Steiner Ranch Information Blog

50 responses so far ↓

• 1 Tom // Jun 8, 2009 at 1:11 pm

  Where did this come from- I looked at the petition and it already has 350 people signed up. First I heard of it was here.

• 2 mreddy // Jun 8, 2009 at 1:13 pm

  Got an multi forward email last week. Someone asked me if I had info… I put it up here to see whats up.

• 3 Melissa // Jun 8, 2009 at 3:49 pm

  Is this about the swim team? I personally don’t care if they use the pool at Bella Mar, but I don’t understand why they have to close down the other two pools at Bella Mar they aren’t using during meets.

  I don’t think people complained when they used John Simpson because most people go to the other pools because they have more amenities and are just nicer than JS.

• 4 Paolo // Jun 8, 2009 at 4:41 pm

  For completeness of information, I need to share the following:

  1) The mentioned “individual complaint” are actually the feedback from ALL the homeowners in Calistoga Way and Calistoga Ct, the closest area to the Bella pool. This could be easily extended to all the Bella Mar homeowners. Except one family, ALL the rest expressed concern about the current use of the pool. So, I’m not sure why that comment on “individuals” was made above (technically you are right, also when you have 100% of agreement, that majority is made by individuals ).

  2) From the petition above it looks that a few selfish Bella Mar homeowners don’t care about our swim team and would just like to stop activities in order to use the pool for their personal enjoyment. Well, let’s explain how things are in reality. Last year there was 1 team only using the Bella Mar lap pool every morning during Summer, and nobody here complained. That was done in the right way. This year, without involving the Bella Ma homeowners in some feedback to see what could have been their position, the swim team has created a new team, the blue team, and planned to use the lap pool also in the afternoons until 8:30pm, for all Summer. Well, in case you haven’t been at the pool during the swimming practice, just go and check. There is a very big crowd in all the pool area, the playground, the parking lot, everywhere around the area. That is normal, and is acceptable as long as it is not every day, both morning and afternoon until 8:30pm, for all Summer, just in that same area ! This is why the Bella Mar homeowners decided to ask HOA for a more balanced usage of the lap pool we have in Steiner Ranch. From the expected plan to only use Bella Mar morning and afternoon for all Summer, with the resulting situation you can imagine around here, all the time, we just proposed HOA to consider to have some of practice also done in John Simpson, to BALANCE THINGS. We are not a few selfish individuals that don’t get the importance of swimming: we are the majority of the Bella Mar homeowners that would just like to see a more reasonable and balance approach to the usage of our pools. Keep in mind that we also get the burden of the swimming events starting at 6:30am each other Saturday with very loud speakers, but we have never complained about it. But for practice, you cannot just expect to have everything done in the Bella Mar pool, morning and afternoons for all Summer, all we have been asking HOA is just to investigate and determine what could be done better here. The “dilemma” you mentioned is their work, and I’m sure they will do it is the BEST way, first of all based upon the homeowners feedback. And in general feedback should be requested providing ALL the info that can help people making the right choice.

  We all want our kids to swim, but at the same time here in Bella Mar we are frustrated that the lap pool could be used all the day, for all Summer, almost as a private swim team facility. We are a community, let’s do things accordingly, SHARING things in the best possible way, and avoiding to monopolize structures. That’s all we asked HOA.

• 5 Anon // Jun 8, 2009 at 4:53 pm

  I agree with the previous two posters.

  Moderation and balanced usage between the two makes the most sense. Let’s be fair to all.

• 6 Patty // Jun 8, 2009 at 7:56 pm

  We all are paying for these resources so to let one group dominate one resource at the expense of others is unfair. I myself will now call and complain so that they know it is not just a “few”.

• 7 NV // Jun 8, 2009 at 8:54 pm

  I support the swim team, I think it is an important part of families, kids and life here at Steiner. They added to the swim team because there is such a demand for more spots on the swim team. Maybe they can work on a balance but the lap pool at BelMar is/was designed for competitive swim team and exercise. I didn’t know the other side of the pool is shut down during practice, I thought it was just a handful of times. Johnsimpson is a great practice facility as well. Sometimes we don’t know what we are in for until we move in. I live across from the golf course clubhouse and hear loud music from time to time till midnight but understand that is part living next to the golfcourse. Frustrated at times becuase my kids can’t sleep but also enjoy the free concert at times, and we are close to the the trails and beauty of nature found in Steiner. I love this community where well all can come together and work on solutions to accomadate most everyone. It really is give and take and impossible to please all. This is a great platform to vent and figure out possible solutions.

• 8 David // Jun 8, 2009 at 11:11 pm

  I am agreement with fair balance.

  To say the Bella Mar is the only pool suitable for the swim team is incorrect in my opinion. The Bella Mar pool is 25 yards with starting blocks. The John Simpson pool is 25 meters with no starting blocks and slightly shallower in the low end.

  For obvious reasons residence prefer to use the Bella Mar pool over the John Simpson pool. The Bella Mar beauty of the pool is easily seen.

  A couple perceived errors or additions:
  - The previous longer posts states the swim team runs all summer, but I believe according to their site ends in early July.
  - The Steiner Stars swim team is open to residence and non-residences; though I would bet if they do fill up and I believe residence takes higher presidencies over non-residence
  - The swim team is not the only organized group using the pool, in addition there are multiple aerobic groups, individual swim trainings, and triathlon training programs.
  - Not factually based (only opinion), but Steiner like most of Austin in general is made up of more then athletic kids & adults then the rest of the US; so more then usual amounts of adults and kids are using the pools here then say the master planned association of Woodlands in NW Houston. (I would be curious to see a comparison of # of residents to pools in other master plans communities as compared to here)

  Couple solutions of balance could be implemented.
  - Swim starting blocks if needed could be added to John Simpson to allow use of both pools
  - When is the 4th pool being planned to be built? And how to we make sure it’s just as great as Bella Mar?

  My wife and I currently don’t have children, but when we do I would like the swim team to still be here in Steiner.

• 9 Chris // Jun 9, 2009 at 8:17 am

  I am personally against paying for facilities that I only have limited access to. My position was the same when the HOA board was considering installing heaters at the Bella Mar pool and blocking resident access to the pool for the winter. A few points to consider.

  1. Not every Steiner Ranch resident has children.
  2. Not all Steiner Ranch children swim on the team.

  While I understand the need to use the pool for swim team events at times, the increasing usage worries me that if something is not done, the pattern will continue in the future to the point where other residents have virtually no access to the Bella Mar pool. Let’s face it, the Bella Mar pool is far nicer than the other pools in Steiner.

  Since we all pay the same HOA fees, I guess the most fair thing to do would be to count the percentage of HOA revenue towards the pool upkeep that comes from families with members on the swim team. We would then have an estimate of the percentage of time that could fairly be allocated for swim team practice at the Bella Mar pool.

  One other note – I noticed that the petition currently has over 350 signatures. If the consensus is that we are in disagreement with the petition, we may want to set up a petition of our own. Maybe someone with more internet prowess than myself could organize this?

