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Letter from Scott Ray, Board President, 3-26-10 |
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Dear Exchange Pool Members: Spring has arrived and preparations for the 2010 season are beginning! We have made many improvements to the pool during the off-season, focusing on the bathhouse. All of the bathhouse flooring has been resurfaced for better traction and better draining. We also added a pad under the Ping-Pong table.
Pre-season workdays are scheduled – see the website for details. It’s a great way to work off some of your annual dues.
Please note the following important dates:
April 1st 2009 Season bills are mailed April 22nd Pre-season Volunteer Meeting, 7:00 – 7:30 p.m. at the pool April 24th First Pre-season workday (20 people are needed) May 1st Payment due May 1st Second Pre-season workday (10 people are needed) May 8th Final Pre-season workday (10 people are needed) May 15th Unpaid bills officially “in arrears” May 15th Pool Opens May 16th Swim Team Open House May 31st Memorial Day Pot Luck June 1st Unpaid bills officially in default
We have drafted a new pamphlet that summarizes many pool policies for our members. The new pamphlet accompanies this letter and is available on the website. You will notice that there are a few updates to our guest policy for the 2010 season including:
• All guest names must be recorded and be signed in by member • Guest fees will be $2 per person with maximum of 6 visits per guest per summer. – see the website for details Please help us continue to be a fun, safe, family oriented facility for our entire membership. Sincerely,
Scott Ray President Exchange Club Pool |
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Letter from Scott Ray, Board President, 5-12-09 |
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Dear Exchange Pool Members,
The 2009 Summer Season will show you lots of changes at the Exchange Pool, some very obvious, others not so, but very important.
The preseason work days have been very productive - the weather was cooperative every weekend for the volunteers. Thank you all for your hard preseason work.
Unfortunately, our contractors have not had the same luck with good weather. We began sandblasting the pool on April 1 to prepare it for recoatiing - but due to multiple instances of consecutive days of rain and not enough dry days in a row for "curing the surface" the pool will not open as scheduled on May 16. Our target date for opening the pool now is May 23.
We plan to have the pool open an equivalent amount of time at the end of the season to make up this delay.
Let me share with you some of the changes we have put into place this year.
1. The Virginia Graham Baker Act was signed in January 2008. The Act requires that all public swimming pools and spas be equipped with anti-entrapment drain covers that comply with the ASME/ANSI A112.19.8-2007 Standard by December 19, 2008. A second phase was put into place with yet a stricter standard that will require pools to be in compliance in 2010. THE EXCHANGE POOL IS IN FULL COMPLIANCE with this new piece of legislation. New drain were installed in both pools. We have been told that some pools in the area are not opening due to lack of compliance.
2. Sandblasted off the many layers of epoxy coating (that was chipping off in some places) primed and put down a brand new light blue epoxy shell with black racing stripes.
3. A new, taller fence. This will help protect our pool from vandals.
4. New sign in procedure this year. In order to better track usage of the pool as well as manage misuse, we now have a computer check in. Front desk staff will check you in and verify that all coming into the pool are members in good standing.
5. Lifeguards will be sporting red swimsuits - the color more typically associated with lifeguards for easy recognition for all of our members and guests.
We do have some memberships for sale this year - so pass the word on to friends and neighbors. You can find the names & contact information for people selling memberships at the Membership Bulletin Board. Contact Valerie Miller for more information.
See you at the pool - real soon!
