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Pool work day May 13

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All hands on deck. Members present at the 2017 annual board meeting set Saturday May 13 as the annual pool work day. The main purpose of efforts that day will be to get the tarps off both pools, clean up the pool area, get furniture out of storage and placed, and clean up around the pool and party house.

Volunteers are asked to be present at the pool at 10 a.m. for the start of the work party.

Following removal of the tarps, pumps will be started and the process of getting water up to level and chemistry in balance will begin. Target announced by President Pratt is to have the pool ready for use by members on Thursday, May 25.

Pool area cleaned

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Pulling pool tarp free
Haversham neighbors drag tarp away for cleaning

Residents gathered the morning of May 15 to wake the community pool from its winter sleep.  In preparation for the process, Joe Elmore ran a small sump pump earlier in the week to drain away rain water that had ponded atop the pool tarp.

Before pulling the tarp off the pool, Haversham neighbors spent time collecting up leaves and trash, sweeping out the party house, returning dirt to the water line trench, cleaning off furniture, and generally getting all ready for the summer season. Families participating included the Alfords, Ellises, Reddicks, Elmores, Halls, Pratts, Garcia-Rakiey family, and Storrs.

After they were removed from their respective pools, each tarp had to be pressure sprayed to  remove dirt and slime, and then they had to be spread out to dry (maybe the most challenging part). Then came the process of getting the pool ready for human occupation.

Water well drilled

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Well drilling rig
Zars Pump and Drilling Service at work in Haversham

On April 11 Zars Pump and Drilling Service drilled and capped a well for the Haversham Club. Within days, the well was serving the Haversham community. Drillers found water at 50 feet and drilled the well down to 100. The work represented fulfillment of months of research and negotiations entered into by the Haversham Board of  Directors punctuated by two polls of voting members.

The well drilling concept was born in part as a response to the increasing cost of water from the city and threats of increasing drought restrictions. Some of the fallout to Haversham resulting from the prolonged drought and watering restrictions have included that the common areas have not been watered for the last two years, and cost of starting up the pool and keeping it filled have increased appreciably.

The board did preliminary research and obtained bids, which were presented to the membership at the annual meeting in January. An assessment was approved. In the meantime, the low bidder on the project failed to deliver. New bids were obtained, a new poll was taken, and President Hall cornered the Zars drilling team who happened to be in the area, and got another bid.

The deal was sealed in short order, and the drilling crews came into the Haversham compound on April 10. Work was speedily done, and the well water has been used to keep the pool full and to water the common areas.

2013 Pool

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Remember that ALL items are to be removed from the pool after use. ESPECIALLY DIVE STICKS!

3 times already, in less than the first week of being open, I’ve found dive sticks in the pool. The latest is Wed. 5/29 and such were put in between 7:30pm (Tuesday) when I put the robot in and 10:30am today, Wed.

Pratt

Contest: Name the robot

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The self-propelled pool cleaning robot arrived at Gary’s house Friday morning. By evening Gary and Joe had the thing running (see the video). Depending on your sensibilities and your love of machines, robots, and various technologies, you might calculate that the robot pool cleaner is a cute little thing. But it doesn’t have a name – yet. We want to fix that.

So we’re having a contest. We will take nominations, right here, in the Haversham Web site for one week. On Saturday, June 11, at midnight, we’ll stop taking nominations. In the meantime, submit as many names as you have in your home. From the names submitted, the Haversham pool committee will narrow the nominations to something manageable (six or fewer) on June 13. Then we will take a poll – on the Web site – for the winning name.

You make your suggestion(s) right here by creating a comment on this post. Please only one vote per person plus one per household. So if you have three family members in your home, you get four votes. In the first phase of voting (through midnight Saturday, June 11), you can go back and change your comment.

The person submitting the winning name will receive a fantastic prize at the June 25 Haversham Fiesta.

Fence repaired, pool is open &c.

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Two-thirds of the J-Team (Jared, Jeremy, and Joe) vacuumed the pool Friday evening, the chlorine was adjusted, and Saturday morning (May 28), neighbors gathered to join forces in repairing the fence on the west side of the pool. As outside temperatures moved toward the 90s and beyond, tools and building supplies materialized at the scene.

Men repair fence
Haversham neighbors work on repairing the pool area fence.

One troublesome vine was cut down and a 15-foot section of fence removed. Supporting members were mounted first, and then the boards secured to the rest of the fence. Crew included Mark Storrs, Joe Elmore, Jared Hall, Jeremy Ellis, Gary Blaiss, and Brook Roberts. While the fence repairs were underway, water samplings showed that chemicals in the pool had reached desired levels, with the chlorine a little on the high side (desirable for especially hot, sunny days).

The pool was declared officially open.

President Roberts, digging around in the party house kitchen, found a box of old Haversham Club documents dating from as recent as 1980 and going back into the 1950s. After several persons pawed through the documents for a few minutes, the documents were turned over the Haversham secretary for selective digitizing in the interests of preserving historical records of the Haversham Community.

