How do you maintain a positive atmosphere at the community pool?

We have 685 homes and we have large community pool. We see lots of complaints about teenagers being rowdy and cussing. We also seem to have outsiders climbing the fence and entering the pool area.I would appreciate any tips you could give us on keeping the pool area a positive experience for families. The pool has a few lap lanes, a regular pool area and a baby walk in area.

I would hire a lifeguard instead of a security guard. LG's carry the same weight as a security guard and they know aquatic rules and regs. BTW what type of keyed entry system do you have? is it bras traditional type keys or is is a electronic fob. Also, I too would recommend surveillance cameras. Enforce the rules.

Jeff,
I would say not a camera but a good camera system. They need to be high quality so that people can be identified if they break the rules. Make sure they have Color Night vision. Also the Pool Monitor or Guard is a must have to control pools these days. All of this costs money but without it you have mayhem. Remember they work 24/7 and never call in sick.

Your future problem is something we are currently going through now. What do you want the Monitor to look like? Some say not a young person, Not a old creepy guy, no shady sunglasses guy, someone who won't hit on anyone's wife or husband. I guess a Robot is the only thing that does not fit into one of those boxes.

I have always been instructed not to have a Lifeguard. Most pool signs tell visitors they are swimming at their own risk. If you have Life Guard services you are saying they will be saved. The HOA takes on the liability IMO.

I agree about the lifeguard adding liability.

Thanks for all of your suggestions, but, until our community is resident controlled I don’t see it getting better. Young families are now avoiding our best amenity.

That's why we had a pool monitor, not a lifeguard. Our pool was too small for a lifeguard anyway and his/her primary job is to monitor what's going on in the pool and assist, if necessary. You can't do that and run after people climbing the fence or checking passes. We had a sign saying "swim at your own risk" and it was the first thing written on our code of conduct, along with strongly encouraging parents to supervise their kids when they were at the pool.

Whatever your board decides to do, be sure to let the homeowners know, along with the cost, because camera installation, monitoring services and all that cost money and will affect assessments. If they don't want the increased costs, the homeowners themselves will have to help monitor behaviors and sometimes that's all you need to fix the problem.

OP:

some tough love,

Developer's community

Developer's rules

until a court of law says otherwise

Move or Stay is your choice

Your only PRACTICAL choice

Is there an onsite property mgr. to whom a bunch of you can complain bitterly and often?? Is there a security staff for an HOA your size? How many on each shift?

Who's on the developer's board of directors? Any Owners? Does that board hold meetings?? If so, I think FL requires that they be open to owners. Gather neighbors and all show up with ideas, etc., about the pool.

Picketing might get you some results, but it also could hurt your neighbors who want to sell for whatever reason.

Years ago, when our three kids were young, we rented an apt. in a new "family" apt. development in Bethlehem, PA. We chose it because the onsite rental agents promised the swimming pool would be ready on June 15 for kids' summer fun. But no one worked on it. It was not ready! And we're weren't getting satisfactory answers from the property mangers or anyone!

I spread around a flyer with some neighbor' help saying that we all should turn on all our water (paid by landlord) at noon on Friday for 1/2 hour. We would do this every day for longer periods until we got satisfaction. Never had to turn on the water. Construction crews showed up miraculously and pool was done by July 1.

We're not a senior community but few kids live in our urban high rise. We use cameras at the pool only. And they're monitored by security 24/7. We have a fob system for the gates. fences also are 5'. Rule enforcement is key. Do you actually have any rules, Jeff?

Nothing, nada, zip! The area was too small for another set of houses anyway and since it's next to the clubhouse, I suggested we consider converting it into an entertainment area - nothing fancy, perhaps some large flower pots, a fence and perhaps one or two of those grills similar to what you see in the park. TI also thought a community garden might also work. By making it more of an entertainment area, my hope was that would encourage more people to rent it out and the clubhouse could become more self supporting.

A few people suggested a playground, but we had enough problems with our current playground and besides being that close to the clubhouse would probably result in more damage and vandalism, so we said hell no to that idea (people living close to the clubhouse agreed!)

In the end, we didn't do anything because we had a ton of other things going on at the time and not enough money to really pursue it. The board didn't pick it up again because various members, including myself, resigned so now it's a large area of grass which seems to serve more as a buffet for the geese!