Fees For Toms River Township Pool Questioned

TOMS RIVER – People interested in using the township pool said they want to be able to purchase daily entrance without having a friend with an annual badge.

The pool is in the Snug Harbor section of town, off of Fischer Boulevard. There are also tennis courts and a small building. Since this public recreation area is nestled in a residential area, there have been neighbors impacted by people visiting.

A few residents came to a recent Township Council meeting to ask that fees be changed again to allow people to buy single-day passes. Currently, to purchase a daily badge you must be accompanied by a season pass holder.

A resident said that since it the property was purchased with Green Acres money, certain state regulations apply. One of them is that there has to be a daily pass without any strings attached.

She said there were six police reports from the last four years at the pool, and five of them were on off times. So, perhaps there is not so much of an impact on neighbors as it has been suggested.

Councilman Justin Lamb said there were significant problems that nearby residents had. Not all of them got to the level of police reports, so a lot of issues go unreported.

Township Attorney Peter Pascarella said that the state’s administrative code says this new fee structure is allowed.

Mayor Daniel Rodrick said that when the beach empties out because there are flies or a rip current, people flock to the pool. They raised rates to try to push toward annual rates. “That way people have ownership of it” and treat it better.

This season pass model was a response to local residents who were upset about the influx of people who didn’t care about the neighborhood and treated it poorly, going so far as “having relations in their car,” he said.

Resident Ellen Davis said that as taxpayers, they are already paying for the pool. To pay more for the pass is too much.

Lamb said any time there is change, people feel underserved. He suggested revisiting the issue and seeing if there is a way to come to a new agreement and “strike a balance.”

Meanwhile the council voted to cancel the contract with Castaway Kitchen, LLC which ran the concession stand at the pool “due to breach of contract.”

Township Business Administrator Jon Salonis said the owner decided to leave. Mayor Rodrick said they were not current on rent.

This is not the first time that fees were changed to address issues at the town’s pool.

In 2021, fees for non-residents were doubled because locals complained of people coming from out of town and causing problems. An efficiency study determined that this fee increase was a good solution.

“The Snug Harbor residents had expressed concerns regarding happenings at the pool,” Rodrick said in 2021; he was a councilman then. “Public urination, changing in public, needles, all sorts of terrible things.”

The Township leased the pool with an option to purchase it in 1975. In 1977, the pool was purchased using funds from the state’s Green Acres program. Under the program, the Township must follow a state code regulating fee schedules.