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Wenonah council and lake managers tighten membership rules after weekend access problems
Summary
After weekend incidents where online purchasers could not pick up membership tags, Wenonah lake managers and the borough clarified a policy requiring registrations to be processed during office hours and for members to present tags for admission; a family dispute led to a formal warning and renewed emphasis on incident reporting to protect staff and the program.
The Wenonah Mayor and Council heard extended public comment and staff explanation Wednesday about changes to lake membership procedures after multiple weekend incidents where people who purchased memberships online were unable to pick up tags at the lake.
Elena Thump, co-manager of the lake, told the council the borough revised its process after a series of problems during the last season and “we put this in place” to protect the program’s liability. Thump said lifeguard and manager staffing has been increased (four assistant managers, 14 lifeguards) and that the lake office does not have secure internet access, so online purchases made on weekends cannot be verified or completed at the lake that same day.
The policy change requires online registrations to be reviewed and processed during regular borough office business hours before tags are issued. Thump said the application form now includes bold language that “online registration is not available on weekends and federal holidays” and that patrons may instead bring cash or check to the lake to complete registration in person.
A public commenter who identified the family’s experience said they purchased a membership online, arrived at the lake without tags and were initially denied access. The same family later received a formal warning tied to an incident report filed by staff. The resident asked which code of conduct provision they had violated; council and staff pointed to the code’s section on mistreatment of staff and to the need to document repeat problematic behavior.
Mayor and staff emphasized the borough’s dual objectives: protect employees and keep the municipally run swim program operating. “We have had to put a lot of new practices in place this year to better protect the borough’s liability for running this program,” the manager said, noting staff must verify registration details (contact information, accuracy of payment and completed forms) before admitting members.
Staff described several accommodations: day-pass purchasers can be converted to full members and credited for a day pass if they complete paperwork later during office hours; staff will handle double-payment or refund claims case by case; and the borough has added prominent notices on the online form to discourage weekend online purchases.
Residents pressed for more communication in individual cases when incidents occur; officials said incident reports are the basis for follow-up and that several patrons received similar notifications after staff documented disruptive incidents during the season.
Council members and staff urged continued outreach to parents and the community about helmet and safety messaging and to encourage early online purchases during the week when possible. The council did not change admission-fee policy at the meeting; staff said the immediate fixes are operational (signage, clearer online notice, in-person weekend options) and that the office will accommodate questions and refund requests on a case-by-case basis.
The council moved on after the discussion; no formal ordinance or policy change vote was taken at the meeting.