• 10 Terry // Jun 9, 2009 at 8:18 am

  I totally agree, I have two children who use the pool at Bella Mar.

• 11 Steiner Resident close-by // Jun 9, 2009 at 8:34 am

  I would like to know where the money is going that the swim team is making from all the people. They have to rent our pool. Now they have two swim teams, not just one like last year. Next year will they add a third? I am very familiar with swim teams due to experience. It will only get worse. It you want to golf you have to pay to belong to a club, most swim teams are private due to private facilities, this one is in definitely encroaching on our community unfairly to our residents and it will get worse, not better unless we do something.

• 12 Scott // Jun 9, 2009 at 11:39 am

  I tried to take my daughter to the BM pool on Saturday morning and the two other pools were closed. I guess I didn’t mind so much, except for the snarky attitude I got from one of the swim coordinators, as if I had totally inconvenienced her by getting in the other pools.

  She also said that it would only 4 Saturday’s a week. But according to this post it seems they are also closed for practice? That’s not cool…

• 13 Paolo // Jun 9, 2009 at 12:44 pm

  All very valid comments here.

  I can guarantee that Scott Selman, the HOA executive director is managing this issue in the best way. I have been working with him representing a big group of frustrated Bella Mar homeowners, and Scott committed that for the post-July 2009 planning they will do detailed survey requests first of all across the Bella Mar homeowners, to determine how to better plan every future activity like this one.

  They did it in the right way when they were planning to use the pool during winter, with an heater, and the proposal was not accepted based upon the feedback. For the swim team for some reasons they didn’t plan things in the same right way, but they committed to do it for every future activities.

  I don’t think we need another petition, I’m sure we have been giving enough input and reasons to the HOA so they understand and plan accordingly. It is not even worth to respond to the above petition with another petition. Here it is just a matter of common sense, it is not “selfish homeowners vs swim team”, we all love our kids to exercise and have fun, but when things get to the point of creating conflicts with shared community areas that become used almost privately for just a group of people, well, we need to step back, investigate things from an overall point of view, taking in considerations that each and every homeowner pays the HOA dues: it is evident that every usage planning of the shared facilities should always be based on a balanced and reasonable approach that could satisfy everyone’s needs.

  Last but not least, there is a little terminology issue when we talk about Bella Mar as a competitive pool: yes, technically it has built very well, and can host competition because designed in that way. But this has nothing to do with its usage, that should be anyway shared and balanced. If we decided to improve one of our soccer fields to make it so nice to be able to host professional soccer competition, do we think we could start using it almost privately to maybe also host the 2010 soccer worldcup ?

  I hope that we will start having a reasonable community approach, respecting everyone’s needs, and balancing things accordingly.

• 14 Paolo // Jun 9, 2009 at 3:01 pm

  Just a correction about something mentioned a couple of times in the previous posts: whenever the red and blue team practice at Bella Mar, the “splash area” (the smaller two pools) are accessible. Only during the Saturdays events the pool is totally closed.

  Now, that being said, the complaint to HOA from the Bella Mar homeowners about the morning and afternoon usage of the Bella Mar pool until mid July is due to the fact that even if the splash area is accessible to general usage during the practice, the amount of chaos in the area doesn’t allow to even think to access the pools with smaller kids (like my son, 2 and half) because they would risk to get hurt. During practice the lap pool is closed, so everyone is restricted to the splash area, not only the “standard” people that would go to the pool anyway, but in general also all siblings, friends, etc, of the swimming kids are there, with a resulting amazing crowd. If you didn’t have chance to go there yet during a practice, go and see today or tomorrow, the blue team is there, so you can have the idea of what all the area is during the practice (not only the pool, also the playground, the parking lot, etc …..). Last but not least, they use a loud speaker during practice, so you can have the idea of what the confusion can be.

  The Bella Mar homeowners never complained about the red team using the pool all mornings (they also did last Summer) but with the addition of the blue team, what I described above is a daily thing, morning and afternoon, until 8:30pm, until mid July, DAILY. This is what is not possible, and this is why we asked HOA to balance with the other lap pool (John Simpson) or whatever different and balanced planning could be done.

  As said a few times in some other posts above, it is unrealistic to expect a swim team to be using a community pool, the same community pool, morning and afternoon for almost all Summer. We need to balance needs, if we can accommodate everyone needs with the existing two lap pools, fine, but if the size of swim team will have to force an almost private usage of shared facilities, it will mean that there is something wrong in the way the swim team planning was done, and things will have to be readjusted. Bottom line, shared community pools must be allocated in a shared way, we all pay for them, we just want to see a balanced usage. We are not against swimming activities, it is ridiculous only to say that to justify something wrong behind it: we are just against every unconditional and almost proprietary usage of structures that belong to everyone, and should be allocated accordingly.

• 15 Stmbtsprgs // Jun 9, 2009 at 5:50 pm

  Paolo, your comments are well put – very straightforward and accurate. As a former swim teamer growing up and hopeful parent of a future one, I respect the needs of swim teams for adequate facilities. However, I also agree that since the pools are community pools, they must be managed for the benfit of the entire community.

  My perspective: I swam both summer leagues and then yearround growing up. My summer league used and had priority at the lap pool next to the activity pools. Yes, at those times, the activity pools got crowded. Yes, I swam and played in them while my younger brother had his practice session. Yes, there was a crowd and, for me, it was fun – there were more than the usual number of kids to play with during those times.

  I think we have a situation where Bella Mar happens to be the biggest, newest, and nicest of the 3 community pools with the largest array of pool amenities (fountains, buckets) and a great view. Thus, it is inherently more popular than the two older pools. For its popularity, Bella Mar also has very limited parking. Perhaps a long term view can be taken and analyze making improvements to the other two pool areas to make them better draws for swimmers – recreational or lap/team???

• 16 Stmbtsprgs // Jun 9, 2009 at 5:53 pm

  BTW, I do not believe Bella Mar homeowners have any more/less right to use the Bella Mar pool than any other HOA members and vice versa for the other pools. Not saying you said that – just being clear.

• 17 Paolo // Jun 9, 2009 at 8:54 pm

  Thanks Stmbtsprgs (for sure you didn’t pick up an easy name ). Of course Bella Mar homeowners don’t have different rights than the other Steiner Ranch homeowners: the only reason HOA requests specific and more detailed feedback to Bella Mar homeowners is that this group of people would be more directly affected by a changed use of the area. For instance, during the Saturday’s swim events, cars are parked all over the area, and there is obviously noise and traffic starting 6:30am. This is not an issue obviously, but it would become a huge issue if someone would plan things that would create a similar situation maybe every day.

  We are all for the kids having fun and the swim team, but at the same time we need to take into account that Steiner Ranch is not only kids and swimming, and we need to respect everyone’s needs. As in every situation in which there are very different perspectives, the only solution is always to balance things equally giving everyone the chance to enjoy the amenities and facilities at least for part of the time.

