2021 Improvement Projects

This list is still being updated (as of September 4th, 2021); check back for additional items.

The following projects have been completed so far in 2021. For projects that are currently planned (for 2021), scroll down.

Projects completed by the building and grounds (B&G), board members, or an outside-hired contractor are listed in normal text. Projects completed by other volunteers are highlighted in green text. Please let us know if we’ve missed anyone or a completed project.

Basement Waterproofing

We will detail this project in a separate update shortly.

Diving Board

Devise Diving was hired again in 2021 (following a basic installation of the new board in 2020) to refurbish the stand and hardware.

• Completed a detailed 60-point inspection of the board, stand, anchors, handrail, hinges and fulcrum.
• Disassembled and re-assembled the board fulcrum set and hinges.
• Replaced broken parts on the fulcrum set.
• Removed old concrete anchors and re-installed the stand with new stainless steel anchors. Leveled and aligned.

Gate Valve Replacement

Installed a new East Jordan Resilient Wedge gate valve on the 3″ water line to the facility. The city documented issues with the original gate valve back in 2011 (or earlier). Unfortunately, the rebuild completed in May 2020 didn’t hold, and a full replacement was necessary.

Additional details regarding the gate valve are documented in the wiki.

Landscaping

Cleared the front landscaping beds for a 2022 re-planting. More details are available here.

Pool Deck Post Lamps

Thanks to the generous donations of multiple board members, we finally completed the pool deck post lamp project. In conjunction with the soffit lighting (as described in the Pump House Exterior Work section, below), these lights dramatically improve the appearance of the grounds in the evening.

More technical and project details are provided in the wiki.

Pump House Automation

This is a significant project, and much written detail is still in development. In the meantime, deep-dive technical information is available on the Wiki, starting here.

Pump House Decking, Railing and Piping

We detailed this project in a February update here.

Some additional work has been completed as well:

• Printed custom pipe label markers to better identify water source and flow direction.
• Installed a new 1/2″ bypass water line for the sensors attached to the Chemtrol unit.

Pump House Electrical

• Replaced all existing electrical for the Chemtrol unit, chlorinator and boiler.
• Installed new dedicated circuits for the chemical control/monitoring, the boiler and the chlorinator pump. Added switch-only GFCI disconnects for the boiler and chlorinator pump.
• Installed new conduit runs for low-voltage automation wiring.
• Re-located and re-wired the low-voltage junction box carrying network and PA speaker wiring. Added a dedicated network switch for the pump house (to support future expansion, i.e. cameras).

Pump House Exterior Work

• Removed the pole-mounted dusk-to-dawn “barn light” located in the front-right (northeast) corner of the pump house.
• Removed all (in poor condition) wooden soffit and fascia from the pump house exterior. Dealt with refuse associated with multiple prior years of animal (raccoon) infiltration.
• Installed new wooden support structure for replacement soffit.
• Installed LP SmartSide solid soffit and under-side wood trim.
• Installed MiraTEC exterior trim (fascia).
• Eight recessed wet-rated LED fixtures were installed in the soffit. Lighting now surrounds the entire pump house (providing illumination on the north, south, and west ends that were previously dark) for aesthetics and security.
• Installed a new breaker and exterior dusk-dawn sensor for year-round automatic control of the soffit lighting.
• Scraped and painted the chimney box with a black high-temperature paint.
• Scraped, primed and painted the front door.

Thanks to Kevin Inkrott and Peter Pasternak for helping with demolition and installation.

Shed Re-Build

We will detail this project in a separate update shortly.

