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Main Pool Rehab/Rebuild Project Update
You may have seen the eSignal that went out in mid-April regarding the cancellation of some special meetings for the Main Pool rehab/rebuild project. We wanted to take this time to detail the current status of the project, along with necessary background, context, and options moving forward. Warning – this is a long write-up as this project has been many years in the making. If you just want the bottom line, the bids we got came back way too expensive and now the Board is looking into changing the scope to, at the very least, ensure the pool can continue operating without issue for the next couple of seasons. Read on for the gory details…
HOW WE GOT HERE
Back in the fall of 2019, as the Association was nearing the end of that dramatic chain of events that led up to a lawsuit and recall election, the new Board was handed some paperwork and contracts for a proposed total rebuild of the Main Pool, apparently scheduled for that same winter. After some additional investigating and discussions with the pool maintenance vendor at the time, the Board determined that the East and West pool equipment was in bad shape and really needed work; the Main Pool could probably get through a few more seasons, but the side pools’ filters and pumps were not long for this world. The Board agreed to pause the Main Pool project for a bit and instead attack the side pools.
Fast-forward a few years – past COVID, past the “side-pool-less” summer of 2022 – and the Board begins its preparations for the Main Pool rebuild project, dusting off the contract with Avelar, the previously hired construction management firm, and bringing our new pool vendor, Picture Perfect Pools, into the fold for guidance and recommendations. All pool vendors who look at the equipment agree that the main pool components are now very close to their end of life and the longer we delay, the more likely we run into a problem that shuts our pool down for the summer. A perfect example of this – in the spring of 2023, a week or two before we are scheduled to turn the heaters on, the main gas line running from the meter to the pump room fills with water and needs to be totally replaced. $60,747 later, we have a brand new gas line running underneath the grassy area along Lawson Ct.
In 2024 Avelar puts together an initial estimate for the entire project. The scope involves pretty much a total rebuild of everything in the pump room (filters, pumps, chemical storage, etc.), stripping the pool down to the shell, tearing out the entire concrete deck, installing new conduit, plumbing, and electrical, pouring a new concrete deck, and performing all necessary ADA and health code required upgrades (such as a sloped entry ramp, some bathroom modifications, etc.). This estimate is around $1.2 million, which included a 10% contingency line item for inflation and unforeseen issues.
At the time, this was way more than the Association had been saving up for in reserves (by more than double – in 2018, the reserve study was designating a little over $250,000 for this “project”), so the Board worked with its reserve analyst to create a 3-year plan that would put enough money into the reserve account to complete this project without needing a special assessment or bringing our percent funded number below 20% which would impact the ability for owners to refinance and buyers to obtain a loan to buy a home here). The project was tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2026, giving us enough time to add more money into reserves before construction started. Avelar started the design process in the 2nd half of 2025, worked with the Board on finalizing little details/upgrades/discretionary items over the winter, and was set to send out the scope to contractors in the spring of 2026.
One important facet of this project involved bringing in a geotechnical engineer to drill core samples of the soil beneath the pool and provide recommendations based on findings from multiple core samples of the soil beneath the pool deck. This resulted in some specific changes from a standard pool rebuild scope of work – for example, they recommended that the pool deck be constructed with a minimum 6-inch reinforced concrete slab, instead of 5 inches, and be underlain by a minimum of 2 feet of newly compacted material. The true cost of this recommendation would not really be known until we entered the construction design phase of the project and sent it out to bid…
Another big chunk of this project included bringing everything up to code and implementing all required ADA upgrades, since this is technically considered a public pool (the Health Department defines a public pool as any pool that serves more than three owners). Going into it, we had a pretty good idea of what would be needed – the main entry ramp rebuilt with a gentler slope, a chair lift for the main pool, some changes to the showers and bathrooms to allow for better wheelchair access, etc. – but as the project got rolling, we found out that the smaller wading (or kiddy) pool would need to be totally rebuilt from scratch in order to accommodate a sloped entry ramp. This added a potentially significant cost to the project not accounted for in the original budget from 2024 (and you may remember a short survey asking for feedback about the wading pool earlier this year).