  Example: think about the Bella Mar homeowners, that love the area because they can walk at the pool after work with their kids, and enjoy the wonderful facility. Well, we cannot expect them to be happy to find every day for all Summer the big crowd mentioned above. Part of the time is fine, all the time is terrible. This is why we asked HOA the favor to avoid some groups can take almost full control of a pool, and, instead, make sure that things get distributed across our pools. Very easy, I still don’t understand how a petition could change HOA rules and common sense, to give advantage to an approach that looks more for a private swim team, than a group of kids that use shared facilities.

  I hope this thing won’t divide the community, but will just give the chance to understand that we are all a big family here, if we share, we will be all happy, if we start being aggressively trying to get the majority of something for some specific interests, well, we would create a difficult situation of constant frustration.

• 18 Melissa // Jun 9, 2009 at 10:20 pm

  So is there a petition to have them use the JS pool sometimes? I would be more than happy to sign that.

• 19 Jenn // Jun 9, 2009 at 10:33 pm

  As a long time member of the facilities committee for this community, I can assure you that the swim team has worked diligently with the community HOAs to come up with a plan for meeting the ever increasing demand for swim team participation by members of our community while minimize the impact to the community’s non-swim-team residents. Additionally, it should be noted that just a few years ago, the developer had NO plans to create a third pool facility in Steiner Ranch, but a few dedicated members of the swim team and the facilities committee put a great deal of energy into developing a plan and selling the developer on it so that we now have the Bella Mar facility. A major focus of that plan was to build a facility that would include a lap pool that was optimized for competition swimming. This pool was built to provide a full 8 lanes to maximize practice efficiency and speed up meets (a bonus for both swim team families and other residents) and to ensure that diving can be done (for relay starts) from both ends of the pool, neither of which the John Simpson pool provided. A second major focus was to ensure that the overall community would still have access to a pool at the same facility, even during practices – hence the co-located pools. (Incidentally, the rec pools in that facility are closed during swim meets for safety and liability reasons, since we have many visiting families from the other team whose kids are not guests of specific residents but could create an unnecessary liability for our community if anyone got hurt.)

  The HOAs and the swim team used every official broadcast communication method available to us to communicate information about the swim team and the ongoing discussions related to starting a second team to accommodate the ever-growing interest within our community in swim team participation for our residents’ children. A survey went out last fall to gauge pool usage, swim team interest, etc. That survey was advertised in the Ranch Record, included in Steiner Ranch Activity Alert emails, and featured prominently on the HOA website. Information about swim team sign-up was available in early spring at these same locations, and no secret was made about the planned practice schedule or location. In fact, the location was decided on because the HOA boards wanted to spread out the organized activities across the facilities – swim team practices in the lap pool at Bella Mar, swim lessons in the John Simpson pool, and water aerobics at Towne Square. And the practice schedule for the second team took into consideration the community’s potential desire to start the weekend off at the pool by scheduling practices M-Th instead of Tu-F like the first team practices.

  I understand people’s desire to have access to the facilities paid for by their HOA dues. I feel the same way. But I hope people will also consider that the 400 families whose kids occupy the one of four pools in our neighborhood also pay those same dues, and their kids’ usage of that pool does not preclude pool access in our neighborhood. Sure, the Bella Mar facility is prettier, but the water is just as cool and refreshing at either of the other two pools – or in the Bella Mar rec pool – during those hours.

  Please note that the swim team and the concerned residents of sections near Bella Mar have come to a compromise that works for both – the second team is now practicing once a week at John Simpson, leaving the entire Bella Mar facility open to rec swimming on Monday afternoons/evenings as well as the previously planned Friday-Sun (not counting the occasional home meet for the first team). The swim team and the HOA have had a signed contract for pool usage for several months now and this compromise was a reasonable concession for the team to make to the terms of that contract.

  Finally, the petition was started due to concerns over this last-minute contract renegotiation that the HOA was undertaking in response to resident complaints, but the issue it attempts to address is much broader. It includes the fact that we have sports fields that we sometimes allocate for resident team practices and games, tennis courts that can be used by avid tennis players for lessons (group or private) and league practice/play, and a competition pool that was designed specifically for that purpose that we should all be glad we have. It is not unreasonable to have these facilities used to serve organized-activity purposes for some residents, at least some of the time, in addition to accommodating casual use by others.

• 20 Stmbtsprgs // Jun 10, 2009 at 11:58 am

  Thanks, Jenn. Well put!

• 21 Paolo // Jun 10, 2009 at 3:57 pm

  In reference to the previous post, there are two key points to clarify, which are the cause of the current difficult conflict.

  1) The survey about the pool usage that went out this Fall was totally generic, didn’t ask any specific questions about using one or the other pool, or about the schedule, or about the way activities could have been organized across the facilities. In the recent meeting with had with HOA and the representatives from the swim team, Scott Selman and Sharon Adams agreed that the survey wasn’t for sure designed for planning the best preferred schedule and usage, but was more general to understand the activities people would have like to see. The survey has been one of the hot topics we brought there, as Bella Mar homeowners: when we had to express our preference about the “heater” for a winter usage of the pool, we received an ad-hoc feedback request; so we asked why we never got any similar proposal about the allocations of activities across Bella Mar and John Simpson specifically for the swim team usage. I can guarantee that in case of a detailed survey about the schedule, we wouldn’t have seen such an unbalanced approach between Bella Mar and John Simpson, but we would have probably split half and half, in a reasonable way, the pool usage. I recommend then to avoid any correlation between the survey done this Fall and the resulting planned schedule, because they are totally unrelated (in case someone may be interested, I have that survey and I can send it out).

  2) The concerning part is the mentioned contract between HOA and swim team: the only way for HOA to have a meaningful contract representing all the needs of homeowners is the assumption that before any signature, a real survey (mentioned in #1) was completed, but this was not the case. This is why Scott Selman, after this temporary Summer 2009 chaos, committed to go back to a very detailed survey, and as result of it, the planning decisions for a long term solution will be taken. Not as result of a very partial petition, but as result of a general feedback request, making very clear to homeowners what is being requested, and the need to provide their input about how to better approach things across the 2 lap pools we have.

  Last but not least, I understand and believe that Bella Mar pool is there because of the diligent action of some swim team people, but I don’t understand how this could be related to an usage different than the normal expected shared/balanced/reasonable approach that every community should have. If Bella Mar has to become a private swim club, fine, but many people will just stop paying the portion of HOA fees for that pool.

  Everything is possible, as long as we don’t play with words, and we just base the decisions on the overall, general, feedback from the community, as result a very clear set of questions, not subject to any interpretation. Because this is what HOA will do to resolve this embarrassing situation.

• 22 Melissa // Jun 10, 2009 at 4:55 pm

  Jenn – I have to disagree with you on one point. The pool usage survey was NOT very well advertised. In fact, I didn’t know anything about it until after the fact. I wasn’t on the Steiner Ranch email list until recently, and I don’t regularly visit their website. We are lucky to receive the Ranch Record before the 15th of the month. Why were there no postings at the mailboxes? Why weren’t surveys mailed to residents?

  I think the swim team is a great organization, however it seems as though they get quite a bit of preferential treatment.

