TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—The Washington Township Swim & Recreation Club, a private nonprofit social club born in postwar optimism, says it is working to reimburse a years-long list of former members.
According to club co-president Loretta DeTitta, shutting the business and selling the land—as critics propose on social media—could lead to redevelopment, possibly condos.
Asked if the club is viable, DeTitta said, “It’s hanging on. I’m going to say yes. But it’s struggling.”
That said, according to public records, the club, at 464 Ridgewood Road, block/lot 2301.1, owes approximately $35,000 in quarterly property taxes, including interest, going back to the fourth quarter of 2018.
Fourth-quarter 2019 taxes of $8,565 are due Nov. 1. If this goes unpaid the outstanding taxes would weigh in at $43,574 with interest growing.
A town tax official told Pascack Press Sept. 23 that any property owner in this position would have to worry about a tax sale: In order to recoup the value of unpaid property taxes, statute requires that each municipality hold an annual tax sale of properties in arrears.
In such case a municipality is selling the right to collect the back taxes from the owner—or, failing that, the right to foreclose.
The lot has a land value of $1,173,200 and an improvement value of $200,000 for a total assessed value of $1,373,200.
Meanwhile, former members on a payback list for the ownership bonds they gave—$750 payable over five years, separate from summer fees—are losing their patience.
Some, who did not resign per the club’s stipulated procedures—by a given date and by return-receipt mail—have seen their bond value shrink to make up for unpaid summer fees, which range from $201 to $1,024.
Amenities at the club, opened in 1963, include a heated Olympic-sized pool surrounded by lounge chairs, a fenced kiddie pool next to the main pool, locker and shower facilities, Wi-Fi, an enclosed (and rentable) clubhouse, a covered rec area with table tennis and foosball, a full-service snack stand, and a shaded picnic area.
Members, welcome from all over the valley, are entitled to 14 swim lessons. Bonded adult members can vote on club business.
The club’s swim team, ages 5–7, competes in the Super Six League with Ramsey, Paramus, Stonybrook, Crestwood Lake, and Saddle River Valley.
DeTitta said the club counted 130 to 150 bonded members this year, who enjoyed sunning, swimming, free lessons (valued at $350), and special events.
At the neighboring Westwood Swim Club/Pascack Valley Swim Club, also opened in 1963, the Class A or voting-member bond is $1,500, payable over three years.
Complaints getting louder
In the township, once you’ve toweled off and have moved on, the money vexes. Or if not the money, then the principle of the thing.
One former member, Steve Kohlreiter—commander of VFW Post 6192, a eucharistic minister, and a brother knight with the Mother Seton Council—alleges the swim club is mismanaged.
He says on a township taxpayer forum on Facebook—where he and others have been trading bond war stories—that reimbursements have been overdue too long and that he has support for a class action lawsuit.
“They have jerked my chain all this time and I’m sick of it. I’ve been patiently waiting for 15 years to get my bond money back. I was told I was fifteenth on the list, about where I was 15 years ago,” Kohlreiter told Pascack Press.
He added, “Perhaps it’s time for them to close the pool and sell the property to pay back the bondholders.”
Resident Gregg Masse told Pascack Press he joined when his first of two children was little, and doesn’t see the need to continue now that the young man is at college. He requested a refund in 2015 and doesn’t know when he’ll see it.
Former member Timothy Thompson Sr., owed $725 as well, shared documents with Pascack Press showing he resigned in writing in 2006 and was told at the time that he could expect to wait two to three years for repayment, based on projected new membership.
His file includes a 2008 note from past club treasurer Gregory Fuchs, advising, “I’m sorry but the estimate you were given was way off. There are 190 names on the list. You are number 110. We paid off nine bondholders this year.”
Fuchs added, “I do not even want to guess as to a date to expect payment.”
New prospects are able to frolic at the pool for a summer without paying a bond. If they then join, they must pay the full way. And the club for a while offered non-bonded memberships, but hasn’t done so in five years, DeTitta said.
Prior members, who have given up voting rights by quitting, say all this put reimbursements further out of reach.
Whatever happens next, aggrieved members should note that the club’s bylaws say that “Withdrawing members shall have neither the right to sue nor the right to exercise any other remedy otherwise available to creditors.”
Close to the vest
The volunteer board declined to make public the club’s budget and its number of people waiting for refunds.
Executive board members are presidents DeTitta and Cathy McCarter, Treasurer Kevin Dugan, and Secretary Theresa Petrov. Trustees are Heather Perin and Vinny Vinagre.
