It's Summer, Time to Open up that Pool

While it may seem counterintuitive, some Michigan homes do have pools. This year spring has been both tardy and cool, and if you have a pool maybe you've forgotten that this is the time to open it. This is fully understandable. However, if you both have a pool and intend to open it for summer, here are some tips that will make it easier and less problematic.  

Last weekend we opened our pool.  Wait, in actuality, we started cleaning up our pool because we never really closed it last fall.  I can almost hear your gasps.  I too was frustrated as Labor Day weekend came and went and my husband put off closing the pool.  Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and pretty soon there was a layer of ice covering our above ground pool.  

We have a love/hate relationship with our pool.  I’m sure most of you can relate.  You love using it in the summer; you hate paying the increase in your electricity bill, and in some cases the increase in your water bill.  We live out in the country and have a well so we are lucky on the latter.  You love having people over to swim; you hate having to do all of the work opening, closing, and cleaning the darn thing. Nobody seems to be lined up when it is time to do the hard work!

So, let me get back to cleaning up the pool last weekend.  My husband asked me if I could go get two bags of sand for our filter.  When I got to the pool store, the employee told me to make sure to fill the filter half full with water first, and then pour the sand in.  Doing this would help to avoid breaking, cracking, or damaging internal parts.  This was something we had never done before.  I think it is a tip worth passing along.  

Properly removing and storing your pool cover can save you time and energy in the fall.  Make sure to remove debris from the cover and then wash it with soap.  I have found that having my daughter get in on the fun and turning the cover into a slip and slide can make this step more enjoyable.  Although the cover can be pretty disgusting, it sure is fun to watch a toddler slide around in the soapy bubbles while trying to clean the cover.  The next step is connecting all of the equipment, which I always leave to my husband.  It’s a tough, heavy job!

I definitely recommend lubricating all O rings.  This will help make sure you achieve a proper seal.  Also, if you used antifreeze for the winter, make sure this is properly disposed of and not discarded onto the ground. After this is complete, you must fill your pool, and then you are on your way to the tough job of cleaning.

Here are the recommended steps to use when cleaning your pool:

1. Skim the Surface
2. Clean the tile or vinyl sides
3. Brush the pool
4. Check the skimmer and pump strainer baskets
5. Vacuum the pool
6. Service the filter
7. Rinse the deck

Add shock, add stabilizer, add sanitizer, and add algicide.  Those are the four chemicals you will need in addition to chlorine.  The pool store can help you and give you recommendations based on any issues you are seeing with your pool.  There is one final thing you need to do: have fun swimming!

--Megan Cooperider lives in Grand Rapids, MI and occasionally blogs for Homes by Falcon.

Grand Rapids Parks Millage Proposal Controversy

It's perhaps a bit premature to call this a "controversy," but anything involving money, government, and kids does tend to raise emotions and provoke opinions.

Yesterday in "Tax ask for Grand Rapids parks: 0.98 mill for 7 years" on Mlive, Matt Vande Bunte reported that the Grand Rapids City Commission plans on voting formally whether to put this millage proposal on November's ballot.  NP3, or Neighbors for Parks, Pools, and Playgrounds, has specific plans for how this $4 million in new income would improve local parks.  You can click on the link for the details, but basically it boils down to:

1. fix up the stuff the city has neglected 
2. pay for current expenses the city has no money for 
3. build a few new things.

I love Grand Rapids, and I use the parks.  Last year when the Creston Neighborhood Association planted fruit and nut trees at Aberdeen, I paid for one of the trees because I want these parks to be beautiful and practical well into the future.  I regularly walk through or by the Aberdeen, Briggs, and Riverside parks, and while Aberdeen and Briggs have new playscapes funded by grants, the older infrastructure has been neglected and shows wear.  I do not feel confident, however, that any millage monies collected will actually be used for the parks and not be funneled off to pensions, staff benefits, the public schools, or other union demands.  Several years ago we were asked to pass a millage that was supposed to guarantee that the pools would remain open for the public to use, and the city only opens 3 of the 6 public pools and those seem to be on the budget chopping block every year, barely escaping funding cuts.  Where did that money go?

Lincoln Park has the newest pool, last open in 2008.  The old Lincoln Park pool was demolished, the new one built, then closed.  2008 was a momentous year, but it does seem like expensive city assets have been allowed to languish after being, perhaps unwisely, built with taxpayer money.  Is there a trustworthy steward behind the parks millage?  That is what I, as a Grand Rapids taxpayer, would like to know before I wade through the facts on the conditions of the parks and proposals about what is to be done.

NP3 and other parks boosters in the area want better parks.  They compare the parks we have to those of other comparable size cities in the country and find ours wanting, but Michigan has been in a seriously depressed or recessed state for over a decade.  I asked for a comment from Max Friar, former Libertarian Party candidate for the 76th District House Representative, and he said, "It's true that parks are a common asset and everyone, and I certainly include myself, appreciates good, safe parks and the social and neighborhood capital they create.  But while the economic recovery in Michigan continues to grind along and unemployment is over 8%, all discussions of tax increases should be tabled."

What do you think?