If Lansford Borough Council decides to renovate the shuttered borough pool, it's likely that the earliest it could reopen would be 2018.

The pool's fate will ultimately depend on the borough's ability to get grants and private fundraising for the estimated $800,000 pool renovation."We were hoping for two years when we started all this. We were hoping to not have it down for any more than two years," Councilwoman Rose Mary Cannon said.Borough council recently heard from the consultant who has been conducting a feasibility study around the current pool facility. Randy Galiotto of Wade Associates briefed residents on what they should expect from the completed report.Galiotto said at the minimum, the borough should be prepared to spend $500,000 on the pool renovation, although Cannon said the final cost may be closer to $800,000.That includes replacing the leaky filtration pipes that forced the pool to close this year after they leaked millions of gallons of water during the 2015 pool season.The estimate, Galiotto said, tries to take into account input from pool supporters as well as those who are concerned about the cost of the project."We don't want to throw a plan on the desk that is too far-fetched, so it's going to be a base plan, and we're going to give the borough options to add," Galiotto said.Specifically, the plan calls for a new pool shell, filtration system, pump house and of course, filtration lines. The bathrooms would also be renovated.The new pool would be built within the shell of the old pool. One existing wall will have to be removed to make room for a "competitive swimming area" for swim meets and lap swimming.In addition to recommendations for the pool's infrastructure, Wade Associates will also provide recommendations for making the pool financially viable going forward."We are right now working on the programming end, you can expect to see our recommendation of programs to help the pool stay sustainable in the future," he said.Borough council hasn't committed any money to the pool project beyond the $8,000 it paid for Wade Associates' report. A group of residents known as Friends of the Lansford Pool is organizing a series of fundraisers aimed at raising money for the pool renovation.Other residents in attendance at council's May meeting questioned where the funding for the project would come from."The problem is that we don't have petty cash in this borough. So does that mean again, you'll raise our taxes?" Pat Whalen asked."Can't afford to raise taxes here, no way," Irma Leibensperger said.Cannon said that the goal is to use grant money for the project, not local tax revenue."Again, I think the figure is $800,000, the base we're looking at. It's not tax money, it's not money that's going to be coming out of the budget, we're going to be looking at grants to do this."