  And the water at John Simpson pool is not really as cool as the water at Bella Mar – the baby pool at John Simpson is not covered at all. As a result, the water is uncomfortably warm at times, and I don’t really want my baby in direct sun for that long. On the days that Bella Mar is closed, the baby pool at Towne Square is horribly crowded.

• 23 Jenn // Jun 10, 2009 at 8:41 pm

  First, I’d like to address the issue of communicating things in this neighborhood. I would give my right pinky (no need to be extreme…) to figure out how to communicate with the vast majority of the neighborhood. I cannot tell you how many times the social committee (which I am also on) has held events that people have not known about despite postings on bulletin boards at the mailbox kiosks, featured articles on the web site, messages on the announcement board on Quinlan Park Rd., articles in the Ranch Record, and email messages to the neighborhood subscription email services. Short of delivering notices door to door (which is against HOA covenants, even if we had the man power) or direct mailings OUTSIDE of the Ranch Record, which is prohibitively expensive, we’re using every communication method we can think of. At some point, we have to say we’ve done the best we can and people have to meet us halfway. I understand about receiving the Ranch Record mid-month – that problem is hopefully being addressed by an upcoming change in publisher – but unfortunately some people don’t read it anyway and are then still upset when they are uninformed about things discussed within its pages. This is a point of continual frustration for me, so if you have a good idea – preferably something specific, rather than a “redesign the web page”-type general direction – I can guarantee it will be appreciated and considered for cost-effectiveness by the various HOA committees and entities needing to reach residents with information!

  As for the survey, I only bring it up as one example of an attempt to engage residents in offering feedback into desired programs and informing them of considerations in the works. I won’t argue that it was the most specific or clearest or most detailed survey ever created, or that it was impossible that some took it and didn’t understand the full extent of the negotiations in the works based on having read it. However, I do remember enough about it to know that it gave enough information to pique the curiosity of concerned parties who could have followed up and learned the rest of the details and gotten involved in the discussion before contracts were signed.

  As for Paolo’s argument about the contracts, I have to respectfully disagree. Whether we like it or not (and I too am an SRMA member), the SRMA board HAS the right to negotiate contracts on the behalf of our community according to our neighborhood covenants, whether we are given the opportunity to voice our opinions or not (survey or otherwise) and whether we like their decisions or not. And they are legally enforceable contracts. Fortunately for us, they have graciously frequently honored the recommendations of the facilities committee (a totally voluntary group of residents who meet on the first Tuesday of most months to provide input into such matters), but they are not beholden to us and they do not always go along with our recommendations if they believe it is not in the best interest of the neighborhood.

• 24 KB // Jun 10, 2009 at 9:47 pm

  Here is the bottom line. We pay HOA fees that include facility usage. I can respect that sometimes those facilities might be in use but to have one facility being in constant use and therefore unavailable is not what my HOA fees cover. We all have every right to use all the pools. If that is not possible then I don’t think I should have to pay for someone else’s hobby. If Bella Mar is truly the only competition friendly pool then make it private and charge those residents who want to use it far more for their private right otherwise I have just as much right to use that pool, Town Lake and John Simpson equally. It is what I paid for!

• 25 Kate // Jun 10, 2009 at 11:01 pm

  Where do I sign the petition AGAINST swim team use?
  Bella Mar pool is ALWAYS closed now for swim team. The kiddie pool is OVERcrowded while there’s a swim team.
  There is NOT enough parking in that facility. People park everywhere and drive like crazy- there’s been a couple of accidents already.
  Yes, I do have a child who is on a swim team at the same time I don’t think that it warrants trumping the rights of other Steiner residents who pay the same HOA fees as I do.

• 26 Paolo // Jun 10, 2009 at 11:52 pm

  I couldn’t agree more with the post from KB.

  This is a very simple situation: we have swim team activities and their usage of facilities that has been evidently planned in the wrong way and without involving all the homeowners through a specific and clear request of feedback before “signing a contract”. I’m not sure why we are still discussing about what HOA could or couldn’t do from a contract point of view, or if a survey was meaningful or not.

  The REALITY, not a point of view, is that 99% of the Bella Mar homeowners didn’t have idea about what was planned for the swim team and the almost exclusive usage of Bella Mar pool. This is the demonstration that there has been something very wrong in the way things were planned.

  So now HOA, for the long term solution (post July) will necessarily have to do a detailed survey asking homeowners about their input on the possible alternatives, because it is simply unrealistic to keep the current approach to use Bella Mar for almost all the time only because it is the “competition” pool of the community. I’m amazed that someone is still missing this point. It is a shared pool, like all the rest of facilities, and its usage will have to be balanced. If John Simpson is not good, well, it means that the swim team has been over planned, and will have to be adjusted to the reality of our facilities, which is not a set of private areas, but is just a pool of SHARED things we ALL PAY FOR.

  Final consideration: what if I create tomorrow the purple swim team I expect to use John Simpson every day because there is no other alternative ?

• 27 Paolo // Jun 11, 2009 at 12:04 am

  Thanks Kate for the comment.

  Just try to imagine how we can feel here in Bella Mar. We were happy to have a home close to such a nice facility, last Summer we didn’t say anything about the swim team using it every morning, all mornings, and about the swimming events each other Saturday starting at 6:30am with very loud speakers. We accepted all of that, and we were ready to accept it this year. But when a few days ago we discovered that almost each day of the week, morning and afternoon, we have swim teams using the pool, with all the resulting traffic and overcrowd issues, do you realize we had to start coordinating to have something changed ? Bella Mar right now looks more like a private swimming club, not a shared community pool. I could walk to Bella Mar (I live in Calistoga Way) and now I need to drive each afternoon to TownSquare with my 2 and half years old son because I’m scared he could be hurt in the exceptional chaos in the Bella Mar “splash” area. Do you think it is right ? It could be right to do it maybe half of the week, in case John Simpson could be used for the other half, but it is not the case. This is not possible, we cannot accept to spend our Summers in this mess almost every day, all the day. We asked for a balanced approach, the swim team is replying with a petition, defining the Bella Mar homeowners as a group of selfish individuals that want to create problems to the swim team. This is unreal.

• 28 Jenn // Jun 11, 2009 at 6:32 am

  Paolo, feel free to create the Purple swim team tomorrow. And then go through a year’s worth of negotiations with the HOA to get pool time and use the neighborhood’s communication avenues to publicize it and get people signed up. Then when people are unhappy because they DIDN’T KNOW about it (apparently because it must be personally communicated to you or it doesn’t count) and they get the HOA to change the negotiated agreement, see how that works out for you.

  That said, no one is missing the point. Those of us who hold a different point of view on the pool believe that it is overall pool usage and availability that needs to be taken into consideration when evaluating how much the teams are using the pool. 3 of 4 pools are not used for swim team EVER (except now that Paolo has had the Red team move Monday’s practices to John Simpson). The Bella Mar facility is closed 4 mornings a YEAR. The pool closure on Monday mornings is for cleaning, not swim team, so the available schedule of Bella Mar LAP pool (not even counting the rec pool and other 2 facilities) is:
  Monday 2 pm to close
  Tuesday 12:30 to 5
  Wednesday 12:30 to 5
  Thursday 12:30-5
  Friday 12:30 to close
  Sat and Sun all day except for Sat morning 4 days a year
  And the whole swim team thing is OVER mid July. In Texas, swimming weather goes easily through most of September.

