DHARA 66th Annual Membership Meeting – Feb 2, 2022: 7pm

Our 66th Annual Membership Meeting will be held virtually via Zoom on Wednesday, February 2nd at 7pm.  Due to COVID-19, we are unfortunately unable to meet in-person at the clubhouse this year. That said, please attend virtually as your input is important to us and the decisions we make as a board. The meeting is not expected to be lengthy, but we’ll share updates on our work over this past year, plans for next year and beyond, elect Board members, consider amendments to the Bylaws, approve the budget, and most importantly listen to your feedback and suggestions. See the detailed meeting agenda for the Zoom link and the full list of topics.  Also, ballots and board candidate profiles can be found here and the proposed amendments to the Bylaws may be found here.

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you soon!

  • Your DH board

 

DH IS HAVING AN OKTOBERFEST!!

Hello Nachbarn und Freunde! Es ist Zeit für das OKTOBERFEST!

( Hello Neighbors and friends! It’s time for OKTOBERFEST! )

DHARA will be holding our first ever Oktoberfest evening, open to ADULT members and guests! Hosted on the pool deck, bring a few beers (in cans please) to share out of the community coolers, and we’ll have non-alcoholic beverages available. Feel free to bring friends along to enjoy as well!!

Feel free to come “festively dressed” .. whatever that means for you!

We’ll even have a LIVE BAND!

“Irresponsible” – a great cover band we’ve hired in the neighborhood before.

MENU

Brats – Kraut – Potato Salad – Pretzels

Courtesy of Heidelberg!

DETAILS!

Sunday, October 24th

5 pm till 7:30 on the pool deck

Live Music from 5-7

BYOBTS (Bring Your Own Beers To Share) – no glass, please!

Non-alcoholic beverages will be provided

$20 per person* (21 and over)

IT’S GONNA BE AWESOME!!

OKTOBERFEST TICKETS

Teen Night

A dude diving into a pool at a party.

TEEN NIGHT – WEDNESDAY JULY 14!

The pool will open at 6:45! Teen night is on!

This Week’s Teen Night will be from 7pm to 9pm — and includes pizza, music, and FUN!

This event is $5 per teen, and it is open to members and up to 2 guests. The guest cost is $5 for the party plus $5 for the guest pass (total of $10 for each guest).

-John, the Awesome Pool Manager!!

Kids’ Night!! Wednesday, June 30, 7-9pm

pink inflatable flamingo and green inflatable ring

Kids’ Night!!!
Wednesday, June 30, 7-9pm

Hello members!
It’s been a long year. You deserve to take a well-deserved break while your kids are enjoying a safe and fully supervised evening of swimming, fun, and snacks at the pool.

All DH kids 6-12 years of age who have passed the swim test are welcome to join the fun. Just $5 per child. Members only.

https://dominionhills.org/activities/kids-night-sign-up/

Cheers!
– The DH Board and Your Pool Manager

Kids Night Sign Up

DH 2021 Swim Lessons

2021 DH Swim Lessons

We’re excited to announce the return of the DHARA Swim Lesson Program.  This program has been custom designed to increase your child’s enjoyment, safety, and confidence in the water.  Our program caters to a variety of beginner skill levels.  Each Session includes eight 30-minute classes occurring Monday-Thursday over a two-week period.  Enrollment is limited.

See additional information and, submit registration and payment online at the page below. Please carefully all information and select the session and times as available.

Swim Lesson pricing for your first child is $125 with each additional child being $110

Swim Lesson Info & Registration

DH Updates – May 28th, 2021

DHARA Members:

We’re excited to announce that beginning Friday May 28th, the pool will resume pre-COVID operating procedures. We sincerely appreciate everyone’s patience as we navigated through these uncharted waters (pun intended). Like you, we look forward to getting back to “normal” and focusing all our efforts on making Summer 2021 the best DH has ever seen.

