Pool club may not be in summer forecast Strathmore buyer says repairs will sideline facility BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer Members won't be frolicking in the sun at the Strathmore Bath and Tennis Club in Aberdeen this summer, because the club likely won't be open. The sale of the Strathmore pool club is pending. "No, we won't be able to open the club this summer," said Frank Ward, who is in the process of purchasing the pool club. "We went through our due diligence - we still are, actually - and we saw that the club was in poor shape and we had health and safety concerns." Ward, of Matawan, cited insufficient time between the closing of the sale and the proposed opening date. He and his wife, Tammy, who grew up as a member of the pool club, are slated to close on the sale June 19. The club was scheduled to open on the 21st. "There just wasn't sufficient time to address all of the problems, and we had a difference of opinion on the opening with the current board of directors,"Ward said. "We told the board that they could run the club for the summer and we would close in September, allowing for the club to be open for the summer, but they declined the offer." When asked if the club would reopen for the summer, Lori Gleason, president of the board of directors, said, "I really cannot comment on that." Ward described the relationship between buyer and seller as strained, but he and his family remain optimistic about purchasing the club, he said. "My mother-in-law has been a member since it first opened, and we are really looking to move forward and move on with the design process," he said. "We were never told about a lot of things about the club and its condition, but we have design teams and aquatic designers trying to map out the best use for the facility." Ward explained that he hopes to open the club as a 12-month recreational facility, not just aMemorial Day to Labor Day club. "We will have to renovate the main pool and add water experiences for kids. The underground plumbing needs to be addressed and so do the pump rooms," Ward said. "We want the experience to be phenomenal for families who frequent the club." Records on file at the township's construction office show recurring problems with conditions at the facility, which date to early 2006. The file contains a letter to the board of directors from the former pool management provider stating that water loss in the main pool due to structural conditions was an ongoing problem that left the company "unable to maintain adequate chemical levels to keep the water safe for bathers." Now it seems that the Wards are not the only ones who have been left out of the loop. Some bondholders who claim the Strathmore Bath and Tennis Club's board of directors did not contact them about the pending sale of the club, have come forward, and they aren't happy. "We are original bondholders since 1963," said former resident Ernest Braca last week. "We were not advised of the plan to sell the club." The deed for the 8.5-acre swim club was originally recorded under the name of developer Levitt and Sons, which built the Strathmore development and swim club facility. It is also deed-restricted for recreational use only. Levitt transferred the deed to the Strathmore Bath and Tennis Club Inc. on Aug. 10, 1964. The Strathmore Bath and Tennis Club is owned by bondholders and managed by a board of directors. In the early 1960s, residents of the Strathmore community had the option to buy into the club when they purchased their Levitt homes. Should they decide to leave the club, their bond would be returned to them, terminating their investment in the club. Braca and his wife, Nancy, moved into their Levitt home on Idolstone Lane in 1963 and later sold that home to their daughter in 1998. But they are still bondholders of the pool club, never asking for or receiving their principal investment of $350. According to Braca, the family was never contacted as other bondholders were, by a letter dated March 12 taking a proxy vote to accept or reject the $750,000 offer to buy the facility, made by the Wards. The Bracas wrote a letter of inquiry to Gleason upon learning about the sale when reading an article in the April 9 issue of the Independent. "My wife and I were among the original 750 families that became owners of the club," the letter stated. "We are still part owners of the club and we would like to be advised of the details of the sale and are concerned that we were not advised of the plan to sell the club." According to Gleason, bondholders who appear on the club's master list were contacted. "When we pay off a bondholder, we take them off the list," Gleason explained. "When a new bondholder comes in, they are added." "But our bond was never cashed," Braca said in response. "We never received any money from our bond, so we still hold that bond. So, why weren't we notified of this sale?" Braca recalled that when the couple moved from their Levitt home in 1998, there were only about 100 bondholders left in the club. According to Braca, membership had been opened up to non-bondholders and was made available to residents of other communities to recoup some of the profits lost as bondholders dwindled. Phil and Velia Bauso, formerly of Ivy Hill Drive in the Strathmore community, claim that they were not informed of the sale either. Phil Bauso said that the family is an original bondholder. "I guess I am a disgruntled bondholder now," Bauso said. "I would like to know if I am going to get my return from this sale." Bauso received a letter in 1998 stating that the family had forfeited their membership by not paying the annual dues by the required date. But even as a resigned bondholder, the club's bylaws quoted in the letter read that a repayment of the initial bond would be issued and the family would be removed as a club bondholder. According to his records, Bauso's bond was never resigned. "I have never received a refund of my original bond, even though I have requested it many times," Bauso stated in a letter to the board of directors. "Technically, I am still an owner." Other bondholders who were informed by the letter resonate with Bauso's and Braca's concerns over a lack of communication and financial issues. Several questioned why the club's financial woes were never brought to their attention prior to the pending sale of their beloved swimming hole. "We do not know the process by which the club was sold, and in all the years that we have been bondholders, we never received a financial statement either," said pool club bondholder and Strathmore resident Gaya Brodnitz, of Ivory Place. "It would seem to me if we, as bondholders, are liable for costs incurred by the club, we should be given a financial report or be consulted when the club is having financial problems." Brodnitz said that she and her husband only received a letter, mailed standard delivery, informing them of a pending sale of the facility to the Wards. Another original bondholder Michael Alterman, of Asbury Lane, echoed Brodnitz's sentiment. "Most importantly, I want to see clear accounting of where the money goes and to see to it that all the existing bondholders get what they are entitled to," Alterman said. "It would be nice if the board of directors would keep us informed." Alterman's wife, Joan, added that the family has been a bondholder for the past 45 years and hoped to see the club reopen for the season. "We really feel for the people who were looking forward to the club reopening," Ward said. "But we have every intention of making the improvements and opening next year." Erin Stattel can be contacted at estattel@ gmnews.com.