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Lopatcong council adopts $17M bond to rebuild Opa Con Park after heated public hearing
Summary
After more than an hour of public comment questioning tax impacts and survey methods, the Lopatcong Township Council voted to adopt Ordinance 24-12, authorizing $17 million in bonds to fund reconstruction of Opa Con Park and a new pool; township finance staff said debt could be covered by reallocating existing budgeted debt service, but residents pressed for clearer operating-cost projections and a referendum.
Lopatcong Township Council voted July 3 to adopt Ordinance 24-12, a bond ordinance authorizing $17,000,000 in appropriations and $16,150,000 in bonds and notes to rebuild Opa Con Park, including a new pool and related facilities.
The adoption came after a lengthy public hearing in which multiple residents asked how the township will pay for the project and whether it will raise property taxes. "My concern is the impact this pool will have on property taxes," said Paul Bridal, a resident, during public comment. Bridal challenged the council to provide membership and revenue projections and to explain why the township relied on a survey rather than a nonbinding ballot question.
Kim, the township chief financial officer, told the council the administration has modeled multiple scenarios and used fund balance and surplus in 2023 to seed the capital-improvement fund that will serve as the down payment. "If you keep that $1,700,000 in your budget on an annual basis," Kim said, "you'll be able to pay off this debt without increasing taxes," she said, while warning that interest-rate changes or additional borrowing could alter that outcome.
Supporters, including Dennis Drake, the swim coach, urged the council to rebuild the pool as part of the broader park complex. Drake said the facility historically supported swim teams, lifeguard and CPR classes, summer camps and regional users who pay daily fees. "The pool is part of the park — the crown jewel of the park," he said, arguing it brings regional users and program revenue that help offset operating costs.
Opponents and skeptical residents repeatedly asked for detail. One commenter cited the park master plan's numbers, saying the pool portion was listed at about $9.6 million and asking whether it makes sense to take on that debt for what he said would primarily benefit a small number of families. Others noted that roughly 732 residents responded to the township survey and said that sample size raised questions about how representative the outreach was.
The council and its planner/engineer said the master plan had been developed over years with public meetings and surveys and that design-to-construction timing would follow schematic plans and bidding. The project team said construction, once authorized and bid, is expected to take about two years from groundbreaking; the planner also noted that some grant-funded elements — for example, a playground grant tied to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs — have expenditure deadlines that must be met within two years.
Council members moved and seconded adoption after closing the public hearing. The ordinance passed on a roll-call vote with council members recorded as voting in the affirmative.
Next steps include final design, bidding and construction scheduling; council members and the engineer said the township will notify residents as design milestones and construction dates are set. The council also noted that financing rests on several assumptions — continued budget discipline, current interest-rate conditions and avoiding additional debt — and said the township will continue to provide financial updates to residents as the project advances.
