Lake Ridge to decide whether or not to open pools June 24

Lake Ridge residents may have the opportunity to take a dip in a public pool this summer.

The Lake Ridge Parks and Recreation Association last night held an online public meeting asking residents whether or not it should open the pools for the remainder of the summer season.

Usually, public swimming pools are open by Memorial Day. However, all public parks divisions in our area have closed their swimming pools due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ike M. Mutlu, general manager for the Lake Ridge Parks and Recreation Association tell us:

In the current Coronavirus Pandemic environment, the intent of this Town Hall was for board members to listen to resident feedback on whether the pools should open, under what conditions they may be opened and what services may be provided.

Board President Janet Foote spent the first 15-20 minutes educating the association membership on federal, state and local regulations and Executive Orders that impact how our pools can be operated and what services may be provided. The entire meeting can be seen on our web site www.lakeridgeva.com in our YouTube videos.

Approximately 88 residents participated via Zoom and 2 attended in-person at Tall Oaks Community Center. Around 21 residents from a wide cross section of our association provided constructive feedback on this important topic.

The Board and Management is diligently working to safely open the pools this summer. The Board of Directors will next meet in a Special Board Meeting on June 24th at Tall Oaks Community Center and on Zoom to consider the input from residents and vote on whether and how to open pools.

According to documentation from the parks and recreation association, if the pools were to open, it would follow guidelines set forth by Gov. Ralph Northam.

Two of the five pools in Lake Ridge could open as soon as July 1, under a proposal. The details of this proposal:

• Members Only – No guests, Only persons living in the household
• Reservations for appointed times
• Professional cleaning of all surfaces 1st hour of day
• Two hour member reservations began after cleaning & check-in
• Members exit; cleaning repeated for one hour
• Next reservation begins with subsequent cleaning intervals of one hour after each reservation until final closing
• No pool furniture for lounging
• Sidewalks outside pool marked at 6 ft intervals
• Persons not following posted rules may be asked to leave; repeated violations may
result in revocation of pool privileges
• May require waiver of liability

LRPRA provided Potomac Local News with additional information on the plan it’s considering:

PLN: It says two of five pools could be open by July 1. Is this the plan should Board approve opening the pools?

LRPRA: This is one option. This decision has not been finalized. It depends on the motions that are made and seconded and the vote the board takes. We have a 9 member board of directors and it takes a 5 member majority to pass a motion.

PLN: Which pools would be open?

LRPRA: This decision has currently not been finalized. Management will recommend to the Board of Directors that Canterbury Woods and Ridgewood be the pools to be opened since they are geographically distributed, largest in size and have lap lanes (this is mostly what is allowed under the Governor’s Executive Orders).

PLN: The proposal says reservations at appointed times. Would the pools be open to members only, by reservation only? How would this work?

LRPRA: The answers have not been finalized. Ultimately, these questions would be answered by the board on June 24. LRPRA is a member association and our first responsibility is to the membership in good standing (assessments up to date and no covenants violations).

Here are the locations of LRPRA’s five swimming pools and splash pad:

Canterbury Woods Community Center
12184 Chaucer Lane, Lake Ridge

Oakwood Pool
12619 Oakwood Drive, Lake Ridge

Tall Oaks Community Center
12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Lake Ridge

Edgewood Pool
McIntire Court, Lake Ridge

Ridgewood Pool
12396 Oakwood Drive, Lake Ridge

Lake Ridge Association Spray Ground
3850 Hartlake Street, Lake Ridge