  The swim team serves 400 of our neighborhood’s dues-paying families — it’s not an external entity that has come in and taken over our pools. The team will be out of your hair by mid July. Please consider that it’s fair to share these shared community resources.

• 29 Paolo // Jun 11, 2009 at 8:10 am

  Jenn, you first say you don’t miss any point, then you comment about me having caused the swim team moving to John Simpson ONCE A WEEK like I had done something really bad, not just obtained a very minimum balance, representing almost all the Bella Mar homeowners. In one side you ask to think about the need of 400 neighbors, in the other it looks you don’t even consider there is also another side that counts as much as the other.

  In my considerations I’m always talking about all the general needs, not only the Bella Mar ones and what could be done to adjust things to find a right compromise for everyone; but you always start from the assumption that for some reasons the swim team had some kind of priority or privilege if comparing with all the rest of this community. This is the frustrating part that lot of people are discovering only now.

  Since you mentioned the data, look at the following, and think about how the same data can be shown differently.

  1) Practice:
  - Bella Mar is being used 4 mornings a week (Tue-Fri) and 3 afternoons a week (Tue-Thurs)
  - John Simpson is being used 1 afternoon a week (Mondays)
  Can the above be considered a right balance across the two lap pools ? This will need to change in the future planning, or the swim team will have to find a private structure (maybe making Bella Mar private, but without asking all the homeowners to pay for that).

  2) Swimming events:
  Saturdays 6/6, 6/20, 6/27, 7/11, which means that in the 6/6-7/11 timeframe, one of the key vacation months, in 6 Saturdays the pool is totally closed until 2pm for 4 times. We don’t complain about it, we have never done it, but you should consider that each of those Saturdays we start hearing around here the speakers at 6:30am, and people park the cars all over the area. As I said, we accept it, but we need to find a balance approach for #1 about the practice, because it is simply not right that currently John Simpson is basically never used by the swim team (only on Monday afternoons, which is upsetting you so much).

  3) Do you think that the 12:30pm to 5pm slot is good and useful, especially with small kids ? Well why didn’t you plan the swim team to use that slot, even every day of the week, and leave the rest of the time open to all residents ? That would be fine ……

  To conclude, I try again to highlight a key point: Jenn you are writing your comments like there wasn’t an issue, like as Bella Mar homeowners would be having fun creating problems to kids. Almost ALL the Bella Mar homeowners are having a big problem about this, we are spending so much time and energy to explain what we are going through in this subdivision having constantly traffic and noise and crowd, and we have not been asking to cancel anything, but only to reasonably balance things. It is evident there is a problem, see what’s happening. But it looks you keep ignoring it. It is not my problem, is a serious concern for all this area. Do you think it would be more correct to try to get to a real compromised balanced solution, or keep doing petitions to avoid to go to John Simpson even the ONLY afternoon per week ?

• 30 Jenn // Jun 11, 2009 at 8:53 am

  1) I never said I didn’t miss ANY point. I just responded to your saying people were missing THE point.

  2) I never said moving to JS once a week was bad. I personally think that was a fine compromise plan. I just want anyone who IS mad about the JS pool being closed once a week for swim team to know it’s that way at your request, not the team’s.

  3) I think 12:30 to 5 is the best time b/c it’s too darn hot to do anything else outside during those hours. When I was a kid, neighborhood pools didn’t even open till 10 and they were PACKED between 12 and 5 every day. With young kids who nap and/or parents who are concerned about sun exposure (I just slather on sun screen and go, myself, but I know others have different opinions), I GET that it might not be the greatest but there are 3 OTHER POOLS to go to in the other hours.

  4) For the parking-related traffic issues, you can thank the City of Austin’s impervious cover rules. Everyone wanted a bigger parking lot but the limited grass parking we got was the best we could do with those regulations, even though we’re only in Austin’s Extra Territorial Jurisdiction. As far as drivers goes, most of the traffic is on the main thoroughfare OUTSIDE each of the neighborhoods (there is no Bella Mar neighborhood — there is Monterey, Belcara (sp?), etc. The sign at the front of the group of neighborhoods was an afterthought and the facility is named after the street it is on, just like John Simpson facility.) That’s like residents of the Headlands being upset that there’s traffic on Flat Top Ranch Rd.

  I really tried to start this discussion rationally, and I am frustrated that I have allowed myself to be baited into a heated exchange with you Paolo, but I find your tone arrogant and closed-minded, so I am unable to resist.

  I have been involved in HOA committees for the last 10 years for the very reason that I am aware of the many different needs/wants of our community and want to see its needs/wants met in a way that provides something for everyone. I have volunteered countless hours toward that goal. Sometimes providing things for some means our facilities are allocated so that everyone can’t have unfettered access to them at all times, but the HOA works to make sure to work toward a balance in those things, and much of life is about compromise.

• 31 Chris // Jun 11, 2009 at 9:50 am

  Let’s all take a step back and try not to turn this into a personal battle between two individuals. Arguing the same points back and forth without listening to anyone else doesn’t get you anywhere, and I believe this issue is important to a large number of people. Therefore, we should try and actually work towards a solution.

  Here are a few points to consider:

  1. The intent of the HOA should be to represent the best interests of ALL of the homeowners in the community. The best way to do this is to ask for feedback from everyone before important decisions are made. The survey that was sent out regarding pool usage was very well advertised. If memory serves me correctly, it appeared in several issues of the Ranch Record, as well as on the HOA website. However, the survey was worded so generically that I didn’t even bother returning it. If I had known that the results of the survey would have ANY influence on the use of the Bella Mar pool for the swim team, I would have given it its due attention.

  2. The Bella Mar pool (like the rest of our facilities) is paid for equally by everyone. If a compromise is being worked out – this would be the HOA’s chance to properly engage everyone (as opposed to dealing directly with homeowners in the closest neighborhoods only). I understand that the frustrations regarding traffic and noise are of greater concern to the nearby neighborhoods, but as far as general facility access goes, many people that live closer to other pools (including my family) drive to Bella Mar because it is so much nicer. Let’s stop treating this like it is Bella Mar area homeowners versus the swim team.

  3. Like I said before, it is completely reasonable for the pool to be used by the swim team at certain times. The issue that I (and other people I’ve talked with) have is the INCREASE is usage between this year and last. I can only assume that if the original ‘complaints’ weren’t made to the HOA, next year’s schedule may have allowed for even less use of the Bella Mar pool by casual users as the swim team continued to increase in size.

  4. Swim team families (like the rest of us) pay for all of the facilities in Steiner Ranch. These facilities include the John Simpson pool as well. It seems reasonable to me that 50% of the practices could be there, and the other 50% at Bella Mar.

