Those headed to the Coplay pool this summer may want to eat before arriving.

The borough recreation committee will look into outsourcing the pool concession stand, said Councilman Charles Sodl after Tuesday night's council meeting.

"If, after three weeks, we can't find anybody, we'll put vending machines in," he said.

The decision, which came without a formal vote, was made in an executive session lasting more than an hour. It followed an often heated two-hour meeting.

At last week's workshop, Sodl presented the results of research he had done on pool finances. The parks and recreation committee, consisting of Councilmen Matthew Recker, Steve Burker and Joseph Groller, met Monday night to discuss the pool.

Options

"It's my understanding the concession stand was brought up last week and we are losing money. To me that's unacceptable, too," Recker said Tuesday night. He did not attend last week's workshop meeting.

Sodl said the pool concession stand lost an average of $6,712 over the past five years. The pool overall lost an average of $37,257.

The committee came up with several ideas for how to handle the situation. One option is to outsource the running of the concession stand, which Sodl suggested last week.

Recker said he thought about the issue as he drove home from the meeting Monday night.

"On my ride home I came up with another option and that is maybe not even have a concession stand this year and go with vending machines," he said.

The borough could also consider eliminating the pool manager position.

"[Lifeguards] could open and close the pool doing away with that extra salary," he said.

Recker said the borough has a month to try to find someone to run the refreshment stand. If no one is found right away, the pool can open without it and, at least, lose less money.

"When I was a kid, the pool didn't even have a concession stand," Recker said.

Heated debate

With the pool scheduled to open June 15, Councilman Bill Leiner Jr. said Sodl picked a "fine time" to bring up issues with the pool food stand.

"I would be very happy to get an ad hoc committee to do a thorough evaluation for next year," Leiner said.

"Nothing has been done in the last 10 years and now you're going to chastise me because I only gave you a week?" Sodl said.

Council President Lou Bodish asked Leiner why he believes it is OK to continue to lose money on the pool concession stand.

"If you're trying to point out that I'm wasting money, that's nonsense," Leiner said. "[The pool] always loses money. It will continue to lose money."

He suggested the borough have anyone interested in taking over the food stand address council.

"We have to meet these people. We have to find out who they are. Are we going to hire somebody and then two weeks later all the equipment's gone?" Leiner said.

"I don't think we have to meet them," Recker said. "We gather some facts in the committee and we present to council. Whether you want to vote on it or not is your decision.

Leiner also questioned Sodl's figures.

"Are the numbers accurate? You throw numbers out but where did those numbers come from?" he asked, initiating a heated argument in which several members of council and the audience shouted over each other.

"The numbers came from your borough office," Sodl said.

"And I don't know if I believe them," Leiner said.

"Numbers don't lie," said Recker. "The numbers are the numbers."

"Nobody ever took those numbers and broke them down like I happened to," said Sodl.

Executive session or not?

In addition to debating what to do about the pool, council debated whether to take the discussion behind closed doors in executive session as a personnel issue.

As council was going over other agenda items, Sodl made a motion to discontinue operating the pool concession stand. Councilman Steve Burker seconded.

Bodish said council planned to discuss the issue in executive session as a personnel matter.

Sodl said the discussion would not include employee names and therefore could be held in public.

"You explain to me why we have to talk about it in executive session when this is public knowledge that we're losing money," said Sodl. "Either we're going to outsource it or we're going to continue running it."

Sodl asked for a roll-call vote on his motion.

Solicitor James Preston said council has the ability to discuss the issue in executive session but it is not obligated to hold a private discussion.

Because a motion was on the table and open for discussion, council had to vote it down in order to make a new motion to take the matter into executive session, he said.

Saying the issue is with inventory control, Sodl compared the potential cost savings to the purchase of a 2013 Ford Expedition for the Coplay Police Department, which council had approved earlier in the meeting.

"If this would have been caught years ago, we could buy a cruiser today with that cash – $33,560," Sodl said. "We have this big discussion on should we buy a police car to protect our taxpayers but here we're taking taxpayer money and throwing it in the hole."

"You got less than a month," said Councilman David Royer. "I think you ought to reevaluate this after pool season."

Leiner agreed and added council should talk about it more in executive session.

"That way nobody can hear what we say," said Sodl. "No one's been hired. Yet we have to go into executive session to talk about what?"

"I agree with Charlie [Sodl]," said Burker. "Get it out in the open."

The votes

Sodl's motion failed to pass. Only Sodl, Burker and Recker voted yes.

Groller, Leiner and Royer abstained. Bodish voted no, saying he wanted to discuss it in executive session.

Recker then moved to take the discussion into executive session. Royer seconded. Burker and Sodl voted no. The others voted yes.

After approximtely 70 minutes in executive session, during which council also discussed possible litigation regarding sidewalks, the meeting reconvened.

Council voted to hire lifeguards. No other action regarding the pool was taken.

A pool manager had been hired at last month's meeting.