As the coldest weather of the season moves in, it sometimes helps to look for silver linings in the clouds this time of year. As of this writing, the days are 18 minutes longer than the shortest day, last Dec. 21. Pitchers and catchers report to baseball spring training in 29 days, and the reconstruction of the Verona pool is ahead of schedule because of the mild temperatures in November and December.

“We will have no problem being ready for the next season,” according to Len Waterman, the Township’s Buildings and Grounds Supervisor. “Doing everything at once will save us time and money too.”

The pool was fully drained and scraped and a concrete access ramp is being constructed for the handicapped as well as children and senior citizens. A “swim out,” which is a number of steps to a concrete platform is also being built in a corner opposite the access ramp.

“The swim out is another way for people to enter or exit the pool gradually,” added Waterman. “Once these structures are built, everything including the entire pool gets re-surfaced with one-half inch of marcite, a white plaster cement that provides a watertight seal. RJR Engineering of Califon, N.J., is doing the project.”

Waterman explained that the Township is really getting its money's worth with the pool. “A pool used like this usually needs resurfacing every fifteen or twenty years but this has already lasted over thirty years. We’re also getting new starting blocks for the swim team, diving boards and life guard stands to replace the originals which have been there since 1960.”

“Once the kids started getting brush burns and scrapes from the rough surface of the pool, it became obvious that we couldn’t keep applying quick fixes and had to do the big job after all this time. Everything became so outdated and we spent a lot of time patching things over the years. It’s going to cost about $390,000 but we’re still way ahead of the game,” Waterman concluded.