DeTitta, marking a decade on the board, told Pascack Press at an interview Sept. 19 that she recalled the oldest entry on the bond list dates to 2005 and that the club’s budget is relatively small.
“We’re this tiny business. It’s seasonal. We’re struggling and need additional income, membership, whatever; it’s really not that much. It’s not, in the grand scheme of things. But here we are,” she said.
She explained, “When new members join, it says in the bylaws, those moneys will be repaid. Or ‘when moneys are readily available.’ We have no money.”
She said, “We need a white knight or a queen, a white queen. That would be great.”
Getting creative
In trying to make ends meet, DeTitta said, the club rents space to a boxing and fitness instructor and another swim organization, and has benefitted from bartering.
She explained one revenue stream the club developed was shut down after a neighbor “ratted us out” to the town for letting members and others, in the off season, park commercial vehicles onsite, backed up to the Garden State Parkway.
Accusations in 2013 said the property, which is zoned residential, was being used as a transfer station. After officials found stored Dumpsters and roll-offs, the town lodged a cease and desist letter.
The situation led to the club losing some $10,000, DeTitta said.
“Something needs to happen. We’ll either fold—and that means sell it to a developer, I guess—or maybe the town can assist us. That would be the two things that would happen,” she said.
She added that the board had reached out to possible donors in town, but because the club isn’t a charity any such donations would not be tax deductible.
Meanwhile, she said the board is well aware of residents’ venting online.
“I don’t want them to be more angry than they already are. It’s just one of those things, like, let sleeping dogs lie. It’s not that we don’t want to address it but the threat is just like, grr, you know what I mean?”
She added, “It’s really hard because this is a private business, and to put it out there feels vulnerable to the pool, I guess, to more attacks.”
The board acknowledged the criticism by blogging in part, “The list of those who are waiting for the return of their bond payment is of utmost importance to us. We do not take this responsibility lightly and work very hard not only to keep the swim club open, but to attract new members.”
It added, “We are exploring ways to offset some costs and always have. The simple fact is, membership is down and we can only refund bonds when there is money available to do so.”
DeTitta told Pascack Press, “It’s tricky because what may have happened 15 years ago I can’t say. It’s very complicated. Its hard to hear that people don’t see us as this gem, this place for families, this asset.”
Statewide, there was a proliferation in community pools in the 1950s and 1960s, when many families moved to the suburbs. Families historically made the most use of such pools when the kids are young and the pool was a hub of neighborhood or town socializing.
(For our recent story on municipal pools, see “Local Pools Stay Afloat Amid Hot Competition,” Michael Olohan, Aug. 26.)
DeTitta said, “It used to be there was a waiting list to get in, and now there’s a list for members waiting for their bond. Those days are gone, and it’s difficult to attract members.”
Asked what she was proudest of about the club, she said, “The heart of the pool might be the swim team. We’ve been champions but we also have not. It’s a great opportunity for kids to get involved in a new sport. My two daughters swim, that’s how I got involved.”
DeTitta also praised the club’s workers, estimated at 20 strong and “mostly township kids.”
“These lifeguards are our neighbors. The manager graduated from Westwood High School. It’s a great place to work—for teenagers, for young adults—and we are proud of that. We like that. It’s very community, very tight-knit,” she said.
Is there a town role?
The club receives neither financial aid nor incentives from the township, though former Councilman Joe D’Urso told Pascack Press that a municipal tax break was in play until it was brought up in the 2010 budget discussions and “corrected.”
He said the officials involved are now gone.
DeTitta told Pascack Press that she thinks the problem wouldn’t have been as pronounced had the town been able to offer resources as social trends changed.
“It’s not easy to do major improvements that people want to see—like, other pools [including in Westwood] have slides. They want to see more. We’re very low-key,” she said.
Looking ahead, Pascack Press reached out to Mayor Peter Calamari for his views on what the township could do—or perhaps had been invited to consider—relative to the club.
He said on Sept. 23 that he had no comment.
The club has at least one unabashed cheerleader in the conversation: Gail Hutchinson, who said she was a member for more than 20 years, said she didn’t give the bond any thought.
“So many great memories all thanks to the board and their dedication. They made tough decisions! I’m not sure why they gave so much for my family. I’m just happy they did. Be thankful. I hope I see kids and families enjoying the pool for another 20 years,” she posted.
In her interview, DeTitta emphasized that she was uncomfortable being out in front on the issue. She wanted people to know the board is doing its best:
I’m not saying you’re going to portray it as a mess, but it is messy, a little bit. All I can say is it’s not easy.”
For more information, visit https://wtswimclub.com.
