Hero of the Week: Lauren Hagelgans

Souderton resident questions pool membership cost
Published: Friday, June 10, 2011
By Erin DuBois
Associate Editor

The saga continues, folks!

Temperatures are not the only thing on the rise in Souderton. Some borough residents say the rising cost of pool membership may keep them from beating the heat this summer.

“The prices have skyrocketed from what they were,” said Lauren Hagelgans. “I understand that they put $3 million into the pool, but we didn’t ask them to. We didn’t get raises.”

Ms. Hagelgans is awesome. As she states, in 2009 a single-parent family membership was $130; this year's cost will be $250 through June 30, $265 after, and an extra $5 per child. The increases at every level are fairly massive.

But according to Souderton Borough Manager P. Michael Coll, comparing prices with other local aquatic centers provides a more fair comparison...

“You simply can’t compare the rate to what we were charging in 2009,” Coll said.

Of course not - because comparing it to 2009 makes it look really, really bad. So he comparies it to pools in Hatfield and Perkasie, which are slightly more expensive. Here are some figures Coll fails to mention (from Wikipedia):

Souderton Avg. Income - $47,437 (Household), $57,200 (Family)
Perkasie Avg. Income - $52,000 (Household), $57,247 (Family)
Hatfield Avg. Income - $57,247 (Household), $68,409 (Family)

So can you really compare those rates, either? What a dope.

"It’s really not the same and the community is not the same,” Hagelgans said of comparing Souderton to other municipalities. “I’m not saying we’re low income but we’re certainly not high income families.”

God bless you, Ms. Hagelgans. Stick it to them! Stick it to them good! Just destroyed his entire argument.

“We keep venting and nothing happens,” Hagelgans said.

"Keep venting and nothing happens" is Borough Council's motto.

Souderton’s rates reflect the investment the borough put into the pool, Coll said. Borough council voted 5-4 in favor of the project when it was faced with the decision of eliminating swimming because of the condition of the old pool.

“There was quite a lot of debate to move this project forward,” Coll said.

I don't see how the fact that it was a close vote makes it any easier to eat an extra $100 a year.

The donations will help soften the debt service but the borough will still need to kick in some additional money from the general fund, Coll said.

Well well, what a surprise! Souderton takes on debt it can't handle.

A cold winter and rainy spring pushed back the scheduled Memorial Day opening to June 20, but some construction will occur after the pool opens.
...
“Safety is certainly a concern,” Coll said. “If we can’t get the permits and don’t feel it’s a safe environment, we certainly won’t be able to open.”

What happened to the "confidence" we had that the pool would open on time? Sounds like someone is hedging awfully hard...

More likely, however, the leisure pool would open with the competition pool lagging behind a few days, Coll said.

Some amenities like deck furniture and picnic tables may be missing until a little later in the season...

Be honest - this is going to be a disaster, isn't it? Sounds like someone (a Borough Manager, perhaps) should have managed things a little bit better.

Hagelgans, however, said that she is left with the option of not swimming, the same option she had before the borough decided to refurbish the pool.

“I’ve lived in Souderton six years and this doesn’t make me want to stay here,” Hagelgans said. “I don’t think this $3 million pool is going to attract people to move to the borough.”

BINGO. Ms. Hagelgans, you should run for Mayor. Or Council. Or, heck, put in an application for Borough Manager! You've got more brains than any of them. This woman is a champion, and Souderton needs more like her or they're going to lose EVERYONE like her. Lauren Hagelgans, wherever you are, you are our first (and probably only) ever Hero of the Week.