Springdale Township, pool, veterans try to resolve drainage issues

Bouquet Park Pool is appealing a decision by Springdale Township to revoke its occupancy permit amid allegations that pool water drained onto a neighboring property.

Township Commissioners President Anthony Rozzano said the pool water entered the neighboring property of the Springdale Veterans Association.

“You are not allowed to discharge water onto someone else’s property,” Rozzano said at a commissioners meeting last week.

Someone in the audience shouted there was no proof. Rozzano said a dye test had been performed, drawing a complaint from Richard Kern, treasurer of the pool, that pool officials hadn’t received the test results or any other report on the drainage issue.

“As such, we do not know our level of responsibility, if any,” Kern said before requesting commissioners to resolve the issue.

Interviewed after last week’s commissioners meeting, Mark Messina, president of the Springdale Veterans Association, confirmed that dye tests had been performed and his organization had discussed drainage problems with pool officials before.

“Drainage from the pool goes into a catch basin, which flows into our property,” Messina said. “When this catch basin clogs, the water washes out parts of our property.”

Other than the drainage issue, Messina said the pool and the Veterans Association have been good neighbors to each other over the years.

“I want the pool to do well,” Messina said. “I just want the whole thing to get resolved and wrapped up.”

Kern asked commissioners for immediate action last Thursday, arguing, “The pool’s ability to remain open has been seriously jeopardized by the municipal action.”

In November, Kern had said financial problems might prevent the pool from opening in the summer. In a Jan. 10 Facebook post, the pool said it was lowering prices to boost memberships to support operating costs. The pool said in the post that it was aiming to get 250 memberships by March 1.

Rozzano said the township will hear an appeal but, before that, he was trying to arrange a meeting between pool, Veterans Association and township officials within the next week to try to resolve the issue.