PLAYLAND POOL UPDATE: BOL Extends Review by 60 Days

Video of July 18, 2016 9am Westchester County Board of Legislators Committee meeting to discuss the Playland Pool:

(Committees reviewing the Pool issue: Budget & Appropriations (Chair Sheila Marcotte), Labor, Parks, Planning & Housing (“LPPH” – Chair David Gelfarb) and Infrastructure (Chair Mary Jane Shimsky who attended via teleconference).

http://westchestercountyny.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=4287&Format=Agenda

Synopsis: There was lively discussion at this first meeting for the Committees to review the Legislation sent to them by the County Executive to approve $2.76 Mil to REMOVE the Playland Pool, as well as discussion of the subsequent $9.5 Mil cost estimate the BOL requested and received to RESTORE the Playland Pool.

There was also discussion updating the progress on the Sprain Ridge Pool project, which is apparently 90% done with the “design phase” and optimistically anticipated to be open by July 4th next summer, although it was acknowledged that that is a very tight timeline.

Legislator Kaplowitz tried six ways from Sunday to do any kind of fuzzy math he could to justify filling it in, and Legislators Parker & Maisano came out strongly in defense of keeping the Pool. Parker pointed out that out of the four open and functioning public County Pools (there are five total, the Sprain Ridge Pool has been completely closed for six or seven summers now), Playland’s Pool is the ONLY one that’s not open seven days a week, but rather only five days a week, and that to hold it to the same attendance number standard as the other three pools (all of which are significantly larger than the Playland Pool and all three of which have been fully restored and revamped) is like comparing apples and oranges.

The group collectively reached consensus that they need significantly more time to discuss this and agreed to tell the County Executive that they are going to extend review for 60 days, taking a decision date/vote date into sometime in mid or late September.

*Video of July 18, 2016 7:00pm Westchester County Board of Legislators meeting – public comments start around minute marker 4:45

http://westchestercountyny.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=4015&Format=Agenda

Synopsis: Because the Playland Pool discussion was not moved out of Committee at the morning meeting, there was nothing relating to it on the evening’s agenda for the regular BOL meeting at 7pm. Three Westchester County residents DID get up during public comments to speak up on behalf of keeping the Playland Pool: Bonnie Council of Rye, Chet Morton of Irvington & Deirdre Curran of Harrison.

No vote was taken on anything at either 7/18/16 meeting. There are two bi-weekly regular 7pm Monday night BOL meetings scheduled for September 2016: 9/12/16 & 9/26/16. It’s likely that there will be a vote on whether to keep or demolish the Playland Pool at one of those, based on the 60-day review extension the BOL decided on.