The Problem
Our Cheltenham Township Board of Commissioners has unanimously approved a multi-million-dollar deal that risks upward of $4.5 million of our taxpayer funds without open, competitive public bidding and in direct violation of our Home Rule Charter, Section C1207C (4).

The deal means the closure of Conklin pool, a beautiful 6.8-acre site with rich township history, and its replacement with a tiny 2.5-acre site in the middle of an HOA-administered private development at the former Melrose Country Club.

On July 15, 2026, the Township approved a "Ground Lease Agreement" with a single-purpose LLC (Melrose Pool, LLC) spun from a private developer, Melrose Development, LLC. Under this deal, the developer gets to use our public land for a nominal rent of just $10.00 a year to build a customized commercial swimming pool.

But here is the catch: once construction is finished, Cheltenham Township taxpayers are legally bound to either pay a $4.5 million lump-sum "Improvement Payment" to buy the pool facilities or lease them back at a staggering cost of $382,500.00 every single year—calculated at a strict 8.5% financial yield for the developer. Worse yet, these massive annual payments would not count against the outstanding $4.5 million transfer payment required to give final ownership of the pool back to our township.

The Lack of Transparency

While public discussions of our aging township facilities happened several years ago, the Commissioners never brought this plan before residents before they announced in April that a privately negotiated deal had been reached to close Conklin and replace it with this much smaller facility.

They have not responded to a documented gap between what they previously left undisclosed regarding the Melrose Land and their consistent public remarks that it was to be a municipal amenity, that no decisions had been made, and that township residents would have plenty of time to weigh in. Read Paragraph 6 of the Zoning Appeal here. Watch the March meeting video here; discussion takes up the first roughly 35 minutes.

Moreover, the Commissioners never answered a slew of essential questions about the project before unanimously voting to move forward with it. Among others:

• What is the Township's plan regarding the $4.5 million improvement payment? Does it intend to make that payment, or instead make the annual lease payments?
• When and how was the decision made, and why was the plan not brought before the public? 
• Why is a ground lease with a private entity financially preferable to the Township financing and owning the facility outright?
• What alternatives were formally considered since 2024, including rebuilding or replacing the pool at the existing Conklin site?
• If a private partner is involved, why wasn't there a competitive solicitation or RFP process?
• What happens if Melrose Pool LLC dissolves, defaults on its obligations, or transfers its interest to another entity?
• Who is responsible for construction cost overruns, future capital improvements, and major repairs?
• What permanent legal rights will the Township have regarding access, parking, future expansion, and operation of the facility? What about the HOA? 
• Where was the complete lease agreement, financial analysis, and supporting documents made available to the public before final approval?
• What will happen to the Conklin site? 

Read the Ground Lease here (Page 18). For some reason it is not attached to the 7/15 Board of Commissioners meeting agenda, where it was unanimously approved, and where one would normally expect to find it...

This is a Loophole, Not a Lease

This is not a passive land lease. It is a massive public works construction project funded entirely by our public treasury. By wrapping a $4.5 million building contract inside a $10 property lease, the structure of the contract effectively bypasses standard procurement rules, e.g., mandatory public advertising and competitive bidding laws. Our Charter exempts simple real estate transactions from these requirements, but any honest look at the Ground Lease contract shows that it is substantively a contract to construct a new municipal pool.

Worse yet, the Township completely skipped a mandatory, non-discretionary check required under Section C1207C(4) of our own Cheltenham Township Home Rule Charter, which commands a formal procedural fiscal assessment before any real estate transactions are executed. An official Right-to-Know Law response has confirmed that this assessment was never conducted, compiled, or reviewed.

Our local governance structure was designed to protect public funds from favoritism, extravagance, and backroom deals. By rushing this contract through without an open bidding process, the Board has blocked other qualified contractors from competing, kept taxpayers in the dark, and violated the very Charter they swore to uphold.

The Imminent Risks
If we do not act immediately, the developer will secure building permits, break ground on our public property, and lock us into millions of dollars of structural debt. Under our Charter (Section C1207F), willfully bypassing these procurement rules is a summary criminal offense that carries a mandatory forfeiture of municipal office. Our leaders are putting the township at severe legal and financial risk.

What We Are Demanding
We, the undersigned residents and taxpayers of Cheltenham Township, demand that the Board of Commissioners immediately:

1. Halt all permit issuances, fund transfers, and site work associated with the July 15, 2026 Ground Lease.
2. Rescind the invalid contract entirely due to the fatal failure to perform the mandatory Charter Section C1207C(4) assessment.
3. Commit to complete transparency by subjecting any future public facility development to the open, competitive public bidding processes required by Pennsylvania law and robust public deliberation as required by the Sunshine Act. 

Sign this petition today to demand that our commissioners stop the secretly negotiated deals, respect our Home Rule Charter, and protect our tax dollars! Please feel free to share your reasons for signing in the comments section. Thank you! 

PLEASE NOTE THAT WHEN YOU "CHIP IN," THE MONEY JUST GOES TO CHANGE.ORG AND SUPPOSEDLY AMPLIFIES ADVERTISING OF THE PETITION. GIVEN ITS LOCAL NATURE, I DON'T THINK THIS IS NECESSARY AND WOULD NOT RECOMMEND MAKING SUCH A CONTRIBUTION. I'M SORRY TO ANYONE WHO ALREADY HAS; I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THIS WOULD BE SOLICITED. THANK YOU! 

 

***IMPORTANT FOR CHELTENHAM RESIDENTS: To ensure our voices carry full legal and political weight before the Board of Commissioners, please type your Zip Code or Neighborhood (e.g., Elkins Park, Glenside, Cheltenham) in the 'City' field when signing, or mention your resident status in the comments box!