There was also one final part to this project – discretionary upgrades and additions. The Board had discussed the possibility of rebuilding the elevated concrete pad on the Lawson Ct side to allow for the installation of a shade structure, along with solar panels on top, to help offset our electrical expenses. This was an elective addition to the bid so that the Board could decide based on cost. Another proposed project was waterproofing the small storage area of the pump room beneath the pool deck, which would allow us to use the room for storing supplies for events that take place on the nearby greenbelt. All of these options were “nice-to-haves” that would only be considered if the budget allowed.
So, after all that, we finally entered the bidding phase in March of 2026. Bids came back the first week of April and we had multiple meetings scheduled around that time to review everything, interview contractors, and make a final selection. We were very excited for this project becoming “real”, after years of thinking about it and planning…
WHERE WE ARE NOW
Unfortunately all the bids came back significantly more expensive than expected. To give you an example: the cost for the project with all discretionary upgrades included – pump room waterproofing, wading pool rebuild, additional shade structure and solar panels – came back around $3 million (and all three bids were within 10% of one another). When we revised the scope and stripped the project down to the bare minimum (which meant simply paving over the wading pool, by the way), we were still looking at a potential cost of around $2.1 million – more than $800,000 over our original budget. This was a pretty big shock to everyone.
There are a couple of reasons for this. One, and most importantly, the cost of concrete has increased by around 25% to 30% over the last 12 months, and concrete makes up a huge majority of the material cost for this project. The cost of steel is also up due to inflation and tariffs, and we need a lot of it for the rebar used throughout the concrete deck.
The cost of pool equipment has increased pretty significantly since our budget was first created in 2024.
The geotechnical inspector’s recommendations also impacted the bottom line, as they are wanting to see an additional inch of concrete throughout the entire pool deck, 2’ of soil excavation in many areas, along and the installation of new, specific compacted material to help prevent future geotechnical issues (for example, the concrete deck cracking or failing five years after the pool is rebuilt). All of those changes easily add up to a few hundred thousand dollars.
Rebuilding the wading pool with the updated ADA-required sloped entry ended up being very expensive and not something we were originally planning for. (But even without this, we are still way overbudget).
Another thing that is impacting us – this is a huge project and vendors bidding in 2026 won’t be paid until at least late winter of 2027, around 9-12 months from when they submitted bids. Due to the uncertainties and volatility of the current economic climate, they have no doubt built in a decent amount of additional cushion to protect themselves in case material costs continue to rise between the contract being signed and a check getting cut.
Bottom line – we do not currently have the money to undertake this project as originally planned.
WHAT’S NEXT
At the meeting on April 23rd, the Board discussed its options for moving forward. Speaking generally, the Board was not in favor of considering a special assessment or dues increase to make up the difference between our budget and the cost of the work.
Instead, it directed the GM to look into focusing on replacing the equipment in the pump room and getting all components in working order, while perhaps making some minor patchwork repairs to the concrete deck. The Main Pool pump and filter are the two biggest priorities. There are still problems with the deck, the underlying components, and the pool shell (both the main pool and the wading pool), but the A-1 priority for making sure the pool is still in working order next swim season is getting the pump and filter replaced. Of course this is a little easier said than done; one example of this is our current plumbing under the pool deck isn’t exactly compatible with the components we were wanting to install, but we are hoping we can make it work without causing any future issues.
The GM is currently working with CHOA’s pool vendor to draft up that scope and to obtain bids for getting the pump room up to speed. At this time, it is almost certain that no major construction work will take place on the pool deck this year, aside from maybe some small repairs.
The Board will continue to keep an eye on everything related to this project, as well as the cost of materials over the next few years. At the time of writing, there are no specific updates regarding how or when the full-scale pool rehab project will take place. We will need to work with our reserve analyst to see how this delay might impact our current financial situation (with regards to our reserves and our previously-mentioned three-year funding plan) and what practical options we might have in the coming years.
Any discussions and decisions made related to this project will take place in a regular open meeting, so if you are interested in seeing what’s coming, check future meeting agendas for a Main Pool discussion item!