By Karen Barone
Two separate fee schedules have been set up, with the school-district-resident fees slightly higher than those for village residents.
The Greis Park pool facility has twin water slides and a toddler-friendly wading pool.
"We looked at the situation long and hard and decided it made sense to offer membership to School District No. 20 residents," said Deputy Mayor Thomas Miccio, chairman of the Lynbrook pool committee and liaison to the recreation department.
Total membership for the 2002 season was just under 900, according to the director of Lynbrook's Recreation Department, Richard Flynn. The membership goal for 2003 is 1,200, a goal Miccio and Flynn said is attainable with additional District 20 residents. They are optimistic that membership for the village will reach 900 and that the school district will bring in another 300 members.
"We feel that with 1,200 paid members, the pool will be able to sustain itself, which is the commitment that was made to the residents," said Miccio.
From the time the pool was proposed, officials had assured residents that the facility would be self-sufficient and not a burden on taxpayers. "We're going to make good on that promise," said Lynbrook Mayor Gene Scarpato.
Miccio and Flynn jump-started the membership drive this year with an early-bird registration, held on Feb. 1. Fifty-eight incorporated village residents took advantage of the early sign-up, as did 15 new members from the school district. A promotion offering a free guest pass with a sign-up runs through March 1.
As in the past, additional sources of revenue for the pool are in place. The food concession, which is a private enterprise run by Kitchen Caterers of Hicksville, pays not only a rental fee but also a percentage of sales to the village. The pool will have available aquatic necessities, such as sunscreen and toddler swim aids, and will sell official village pool T-shirts. Flynn has also arranged for Lynbrook High School's swim team to train at the facility for a nominal fee, from Labor Day through Columbus Day, after the pool has ended its regular season.
Valley Stream Village Clerk Administrator Vincent Ang said he wishes Lynbrook well, but he is skeptical that the pool will be self-sufficient anytime in the near future. His facility, Hendrickson Park Pool, which opened in the summer of 1960, is still operating in the red. It, too, opened up registration a few years ago to include surrounding school district residents, and while that did increase revenue, it was not enough to put the facility in the black.
"This is only our third season," said Miccio, "and although we might have fallen short the first two years, we will get to where the pool is self-sufficient."
In 2002, it cost $190,000 to keep the Lynbrook pool operational, and last November marked the due date of the first fixed-principal payment of $144,000 on the 20-year bond used to fund the pool. The deficit for the 2002 season was approximately $115,000, or $17 per household, according to Miccio.
"Operationally, the pool made money the last two years, but because of debt services, it doesn't show," said Miccio. "We fell a little short our first and second years, but we have become more efficient at running the pool, and we are hoping that this is the year we turn the corner."
Lynbrook pool rates for the 2003 season
Lynbrook village residents
Family $315
Adult individual $140
Senior $120
Teen (13-17) $120
Couple (under 60) $240
Senior couple $215
Child (4-12) $90
School District No. 20 residents
Family $390
Adult individual $165
Senior $145
Teen (13-17) $145
Couple (under 60) $290
Senior couple $265
Child (4-12) $115
Registration takes place Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Greis Park Recreation Center. For more information call (516) 599-8000.
