Unfortunately, those days of leaving a purse unattended with $50 are over. Stick it in your bathing suit top or something if you have to leave your spot unattended because in the world we live in today, sadly, theft is not taught to our youth as something that is absolutely wrong. My babies will be taught that if it's not yours, don't touch it but that seems to be less and less common these days, and if you leave your valuables unattended you're just asking for it to be taken.
I say ban all food/drink from coming into the pool to solve that problem, but offer free water if they bring their own cup/holder, something like that. Having teens check the coolers or try to enforce any type of strict rules
on adults is a joke. If you want these rules enforced, you have to hire someone of authority to do so.
I never did like the fact that non Hellertown residents were aloud at the pool but I understand why if it's a money maker. I do think that Hellertown/ Lower Saucon residence should pay substantially less to have access to their boroughs pool than non residents. Just my two cents.

I agree non-residents should be charged more BUT visiting family and friends should not if they come with a resident.

Anyone under 12 yrs old should be accompanied by an adult. No exceptions. And I would put a ban on coolers over a certain size. Lunch box size should be allowed for drinks. I also agree with the non-resident fees being higher, with the exception of being accompanied by a resident.

I grew up in Hellertown. I now live in Allentown. My husband and I bring our daughter to the Hellertown pool all summer. We leave our things unattended because there was never a problem and I've always felt safe here. We will continue to use this pool even if we are charged more. It's nostalgia for me. So saddened by the change, but I guess that's the direction we are all headed toward.

I have been shocked by the amount of litter on the pool grounds, and in the parking lot. I don't remember this being a huge concern in previous years, but the "out of towners" are not respecting our town. I witnessed a young lady take her McDonald's garbage out of her car, place it on the black top in the parking lot and drive away.

See what happened since the bridge went over the Delaware...Hellertown is becoming a dumping ground..,.sure not the place we knew and loved in the 50's, 60's and 70's...

Non-residents should be charged an increased price regardless of who you know! There is already too much nepotism in this town!

How will charging more to non-residents make the problem of theft and litter go away? Price is not the problem, enforcement is the problem.

So far 90 percent of poll participants believe non-residents should pay more to use the Hellertown Pool. How much more is open to debate, but between these poll results and comments on Facebook, it seems the swimmers and sun-bathers of Hellertown have spoken!

Why is it that the go-to reason for anything bad in the Lehigh Valley is "out of towners"? Lots of trick-or-treaters? Allentown violence? Litter and theft at the pool? Really? Can't possibly be residents, we are angels.

As a resident and a full time mom, I have my children here the majority of the summer. The pool is beautiful, the staff are courteous. I sit and watch groups of 15 to 20 people pour into the pool all day. People with filthy mouths, attitudes, and very little self control. It is blatantly obvious to me that these individuals have little regard for themselves, let alone other people.

There are wrappers and trash left in the aftermath if their departure. The bathrooms which were tidy at noon are deplorable. My daughter asked to be taken home to use ours. It's really a shame.

Having coolers are a definite advantage. I would gladly comply with any cooler check imposed and would not be opposed to a size limit. The cooler policy is a privilege here. It allows me to bring healthy things for my kids to snack on instead of hot dogs or fried chicken. If coolers are banned I can't say I'd be happy but we would deal.

I was at the pool today. The "non residents" are rude and have no respect. Today as I was sitting and reading my book I smelled cigarette smoke. Just what I wanted to smell! I think the Hellertown police officers need to patrol more than once during the afternoons. I have only seen them there once daily during my outings to the pool. If I am incorrect my apologies. Today my family had beach balls bouncing off their heads and not I am sorry. Rude Rude out of towners. I agree with the increase in price if you are not a resident.

I overheard a lady having a cell conversation last week at the Exxon in town. She was from NJ, and was telling someone on the phone about the great town she found to go swimming, tell all her friends and family.I don't think they should be allowed to come from a different state unless they are visiting a resident. I know that Bethlehem has had problems with them parking all over down behind the Wendy's and swimming in the Saucon. That will be an issue with the RT 412 project starting again this week. I do agree that non residents should pay a higher fee.

Hello people.....Is it just me that sees a problem here..police patrolling the Hellertown pool?? Really? This is acceptable...a few years ago there was no trouble with theft, rude crowds of people bringing in whole pizzas and coolers filled with glass. I am sorry but I live here and I pay taxes in this town it should be closed to Hellertown/Lower Saucon residants. It is not safe to have 1,000 people swimming in one pool..I have small children I live 1/2 mile away but unless things change I am not going back. It disgusts me that greed motivates EVERYTHING!

