Waterford Crossing News Release
Recreation Facility Update in View of COVID-19
Pool
What follows will be a difficult pill to swallow. In fact, it is going to seem like the board of trustees is being overly cautious and thwarting a return to normalcy. Nevertheless, the pool will remain closed for the season. To make the best out of a bad situation, needed renovations will be performed to prevent future closures and ensure the pool is available and enjoyable for years to come. Further, remaining funds resulting from the closure of the pool will be returned in the form of a credit on the assessment for next year. Further details are provided below for those interested.
The decision to keep the pool closed was not based on one factor but rather on diligent consideration of many factors. We detailed some considerations in our prior update to the pool including, liability, guideline implementation and enforcement, cost, and pool vendor issues.
In addition to at least an ethical obligation to protect the health and safety of residents, the board has a duty to protect the assets of the community. As such, consideration of legal liability in opening the pool is required. Things started to look good on the liability front as separate immunity bills were passed in the Ohio House and Senate to address this issue. However, the legislature decided to recess until the end of July prior to working on a consolidated bill that could be passed and signed into law. This is very unfortunate and leaves homeowners’ associations exposed this summer.
The guidelines for opening are stringent and difficult to properly implement and enforce. We thought through scenarios on how we might open including removing all chairs and tables and allowing people to bring their own chairs. In this case, the items to be cleaned and disinfected are reduced, but we would still have to clean and disinfect at least the restrooms, railings, and gates every two hours. We were hoping that the guidelines would be reduced to something more practical than requiring social distancing in and out of the pool including physical barriers and visual cues, cleaning and disinfecting every two hours, and limited capacity. Unfortunately, that has not happened. The result is an unappealing visual of a select few people segmented into squares in the pool with sunbathers donning masks under the careful watch of a security guard with a cleaning crew waiting to shut everything down. This is incompatible with what is commonly understood as an enjoyable day at the pool. Further, the unbudgeted cost associated with security and disinfecting is steep for a few weeks of very restrictive pool use. Further, the capacity limit would require an additional cost associated with reservation management.
It may have been beneficial to wait before making this decision to let things play out, but there are diminishing returns for such delay. In particular, our pool vendor needs some lead time to properly staff the pool. Every week of delay in deciding adds a week to the possible opening date. Other options were also considered but ultimately dismissed based on the additional time required, including a vote to gauge community sentiment.
Health and legal risk, level of access and enjoyability in view of the restrictions, and cost, as a whole, weigh against opening the pool this season. Reasonable people can disagree with this assessment. However, board members volunteered countless hours to understand all the issues and nuances and reached the difficult decision to keep the pool closed.
Many pool renovations have been scheduled for completion in the next few years. Certain renovations, such as re-plastering and tiling of the pool, can only be done at certain times of the year and would result in closure or a delayed opening in the future. We are moving the timeline on renovations to take advantage of the closure this year to limit interruption in subsequent years.
Keeping the pool closed certainly saves money. However, at least some of that money will be reinvested in the pool. At the end of the year, we will evaluate what was saved versus spent and issue a credit on the 2021 assessment for remaining funds.
All board members would like to open the pool to the community. However, a fact-based analysis of all the issues has led to the pool remaining closed. Exploiting this time to make improvements to one of our community's most popular assets seeks to make the best out of a bad situation, and the credit for unused funds provides financial relief to members. Finally, a degree of protection is provided to everyone, including the most vulnerable in our community, from a highly contagious virus and deadly disease that continues to remain among us. We realize none of this is going to console those who had their heart set on opening the pool. However, this is where we are due to the pandemic.
Thank you for your understanding and trust in us to make such an important and difficult decision. We look forward to opening a renovated pool next year.
Tennis Courts
The tennis courts will be opened in July for tennis only (not basketball). The guidelines for opening applicable to tennis courts are the least restrictive of those applied to our facility, which allows us to open. We will be removing the gate to eliminate a common point of contact and installing signs that specify additional rules and policies.
The COVID-19 tennis court specific rules, requirements and policies are:
1. If you do not feel well or are sick, entry into the tennis court area is prohibited.
2. The use of social distancing and maintaining at least 6 feet or more between individuals from different households everywhere in the tennis court area is required.
3. The gathering of groups from or of different households is prohibited.
4. Loitering in the tennis court area is prohibited.
5. For the safety and protection of your fellow neighbors, you are asked to wear a face covering when interacting in close proximity to others. Please also practice good personal hygiene, including washing hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, using hand sanitizer, refraining from touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, and coughing and sneezing into your elbow.
Playground
The playground will remain closed for now in view of the most restrictive guidelines, which require cleaning and disinfecting every hour and the that the HOA ensure that people are six feet apart. We will monitor the situation, and if the guidelines are reduced, consider opening the playground at that time.
Clubhouse
The clubhouse will remain closed until at least August 1st. This is the result of the current restriction against gatherings of more than ten people, as well as guidelines providing for reduced capacity and bathroom cleaning and disinfecting every two hours. We will update the status of the clubhouse should the guidelines change.
Volleyball Court
The volleyball court will also be closed. This has been the source of large gatherings recently and dangerous behavior, namely jumping the pool fence and running on the pool cover to retrieve balls that frequently are hit into the pool due to the close proximity. We have no means to ensure safety, limited capacity or social distancing here, which requires its closure at this time. We will monitor the situation and open the court should circumstances change.
Questions?
Waterford Crossing Homeowners' Association
Email: wchoa44149@gmail.com
Website: www.wcho.org
Location: 18881 Waterford Parkway, Strongsville, OH, USA