Piedmont Envisions Public Process for Pool Transition

City recreation authorities vowed to have a robust public process as the city takes over management of the pool from the Piedmont Swim Club July 1.

“We move forward with the new challenge of the pool,” said Recreation Commission Chairman Robert McBain. “There are no decisions yet made about pool structure and hours. We’re going to work on it. It’s going to be a process, with meetings in the community to ascertain and discuss what the community requires.”

McBain said there would be public hearings.

“Not everyone is going to be happy, but everyone is going to be heard,” said Recreation Director Mark Delventhal.

“We think come July 1 the city will be able to transition seamlessly to a municipal operation,” said Jeff Eorio, the city’s consultant on the aquatics program transition. “Customers will see a level of services and satisfaction that will certainly be as good if not better than they have today.”

The pool is in good shape for a 1964 facility, Eorio said, praising the plaster and the decks.

Eorio said he will work with Delventhal to make budgetary recommendations to the City Council, including the setting of fees and analysis. Eorio said one concept was to have people sign up for memberships, and then the city could send e-mails to members with, for instance, seasonal schedules for lap swimming.

“One of the hallmarks of good programming is consistency,” said Eorio. “And the club has done an admirable job of that."

Eorio, who once was a beach lifeguard in Southern California, also has the experience of 21 years as aquatics director in San Ramon.

The meeting was attended by 14 community members, including a handful of teenage swimmers.

One who spoke was Duncan Watry, an early morning lap swimmer. He said there is trepidation among lap swimmers about the possibility of available hours changing.

“We see lap swimming as one of the foundations of the success of the pool,” Watry said. “We can be a cash cow for you,” he added, urging the city to set an appropriate fee structure. The biggest group of lap swimmers is between 5:30 and 7 a.m., with part of that time split between lap swimmers and the swim team, Watry said.

Watry said that for a time this week, the wrong agenda was posted on the city website, causing confusion. McBain assured him the city was committed to transparency in the process.

There will be certain hours when the demand exceeds the available pool time, “irrespective of who runs the pool,” said Delventhal.

Delventhal said the Recreation Department would manage the pool, with the Recreation Commission advising on policy matters, including fees, which would also be voted on by the City Council.