When will the pools open?
 

any idea?

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I would like to get back to the pool quickly but will proceed with caution. To answer your question directly. As far as I know there is no plan to Re-Open as of this moment.

I really miss the gossip

No.

Who would feel safe to get in a public pool right now?
 

I would not swim with someone unless I gave birth to them or sleep with them.

ESPECIALLY since there is still the same amount of danger in catching Covid-19 as there was before they were shut.........and we in The Villages with our age group are most at risk.

I received an update from the District Manager two days ago on this topic. Plans are being worked up by the district office to reopen the amenities, the scheduling of the reopening will be determined by the guidance provided by the CDC, state, and county health official guidance. As soon as a schedule is know, it will be made public. No schedule has been announced yet.

Whew! It's going to be an exciting day in the life of the person in charge who comes thru with the New Policy. :pray:

The pools were closed because people at the pools were ignoring social distance guidelines.

What has changed?

Do we think all will now follow, in essence, the same guidelines?

You can’t fix dumb.

There are people that use the pool for exercising. I have a lower back issue that only can be helped with swimming/walking in the pool. The snow-birds are gone and that would eliminate the crowding and people wanting to sit in the sun can alternate lounge chairs. I am not including pool sports (volley ball, etc), just those who would use the pool for lap swimming and exercise ??

Too Early.




:1rotfl:

:icon_wink: True..... but Mother Nature has a way of culling the herd. :rolleyes:

:confused: The snow-birds are not all gone. Alternate lounge chairs..... who will disinfect them between uses? And your last part ...... the lap swimming and exercise you want to do is supposed to be done at Sports Pools (no lounge chairs) and if you open them how are you going to tell others they can't do the things they want in them? Remember the pickleballers are not real happy about golf still being played. Do you think it would be different with Volleyball players? I don't.
I would think if we open things too fast..... your bad back could be the least of your health problems. :ho:

I completely agree with you.

People are having enough trouble social distancing outside of a pool could only imagine in the pool.The other day coming back from my Supermarket run I past Colony Rec Center which is closed. The Picnic area was full of people sitting at the Picnic Tables. Really social distancing my butt!

The pools will open when it's determined that it's safe to do so....the great majority of us are not part of that decision making process.....so we'll all just have to wait it out

the same thing is going to happen with the nightly dancing on the squares, the movie houses and the restaurants

they need time to rethink how they can reopen all of this

Social distancing is so unnatural for us. It is very hard to do. Especially when for many decades of our lives it was always encouraged. We were taught the isolated, introverted child needed “help”.

But today, one mistake, that’s all it takes, only one. There is no treatment. That one mistake (being close to an emitter, touching a surface they have touched etc) can cost us our lives.

Updated "Covid-19 District Action Plan" released today. I get e-notifications from the District and read it. I think you may be looking in the wrong place for your information. :shrug:

How correct you are, Velvet. And, yet, there are so many here who still don’t get it. Sadly, I think the pressure is on to open. Wishful thinking.

According to the unmentionable online news source, rec centers & polls will open May 4th

You must have a pool at your house

You're drawing an arbitrary line in a swimming pool situation, so I have a few questions:

When are you going to get your hair cut?

When exactly will you feel safe having a stranger touch you and enter your "personal space"? Manicures/pedicures? Spa treatments, massages?

Do you ever intend to visit another doctor? Dentist? Eye exam? Has your vision changed and what do you intend to do to address it if it has? How about dental cleaning?

When can children play together again? Attend class in person? Play sports? Act in plays? Play in bands? Dance together? Can colleges resume classes? Dining halls open? Dormitories?

Is air travel safe? How about cruise ships/ferries/water taxis? Can you attend a professional sporting event in a stadium or arena? When can amusement parks and national parks open? How about beaches?

Restaurants? Are they viable business models with only one third of their tables open due to social distancing guidelines? How about bars? Live theatre?

These questions are literally endless...

If its not a necessity wait, till the #'s really go down--what does another 30 days mean, in the big picture--the Admiral can't wait to swim again, may have to put an anchor on her.

To answer your question, it looks like preparations for reopening the pools will start this Monday, 4/27.


COVID-19 District Action Plan
April 22, 2020 5:00 p.m.