  • For our new members as well as a reminder to those who’ve been with us, here’s what “Normal” looks like:
  • The pool is open to all members at 100% capacity during normal operating hours, which will always be posted on the website. There will be no reservations and no dividers in the pool.
  • As we change back to a regular swim season, please take a moment to review the pool rules (section 3) found here: https://dominionhills.org/about/rules/
  • Members may bring guests with the purchase of a guest pass.
  • The bathrooms and shower facilities will be open.
  • Food and drink are permitted on the upper deck, at the tables near the baby pool area, and for the first time, the wooden portion of the pool deck.
  • Grills will be open and available for use.
  • Ping pong, billiards/pool and foosball games are available in the game room – see lifeguards for paddles and balls
  • The Community House is open for rentals. Email John at dhramanager@yahoo.com for more info and availability!
  • Cannonballs, dives and even belly flops off the diving board (for those that passed the swim test) are encouraged!
  • Per CDC and state guidelines, if you are vaccinated, you are not required to wear a mask. We ask that all unvaccinated members continue to wear masks while in the bath house or community room.
  • We kept “Normal” in quotations because there are a few changes that we’re excited to announce:
  • The volleyball/badminton net we rolled out for the COVID waiting times will remain in the front lawn for member’s enjoyment. See the front desk attendant for volleyball and badminton equipment. Member-organized tournaments encouraged!
  • We are looking into adding cornhole sets on a permanent basis as well.
  • We are working to schedule food and ice cream trucks throughout the summer. Stay tuned for more on this.

We’re also excited to announce that we will have Bouncy Castles on the front lawn Monday May 30th from 11am – 6pm. We will need some parents to volunteer to man these. To sign up, see the sign up genius link here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0849ABAB23A02-memorial 

And last but certainly not least, many of the events and programs we have traditionally offered will be returning. We’re working hard to assemble the full calendar, listing the various fun events; we hope to have this available on the website soon. Highlights include:

  • Swim and Dive teams back in swing
  • Adult Brunches: 9-11am each Sunday (No Brunch June 6 due to lifeguard class)
  • Movie Nights! They’re coming back! Stay tuned for more details.
  • Group Swim Lessons: John is working to develop this year’s swim program, which will begin in July. Keep an eye out for the signup genius link with dates, times and info coming soon!
  • Kids Nights: June 30 and July 28 from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM the pool will be reserved for kids 12 and under. Games, prizes and no parents allowed! Look for a sign up in the coming weeks.
  • Teen Night: July 14 from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Pool is reserved for teens 13 and up. Games, prizes and no parents allowed!
  • 4th of July Celebration: To be held July 3rd, details to come.
  • Adult Dinner: Details to come on this as well, but we are looking at July 18
  • Family Camp Out: Tentatively set for September

We hope you are as excited as we are to turn this corner and enjoy a wonderful summer!

Best regards,
– Your Board

 

>> Helpful links <<
————————————————————

Pool operating hours: https://dominionhills.org/about/dh-pool-hours/

Questions/Feedback?
* Email the board: info@dominionhills.org
* Email the manager: dhramanager@yahoo.com

Changes to Reservations / Member Code of Conduct Reminder

Hi all,

We have two updates for everyone.

First, like many of you, we’ve been frustrated by the MemberSplash reservation tool. While it worked well for spring swim, MemberSplash rolled out an update shortly before opening and needless to say it’s been very buggy.  Members have had reservations inexplicably disappear or simply have been unable to complete a reservation.  We’ve worked with MemberSplash in an attempt to resolve these issues, but problems persist with no clear end in sight.

Therefore, starting this Wednesday, May 19, we are doing away with reservations.  In their place, we will be simplifying things using a system that is first come, first-serve.  In accordance with state and local guidance, we will retain the capacity limits.

This is a temporary plan to bridge us to May 28 when state and local guidance will permit significant loosening of restrictions.  We will send additional info to the membership in the coming weeks on the changes to our procedures that will come on or after May 28.

