Many Sloatsburg residents recently received their blue flyer in the mail announcing that the Municipal Pool is  getting ready to open for weekends, beginning Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 26. The pool’s regular season then begins at the end of June. But first, the pool’s being cleaned and painted. And when residents arrive, they’ll note a marked difference.

“When we’re done, we’re going to repaint with rubber-based pool paint,” Dean Artrip, who, along with his brother Justin, operate H&H Painting out of Tuxedo. H&H is currently working on the Municipal Pool. “We’ll coat it, we’ll stripe it out and then we’ll be ready for the pool to be opened.”

Raised in Sloatsburg, Artrip said he knows the pool well. “I did this pool several times throughout my high school career with the Suffern wrestling team,” Artrip said. “When Mr. White ran the pool, we used to come in and clean it with him and coat it every summer.”

Along with the retirement of Mr. White, who was the longtime Sloatsburg pool supervisor, the pool area has changed quite a bit from last season. Gone are the old yew bushes that blocked views surrounding the pool; replaced by a green grassy boarder. Residents will also notice new vending machines that dispense water, soda, snacks and ice cream. The machines are a small step by the village to streamline pool operations said Village Trustee Peter Akey, who’s partly responsbile for overseeing the pool,

“The thinking is to try to get that pool to be as close to self sufficient as possible,” said Akey about the small revenue stream the machines will generate. “We don’t want to raise fees anymore. So, the idea was, how could we bring more money into the pool?”

Akey said the village is working with SnackRite Vending, a snack vending company out of Walden, NY. SnackRite will provide vending snack and drink machines at both the pool and community fields and give 25% of all proceeds to the village.

Akey said the village agreement with SnackRite is not a contract. “It’s an agreement that can be severed at any time,” he said. “SnackRite will provide the machines and the snacks, waters, sodas and juices at a reasonable cost. But we don’t do any heavy lifting.” Akey said monies from the machines at the pool will go into the general operating fund and help cover such costs as lifeguard equipment.

The older vending machines, maintained and operated by Sloatsburg, have proved cumbersome as the machines became outdated, and will be removed.

The community field also has a new row of drink vending machines that serve up sports drinks, water and some soda. Akey said that snack machines are difficult to secure in a wide open space such as the community field, so the village opted out of that option, focusing specifically on drinks.

The vending machines are a service experiment and will wait to see how residents respond. “I don’t know how it’s going to work out,” Akey said. “But I’m willing to try almost anything. Water, sodas and juices at the pool. I want it to be reasonably priced, especially at the pool because there are families.”

Another effort underway by Akey is the Municipal Pool Bench Drive, where 100% recycled KirbyBuilt backless benches are available for sponsorship by residents. The benches will have attached stainless steel placards for inscription purposes and cost $290, including the inscripted placard.

“Last year parents and members of the pool came to me and said they’d like to have more benches and seats to get closer to the water to watch the kids,” said Akey. “And I said, okay, I’ll see what I can do. I remember New Jersey doing walk ways and benches with family names on them.” Akey’s idea is that the benches would be memorial benches, paid for by residents, organizations or businesses with a donating inscription attached.

Instead of the village buying benches for the pool at taxpayers’ cost, when not all residents of Sloatsburg use the pool, Akey thought he’d try the memorial bench route.  “They would be donated for anyone’s use and it won’t cost the taxpayer any money at all. If we could get two to six, that’d be fantastic,” he said.

Go to SloatsburgNY to register online for Municipal Pool Passes or call the Village offices at 753-2727 for more information. Visit here for on the Municipal Pool Bench Drive or call the village offices.