Apparanlty, the borough manager likes the extra revunue that pool is making with all hte extra people, as she does not want to deal with the situation until it gets cold. All these problems are the same problm every pool has had for years. I hate to tell some of you so called locals this, but non loclas have been using the pool for years and if not, the pool may not be opned. Th pool must cover its operating expenses and only allowing locals to use it, would not allow that to happen and more of your tax money would be needed to operate that. I am sure that would not be too popular. One problem I know of that may be causing overcrowding is the Saucon Park Pool. This park and pool draw alot of people, esp from out of town. The pool that is there now, is too small, it use to be the size of the Hellertown Pool, but it was replaced with a much smaller pool. With the fact that 78 opened and so many people form out of the area have moved in PA, out of towners are just a fact of life. When locals go out of the area on vacation, they expect to be able to use a pool or a beach, but not be charged or overcharged. It is hot and people are going to be looking for a pool to cool off. Again the Hellertown Pool is a public pool and it would be wrong of the borough to charge an outrageous fee to keep those deemed not locals out. The borough should be worried about the fact that the pool is still not handicap accessible. If you want a private pool, build your own or join the country club.

I was at the pool on Tuesday of this week and there were boys around middle school age playing football in the kids section of the pool running and falling down not even considering the young children that might be in their paths. There should be some limits to the playing of such games in the section where alot of young children are. Some one could really get hurt. Also I understand the coolers take away from the refreshment stand, but yesterday they had a long list of items they were out of!!! How do run out of ICE for snow cones!!!! I usually only bring plastic water bottles to the pool and sometimes a bag of snacks but I have seen unbeleivable plates of food being eaten at the pool!!! I am sure they were not resident of HELLERTOWN or LOWER SAUCON!!!!

No no build your own pool or join a country club that is so outrageous and obviously doesnt make sense to the mostly middle class population in Hellertown...like I said I pay tax dollars and the fact that this pool isn't even a nice experience for my family amymore is a shame. Obviously people just saying that because of 78 being there and that this pool has always had this many out of towners is in serious denial!!! Have you been there lately???It is greedy to have 1000 + people at this pool in one day my children are small and it is just not safe.. how can these poor lifegaurds possibly watch all of these people? It is absurd and unacceptable...something is going to happen because of all these crowds it is just inevitable.

The overall issue appears to be in the rules and enforcement of the rules at the pool. The pool should have a max number that the life guards can safely watch, and the pool should not allow more than the max into the pool. The staff also have to have the confidence to enforce the rules and have management support them in enforcing the rules. I worked as a lifeguard for the City of Bethlehem from 17 to 22 and had these similar complaints then, however if patrons are not going respect the rules and follow the requests of the staff, they should be asked to leave without refund! It doesn't matter if a person is 14, 30, or 76, they should respect the guards and the rules.

Non-residents ? why are they even there ??? It's all about GREED and MONEY that's why !.... LITER ? post $500 FINE sign, THEFT? same thing and a permanent BAN !... I don't even swim there and I think there should be better rules invoked. Did leave out camera's ? why not they are everywhere else big brother is watching you!

I know the ongoings of the pool very well, and I thought I would straighten some facts out. Only one time this summer did the attendance reach that of near 1,000 people. It was on a sunny, 98 degree day, so naturally everybody wanted to go to the pool. It was an anomaly. Also, this attendance is taken throughout the day, so it represents the daily aggregate attendance, not how many people are in the pool at a given time. So it is not like 1,000 people are in the pool at once. Moving on to the cooler issue. The staff checks every cooler that comes in, but there is no way to stop the deceit of the attendees that try to sneak prohibited items into the pool area. It is well enforced, but is impossible to completely eradicate all undesirable elements without infringing on the pool-goers rights. It's a community pool, not an airport; they can't hire big buff body guards for every entrance. Now, to those who question the pool's financial integrity, the pool is designed to break even at the end of the day. It is not made for profit, but instead a service for the community. I hope this cleared everything up. I'm not saying that the pool shouldn't be changed at all, but it is not as bad as portrayed in the comments above.

So no one in HLS is rude or dirty or loud? No one in HLS ever gets arrested for being less than upstanding? It MUST be all those "out of towners".
As for raising prices to keep out the riff-raff- why not just allow only white folks? Or only property owners? Or maybe make out of towners wear yellow stars on their bathing suits

Here's a thought...why not just be polite, respectful, upstanding citizens no matter what town you're from. I'm sure that the problems are from both resident & non-resident folk. There is no way of knowing by looking at a person who lives where. But there should be a certain respect for rules and for others. I was at the pool on Saturday with my family and we left within an hour because it was simply overcrowed with rude people and unruly children. As far as the pool staff not enforcing the rules I watched and listened while a female lifeguard blew her whistle at a child that was wearing a life vest in the deeper section. When the father saw this he questioned the lifeguard over and over again why his son couldn't be there with a life vest on. He should have simply said "Ok" but instead chose to question someone who is there to save lives. No one follows rules these days! I also observed another lifeguard speaking to a man about the thefts and other things that have been taking place. When he turned his back this man called out to his friends in complete sarcasm, "Make sure you don't steal anything"! It's a complete disregard to people who are there to keep the pool safe and fun like it should be. I don't blame the staff. They are not babysitter's. I have always entered the facility and opened my thermal bag before anyone's asked so that they can check what I'm bringing in. I have nothing to hide.

