RiverWinds Opening Up Membership in May

With a goal of adding at least 250 new business family memberships to the rolls, the West Deptford committee approved opening up to six groups outside the boundaries of the township, starting in May, by a 4-1 vote Thursday.

The township committee agreed with and RiverWinds managers Cristin Veit and Greg Black, who originally put forth the idea to the advisory board last month, citing the need to increase revenue at the community center.

“We need to stop the bleeding at that facility,” committeeman Sam Cianfarini said, pointing to a report from the advisory board that noted income was down more than $84,000 in the first quarter this year as compared to the first quarter of 2011.

That could be due in part to a drop in membership, as advisory board chair Jeff Hansen said, or, as Veit pointed out, may be because of members aging into the senior discount level, families dropping extra members or changes in class attendance.

“There’s a variety of factors,” she said.

Membership will be opened, as of May 1, 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.

There’ll be 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. That would mean adding 250 business family memberships, which pay the full $948 annual rate.

“We’d like to try to grab those 250 memberships back,” Black said. “That’s the whole point of this.”

With the center’s current membership standing at about 9,300, that would leave room for another 1,000 members above what Veit and Black are aiming for, and they and Hansen assured the township committee any West Deptford residents who want to get a membership to the facility would do so, no matter where things stood to the membership cap.

The lone dissenting voice was committeewoman Denice DiCarlo, who raised concerns over one group—sponsored families—and the possibility of discrimination claims because of the limited expansion of membership.

“I’m just a little uncomfortable with the sponsored families,” she said. “It just doesn’t sit right with me right now.”

Township solicitor Anthony Ogozalek Jr. said there shouldn’t be an issue with discrimination, and said the committee could always reconsider the outside groups at some point in the future, and eliminate any of them with just cause. Any members who were already in under those groups would have to be grandfathered in, however, Ogozalek said.