The safety of residents, guests, staff and visitors in The Villages community continues to be of utmost importance to the District. As the guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Florida Department of Health and Governor DeSantis on the prevention of COVID-19 continues to update, the District will be implementing a carefully phased plan to slowly and safely reopen recreational amenities.
Phase I – April 27th through May 3rd
District Recreation & Parks staff will return to work the week of April 27 to May 3 to further clean and prep facilities.
Efforts will include utilizing tables and chairs to establish 6 foot buffers in room layouts and swimming pool areas, so social distancing may be actively practiced.
While residents will not have access to additional facilities this week, it will provide District staff the opportunity to prepare for Phase II.
Phase II – begins May 4th (if approved by local, state and federal agencies) and will continue through the month of May
Recreational activities that meet criteria of specific health department guidelines will begin opening. Some of the criteria taken into consideration will include limited exposure, high respiration activities, activity interaction and the interaction of persons/objects. While we are still evaluating which facilities will open, you can expect to see the following:
Limited facility use
Special social spacing accommodations
All facilities will close by 8:00 p.m. to afford staff time for next day cleaning and preparation
Villages IDs will be checked and cashless Trail Fee services will continue
The District Administrative Offices at Lake Sumter Landing will open on an appointment only basis beginning May 11th. Appointments can be made by emailing the following departments.
Customer Service Center –CustomerService@districtgov.org
Resident IDs, Gate Access Cards, Community Watch Programs, Executive Trail Fees, Guest IDs, RV Storage Facility Rentals, Adopt-A-Bench, General District Questions &
Executive Golf Maintenance inquiries
Utility Billing – Utilities@districtgov.org
Utility/Amenity Bill payments or inquiries
Finance & Bond Information – Bonds@districtgov.org
General finance or bond related inquiries or payoffs
Recreation & Parks – RecreationDepartment@districtgov.org
The Enrichment Academy, Resident Lifestyle Volunteer Groups, Room Reservations, General Recreation Inquiries
Community Standards – DeedCompliance@districtgov.org
Architectural Review & Deed Compliance inquiries
District Board & Committee information – Jennifer.McQueary@districtgov.org
Public Records Requests
District Property Management – PropertyManagement@districtgov.org
Human Resources –HumanResources@districtgov.org
Risk Management – RiskManagement@districtgov.org
Executive Golf Maintenance – CustomerService@districtgov.org
Budget – CustomerService@districtgov.org
Purchasing – CustomerService@districtgov.org
There is a drop box available in the breezeway outside of the District office. If you need to drop off correspondence, please utilize the locked drop box.
Community Watch Dispatch will continue to be available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week at (352) 753-0550.
Phase III – Not anticipated to take effect until after the month of May (dependent upon health guidelines from local, state & federal agencies)
Will include opening non-regional recreation centers, additional outdoor facilities and a full opening of District Administrative offices.
At this time, it is not anticipated that there will be any recreation sponsored or co-sponsored large events.
The District is currently working to identify exactly which recreation facilities and activities will resume during each phase. We continue to encourage you to follow all guidance provided by the CDC as is relates to social distancing and individual responsibilities pertaining to personal preparedness. Please visit Village Community Development Districts and ensure you are signed up to receive e-Notifications for the most up-to-date information.

I would go to a neighborhood adult pool for exercise pretty much on a daily basis before they were shut down. I usually went in the morning and most mornings there were no more than 6-8 people in the pool at a given time. In fact on a few occasions I would be the only one in the pool for an hour or so.
Personally I don’t think it would be a problem distancing In the pools.
The pool crowding situation developed after rec centers and many activities were closed down, so a whole bunch of people came to the pools when the other activities were eliminated. Plus at that time it was colder up north and lot of family members were visiting.

Phase III, Phase III – Not anticipated to take effect until after the month of May (dependent upon health guidelines from local, state & federal agencies)
Will include opening non-regional recreation centers, additional outdoor facilities and a full opening of District Administrative offices. Looks like June.

It only takes a few dozen people to crowd a pool, even without the snowbirds there are still 100,000 people here plus the recent influx from metro New York.

For safety, I hope chairs will be removed, (sunbathers can do that at home), swimmers limited by supervised staff, and hopefully those taking in water thru their mouth, keep it there!

When people don't get up in your face

According to the other site.
Regional recreation centers and swimming pools are set to re-open next month in The Villages.
The re-opening date is set for May 4.:shrug:

I don't know about that. I swim laps and I have missed being able to swim but, there is not 6 feet distance between lanes. There is also not 6 feet distance for walkers in the sports pools and certainly not in the neighborhood pools. It is like passing people in the aisles in a grocery store only without masks on.

Do you realize swimmers blow out air into the water when they swim? That is what makes bubbles in the water. If you swim the proper way, you take in air as you turn your head to the side, then place your face in the water to blow out the air either through the nose, mouth or both.

I don’t know about that either. As a lap swimmer, with one person in a lane, we’re perhaps 3 feet from each other. For walkers, it’s much tighter usually. That’s in the Sports pools. In the neighborhood pools, forget about it. No one misses swimming more than I, but it’s magical thinking to think it’s safe.

Paranoia is a tough one, too.

The believers will try to maintain a semblance of social distancing, the non-believers will walk around and gather like there is nothing new.

The pool isn't the problem. There is plenty of evidence that the chlorine and bromine used in a well maintained pool inactivates the virus. Gate latches, restrooms and chairs are the concern. We all know how to social distance, and we should all know how to deal with the minor risk of a possibly contaminated surface by now. If we continue to impose restrictions on everyone to accommodate the worries of the most fearful among us, then moving to The Villages will become the biggest disappointment of our lives. Life isn't without risks. We should each have the freedom to assess the risks for ourselves. My wife loves reading by the pool and taking the occasional dip in the water. She misses her exercise and yoga classes at MVP. Why should she have to give up those things because someone else fears them. Wouldn't it make more sense for the fearful person to avoid them?

I have always been told, and I believe it is good to be out and about with people unless you are immune challenged. Before Covid-19 I NEVER once wiped down a grocery cart and every week I was at Laurel Manor with four different groups of people. I never flinched if someone sneezed and I sort of was "ouchy" around germaphobes.

But this, My friend is a horse of a different color. And the few statistics we can trust indicate that the age group living in The Villages is the most at risk. Are we sure the pool water is killing all of those teeny tiny virus bastards?

You go ahead, you and your wife. BUT PLEASE don't call others "paranoid".

They aren't closed to accommodate the fearful.
Establishments and activities where social distancing cannot or WON'T be maintained are the main reason for the closures.

Just like the one in one out and one way traffic in grocery stores......is not for the fearful.

The needed separation would most likely not be attained if left up to individuals to make their own judgement.