Facilities update for 2011

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Members, I just wanted to update everyone on the pool situation today. I know it’s getting hot and we all want to jump in. From what I’ve been made aware, the pH and chlorine levels in the pool have not been balanced yet and we are awaiting “jump-in” approval from the Reddick household.

Joe Elmore replaces fitting
Joe Elmore replaces fitting on pool vacuum system

Here are a few other notes I want to update you on:

  1. Please find two attachments on this email. One of them has to do with how to go about reserving the Party House (Gary Blaiss will send out the official rules, but this attachment is a summary), and the other is a tentative cleaning schedule assigned to households (more on that in a moment).
  2. The Officers have told our pool keeper from the majority of last summer that his services will not be required at this point this summer. This is partly due to financial costs and partly because it has been difficult to schedule him to get the pool ready this week for us because phone calls have not been returned.
  3. Because of this, I have created a tentative cleaning schedule for families to consider. I chose the households based on who I anticipate seeing at the pool this summer based upon who has used it in the past and who has paid their dues. This schedule is not mandatory, but we would like to highly encourage your participation in taking care of our assets and community together. I realize I did not check with you to see when you are available, so if the date assigned to you is not convenient, please consider trading with someone else. What I’m asking is that you take a trip on the recommended day to the pool to clean-up after anyone that may have had to leave the area suddenly and did not clean-up after themselves. This would include skimming and vacuuming the pool (more on that in a moment).
  4. Regarding the mowing in the common area, we have asked Danny to water the lawn only two times each week and mow one time every three weeks in order to reduce costs. Because of that, if you are able, from time-to-time, and don’t mind, please take your mower through part of your section of the common area to assist in keeping our grounds looking nice.
  5. At our annual meeting, a request was made to purchase and install some steps in the shallow end. Several families have agreed to “chip in some money” to help offset that cost. If you are able, please make your contribution to Gary Blaiss. Those steps will be purchased and installed soon.
  6. The officers have also authorized the purchase of a robotic pool cleaner that can be used overnight to assist in vacuuming and skimming. Until that time, we will all pitch-in and help manually.
  7. This Saturday, several homeowners will be gathering to replace some fencing around the pool area at 2pm. If you can assist, even if you are not good with tools or hammers, there is additional help that can be completed, such as replacing lightbulbs, dusting fans, cleaning pool chairs, etc. Would love to see you out there for some help. Additionally, at 3pm, we will have a short session on how to work the equipment and measure the chlorine and pH levels. If you are on the calendar list, please try your best to attend.
  8. And, at our annual meeting, suggestions were made for several committees to be composed (Social, Party House, Maintenance, etc.). I am currently compiling those committee chairs and recommendations. If there is a particular committee you would like to serve or have input on, please let me know. I hope to have those out this weekend.
  9. Finally, on Friday, June 3rd at 3pm, our pool inspector will make a visit and also do some training on pool maintenance and safety. Please make plans to attend if you are able.

Thank you all for your help in making Haversham a great place for friends and families to live!

brook

Editor’s Note: The original of this posting was sent as an e-mail to the members’ list.

Pool repairs underway

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They looked like aliens from some B movie, and they descended on the pool area early Friday morning. Instead of ray guns, they toted jackhammers, pneumatic drills, shovels, chisels, and all kinds of low-tech weaponry. Apparently, earth’s atmosphere was toxic to them, because they wore masks that covered their faces. For helmets they wore safari hats.

masked men
Masked and helmeted creatures chip away plaster from the pool.

For most of the daylight hours on Friday, they chipped away at plaster, hauling chunks away in barrows and trailers. By sunset, there was little left but gunite and a few scraps and chips here and there. About a half dozen men worked on the pool with the intent to finish work on plaster removal Friday so they could do the new plastering on Saturday. Within a few hours of re-plastering, the process of refilling the pool can begin.  It is expected to take 2-3 days to complete filling the pool, which must begin slowly. The pool service will come in after the pool is filled and start the process of cleaning and clarifying the water, getting the pumps up, etc. The intent is to have the pool ready for use by Memorial Day.

May 23: Plastering was completed Saturday afternoon (May 21), and filling water commenced at 6 p.m. Progress was slow, so Gary and Charlotte Blaiss ran a hose from their house to the pool. Based on Sunday evening water levels, Edwards Pool Service was told we’d be ready for their work to begin on Monday evening. Edwards will start the pumps, shock the pool, and start up filters with the intent that the pool will be ready for bathers by the end of the week.

Pool repairs approved

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During a vote taken the second week in April, Haversham members approved expenditures of up to $6,950 to drain the pool and repair crumbling plaster. As a result, Haversham Club is in a queue for pool plastering specialists who are expected to be in the area in mid May.
In the meantime, work is underway draining the pool and cleaning it. Specific timelines for opening the pool are difficult to establish, because of the fluid nature of plasterers’ schedules. Every effort is being made to have the pool open for Memorial Day.