could be on its way to opening up membership to several new groups after the RiverWinds advisory board voted to recommend adding six new groups to the possible pool of members Monday night.
The nonbinding recommendation came after the board debated a memo from RiverWinds managers Cristin Veit and Greg Black, who advocated opening up membership to seven groups outside West Deptford residents and employees of West Deptford businesses, in the hopes of pushing membership back up toward its peak.
The board ultimately recommended six of the seven groups, with a cap at 11,300 members, with the aim at putting the center back at a total of 500 business family memberships and adding $237,000 in membership fees to the coffers.
“This is low-lying fruit for this community center,” board chair Jeff Hansen said.
While the board rejected the idea of opening the center to Gloucester County government employees, they recommended opening the doors to county sheriff’s officers, Gloucester County emergency services employees, members of the State Police, members of groups who rent out the facility, families sponsored by current members and senior citizens who live in Gloucester County.
The recommendation would have to pass at the township committee level to take effect, since the advisory board doesn’t have any direct power over the community center.
The decision came after a back-and-forth over whether opening membership would be the right thing to do, and there was a certain amount of dissent over whether to push harder to bring in residents and local employees before flinging wide the doors.
“Even if we could get a quarter of those people back, it would be a good start,” board member Carlton Bogan said.
But board vice-chair Steve Murtaugh argued those who have left the center are gone for good.
“We’re kidding ourselves if we think we’re going to get West Deptford people back,” he said.
Bill Van Kat also argued for a marketing blitz to try to capture workers from local businesses, arguing the center would be better-served by keeping membership close to home.
“At least we’re still maintaining the West Deptford community,” he said.
Membership is down to about 9,300 from the previous high, with various factors—including the shutdown of the and the opening of L.A. Fitness in Woodbury Heights—contributing to the dropoff, Veit said, though that trend seems to be slowing, if not reversing.
“We’re slowly starting to see some of those people come back,” Black said.
Black said the goal of their proposal would be to add 250 business family memberships, which pay the full $948 annual rate, to the rolls.
While the recommendation would be to cap membership at 11,300, Veit and Black said there wouldn’t be any issue adding as many residents who want to join the center, a concern that was raised by committeewoman Denice DiCarlo after the vote.
At many times of the day, Riverwinds is under utilized.
What this advisory board says means nothing.....where are the studies that they've done? Where are the facts and statistics? Where is the supposed revenue stream projections from opening up the memberships? Where are the polls? Where is the voice of the people? This is just another ploy by Chintall to run the town how he pleases devoid of any input from the people he represents. He appoints the majority of the board Republican and has them say what Chintall wants them to say...it's quite ridiculous. I am really happy that Transparency is being followed by this regime and that they have done away with the cronyism they campaigned against.
Why don't the Riverwinds workers start pounding the pavement and actually do what they are paid to due, rather than just letting membership drop? Where are the answers and ideas that Chintall and Cianfarini promised? Wouldn't you try to think outside the box for new ideas or have current employees market the place like every other gym does in the area? Chintall and Cianfarini just want to come in and start throwing their weight around without even trying to fix the problems. How can this regime, a mere two months in, already want to open-up memberships? They have barely had enough time to even see what the issues are, let alone try to act on them. What are the people who are supposedly marketing Riverwinds doing? Where are all of the studies and marketing plans by this Advisory Board? Where are their facts? What are they basing their final on? The advise of two Riverwinds' employees who evidently don't feel like doing their job and marketing the place the way it should be marketed? This smell is rotten from somewhere.
A. Members of groups who rent out the facility - Is this for anybody who plans a birthday party there or just for people who rent out the meeting rooms ? B. Families sponsored by current members - This is the one that concerns me the most. If any current RW member could sponsor any other non-WD family, this one has potential to get ugly and attract possible rift-raft if you know what I mean. Just being honest. A few other groups that might be good potential additions: Any local Gloucester County (Fire, Police, and military member). We should market to these groups via flyers and having RW management actually visit these locations personally. I wish I could have made the meeting last night, but I had other obligations. So far I like most of what I hear of their plans to increase revenue/memberships but I think we should keep a close eye on actual attendance in the gym/classes during peak hours versus total memberships. Total membership numbers don't necessarily correlate to actual attendance. So many people sign up after the New Year and never go back which is why actual attendance should be looked at. Just some food for thought.
Membership is dwindling for one reason, money. People have lost their jobs (three of my neighbors have joined the ranks of the unemployed in the last three month and are not renewing their memberships) People have had their hours cut and need to decide if a membership at RW's is really necessity or is keeping the bills paid more important. Continued...
Remember, the membership at the facility is now less than half of the total number of WD residents. That majority will eventually say enough is enough and demand something be done about it. I believe that was one of the many reasons Ms Dicarlo and Mr Kintzing lost the election last year. The people are speaking, I would suggest the elected (and unelected officals, Ms Dicarlo) listen and listen good.
http://twitter.com/#!/RiverWinds http://www.facebook.com/pages/RiverWinds-Community-Center/20142084995 http://riverwindscommunitycenter.blogspot.com/
I guarantee another lawsuit against this regime in less than a week, that's what they're averaging now. Priceless.
For those readers who do, in fact, think for themselves: Isn't it amusing that the anonymous commenting clown brigade keeps repeating the same talking points, like a pull-string doll does? And for all of their complaints, when the Democrats did the EXACT same thing, there wasn't a peep out of any of them?
Re: tax base, our taxes some of the lowest in the county, Re: Rep vs. Dem The election is over, committee needs to work together. Re: Rude, insolent remarks solve no problems. Re: Closure. If the facility closes, our township youth will be moved back into the school buildings for youth athletics, thus causing increased cost and wear and tear to the school system. Please stop the ridiculous bickering.
once the committee is comprised of all one party there will be negativity at every level. wd mary what you are saying that riverwinds is a babysitter for the parents.taxes used to be the lowest.answer to closure statement take some of that school money and put it towards riverwinds if that's where the kids are going. It's obvious that membership has declined and that could be the dems that were getting a free ride it's not free anymore