The new Quakertown swimming pool complex is a big hit. A fun place. But behind the scenes it is bad borough business, hidden, as usual, from the public. But you paid. And paid.
Remember a few weeks ago, when Council was desperately making excuses as to why they illegally handed out three no-bid contracts to Lynn Kraft? Councilman Dave Wilsey reassured us "There's nothing more to this. I think we've seen the whole thing". Well, Dave, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.
I have uncovered another $4000 freebie to Kraft, and at least four contracts for work at the pool, totaling almost $83,000, that were given away by Borough Manager Dave Woglom without bids, in clear violation of state law. Woglom, and Borough Solicitor Charles Fonzone, have refused any explanation. But you paid.
The deception and waste started in the summer of 2003. The projected costs of construction came in about $600,000 more than the borough's "expert" consultant, Ted Wallover, predicted. Some expert - he was off by 33%! He even admitted that he grossly erred in evaluating the project. But, on Woglom's recommendation, he was still hired as architect, and paid more than $130,000 for his "expertise" .
As more and more problems were discovered, and the borough added a few features, the price went up by another $73,000. This included an illegal no-bid $35,000 contract to Hummer Sports Turf for sod, because the project fell so far behind schedule that there wasn't time to grow grass as the architect planned.
Why was the progress so slow? The contractor had too few men on the job. It was a constant topic of conversation among borough employees. After all the hoopla, not opening for Memorial Day weekend would have been a public relations nightmare.
All construction contracts have clauses which impose a penalty for late completion. A large, experienced architectural/engineering firm not connected with this project told me that a pool renovation in the $2.4 million range, with 254 days to do the work, and an absolute need to open by a certain date, should have a penalty clause of $500-$1000 per day.
Richland is building a new police station. The late delivery fee is $1000 per day. In addition, the plumbing, mechanical, electrical, and site work subcontracts each have $500 penalties.
But this is Quakertown. The penalty was a measly $300 per day. And nothing for the subcontracts . Why would the builder make Qtown a priority, when other jobs could bring in far more than $300 per day? He didn't.
Woglom, who negotiated the contract, needed to cover his own butt. So, for more than four months, beginning in February, he sent public works employees to build the pool! To do the work that the contractor was already being paid for! Quakertown records show that borough personnel put in almost 600 hours of labor and supervision. You paid twice.
And Woglom provided town-owned equipment. Backhoe, dump trucks, pickup, blacktop roller, cement mixer, mechanical tampers. No charge to the contractor. No reimbursement to the borough. Over $15,000 worth of your tax dollars in addition to the $2.4 million in the contract.
The employees say they were told to take orders from the building contractor as if they worked for him. While he paid nothing for their services, and the borough equipment, but collected the full contract price.
Woglom also handed out illegal no-bid contracts to Green Pond Nursery, $24,000, and to Main Line Distributors, $20,000 for the pool cover. Both of these, and the Hummer Sports Turf contract, should have been advertised, and should have had council resolutions.
In addition, broken pipes and leaks have been discovered in the pool building because no heaters were installed. A wall must be torn down. Half the showers aren't working. Countertops are coming apart. It is all under the builder's warranty, but Woglom ordered borough employees to just fix it themselves. Again, you pay twice.
With a final cost of about $2.9 million, no one was surprised when council announced that pool fees were being raised last summer. Families on a budget paid $135 for the season instead of $75 as in prior years. Or $5 per person daily instead of the previous $4. After all, someone had to pay for the improvements, right?
Not necessarily. Council had already prepared a loan payback schedule to be covered by taxes and expected borough income. According to the 2004 budget, they did not plan for any pool income, probably because the complex had actually lost money in 2003 and 2002.
But in 2004, the spiffy new splasher turned a profit of more than $47,000. Woglom's memo to council called it a "smashing success...from the financial viewpoint". It turns out that those higher fees weren't necessary after all. In fact, the borough might have actually been able to reduce pool rates last year, and again this summer!
So why were those charges raised 80% for families, and 25% for dailies?
Because the borough does not have a separate swimming pool fund. The profit went into the general treasury, where it was used for other purposes. Like to repay $800,000 to Bucks County Water and Sewer for the years of illegal overcharges. Or to cover the costs of replacing century-old water and sewer lines that should have been done and paid for years and decades ago.
How many illegalities must be revealed before there is action? Where is borough council? Where are District Attorney Diane Gibbons (" aggressively and successfully prosecuting criminal activity") , and Auditor General Jack Wagner ("fighting to protect your family's tax dollars") when Quakertown citizens need protection from monkey business like this?
You're getting soaked even if you don't go swimming.