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 if a completed project.
Lobby Renovation
What started as a casual conversation and suggestion in 2021 turned into a full-on renovation in the spring of 2022. A majority of the materials and all of the labor for this project were donated by the B&G committee.
- The walls were patched, prepped, and painted with a new, simplified color scheme.
- The baseboards and floor were cleaned to remove grime and old paint.
- The surface-mounted ceiling light fixtures were removed. New, high-lumen bright-white LED recessed lights were installed. Track lighting was installed at two locations to highlight bulletin boards and plaques.
- New receptacles were installed in the ceiling at the lobby’s north end to power a digital signage monitor.
- New signs were installed for the restrooms and staff-only areas.
- Door closers were re-painted with silver/metallic paint to improve appearance (note that in the coming years, replacement of all doors is proposed).
Thanks to a generous donation by Christina Randall, we were able to:
- Custom build a new wooden butcher block manager’s desk with motorized height adjustment (this replaced an old, worn-out “teacher desk” that was beyond the point of refurbishment).
- Purchase a new modern-style lateral file cabinet (to replace several smaller, old file cabinets).
Sagging Ceiling, View #2
Another view of the sagging ceiling prior to repair. Photo taken on March 9th, 2022.
Grounds Improvements
- Installed a replacement upper half for the flag pole and the necessary hardware.
- Installed a replacement drainage pipe for the sump pump, which was damaged during landscaping work (thanks to Nicholas Katcherian – who donated his time and materials!).
- Removed and trimmed trees on the property as detailed here.
A good friend of B&G, David Dodge, with his crew’s help:
- Cleared the landscaping beds (much of this occurred in the fall of 2021). Applied multiple chemical treatments to weeds/vines that tend to overtake the entire beds in short order (this will be an ongoing effort).
- Removed excess dirt from the landscaping beds and used it to fill low-lying areas and holes in the property. This was also assisted by the swim teams during clean-up.
- Grass seeded (primarily in the southeast corner of the fenced-in area) to improve the turf.
- Weed-treated and fertilized the entire 2-acre property. It will take a few years to turn around fully – but the feedback on the improvement of our lawn has been overwhelmingly positive.
- Planted various flowering bushes.
We also need to thank the Aiken, Bernath, Chipman, Curd, Henderson, Katcherian, Niemi, and Peters families for their tremendous contributions during our spring clean-up. Please let us know if you volunteered during the 2022 spring clean-up and we missed your name.
Our staff also chipped in pre-season by painting various items, including the volleyball/tetherball poles, power washing, and pulling weeds.
Snack Shack Air Conditioner
Details to follow.
Network and Camera Upgrades
In February, a solar-powered “dumpster cam” was designed and installed to monitor the north end of the parking lot in response to dumping by outside individuals.
The Arlo camera system (installed in 2019) was decommissioned. While fundamentally a solid system, it lacked flexibility as it was bound to the wireless range of the base station located in the clubhouse. Furthermore, cameras required frequent recharging. While there were options to eliminate the charging issue, we desired coverage for the full property.
The camera system was replaced with wired 5 MP (megapixel) turret-style cameras. We intend to expand this system in the coming years as the budget allows. As of 2022, we have multiple cameras monitoring the property 24/7.
Internet and Phone Upgrades
We now use a dedicated VoIP phone provider – separate from our cable internet provider. This was done to reduce costs and to bring additional flexibility. We can now change internet providers (i.e., Spectrum, WOW!) without swapping equipment and/or porting our phone number. It also allows us to maintain phone service without an internet provider. This way, internet service could be fully canceled during the off-season to save money.
We changed internet providers to take advantage of the promotional rates and determined we should own our cable modem to avoid the monthly equipment rental fee. A modem was generously donated by a club neighbor, Gordon Hastie.
Three VoIP handsets were installed in the club (you may have noticed them in the lobby, with the club logo on their screens). We also added a phone in the pump house.
Other Projects: Club House
- Installed a new “storm door” style door on the snack shack. The previous door’s hinges failed due to the excessive weight of the added wooden structure on the relatively lightweight door.
- Installed a small window between the snack shack and lobby to seal in the conditioned air within the snack shack.
- Insulated the attic above the snack shack to reduce the new air conditioner’s heat load (and added energy consumption).
- Replaced all clubhouse exterior recessed-style light bulbs with bright white LED bulbs.
- Added new electrical circuits in the lobby panel for the digital signage (TV) and Snack Shack air conditioner.
- Cleaned the pool-facing lobby window (thanks to Lisa Vecellio).
Other Projects: IT
- Commissioned a new server (running VMware) to operate the phones, cameras, and WiFi network.
- Upgraded the clubhouse network switch from 4 PoE ports to 24 PoE ports.
Getting the new network switch up and running was actually quite an involved project. To save money, we purchased a used “for parts only” on eBay, understanding that repairs to its power supply would be necessary.
The switch arrived in a non-functional state (though with a like-new appearance). It would partially power up, but it wasn’t functional. This model has a known reliability issue (widely complained about in support forums). Fortunately, a fix was (supposedly) quite easy.
Weeks later, after a couple of rounds of component replacement – the switch sort of worked. Unfortunately, it would still power itself off after a few days of use.
So, we purchased a second “for parts only” unit. This one appeared to have a functional power supply but wouldn’t boot up properly. At this point, the total investment was still well below the cost of a new switch, but patience was waning.
Fortunately, a fully-working switch was born with the power supply from the second unit and the mainboard from the first unit. We combined the other parts, and the double-defective unit was re-sold (clearly sold as non-functional).
Months later, the switch has been operating flawlessly. Ultimately, the unit was donated to the club by B&G.
Other Projects: Pool Deck
- Created custom new signs to hang on the fence outside of the pool deck for:
- “Gate Must Be Closed at All Times”
- “Lifeguard on Duty”
- “No Smoking or Vaping on Pool Grounds”
- “Pool Capacity (483)”
- “Pole Rules”
- “Prohibited on the Pool Deck: Food or Drink, Glass, Hazardous Object”
Other Projects: Pump House
- Welded the stainless steel strainer basket to repair a split. This saved the club more than $1,500 (the cost of buying a replacement from Pentair). Thanks to David Dodge for volunteering to repair this item at no cost to the club.
Chlorinator
No, this isn’t a repeat from 2021. The chlorinator required continued attention in 2022.
- Replaced the pump housing seal and shaft seal (again) for the chlorinator pump to address leaking. This required multiple attempts for a variety of reasons. The prior shaft seal (installed by a 3rd party in 2021) may have been installed incorrectly.
- Designed, installed, and debugged additional controls to address persistent overflow issues. We cannot stress enough how frustrating the persistent overflows were to B&G and the staff. Details of the modifications are (or will be soon) posted on the Chlorinator wiki page.
