An effort to raise money for a new water slide at Leechburg Area Pool is causing a splash in Gilpin.
In a post Wednesday to the pool’s Facebook page, pool secretary Steve Senjan, a former Gilpin supervisor, criticized Gilpin officials for not following through on their $25,000 pledge to the pool.
The Gilpin supervisors voted in December 2021 to give $25,000 donations from American Rescue Plan funds to the Gilpin/Leechburg Park, Gilpin Township Volunteer Fire Department and Leechburg Area Pool.
The fire department and the park each received $25,000, paid in two payments of $12,500. The pool received only the first payment of $12,500 in late 2021.
“The park and fire department got their second payment. Why the pool was left out is anyone’s guess,” Senjan wrote in the post.
Gilpin Supervisor Charles Stull responded in a statement Wednesday that an original pledge of $25,000 had been reduced to half that amount, $12,500, because of a lack of meeting participation and communications on the part of pool officials.
“In the months since the first payment, not one representative of the pool came to a township meeting to give a project update or request additional money,” Stull said. “Upon looking at the GoFundMe website, it was found only $300 of the $90,000 the pool needed was raised.”
Stull said the board voted 5-0 to approve the funds be used elsewhere.
“Finding that new road equipment to better service the township roads was more imperative in the eyes of the board,” he said. “The board decided, while budgeting, to use the remainder of the covid money as a down payment toward road equipment.”
Stull added this isn’t the first time the township has donated money to the once struggling pool.
“Gilpin Township has bailed out the pool before when it was on the brink of closure in the past. Gilpin Township has given thousands to the pool,” Stull said. “How much have other communities given towards the slide? Last I recall, Mr. Senjan reported Leechburg Borough was not donating to this slide fund.”
Senjan said Monday the pool is in solid financial shape entering the 2023 pool season.
Stull described the pool as a huge asset to the community.
“This slide won’t cause the pool to go under. Mr. Senjan has continuously bragged the pool has had record attendance over the past few years. I’m sure the slide won’t change that,” Stull said. “I’ve always been, and always will be, an advocate for our community pool. But the township can’t recklessly send money without updates or guidance on how it (money) is being used.”
Senjan said Gilpin’s response is a matter of township officials trying to save face.
“The township will say anything to make themselves look good. The simple fact is they made a pledge to the pool and they backed out of it without ever telling the pool,” he said. “They should show some integrity and stand behind their word. The slide project was always a long-term project, now it just got a little longer. We aren’t giving up.”
Since 2010, Gilpin Township has donated more than $60,000 to the pool, Stull said.
