Wayne ends five-year contract with swim association
By: Philip DeVencentis
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
WAYNE - A partnership between the township and a nonprofit group that coaches youth swimming has come to an abrupt end after officials canceled their contract.
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Wayne Swim Association Incorporated took over the six-lane indoor pool at the Wayne Community Center less than a year ago. The organization assembled a team of 109 swimmers, whew compete as part of Rebel Aquatic Club.
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But Mayor Christopher Vergano said officials expected more out of the joint venture.
..... Starting in September, [2026] he said, the community center will launch its own slate of pool activities under the township banner. The programming will consist of aquatics classes for adults, more swimming lessons for children and the resurgence of the Bluetreaks - a swim team that was based at the facility when it was owned by the YMCA.
..... "We decided to move in a different direction," Vergano said. "Our goal is to get more members of the community in the pool."
..... The swim associations and its youth swim team can sty at the community center through the end of august. [2026] Vergano said, adding that "no one is being thrown out on the street."
..... Michael Lazzara, a co-founder of the swim association, would not comment of the issue, only saying "our organization was very grat4eful to be there." He referred questions to an attorney, who did not return a phone call seeking comment.
..... Lazzara and co-founder Christopher Dunn have a prospered elsewhere.
..... In October 2018, voters in Rutherford turned down a $53 million bond issue for school upgrades in a referendum. The proposal included filling in an indoor pool at the high school and replacing it with a new cafeteria.
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After that, Dunn and Lazzara saved the high school pool through a deal with the Board of Education. they later formed Rutherford Swim Association Incorporated, whose mission is similar to that of the Wayne nonprofit. The duo runs a third nonprofit for youth swimmers in Weehawken.
..... Impressed by those credentials, the Vergano administration in June 2025 recommended that the Township Council award a five-year contract to the Wayne nonprofit for management of the community center pool. Under that pact, the swim association was to share profits with the township. The arrangement cane six months after officials acquired the YMCA building - dedicated in September 1976 - for $11.7 million
..... It also occurred amid a transition n leadership.
..... Timothy Roetman, the then-recreation director, left the township soon afterward to be the deputy administrator for Passaic County. In January, [2026] officials hired Philip Conte, the former recreation director for Bogota, to be in charge of the community center.
..... The 145,904-square-foot facility on Pike Drive offers more than 30 fitness classes per week, plus basketball clinics, piano lessons and a theater club that meets after school.