As a result of dropping reservations, here is a list of things that will be changing and things that won’t:

WHAT IS CHANGING

  • You may come to the pool at any time during our operational hours. There is no need to make a reservation, and we will not be taking any reservations.
  • If all available swim slots (12 slots during lap swim, or 12 swim areas + 10 sunbathing loungers during family time) are filled, you will be asked to wait until a slot is available.
  • When members are waiting, lap swim slots are limited to 30 minutes, and family swim slots are limited to an hour.  If no one is waiting, there is no obligation to leave at the end of the time slot.
  • If other members are waiting to enter, our staff will approach the member who has had both their full time slot and has been at the pool the longest. The staff member will politely let them know that another member is waiting and request that they quickly wrap up their swim.
  • Members are asked to be mindful of their time using pool sections so all members are able to use the pool.
  • So that staff can keep track of available slots, on your way out of the pool, please check out with the front desk.
  • Because we are not taking reservations, there are no restrictions on how often you may come to the pool in a given week.

WHAT IS NOT CHANGING

  • Lap swim and family swim hours remain the same though formal, time-bound windows will not exist.
  • During lap swim, there will be 12 available swim slots.
  • During family swim, there will be 12 available swim slots and 10 sunbathing loungers.
  • The dividers in the pool will remain during family swim times to ensure proper distancing is maintained.
  • The check-in process with staff at the front desk will remain the same.

We know this may be upsetting to those with reservations currently in place on Wednesday or later.  While your reservation will be cancelled, we encourage you to use the pool under the new system,which is intended to create equal opportunity for the entire membership to access the pool.  We’re hoping that these changes reduce frustration for the whole membership and for the board as we try to keep up with the dozens and dozens of technical support requests we’ve had to field as a result of the bugs in the MemberSplash reservation system.

Note as well, that as we have had a lot of interest in retaining lap reservations, the board will revisit this in the near future.

Second, we want to remind everyone of DHARA’s expectations around community interactions.  At last Thursday’s board meeting, a member noted that the commentary on Facebook had become pretty uncivil.  The Board understands that we have passionate members and that we have all been dealing with unprecedented situations.  We encourage our members to continue to share their feedback on Facebook and by email (info@dominionhills.org).  However, we ask that any communications, whether to or from the Board or among individual members, remain civil and constructive.  We are neighbors and co-owners of the pool, and we are all in this together.  Let’s treat each other with respect and remember that there are 500 members, all with different viewpoints.  Healthy debates are natural, but kindness and empathy are required.  In addition, bullying of any kind isn’t allowed, and degrading personal comments will not be tolerated.  If you see a post that you think runs afoul of these guidelines, please use Facebook’s “report” function to let our admins know or send us an email at info@dominionhills.org.  Users who violate these guidelines may be removed from the Facebook group.  In addition, in extreme cases, under Section 8 of the DHARA Rules, a membership may be suspended or revoked.  Obviously, we don’t expect, or want it to come to that.  We also hope everyone takes this in the spirit in which it is intended – the Board truly has no desire to discourage dissent or constructive criticism.  We only hope to take the temperature down a notch and encourage civility.

We’re excited for Virginia’s COVID-19 restriction changes coming later this month.  Keep an eye out for an email from the Board with further communications about post-May 28 operations.

Best regards,

Your Board

DH 2021 Opening – Reservations and Information

Members –

Summer is here and we are excited to welcome you back to the pool!  We understand that many of you are disappointed that our opening will continue some of the COVID restrictions we had in place at the end of last year and please know that we’re disappointed as well. The operating rules to open the summer may be found on the website here DHARA COVID-19 Phase 3 Procedures In this note, we hope to give you some better insight into the reasons for the continuation of those restrictions and welcome everyone to discuss at our next Board meeting on May 13.  Details are below.

Reservations System:

Our Vendor, Membersplash, released their new tool on Wednesday night and unfortunately, it is not as functional as we’d like.  We have been working with them to update the tool and if anything changes we will alert you to the change.

The good news is, we are able to go live at 9PM THURSDAY MAY 6 to take reservations through May 22!! This will allow us to open but, not lock ourselves into anything, as we are awaiting updates from the VA Governor’s office on May 15.

