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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-02-23 Aquatic Advisory Board MinutesAquatic Advisory Board Meeting Minutes February 23, 2004 Attendance: Dbgy6 , Amy Vendt (Associate Aquatic Director), Dan Berry (Associate Executive Director), Tom O'Rourke (YMCA Representative), Klaus Kubierschky (YMCA Representative), Ken Holbrook (RMHS Boys Swim Coach), Lois Margeson (RMHS Girls Swim Coach), Jack Downing (Reading Recreation Representative) Absent: MaryEllen O'Neili(Reading Selectman Representative), Cam Townsend - . (YMCA Representative) - Minutes by: Jack Downing Tom O'Rouke opened the meeting at 6:35. Dan Berry began the meeting with some informational materials the YMCA is adopting for improving the community. He passed out a long accordion folded flyer titled "150 Way to Shaw Kids You Care". The information is part of a philosophy that the Burbank YMCA is implementing into all programs. The materials focus on the 40 developmental assets that all youths need to develop into adulthood. Klaus moved to accept the minutes of the January 26th 2004 meeting. The motion was seconded by Ken Holbrook and voted 7-0 to accept the minutes. Registration: Amy Vendt reported that general registration for the Spring I session started this date and that signups this first day were slower than typical - but this may be due to this being the first work day after the school February vacation week. She will have the statistics on registration at the March meeting. Pool Operational Problems January 19 through February 6: Dan initiated a long description of the pool operational problems that extended from January 19 thru February 3. The pool was sporadically shut down in this period primarily due to malfunctions with the air handling system. The air handling system was shut down on January 19 in order to replace the air heating circulator motors. But there were other consequences from the prolonged outage of the air handling system. The moisture levels were high and the control equipment for the variable frequency drive motors for the air circulation fans had been exposed to these high moisture levels. The controls in the original pool design were never located in a watertight NEMA enclosure. The control equipment had shorted out and not functional. It was a very cold day on the 24th of January and the vent flaps in the pool equipment room were stuck in the open position. As a result of the vents being stuck in the open position, the cold outside air vented into the now unheated pool equipment space. The pipes in the pool equipment room froze. These pipes were defrosted and repaired (the frozen chlorinator pipe burst on the 27th) in the period of the 25th to 27th. On the 27th, it was discovered that the Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) motor had shorted out and needed to be replaced. The new motor arrived on the 30th. The old motor was seized to its mount on the roof and required an extraordinary and time consuming effort to remove. During installation on February i it was discovered that the new motor was the wrong size. The correctly sized motor was also delivered that day, but had been mistakenly shipped Cash-on-Delivery and UPS would not accept a credit card. A check was obtained from the Boston office, and the installation was completed on February 3' All the time that the vent system was not functional, the pool staff maintained the pool water quality with manual operation of the chlorinator and other necessary equipment. During that time the air temperatures fluctuated and conditions were very humid but cold in the pool area. This cold air also affected the pool water temperature. The staff also monitored the condition of the air and particularly the chlorine odor in the air. On the last day of repair to the vent system the Town Health Department, represented by Ms. Jane Fiore, visited the pool and declared the chlorine fumes would require that the pool be shut down. The vent system operated throughout the day on the 4th during shutdown, and the pool was reopened on February 5th All together the problems with the air handling system resulted in about 6 days of closed pool conditions and uncomfortable conditions for the swim team and others who continued to use the cold pool. About $20,000 has been spent to date, but the'enclosure of the electrical control in a watertight enclosure should limit the potential for a recurrence of a similar problem in the future. Ken Holbrook had a number of questions about the air handling system problems. These included questions about basic design defects, if the Christmas shutdown could have been a part of the problem, and if the problem was due to the extremes of winter weather this year. Ken also noted that the problem was very disruptive to the swim team on top of the disruption associated with the cold water used to refill the pool during the Christmas shutdown. At the same time alternate YMCA pool facilities like the North Suburban YMCA were also shut down. Dan Berry said that the YMCA facility manager, Ed Dahlsted, would be looking at the design issue. The YMCA is planning to build more pools of the same design with the same company - this might mean that some of the costs could be recovered if the problems were due to design deficiencies. Dan also said that Mr. Dahlsted would be invited to the next Advisory Board Meeting in March. Tom O'Rouke said that the YMCA Board would also discuss this issue later that same week. Action Item - Ed Dahhsted would. be invited to the next meeting to discuss the seasonal timing of future pool shutdowns for major maintenance efforts. New Assistant Director: Dan Berry introduced Jason Perry as the new Assistant Aquatics Director. Amy will be going to the Waltham YMCA beginning March 4. RMHS Boys Swim Team: The team had a good season. They were 7-3 overall and 3-2 in the league. Six swimmers qualified for sections and three for the State meet. BYB Swim Team: Finished their first year in Division I. There were 88 kids on the team. Participation in the Y New Englands was canceled due to the lost team practice time from pool maintenance and operational issues: The team participated in the Eastern Massachusetts Y Championships and hosted a long-course meet. _Austin Prep Swim Team: Austin Prep had two meets at Burbank Pool this year. Summer Pool Advertisement: The Advisory Board reviewed the draft advertisement for the summer pool operation. This was developed in cooperation with the Reading Recreation summer activities handbook. Klaus- made a motion to close the meeting. Ken seconded the motion. The Board voted 7-0 to close the meeting -at 8:15.