  Regardless – any solution should be arrived at by engaging as many homeowners as possible. Of course, there are people that never go the the HOA website, disregard the marquee on QP road, and discard the Ranch Record without reading it. Those people cannot easily be reached, but that is not the HOA’s fault. I would suggest, however, posting flyers (very inexpensive) outside of the pool or facility of interest. That would be a surefire way to capture the attention of the people that routinely use that facility.

  What is done for this year is (unfortunately) done. In the future, before the HOA makes decisions (which are apparently bound by contract) that potentially affect ALL due paying families, said families should be made aware of exactly what is on the table (as opposed to being given a general survey).

• 32 Mac // Jun 11, 2009 at 11:40 am

  Hmmm…….I got and filled out the survey without any problem. But, by all means, create a less generic survey. I just hope the Bella Mar residents prepare themselves for similar results.

  I’m curious, when buying/building a house near the Bella Mar facility did you ever ask yourself what living in that area would be like? I’m shocked that you didn’t prepare yourselves ~ after all, if you move in by a freeway, expect traffic noise!! Move in by a pool facility, expect usage. Especially one built with the community swim team in mind. And your excuse that you just found out about the practice times is your lack of being proactive, not the swim team or even the HOA’s fault. These times have been out for some time now.

  I don’t feel a bit sorry for Paolo having to drive the 3 minutes up to TS to swim. We’re very fortunate to have ALL the options we do have here in Steiner. So, for the month of June and a few days in July you have a few minute commute is not too much to ask. Especially given all the benefits organized team sports, like swim team, provide.

  It’s very short sighted to think the only benefit to having children in swim team it to the families themselves. This is a benefit to all who live in our community. Keeping kids in organized activities helps with self esteem which keeps them grounded when peer pressure comes a calling. This aids in keeping them from being a disruptive influence in our neighborhoods. We’ve all paid for the vandalism that has happened at some of the various neighborhood entrances etc.

  But if you Bella Mar residents feel you must withhold your HOA dues (or a portion of them) then please do so. See how fast the HOA turns on you when you do. Let’s see… the first step would be to turn off your FOB’s so that NONE of the facilities are at your disposal. And while that is happening they’ll also add late and collection fees to your assessment total. After two and a half months of non-payment and more late fees they will then put a lien on your property along with all attorney, late and collection fees added to your bill. Two weeks after that the HOA attorney will post notice of assessment lien sale. But you’ll have made your point!

  Jenn ~ keep on making our community what it has become and will continue to be, a community with all the advantages we’ve been lucky enough to aspire to. Great posts Jenn, well written and well said.

• 33 KB // Jun 11, 2009 at 1:47 pm

  Jenn and Mac — you’re missing the point.

  I’m sorry to keep coming back to this point but it is the bottom line that funds our community. All homeowners in Steiner pay HOA fees whether they use the facilities or have family that do. Because of this all homeowners are entitled to use these facilities within reason. It is understandable that at some points in time that Bella Mar will be closed or John Simpson or Town Lake. The current problem is that Bella Mar is constantly in use to the point where homeowners are not getting their $$ worth. For the record, I do not live in Bella Mar or anywhere near it. However I like to swim and am having continual problems at all times of the day, into the evening, finding a place to swim due to this situation. I want what I paid for. With three freaking pools available in this neighborhood this shouldn’t be rocket science to accomplish a compromise. I believe the issue is that everyone wants to use the same, newest pool. ALL of us need to compromise and we have enough facilities to do it so lets figure it out.

• 34 Paolo // Jun 11, 2009 at 2:29 pm

  Well, this is getting hilarious. I have been told I’m arrogant and close minded, I believe I’m actually the only one just asking about balancing things based upon everyone’s needs and feedback. On the contrary it looks I’m talking to a concrete wall, as far as flexibility goes.

  You know very well that the original swim plan was to use Bella Mar for practice all the week Mon-Fri (except Monday morning for cleaning) both morning and afternoon, until 9:30pm, without even 1 lane for adult swimming. After expressing to HOA all the concerns about this very private pool usage, they have been able to negotiate just a little bit with the swim team, moving the practice to John Simpson only on Monday afternoons, assigning two lanes for adult swimming during practice, and ending it at 8:30pm. To be honest, it doesn’t look to me that was a very fair balancing of activities between Bella Mar and John Simpson, but we accepted because HOA also guaranteed that for every future planning they will first ask everyone’s feedback with very detailed survey, making sure that every schedule and usage will be the result of a GENERAL AGREEMENT. But even in this situation of extra privilege about the pool usage, the swim team started a petition. As I said in a previous post, this is unreal.

  Jenn, I never told you that you are arrogant or close-minded, just think for a moment about the following. I have been only talking about what we are doing to try to balance things across our facilities, and to avoid that the Bella Mar pool could be considered almost as a private competition property for a group of homeowners. We have been proposing alternatives to HOA, we have been accepting the current compromise, counting on the HOA ability to resolve things even better long term. We have been just asking about a fair balancing of activities between Bella Mar and John Simpson, not about using Bella Mar for our private leisure. On your side, from the very first post, I didn’t see even one comment showing willingness to change something of the current planning, even just a bit, to maybe compromise with all the concerns being brought from so many frustrated homeowners. Your posts are just a never-ending justification of the current swim team schedule. Lot of HOA-fee-paying homeowners are desperately trying to explain that there is a problem, and are asking for just some fair and balanced allocation of activities, on your side you just say everything is fine, you don’t move by an inch. For you the issue doesn’t exist. Interesting you tell me I’m arrogant and close minded

  All I care about is that I totally trust Scott Selman and the Board of Directors: they very clearly communicated that after this poorly planned swimming season, after July 2009 they will base things on a totally different way, making sure to go through a general homeowners involvement using very clear and focused surveys, so people will be able to understand what the final team schedule could be, and will be able to agree or not. This is real democracy. About all the rest, especially after experiencing the very “nice” cooperation shown by the swim team responsibles regarding possible changes, at this point I actually don’t care. Let’s wait for a real well done survey, and we’ll see where we will go (note: if the majority of people will decide something I don’t agree with, I won’t do any petition )

• 35 Paolo // Jun 11, 2009 at 2:39 pm

  KB, I know HOA will base things on our real general feedback after the current activities will end on July 11.

  There is nothing else can be done now, but there is a lot they and we will do for planning the next set of activities. Lot of people like you and me are just asking for the very basic and logic things you mentioned: balance activities across our facilities distributing workload among the available pools in a logic and correct way.

  We will all be able to provide feedback about that this time, and I’m pretty sure we won’t be where we are now.

• 36 Melissa // Jun 11, 2009 at 3:28 pm

  The fact of the matter is that the swim team’s right to use the pool does not trump every other homeowner’s right to use the pools. I understand that 12-5 is the hottest time of the year, but what about people who work? They may not be able to take their kids to the pool until after 5:00.

• 37 Jenn // Jun 11, 2009 at 3:53 pm

  Yeah, I have to start by apologizing for letting my frustration lead me into “name calling”-ish behavior. Nothing good can come of that, so I am sorry for stooping to that level.