Other Projects: Basement

• Installed missing drywall, finished (taped, mudded and sanded), then primed and painted.
• Installed an interior locking door for the snack shack storage.
• Installed painted wood trim at the baseboard, exterior wall edges and around the snack shack storage room door.
• Applied additional coats of liquid rubber on exterior walls near the staircase and in the snack shack storage room.
• Power-washed exterior walls (using a surface cleaner) to remove lose paint and dirt in preparation for painting.
• Patched exterior block wall cracks/gaps with hydraulic cement.
• Painted exterior walls (except in the utility room and those coated with liquid rubber) with two coats of off-white Drylock paint.
• Replaced six old/leaking stop valves (used for seasonal pipe drainage) with new valves (thanks to Rob Olenzek).
• Repaired a leak on the tempered water copper pipe (thanks to Rob Olenzek).
• A new tempered water circulation pump and improved supports for associated piping were installed. This project was also “completed” in 2020 – but that pump was re-purposed for the pool slide water earlier in the season.
• Installed clamps and attached all receptacle boxes (replaced and re-wired with GFCIs in 2020) to waterproofed wall surfaces.
• Purchased and started up a 2nd dehumidifier to aid in basement humidity control.
• Replaced a temperature/pressure gauge that prematurely failed on the tempering valve.

Other Projects: Club House

• Replaced the front door lock cylinder (prior unit unexpectedly failed – fortunately in the locked position).
• Inventoried Motorola two-way radios and purchased additional units (along with charging bases). Replaced batteries; sold excess Cobra radios no longer used. Installed new batteries.
• Set up a new color laser printer (donated) for clubhouse use.
• Repaired the PA microphone (failed switch – could not mute).

Other Projects: Family Restroom

• Two new recessed LED fixtures were installed over the stalls. This provides much-needed illumination in formerly low-light areas.
• Replaced the existing noisy, flow-restricted bathroom fan with a Panasonic unit. This fan is confirmed to be significantly quieter while moving measurably more air. Utilized the existing soffit-vented duct work with some modification.
• Installed new sink aerator for better water flow.

Other Projects: Men’s Restroom

• Installed a new urinal to replace the existing unit that leaked due to a crack in the base.
• Installed a new Moen cartridge in the right-hand sink.
• Installed new sink aerators (3) for better water flow.

Other Projects: Women’s Restroom

• Install new sink aerators (2) for better water flow.

Other Projects: Grounds

• Cleaned up various landscape beds, planted flowers and spread mulch (thanks to various member volunteers and the Stevenson boy’s and girl’s swim teams).
• Power-washed the entire pool deck (except for some areas under the lounge chairs – pending).
• Power-washed and painted eight wooden picnic tables. Purchased two pressure-treated 8x10x2 board and replaced the bench seat and hardware on one table.
• Purchased and installed a new volleyball net.
• Measured, marked and rototilled the volleyball and tetherball courts.
• Distributed 10 tons of new mason sand to the volleyball and tetherball courts (thanks to the Stevenson boy’s and girl’s swim teams).
• Cleaned up the fire pit area, re-located and properly buried the fire pit ring. Leveled dirt and planted grass seed (thanks to GSSEM Troop #76675).
• Removed two old charcoal grills (thanks to Rob Olenzek)
• Refurbished the tetherball pole – including the installation of a new ball (thanks to the Duffy family).
• Removed the “mystery shower”, formerly used (presumably) for rinsing off sand from the volleyball courts, but long ago disconnected from water (thanks to Eric Kobel).
• Cut and cleaned up a fallen tree near the tennis courts (additional dying tree removal planned for 2021-2022).

Other Projects: Pool

• Installed two new drain grates in the gutters. Additional grates are being sourced for future repairs.
• Opened, dried and re-sealed four leaking pool light fixtures (gaskets replaced last year). Performed additional cleaning of metal surfaces to improve water tightness; some fixtures may need replacement in the future if leaks persist.
• Replaced multiple underwater pool bulbs, cleaned and installed new gaskets as needed.
• Disconnected one pool light fixture (under the south slide) that will need to be replaced in the future.
• Installed two new 20″ S.R. Smith ladder stairs with matching stainless bolts on the west diving well ladder.
• Replaced mounts under the south slide with new stainless steel mounts to better secure it to the pool deck.
• Excavated the pool deck in an effort to repair the broken “static level line” pipe (from the pool to the pump house, used to remotely measure water level). This project spanned multiple months and many hours of effort – starting with the discovery of an unground break during closing in 2020. Ultimately, it was found that the damage is extensive, spanning almost the entire length. To the surprise of everyone involved, it was discovered that the pipe was actually abandoned (broken off, never capped) near the pool, allowing water to flow under the concrete pool deck for many years. Capped the pipe near the pool to prevent any additional leakage. Due to prior decisions and the extensive damage (and cost to replace), the static line has been effectively abandoned.
• Patched 4 holes in the marcite.