I ran a public pool in the 80s. Public pools ARE dumping grounds for irresponsible parents to use as their babysitter. FACT...mothers that do it, go ahead....defend yourself however you'd like - DUMPING GROUND FOR BABYSITTING! There is a simple solution to this problem. 1.) No one under the age of 18 enters the pool area without an adult escort signing responsibility for that minor. 2.) No matter whether a person has a summer membership card or the person(s) are just visiting for the day...EVERYONE signs/& advised/in on a sheet of paper that clearly states all pool rules. The last rule says: If pool staff tells a patron "no" regarding any situation, the answer is NO - no debate. If the visitor continues non-compliance in any manner, the police will be called immediately (see, we/this pool, are owned by the borough and have a direct line to the police chief - so go ahead, test us) and the disorderly visitor will be escorted to a secured room within the pool facility and police will cite them appropriately under borough codes. There's no need for a feasibility study, committee review, council discussions - that's all CYA crap, anyway! Life was so much easier in the 80s when lawyers weren't car-chasing every idiotic matter that existed! In the 80s, it was called a baseball bat...& chasing the kid out of the pool area. Because we live in a litigious society, can't use the bat method (& know what: I never used the bat and I was a 120lb female back then!) SIMPLE: Rule 1 & 2. DONE!

I was a life guard in the 80s Delt with the same problem!!! Sounds like nothing has changed. Just have to deal with it. Summers short have fun!!

Raise the daily rate for non-resident, keep the season pass for non-resident the same. We have a lot of friends that choose our pool for the summer and season pass owners tend to have a lot more respect, they watch their kids and watch out for others than daily pass folks! The season passes are totally reasonable, maybe could be lowered for non-residents to encourage folks to be more like members working/playing together... I was keeping a special eye out today for the big kids, mine is on a camping trip this week as they can and do sometime thrash through the 1-3 and hitting un-expecting toddlers with blasts of water. Today was very mellow. They don't mean harm, but can be a little young and dumb about thrashing through. Many Pool Moms would agree we have raised and know some considerate kids altogether that may need to be reminded now and then :) It might be more the ones we don't know. I think we can work this out fairly without racism, oh, I meant without excluding certain groups. Sincerely, a season pass owner for 5 years straight, we love our pool, but after this Saturday, I won't go on a weekend again. Total chaos and stress!

@Lanita Lum, I take it you have never visited our pool or talked to the regular, "Pool Moms." They definitely have a different story to tell. I also think you might have some dumping off issues from your past, maybe you should seek help? I'm sorry your experiences altogether led you to the assumption that every parent thinks that the pool is a place to to leave their, "Life Guard Meat." Not me and certainly not OTHER season pass owners! There may be an element of truth at times, but it's worked out privately and easily, and worked out, the point! My 13 and 10 year old are excellent swimmers, responsible pool goers and if their is anything left in this world that isn't regulated by age versus character is this mild coming-of-age that each 10 year old feels. It's the flag of, "I trust my parenting you has proven that you can be trusted." It is a marvelous time for the said 10 year old! "I am respected and can have a ton of fun at the pool respectfully and responsibly!" I find it a shame that we dumb down the responsibilities of our kids. In the same thought, my 13 year old yearns to make some money this summer. I had my first job at 11, delivering newspapers, where are those jobs...regulated by douche bags with no vision of teaching children to responsible for their actions until they are 18 and can truly pay. Lazy parenting, coddling world, NOT GOOD!

@Sam I Am, I get that. I also don't believe you are a pool goer, just an outside judgment. I love the diversity of our pool. I meet really cool parents because of this, but these cool ones, no matter what their race, creed, or sexual orientation is still getting bombarded by the stress of folks coming in and NOT following some basic rules for safety. I heard some left Beer bottles, just saying...I don't mind that they know me and check my cooler each day. Opinions are like something, I forget the phrase...

The important thing @anonymous is that the nonsense that you refused to address is actually turning residents away from purchasing season passes as they are over-burdened by some of the nonsense that occurs on busy hot days! How horrible is it that a public community pool excludes it's own tax-paying residents because even the mild price of a season pass might not be worth the Bull-Crap they have to deal with with under-supervising parents and groups of teens taking out toddlers. Madness is not a good investment!

@Heidi I agree! Notice that my assessment for today was different. I know that football crowd and agree to talk to them and my kid who participates. Cool thing tho, last week A Moravian College foot ball guy named Alvin, totally sparked these kids. He played them in the proper field near the diving boards. My son's reaction was that he kicked all of our butts....but the MS football team present totally loved Alvin and even yelled "Alvin" like Dave from Alvin and the Chipmunks when he owned them. Don't forget your kid will be this age too. We try our hardest to wrangle our teens/tweens :)

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This is a public pool that is maintained by local taxes. Very simple...if you do not pay taxes to the Borough of Hellertown you pay $20 a day to swim at the pool. Borough council needs to get a backbone. This is not an ethnic debate but a pure resident vs non resident issue. And no non-resident children under 15 are allowed with out an adult. The splash pad is unnecessary and a waste of money. All it does is recirculate the slop coming out of the swimming diapers. And, who ever thought of swimming diapers...keep the kids out of the pool until they are toilet trained so I am not swimming in the slop! There is nothing wrong with pride in our town, many generations have paid taxes to keep it clean and safe. Don't let the freeloaders take it over!