  Now, to clarify facts, Paolo is wrong that the original plan for the second team did not include 2 lanes of adult lap swimming. It has been in the agreement for the afternoon practice times all along. He’s also wrong about the M-F thing. The evening team was ALWAYS a M-Th practicing team so that the pool would be available for the anticipated Friday after-work weekend-kicking-off crowds. All of these things were considered and discussed at length and purposely planned with the overall community in mind.

  As I said in my first post, the one day a week shift to John Simpson was a reasonable compromise that I supported. The reason I still contend that shifting to a 50/50 split between the facilities is not reasonable is that there are 2 pools at Bella Mar so there is no lack of access to water at that facility during practices. At John Simpson, there is one pool, so when the team takes over that pool, those nearby residents who want walkable pool access don’t have it at all. Again, that’s why BMCC was designed the way it was — they thought of that in advance and tried to address it before it was an issue!

  The other important logistical thing to remember about a swim team is the equipment that goes with it. Dive blocks are permanently mounted at BMCC and if I remember right cost about $1800 each. Lane ropes have to be custom made for the length of the pool, and while the team owns old ropes for John Simpson (from 4 years ago when they practiced there), time and weather are not always gentle to plastic equipment and they’re not necessarily in the best shape anymore. Kickboards are used for various practice drills and would have to be carted from one location to the other — and 30-50 of them are not exactly compact and convenient to transport. The time clock that the swimmers use for measured starts (to create reasonable distances between them but keep practices moving) is mounted and wired in at the Bella Mar facility. I’m not sure how portable the coaches’ microphone system is that saves them from shouting at full volume for 5 hours a day. And I’m sure I haven’t thought of everything. So it’s not just a matter of telling the kids to go to a different pool for practices this day vs. that one.

  Personally, I do hope the HOA puts together a good survey this year. I hope it’s specific and clear and gets good input. I hope a huge number of residents respond to it and let the boards and committees get a real feel for what people in this neighborhood value. I hope they hire or enlist the help of volunteer professional writers to write it so it IS clear. I hope that if making it specific and clear makes it long, we don’t lose takers to not having enough time to take it (b/c I’m pretty sure that’s part of why the last one was as generic as it was). As I said before, I WANT communication — outbound and inbound — in this neighborhood. I just don’t want the rules changed in the middle of the game.

• 38 Jenn // Jun 11, 2009 at 3:57 pm

  Melissa, thank goodness we are fortunate enough to have 3 other pools to swim in outside the 12-5 hours, one of which is at that facility, and the 12-5 hours only applies to 3 of the 7 days a week, even at that pool, for only 8 total weeks of swim team season.

• 39 Jenn // Jun 11, 2009 at 4:29 pm

  I’m re-reading all the details of posts and there’s one more thing you need to know. The swim team did NOT start the petition. A single parent of a swim team member did start it and purposely focused it on the broader issue of usage of ALL our HOA facilities. A single parent cannot represent the team — only the swim team board can — and they played absolutely no part in the development or dissemination of the petition. The board also cannot stop a resident from taking action as a resident when she does not have any official authority within the team’s organizational structure.

  While undoubtedly the vast majority of swim team parents, including board members, support that parent’s point of view, she drafted and sent out her petition solely in the role of concerned resident and it’s not correct or fair to say the swim team started the petition. Also, the purpose of the petition was to put forth a position and show overwhelming support of that position by SR residents. This is different from a survey in that it doesn’t get all the variety of opinions collected, but it does collect a count of people who hold to the specific stated opinion in the document, which does have some level of value. I don’t know if she had a greater goal of moving anyone to action with the petition, but we all know that a petition holds limited if any power, so I don’t see the harm in her gathering a count of support for a point of view. (I’ll grant you that it might inflame people on a different side of the issue, but perhaps if that spurs all of us to take a more involved, proactive approach to community activity planning, we end up with a better solution in the end for it!)

• 40 Melissa // Jun 11, 2009 at 4:47 pm

  Jenn – I appreciate you explaining all of this. However, I still can’t agree that the usage is balanced. Even though the swim team is large, it still consists of a small percentage of Steiner residents. It would be one thing if the pool construction and maintanence was funded solely with Swim Team funds, but it was not. All residents paid for it, and all residents have the right to use all pools. It’s not fair to homeowners to ask that they drive to another pool during certain hours, 4 days a week, during some of the hottest times of the year.

• 41 Paolo // Jun 11, 2009 at 4:53 pm

  For completeness of information.

  You mentioned that the two lanes for adult swimming were already planned. Do you know how ? The swim team was planning to use all the 8 lanes, and in case you would have liked to swim, you should have ASKED for a lane. If you know what the pool is like when the swim team is practicing, this was obviously equivalent of not having any lane available, since nobody would have ever walked there asking for a lane. So, after discussing (A LOT) about the point, HOA asked them to leave two lanes empty and mark them well as reserved for adult swimming.

  As far as schedule goes, the SWIM TEAM WEBSITE was showing also Friday afternoon until 9:30pm. I have a hadcopy of the printout we brought to the HOA for our meeting, that shows it. And during the meeting the swim team people mentioned that Friday was REMOVED from the plan, with our good satisfaction.

  We are all looking forward to see the survey from HOA about the long term planning, and I’m sure this time all the Steiner Ranch homeowners will be informed about all the details, all the perspectives, all the alternatives, and they will take the decision about how a reasonable, fair, balanced approach should be. And I’m also sure we will ALL be paying the highest attention about how the communication is going to be provided.

• 42 Jenn // Jun 11, 2009 at 6:12 pm

  Paolo, I can’t speak to the swim team’s website and I assume you are correct on that, but I am CERTAIN that it was an error and that practices for the evening team have ALWAYS been scheduled to happen from Monday through Thursday. I remember the discussions about keeping the two teams on off-day schedules for the very reason of keeping the pools all open for rec usage on Friday afternoons/evenings. So that’s bad that the swim team site contained that error. Nothing more to say on that one.

• 43 Jenn // Jun 11, 2009 at 9:13 pm

  I ran some numbers and came up with some surprising but interesting facts I’d like to share. I had never done this before, so I was personally pleasantly surprised with the results. I was spurred to do this to answer for myself whether it was a valid complaint that the swim team monopolizes the pool for a disproportionate amount of time to the volume of residents it serves.

  I calculated the percentage of Bella Mar pool time, as though the 2 Bella Mar pools (rec and lap) were the only SR pools, and I calculated the percentage of overall pool time across all 4 pools. I took into account the actual pool hours which I believe are 5 am to 10 pm (so I wasn’t padding with nighttime hours) and scheduled closures for cleaning. I assumed that the swim season was mid-May (when the team starts practicing) through the end of August — 15 weeks. I used the actual week numbers for the Stars swim programs in place.

  Bear in mind that the total involvement with the Stars programs is 600 kids representing 400 resident families. There are about 3000 homes in SR, so the swim team serves 13.36% of the families in our neighborhood.

