State of Rock Creek Pool 2019
To all Equity Members and our Senior, Summer, and August Swimmers at Rock Creek Pool,
I feel somewhat validated by the fact that 2018 was officially the wettest season in this area since records have been kept. Water issues were the theme for our 2018 operating season; slow leaks in parts of our expanded pool; excessive rain caused drainage issues in parts of the newly configured grounds, stressed our existing water management systems including destabilizing the front steps; and to top it off rain graced our annual meeting in September. I truly appreciate everyone’s patience as we worked to mitigate those issues during the season.
We have spent the off-season detecting and remediating the pool system leaks (old and new), drainage issues (old and new), and are now focused on the construction calendar to ensure the modernization, repairs, and landscaping are finished in advance of our historical opening date – the weekend before Memorial Day, Friday, May 17. We will continue to update the pool website for the 2019 season in the coming months and post updates on a consistent basis through our social media platforms. Below are updates on other key pool items.
RCP Board
At the Annual Meeting in September the Equity Members selected eight members for a new two-year term. Those eight are: Michael Abate, Andrew Collard, Kate Elliott, Iain Gold, Marge Martin, Bryan McCann, Patrick Moffitt, and Joel Rubin.
They join the other seven members who have one year remaining on their terms: Kent Allen, Kelly Briscoe, Tommy Gletner, Marek Gootman, Tim Nealis, Jane Ward, and Sharon Winick. Consistent with our bylaws the new board selects the officers at its first meeting; the following board members were elected for the following officer positions:
· President – Iain Gold · Vice President – Marge Martin · Treasurer – Kent Allen · Secretary – Sharon Winick
Membership
As we prepare for the upcoming season we need to know if there are Equity Members who wish to sell their membership and we also want to prepare you to register and pay for the various levels of swim privileges. If your family has not used the pool in recent years, please consider selling your membership to make space for families waiting on our extensive waitlist. Please contact Admin@RockCreekPool.com by February 28, 2019, to sell your membership and to receive a refund of your $1,050 equity share.
We offer Senior Swim privileges to Equity Members who are age 65 years or older with at least 20 years of membership, however, there are currently only a few spots available. If you are interested in selling your equity share to retain Senior Swim privileges (season dues currently $200) for yourself and your spouse/partner, please notify Admin@RockCreekPool.com by February 28.
Dues/Assessments
As we articulated at the beginning of the modernization process, the Board approved a combination of a dues increase, a special member assessment (applied to Equity Members’ ownership in the pool) and a capital assessment for a period of three years – we are now in the final year of the fees.
The dues schedule is as follows:
|
2019 |
Dues |
Special |
Capital |
Total |
|
Equity Member |
$595 |
$100 |
$60 |
$755 |
|
Waitlist-Summer Swim |
$725 |
|
$120 |
$845 |
|
Senior Swim |
$200 |
|
|
$200 |
|
Waitlist-August Swim |
$275 |
|
|
$275 |
Registration is scheduled to open the week of April 9 with payments due by April 30 (for Equity Members, Senior Swim, and those on the waitlist with Summer Swim privileges). Those on the waitlist being offered August Swim privileges will receive notice no later than the first week in July. Note that receiving an offer for August Swim privileges last season does not guarantee swim privileges this season—the number of available slots is dependent upon the decisions of others on the waitlist ahead of you.
Put It on My Tab!
Our registration software provider, Member Splash, has upgraded their systems and partnered with BankCardUSA to provide enhanced payment processing via Authorize.net (to replace the PayPal portal). You should see nothing different in how online payments of season dues are managed (and as always, no credit card information is ever stored on our system). The change you will see is that purchases made at the pool for Daily Guest Passes will be “on your account” so the guards will no longer collect payments.
Welcome & Inclusion
Over the past two years we’ve seen increasing sales of Equity memberships and therefore have more new families utilizing the pool. The Board is interested in making sure that Rock Creek Pool is a welcoming and inclusive environment for all pool users. We would like to hear your honest feedback about your experiences and suggestions about what leadership the Board can provide, and what all of us can do as members, to create a positive community experience. Please provide comments on the Welcome and Inclusion page or contact board member Jane Ward at jbrward@gmail.com or Iain Gold at President@RockCreekPool.com.
New Tennis Program
Rock Creek Pool Club is excited to announce ProsToYou/Koa Tennis as our new tennis provider for the upcoming 2019 season! We have a strong tennis base already and ProsToYou/Koa Tennis is looking forward to offering more programs to continue to build the tennis community!
ProsToYou offers Spring and Summer programs for all ages and skill levels, including the ever-popular Summer weekday morning program. Visit the Tennis page for registration information. We hope you will enjoy and take full advantage of the new tennis programs at Rock Creek.
Swim and Dive
The Rock Creek Fins will compete in swimming and diving again this year with the swimming Fins competing in Division J of the Montgomery County Swim League and the diving Fins in Division I of the Montgomery County Diving League. Registration for both teams will be handled separately this year through a dedicated team registration platform. More information will be posted on our website as it becomes available.
Volunteers
RCP is run by a group of volunteers and we always need help for a variety of events (social, grounds clean-up, organizing an event, communication, purchasing food for an event, etc.). Please plan to support your community pool by volunteering your time and expertise.
As always, your comments are appreciated – you can reach me at President@RockCreekPool.com.
Sincerely,
Iain Gold,
President,
Rock Creek Pool
- Download a PDF version of this letter.