Other Projects: Pavilion

• Installed quick-disconnect connectors for the ceiling fans to reduce wear on the wires and speed up seasonal removal of the fans (which are stored in the basement during the off-season).
• Replaced missing shingles at the southeast corner of the large pavilion to fix a water leak. Replaced damaged wood and properly sealed.
• Replaced and repaired vinyl ceiling near the southeast corner of the large pavilion. The failure (falling ceiling material) ultimately occurred during high winds in a thunderstorm, but the root cause was likely existing sag, caused by the aforementioned water leak due missing shingles.

Other Projects: Pump House

Boiler (Pool Heater)

• Installed a new spark gap and flame sense unit.
• Installed a new Honeywell ignition transformer to replace the unit installed in September 2020 that failed prematurely (thanks to Nick Carver).
• Installed a replacement ignition module in an effort to improve flame sense current.
• Cleaned up boiler wiring and added passive monitoring for the automation system. More details (include a before and after photo) are available here.
• Replaced wiring with insulation that was compromised by a long-ago overheat event.
• Corrected a wiring mistake that may have been original to the factory wiring.
• Replaced all aluminum MC conduit with Sealtite and appropriate fittings, new wire where needed.
• Purchased replacement air flow switches (high and low pressure). These turned out to not be needed, and have been kept on-hand as spare parts.
• Inspected and cleaned the entire boiler. The combustion chamber, burners and heat exchanger were all deemed to be in good/serviceable condition (thanks to Nick Carver for multiple trips to help diagnose/repair the boiler this spring!).
• Replaced the circulation pump (only a year old) with a warranty unit after observing shaft seal leakage and audible bearing failure (thanks to Ross Mullican).

Chlorinator

• Installed a new float valve to address an overflow issue – as it turns out, this might not have been the primary cause of overflow (see next item).
• Disassembled, cleaned and re-seated gaskets and seals in the solenoid-controlled valve. A lack of proper operation of this valve appeared to be the primary reason for overflow (a lack of controlled water shut-off). Unfortunately, after three re-build attempts (no cost, labor only), the valve was still failing. A brand new replacement valve assembly was installed. However, additional failures were still observed. The root cause was determined to be an issue with the Y-strainer (see next item).
• Replaced the Y-strainer prior to the chlorinator to (finally) solve the aforementioned solenoid-controlled valve issues. A missing retainer ring and gasket in the existing strainer allowed unfiltered water to mostly bypass the screen mesh, allowing larger particles to contaminate the diaphragm. Unfortunately, due to the lack of spare parts availability, a whole new strainer assembly had to be installed. A note has been added to the strainer to encourage the pool-closing crew to take care to safely store these parts in the future (as it is assumed the parts were lost during closing or opening of the pool).
• Custom designed programmable logic controller (PLC) based detection & mitigation to prevent prolonged air lock conditions (further details available here). An chlorinator pump air lock had been observed to occur periodically after the main pump was stopped and air accumulated in the system. Without mitigation, this would sometimes result in the chlorinator pump being inoperable for a long period of time (until air bleeds – this usually requires the chlorinator pump to be stopped).

Troubleshooting suggestions have been added to the wiki to aid in diagnosing future issues.

Deferred

The following projects are deferred; this list is awaiting a new home.

• Install additional electrical receptacles under the pavilions.
• Install a camera system for year-round security monitoring of the grounds (subject to discussion).
• Install a Power Factor Correction Capacitor (PFCC) for the 15 HP pool pump to reduce metered power consumption (reduce high-current losses in the feed to the pump house).
• Repair pool stair railing, repair loose concrete-mounted flag pole holders in the pool deck (used for the “backstroke” flags).
• Replace covers on small pavilion receptacles with proper in-use covers (per modern code).
• A backflow preventer (to the pump house) is necessary to prevent possible contamination of city water via pool water if conditions are right (i.e. neighborhood water main break).