  Pretending the Bella Mar was the only pool facility in SR, the swim team uses a total of 12.48% of the available pool hours at that facility. Taking into account the existence of 4 pools in SR, the swim team uses a total of 6.1% of the available pool hours. If you only count the hours from 8-8 (omitting early morning or late night lap swimmer hours), considering the 4 pool reality, the swim team uses 7.2% of the available pool time, and if you further count only the Bella Mar pools from 8-8, the swim team uses 14.7% of the pool time. So the only one of those scenarios in which the percentage of pool usage time is greater than the percentage of the population benefiting from the team is if you look at ONLY the Bella Mar pools and only the abbreviated hour set, and even then it’s not outrageously disproportionate.

  Now, this obviously doesn’t address the expressed desires to have the teams spread out over the John Simpson and Bella Mar facilities in the future, which is something we can all reasonably talk about after this season is over, but I hope everyone will consider these numbers — and run them yourself to check me (I tried to err on the side of exaggerating swim team usage hours and not exaggerating available pool hours so I wouldn’t be “fudging” the numbers) — and evaluate whether the team really is or is not being allowed an unreasonable or disproportionate amount of pool time at present.

• 44 Paolo // Jun 12, 2009 at 11:24 am

  Jenn, independently usage percentages, you hit the point at the end of your last post: homeowners want the swimming workload distributed between the two lap pools we have, Bella Mar and John Simpson.

  Last year nobody had a minimum complain about the swim team, and the Bella Mar pool was used each morning (Tue-Fri) plus all the Saturdays events.

  This year the HUGE difference has been the addition of the afternoon activities because of the Blue Team. Last year the homeowners of all this area (and also the others that like Bella Mar more than other pools and drive over here) didn’t raise any issue about the morning usage and the resulting confusion, and the Saturday’s events because they could use anyway the pool in the most important phase of the day, which is after work time, when families could go at the pool and enjoy the environment, in general from 5 to 8pm. The morning limitation and the Saturday’s events were balanced by the pool availability in the afternoons.

  With the addition of all the afternoon activities this year for the Blue Team, the homeowners started talking among them, and after a few emails, when we realized this was really a general and almost total concern, then we went to HOA to find out how was possible that everything was done at Bella Mar.

  So, what we would like to see, and we will obviously all work on that, is just a balance between John Simpson and Bella Mar. Keep in mind that also scenarios like splitting the same team across the two pools could be possible, just as alternative. But it is obvious that the current approach won’t be accepted for a second time, unless it will be the overall general result of a focused feedback from all the Steiner Ranch homeowners.

  With all the respect, the problems tied to starting blocks, lanes, and equipment, shouldn’t even be part of the equation. If things are not feasible because there is not enough equipment, well, the swim team size will have to be adjusted to the reality of things, not just expect to overcrowd by definition a pool. But if the swim team is so important for 400 families, I’m sure that part of the fee there could be arranged also the money to buy new equipment. A team should be always sized based upon equipment availability.

  To summarize, things are very simple: we need to fairly balance between the two lap pools we have. The fact that Bella Mar has a splash area that can be used also while kids are swimming is not a justification to always use this pool, because we all know what the environment is like when kids are practicing. It is simply not usable for people with a bit smaller kids, because dangerous and very noisy. In fact now during the practice people will small kids are driving to the TownSquare kids pool. And this is why also when John Simpson will be used for practice, the homeowners won’t be able to complain about the closure of the pool, because they will also be able to drive. Not sure if I made well the point: during the current practice the Bella Mar people are in general either not going to the pool or driving to the Town Square, so as long term solution we will expect to split between the two pools because during that timeframe people of the two areas will have to drive anyway to the TownSquare pool.

  As a good example, just think if the red team would practice Tue-Fri two mornings a week at Bella Mar, two mornings at John Simpson, and the Blue team would do the same (Mon-Thurs) in the afternoons: we would be able to split the burden across the two pools, and never have practice both morning and afternoon in the same pool. How does that sound ? The schedule would be the following:

  Monday morning: NONE
  Monday afternoon: Bella Mar, Blue Team
  Tuesday morning: Bella Mar, Red Team
  Tuesday afternoon: John Simpson, Blue Team
  Wednesday morning: John Simpson, Red team
  Wednesday afternoon: Bella Mar, Blue Team
  Thursday morning: Bella Mar, Red Team
  Thursday afternoon John Simpson, Blue Team
  Friday morning: John Simpson, Red Team
  Friday afternoon: NONE

  But again, we will go into the details later when HOA will work on this with all of us.

• 45 NV // Jun 13, 2009 at 11:16 am

  Did the HOA fee go up with the addition of the 3rd pool?

• 46 Nick // Jun 16, 2009 at 5:20 pm

  Balance is key. There are two lap pools in Steiner Ranch and they need to be used alternately. As a Bell Mar Homeowner, I don’t mind the pools being used for team competition but after being kicked out of the pool a couple times now, I feel it is out of hand. I request the HOA and Swim team coordinators realize the inconvenience and frustration of being unable to use the facilities that we thought we were getting when we bought our house. The John Simpson pool is perfect for swim practice and meets and if used at times could allow the Bella Mar pools some relief so that others can use it who do not choose to be a part of the swim teams. This goes for the soccer teams as well. Also, the parking is out of hand. I would also request that the HOA , Swim team, and Soccer team coordinators urge their members to carpool during competitions and practices to lessen the amount of people parking up and down our streets and in front of our homes. If we decide to have a party or family get together during a swim meet our guests will be forced to park so far away that I might have to rent a golf cart to get them to my front door. It’s not right how this neighborhood is being exploited and I think it can resolved by utilizing the John Simpson pool and other soccer fields more often and promoting carpooling or shuttling to the events.
  It just makes sense to do it that way.
  Thanks,
  Nick

• 47 Poster formerly known as // Jun 17, 2009 at 3:06 pm

  Nick:

  What other soccer fields? There is one field at Westridge. The Town Square fields are used by flag football

• 48 Paolo // Jun 17, 2009 at 7:44 pm

  Nick, you are obviously right, since you are just proposing a reasonable and balanced approach. The example of a possible schedule I gave in my previous post would be a good way to balance. We’ll see, I can guarantee that HOA won’t create again the current mess, and will just base the planning on a detailed and focused survey across all the homeowners.

• 49 Anonymous // Jun 28, 2009 at 3:51 pm

  12 pm till 5 pm is the WORST TIME to swim for kids. Do you realize that the sun is the MOST active during that time and ultraviolet rays are most intense? I say let the swim team take that time since they say it’s the best time to swim:)

• 50 Steve // Jul 3, 2009 at 11:52 am

  Is there a petition for blocking non-resident use of the pools? I might sign that.

  If the majority of residents favor shared used of the facilities, then I think the next step is to monitor usage. Figure out what days and hours have the heaviest and lightest resident usage. Make the light usage hours available for teams. There is no justification for teams to be granted exclusive access during the most desirable time slots.

  If the competition noise levels at 6am are disturbing to the neighboring residents, then the event organizers need to show some common courtesy and make changes. Either alter the hours, or find a way to communicate that doesn’t involve high-decibel sound levels.

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