The Board is obligated to maintain common assets. It is past time to rehabilitate our satellite pools. The exterior shingles on three of our pool bathrooms are warped, rotting, and falling off. The flat roofs are over 15 years old and underlying wood has rot and termite damage. The pump room walls have extensive mildew damage. The pump room doors are so old they don't hang properly. Some of the vanities in the bathrooms are sagging and pulling away from the wall. The pipes to the water heater at pool 3 recently burst. The toilet plumbing at some pools is so old that flushed toilets keep running, wasting water. The decking, especially at pools 2 and 5, which has already been ground down, is badly cracked and needs replacement. The fence at pool 3 has been cited by the county as a safety hazard and the one at pool 5 should be so cited.

Before contracts are awarded to do this work, the Board wants to determine if the community wants to keep all four satellite pools. The upcoming April ballot will include the questions: Shall the Board convert pool #5 to open space? and Shall the Board convert pool #3 to open space?

A thoughtful and considered decision involves open discussion and reliable information. The Board will provide information in the Breeze, on the website, and at Board meetings. Three central questions are: How much does it cost to operate each small pool? How much will it cost to rehabilitate each small pool?  How much would it cost to convert a small pool to open space?

POOL #5

Pool #5 is inside the center circle at the end of Riptide. It is the first pool to consider converting because it is closest to the main pool, 645 feet away. Pool #5 is also only 650-feet from pool #4.

Operating Costs  

Pool #5, like all the satellite pools, is open about 100 days per year, from Memorial Day until a couple of weeks after Labor Day. Even when closed this pool has operating expenses. The pool pumps and pool service must be continued year around. The largest operating costs for these pools are electricity, pool service, janitorial service, and natural gas. The annual operating costs for each small pool is about $10,500 or about $100 for each day that they are open. For a detailed itemization of these costs, click here. It is important to realize that state and federal regulations to mitigate climate change, if implemented, could dramatically increase the cost of electricity and natural gas.

Inspection by our pool service vendor indicates that before next season we will need to replace the pool #5 filter ($1000), the pool pump ($900), and the pool heater ($4000).

Rehabilitation Costs

The main components of rehabilitating a satellite pool are: replacing the decking, coping, and plumbing around the pool, plastering inside the pool, replacing the fencing and gate around the pool and redoing the interior, exterior, and roof of the pool cabana. The approximate costs of replacing the coping ($2,000), plumbing ($5,000), plastering ($7,000), and redoing the cabanas ($20,000) are the same for all the satellite pools. Cabana rehabilitation costs break down to about $10,000 to remove the shingles, apply stucco, replace doors, and tile showers, $5000 to replace pump room wallboard, bathroom vanity and plumbing fixtures, and paint the interior and partitions, $5000 to re-roof including replacing rotting wood.

The fencing and decking varies for each pool.  At pool #5 161 feet of fencing would cost about $16,000 (55 feet of fencing is half fencing which would be less expensive on a per-foot basis). There may be added cost here because the current fence footing has deteriorated. Replacing the 1150 square feet of pool #5 decking would cost about $13,000.

Please note that these prices are estimates based on recent bids and will be updated by the Board. Also we learned during the main pool rehabilitation project that additional costs were incurred for:  drawings, permits, and inspections by the city and county, electrical and gas lines corroded or in violation of current codes, and handicap access requirements.

A preliminary inquiry with the City of Huntington Beach indicated that we would have to provide handicapped parking and access to pool areas, bathrooms, and showers equal to 20% of the cost of permitted work. This could add several thousand dollars to the project's cost. Pool #5 has steps from the cabanas to the pool. This presents an additional access issue. While pool #5 has a ramp, the slope and width of these ramps may be inadequate by current standards. The ramp would also need to have railings which would cost about $4000 based on the cost of those at the main pool. Finally, if we redo the decking the city indicated that we will be obligated to provide a pool lift. The lift at the main pool cost about $12,000, including installation.

An approximate total cost of rehabilitating  pool #5, including costs for city and county requirements, is about $89,000. This work could be done over several years but there are savings to be obtained by doing several pools at once.

Cost of Conversion to Open Space

We converted two small pools in 2009 at a total cost $58,200 each as reported in the July, 2009 Breeze. New estimates indicate the cost of removing the cabana, decking, and fencing as well as filling in the pool would be $17,000. Landscaping this area would cost $5402, including irrigation. Our 2009 costs for permits and engineering were $6350 and for utility capping and relocation including irrigation timers were $10,250. The total would be approximately $39,000.

POOL #3

Pool #3 is located at the end of Seaworthy and at the end of Oceanaire. It is 850 feet from the main pool. It is the second closest pool to the main pool, after pool #5. By way of comparison, pool #2 is 1410 feet from the main pool and pool #4 is 1295 feet from the main pool.

Operating Costs

The operating costs for pool #3 are similar to those for pool #5, about $10,500 per year or $100 per day that it is open. Before opening for the 2010 summer season, broken water heater pipes must be repaired ($540 plus drywall repair).

Rehabilitation Costs

 The approximate costs replacing the coping ($2,000), plumbing ($5,000), plastering ($7,000), and redoing the cabanas ($20,000) are the same as for pool #5. Pool #3 has 285 feet of fencing which will cost about $30,000 to replace. The 845 square feet of decking could be replaced at a cost of about $10,000.

Pool #3 has the same handicap access requirements as pool #5. Pool #3 also has steps from the cabana to the pool and would need a ramp up to current code with railings. The approximate total cost of rehabilitating pool #3, including city and county requirements, would be about $100,000.

Cost of Conversion to Open Space

The total cost of converting pool #3 to open space is about $40,000. The costs are the same as pool #5 above except the landscaping would be $1000 more due to the larger area.