By Deborah A. Carter, CMCA, AMS, PCAM
By Gunnar Thompson
Deborah is the general manager of Westridge Swim and Racquet Club in Woodbridge, Virginia. She is also a member of the Quorum Editorial Committee and the Outreach Committee for the Washington Metro Chapter Community Associations Institute.
Gunnar Thompson is a Business Developer at BrightView Landscape Services. Joining the team almost four years ago, he enjoys assisting communities in bringing their goals and visions to life through quality landscape services.
Prepping Your Community’s
Pool Guards for a Winning Summer Season
S
ummer is finally here and everyone is anxious for opening day at the pool. Having solicited competitive bids, reviewed online ratings, checked references and interviewed bidders, the board is confident they have selected the best pool management company to meet the needs of the community. So, what could go wrong? As most of us know, there are a multitude of things that can go wrong at the pool: mechanical failure, patron injury, patron misbehavior, staffing problems, etc. While some situations cannot be prevented, the key is to ensure that the pool staff is fully prepared to handle any situation that may arise.
You may ask, isn’t it the pool management company’s responsibility to train the guard staff? Yes, but it’s the community manager’s responsibility to ensure the pool staff is equipped to succeed at the community. Many of the guards are teenagers, and this will be their first job. This alone can be intimidating. Added to this is the fact that they will be the first responders to any emergen-
cy at your pool. This is a huge responsibility, especially for a teenager or young adult. Therefore, it is imperative that they are both prepared and supported by the community to ensure the safety of the residents.
You cannot expect the guard staff to understand your community’s expectations and specific policies and practices – unless you tell them. First, the community should require the pool management
YOUR ASSOCIATION
BANKING PARTNER Wintrust Community Advantage offers a complete suite of financial products and services to townhome, homeowner, and condo associations. We tailor these products to the unique needs of these community associations.
RECENTLY FINANCED PROJECT
$2,500,000 Land Acquisition to HOA Gainesville, VA
KIM MYLES, CMCA
communityadvantage.com
VICE PRESIDENT Wintrust Community Advantage - MD/DC/VA kmyles@communityadvantage.com C: 734-276-3330 | D: 240-772-1212 CAI Educated Business Partner
Wintrust Community Advantage is a division of Barrington Bank & Trust Company, N.A., a Wintrust Community Bank.
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