Scott Ray
Exchange Pool President
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Letter from Scott Ray, Board President, 10/27/08 |
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Dear Members: I am writing to thank you for another wonderful season and to explain some upcoming changes in our dues structure. First, let me mention that we are especially proud of our swim team this year, winning the Summer Swim League Championships and receiving the League Sportsmanship Award. Just one more accolade, EXSC raised over $5,900 for the NC Childrens Hospitals. A big round of applause goes to all involved - Swimmers, Coaches, Parent Reps, and Volunteers. Go Cyclones! Our end of season was much less auspicious. Tropical storm Hannah brought copious amounts of rain, flooding the pool, bath house, and equipment rooms, ending our season early and providing our volunteers a massive and dirty cleanup project. Even before Hannah we were challenged by water clarity issues and had to close the pool several times due to water cloudiness both this year and last. In response to the water clarity issues and recognition of the age and state of the facility, the Exchange Club Pool Board (Board) formed a subcommittee to develop a long-term maintenance plan for the pool. A number of maintenance items and facility upgrades are being identified to comply with state safety regulations. We are also continuing structural repairs in an effort to improve the facility and water clarity. The Exchange Club Pool is a community of 300 member families, working together to provide a beneficial and wholesome experience for our community. We rely on full membership participation to limit costs and sustainably operate the facility. The Board has examined our cash flow, recurring costs, and anticipated facility repair costs in preparation for the 2009 season. Recognizing that we must operate in a fiscally responsible manner, the Board has approved a fee increase in addition to several changes in membership and payment policies. Beginning with the 2009 season, the following changes are adopted: Accounts may not be in arrears Dues must be paid in full by May 15th prior to the beginning of each season Unpaid memberships will revert to the pool on June 1st and will be sold via lottery on June 2nd. No partial memberships are available Family membership dues for the 2009 season will increase by $95.00 to $500.00 Individual membership dues for the 2009 season will increase by $50.00 to $255.00 (single person)
Thank you for your understanding. We feel these changes will provide a more stable revenue base for operations and allow us to address necessary capital improvements. We welcome comments and involvement by the membership community. Please help us continue to be a fun, safe, family oriented facility for our entire membership. Sincerely, Scott Ray President Exchange Club Pool |
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Letter from Board of Directors, August 7 2008 |
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Dear Members,
Much to everyone’s disappointment, we have had to close the pool due to water cloudiness more than once both this year and last. Water clarity, not chemical safety, has been our only issue all along. We would like to communicate the issues to you and explain what is being done to address them. Therefore, the Exchange Pool Board of Directors will send out brief and periodic emails that summarize the relevant details about our water and systems, etc. Please read on if you are interested.
A few times this summer, as the air and water temperatures increase and more people use the pool, we have developed cloudy water issues. Working with pool experts and following professional procedures, the pool management and the maintenance representatives on the Board have been following a standard strategy of treating the water chemically, vacuuming particulate, and also cleaning the filter media. This has worked to temporarily correct the cloudiness. After the cycle repeated itself, we determined that the filter media was worn out and on Monday night, started the process of emptying hundreds of pounds of the sludge-like filter media, which seemed to be saturated with lots of oily/lotion-like residue.
On Tuesday we engaged a professional company to replace the media and replace some of the nearby hardware. This is a dirty process that stirred up even more particulate. For the past 1-2 days both the pool pumps and filter systems worked to clear the water, assisted by manual vacuuming and cleaning. The progress was not as good as we hoped and an evaluation today indicated that some of the hardware near the filter may have been installed incorrectly on Tuesday. So the hardware is being re-installed today. The water has made progress and we hope that it will be clear soon.
In a nutshell, those are the recent, short-term issues regarding troublesome water and systems and the actions we have undertaken. There was also significant work done this spring to the piping system that has improved water flow in the pool and significantly reduced lost water due to leaks. We recognize the need to assess the long-term operation of the pool and develop and follow a long-term facilities maintenance plan that will help keep the pool well maintained and help alleviate these situations. To that end, we have formed a subcommittee to develop a long-term maintenance plan for the pool. If you are interested in helping out on the committee you may contact Scott Ray (
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
).Â
Sincerely,
The Exchange Pool Board
P.S. Some may be tempted to point a finger at the staff; however you may not be aware that this year’s staff and management team is something of a dream team for the pool. They too care about this place and have worked cohesively and diligently to get things back on line and we would be in worse shape without these fine young people. |
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