March 24, 2008
Dear Fountain Green
Swim Club Membership:
The 2008 Swim Club season is nearly upon us
and the Board of Directors is concentrating its effort to ensure the
pool and surrounding infrastructure provides safe and reliable
performance throughout the 2008 season. Please plan to attend the
April General Membership meeting being held Monday, April 21,
2008 at 7:00pm at the Harford County Public Library – Bel Air
Branch. That meeting is an opportunity for the Board of Directors to
present issues of interest and hear from the Membership. In this
President’s letter I thought it appropriate to offer a short historical
and economic perspective on the Swim Club, address the dues increase,
and make a few comments about thoughts for future Swim Club development.
The Fountain Green Swim Club was established
by an Amended Articles of Incorporation in March 1973 (34 years ago)
under Maryland’s Corporation and Association law as a non-stock
non-profit organization. The corporate entity is the Fountain Green Swim
Club which functions much as a homeowner’s association does except the
Swim Club is self-managed and does not engage the services of a property
or swimming pool management company. The unpaid elected Board of
Directors are fellow Swim Club members who serve in elected positions
and terms as set forth in the bylaws. The investors are those who
devoted sweat equity, passion, made the capital contribution, and paid
dues for a great Swim Club. The dividend to the membership is enjoyment
of a family swim club setting throughout the summer season. The only
paid staff is the management team, swim club, and swim team coaching
staff. Self management means the Board of Directors is not only a
decision making body but it also does the work necessary to perpetuate
the Swim Club operation.
The Swim Club sits on approximately 12 acres
of property. Significant improvements on the land consist of a parking
lot, two buildings, a commercial swimming pool complex, tennis court,
and a waster water treatment plant. Construction of the original pool
facility was completed in 1976. In the mid 1990’s a mortgage was taken
to construct the office building. Lacking any capital reserve, in 2002
the unpaid balance of the mortgage for the office building was rolled
into a new fifteen year mortgage to finance repair of failing pool
infrastructure and to meet current Maryland Code of Regulation swimming
pool safety requirements. The Swim Club owes approximately $300,000 on
the mortgage and pays makes monthly $4,000 mortgage payments. This
financing strategy avoided an assessment of approximately $500 per
member which would have been on top of the $400 dues. An assessment of
that magnitude would likely have been too burdensome for the membership
to support and resulted in Swim Club dissolution. The Board of Directors
at the time worked through painfully difficult problems to develop a
balanced budget that included the mortgage to pay for infrastructure
repairs ensuring Swim Club operations “water in the pool” to provide
family swimming and other recreational activities for the benefit of the
club membership for the next 25 years.
The Swim Club relies on good stewardship
provided by the Board of Directors and member volunteers to keep it
vibrant and solvent. Anyone whose children grew up at Fountain Green can
appreciate its family value and the importance of sustaining the Swim
Club. Projected expenses, salary, wage increases (due to the change in
minimum wage in July 2008), and increasing energy costs forced a dues
increase to balance the budget in 2008. We needed to comply with the
Bylaws which require annual dues be sufficient to provide for payment of
annual operating expenses. Dues were last raised in 2001 and everyone
knows what has happened to our Nation and our economy since then! Other
operations within the club are intended to be self-funding such as
concession, swim lessons, crab feast, and swim team. The concession
operation and other unanticipated expenses create deficits that are
offset through guest pass sales and pavilion rentals.
To minimize future dues increase and
generate increased capital funds the Board of Directors proposes the
following bylaw change to Article IV Membership/Guest Procedures,
Section 1 Membership, Paragraph B Permanent Members, Sub-paragraph 8.
Article IV
Section B Permanent Members Paragraph 8 presently reads
“Membership of the club shall be limited to 500 dues
paying members and 7 board of directors members”.
Article IV
Section B Permanent Members Paragraph 8 as amended:
“Membership of the club shall be limited to 525 dues
paying members and 7 board of directors members”.
To improve
stewardship and institutional knowledge, the Board of Directors proposes
a bylaw change increasing term limits from two to three years and
requiring the president to be directly elected instead of ascending from
the vice president position.
Both the
membership increase and Board of Directors term change will appear on
the agenda at the April General Membership meeting being held
Monday, April 21, 2008 at 7:00pm at the Harford County
Public Library – Bel Air Branch.
For either of the above proposed bylaw
changes to pass, a quorum as stated in the bylaws and Articles of
Incorporation of either five percent (5%) of the total membership or
(25) members, whichever is less, must be present or represented at
August 2008 FGSC Elections. Both the proposed membership and Board of
Directors term by-law change will appear on the 2008 ballot.
Results will be announced at the August 2008 General Membership meeting.
The Swim Club needs a long term vision that
considers current infrastructure along with long range property
development and re-development plans. There is expansion potential for
the property that could maximize recreational use by the membership.
Board of Directors is considering formation of a special committee to
advise and assist the Board of Directors and develop a long range plan
for the Swim Club.
Our swim team, one of the best in the
county, has been very active in past years and we expect this year to be
no different. If you are new to Fountain Green and have young children
(ages 5-18 who may be interested in joining our swim team), I would
encourage you to come to our swim team sign-up or contact our swim team
director (Tony Paxton:
fgswimteam@comcast.net, see attached sheet for details)
Please note Management and Staff will
strictly enforce the swim diaper policy this summer in the main and
wading pools. Potty accidents result in pool closure and sanitization
protocol to meet Maryland state health standards. The sanitation process
requires hyper-chlorination and two full cycles of pool water volume
through the filter system which can take up to eight hours to complete.
ALL children 3 years and under must wear a rubber swim diaper/cover up
regardless of whether or not they are potty trained. I request parent
cooperation in this matter; and if you plan on inviting guests to the
pool, I ask that you inform them of this policy.
Larry Ashman, who has been with us for
years, will lead our pool management team this summer with assistants
Brian Gunter and Brian King. Many of our lifeguards from last year will
be with us again this season as well.
I encourage those who wish to devote their
time and talent to consider running for upcoming vacancies on the Board
of Directors, (Vice President, Membership, Social and Swim Team
Directors). Position descriptions are enclosed. Finally, I encourage the
Membership to consider the proposed by-law changes and vote at the
August General Membership meeting.
In closing I wish to thank my fellow Board
of Directors, the Management Team, and Staff’s efforts to make
opening day, Friday, May 23rd
(members only, no guests please) a
success. Another club favorite event, our annual crab feast, will
be held on July 26 th. Please mark you calendars now!
We will have many other fun events throughout the summer so please visit
our website
www.fountaingreenswimclub.com for current information.
Charles Schulze -
President
Fountain Green Swim Club
