GNWCIA Board Meeting Report: My Notes...

My wife and I put a halt to our yard work (I'll tell you about that later) long enough to eat the vittles I had thrown on the grill (nothing worth reporting, but quite tasty), and took a short trip down the street to the Lodge of the Great Northwest to attend the meeting of the board of directors for the Great Northwest Community Improvement Association.

I only have a few quick items to tell you about, first and foremost that it was a smooth and well functioning meeting with the only violation of any rules coming from me (sorry) when I asked someone addressing the directors to explain what they were talking about. My bad. This was the meeting that residents are not supposed to address the board and technically, I didn't. Anyway, there were no good outbursts as a result of this rule, but maybe next time I'll have something to report.

There were several things that I could mention but the key development tonight regarded the hours of the pools. I guess they had a trial program where the pools close at 7PM. This was due to the fact that the pools are routinely rented by residents for parties and previously, parties could not start until 9PM. Now, with them closing at 7PM, people can start parties at a more reasonable time.

Here's the problem: Some people want the pool to stay open later when there are no scheduled parties. Fair enough. Long story short, the board voted to extend the pools to 8PM (Tuesdays and Thursdays at one pool and Mondays and Wednesdays at the other - please check the office for details).

There was some debate about making kids not accompanied by a parent leave at 7PM regardless. This was because some staff felt that some of these younger kids are simply there alone and walking home by themselves when the pool closes. The board didn't want to go that far simply because of the logistics of the thing, but the issue raises a valid question: How many 11 and 12 year olds do we have dropped off at the pool the minute it opens and picked up after it closes 7 or 8 hours later in the evening?

In other words, I guess what I am asking is, how many parents are using the pools as daycare? I suppose if the kids are authorized to go swimming by themselves for an hour, why not 8 hours? I don't have an answer really. I mean, what is worse: sitting at home alone in front of MTV, some internet chat room or playing Nintendo all day, or outside swimming and macking on babes?

I would ask if our lifeguards and rec staff are being put in a position of doing more than the job description calls for. It's one thing to sit on a tall chair and look cool and occasionally rescue someone, it's another thing to have to babysit a bunch of pre-teens who are simply killing time until mom and dad get off work.

Something to think about.