such as topography, wetlands, deteriorated structures, and pools.
Also on July 11, resident Anthony Conti chastised Calamari for having said that DPW operations would not be conducted at the property, noting multiple large vehicles and seasonal equipment were stored on site.
Calamari noted that storing the vehicles there was saving the taxpayers from needing to continue to lease 35 spaces at Our Lady of Good Counsel, across from the high school, at $2,500 per month. That lease arrangement was finalized after over a year of searching for DPW storage space by Calamari in neighboring towns. Conti said he can see the stored vehicles from his backyard on Ridgewood Boulevard North.
In early May, the township’s grant consultant, David Biunno, of GLD Associates, filed a Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund grant application requesting $675,000 of the club’s nearly $750,000 purchase price. The application states the site will be used for active and passive recreational uses, and preserve the property.
It also asserts that had the township not purchased the property, a developer was in line to purchase the site, requiring fast action on their part. The developer was not identified.
The grant application notes the site was acquired for $750,000 — part of an $800,000 bond ordinance — and was purchased “for what we believe may be below fair market value so that it may now be used to meet our own recreational needs and also preserve it as such for posterity.”
The township said it expects to hear back on its application by fall.
Meanwhile, the town business administrator, Robert Tovo, has resigned and there is no word yet on his replacement.
Calamari recently asserted that a presentation he and Biunno made to the county Open Space Trust Fund was well received and he had a positive feeling about the grant’s prospects.
The township was able to purchase the site at a reduced price as a result of a sheriff’s sale in January due to unpaid back taxes, which was cited in its grant application. Township officials did not disclose that information prior to the property’s purchase.
Meanwhile, the trustees of the former private club are said to be working to pay back creditors and bonded members, many of whom have been waiting for reimbursement for many years. Calamari has directed inquiries on that to the trustees.