For now, you can access the system by:

  1. Logging in at https://dominionhills.org/.
  2. On the Manage Account page, after you login you will see “Reservations” in the blue menu bar.
  3. Click on “Reservations.”
  4. Select “Make a Reservation”.
  5. From there you will be able to find a day and time that has availability, and make your reservation.

To select Family Swim or Lap Swim, simply use the drop down on the top left of the reservation page and you will be presented with the alternate calendar.

PLEASE NOTE: You will make your reservation for the start time of your reservation.  The reservation will appear to be for only 15 minutes, but that is not the case.  Your reservation will be for a half hour, 45 minutes, 60 minutes or 75 minutes depending on the type of swim you reserved.  We are working with Membersplash to improve this process.

Retention of the Reservation System

We have heard from many of you that you want the Board to do away with the reservation system.  Unfortunately, pools remain under COVID restrictions that cap our capacity at 75% of the lowest pool capacity and require that members remain no closer than ten feet apart. Water Operations Mandatory Requirements

The relevant language is: “Outdoor and indoor swimming pools may be open provided occupancy is limited to no more than 75 percent of the lowest occupancy load on the certificate of occupancy and all swimmers maintain at least ten feet of physical distance from others who are not Family members.”

The available open space around the pool limits the number of families who can come in while ensuring there is enough room to maintain ten feet of distance between families.  The Board has worked with staff to determine how many members we can space out on the deck while adhering to the mandatory social distancing requirements, and we allow access up to that capacity.  Given the limits of our footprint and the Board’s mandate to ensure that our entire community has an equitable opportunity to access the pool, we are retaining the registration system at this time.  This decision is temporary and in response to current conditions.  As conditions improve we will revisit this decision.

Retention of Rope Barriers

Again, we have heard from many of you expressing disappointment that the rope barriers will continue to be in use at our pool.  We appreciate the feedback and are actively seeking a better solution, including discussions with the Virginia Department of Health, which maintains our license and has confirmed as recently as earlier this week their view that the mandatory capacity and distance restrictions remain in force.

We are open to removing the ropes and markings, but emphasize that doing so will not increase capacity.   It will simply place the burden on members to measure their own distance and may require the hiring of additional staff to enforce the distancing.

Operating Rules

You can access the Operating Rules here: DHARA COVID-19 Phase 3 Procedures The Board will amend the Rules as conditions develop.

Events

The Board is planning special events we can hold throughout the season while also complying with the capacity and distance restrictions as mandated by our license.May Board Meeting. We appreciate your interest in the coming season and welcome creative solutions to the mandatory distancing requirement.  Below are the details for the Board call.

DHARA May Board Meeting – May 13, 2021 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89755978015?pwd=TkYvNVRyQ3UzNVNReVlZOU16b0ZMQT09

Meeting ID: 897 5597 8015 / Passcode: 785064
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,89755978015#,,,,*785064# US (New York)
+13017158592,,89755978015#,,,,*785064# US (Washington DC)
Meeting ID: 897 5597 8015
Passcode: 785064
For those who cannot make the time of the meeting a recording will be provided for your access.
Thank you for your patience as we work toward a great pool season.
–DHARA Board

2021 Spring Clean-Up Day – Saturday, April 17

Hello fellow DHARA Members.. and HAPPY SPRING!!

Every year we ask for help from our FABULOUS membership to help clean up the pool grounds.

This year our clean up day will be on Saturday, April 17 from 9am to 2pm.

Bring your mask, some gloves, a few favorite tools, your water bottle and a can-do attitude!

We’ll have rakes and mulch for you to work out your winter stiffness and bring life back to the grounds.

Cheers!
– Sam & Carrie – the grounds team.

Note: Rain date is Saturday, April 24.

2021 Annual Meeting – draft notes

Historically, annual meeting notes would be voted on for acceptance at the following year’s annual meeting. As part of the board’s ongoing efforts towards transparency, we are posting notes from the 2021 Annual Membership Meeting now for all members to view. These are technically still a draft and will still be voted on for approval by the membership at the 2022 annual membership meeting.

We hope you all find yourselves well and, enjoying the start of Spring!

Cheers

  • The DH Board of Directors
2021 Annual Meeting Minutes