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Swimmers laud Burgess pool programs after first summer season

by David Boyce

After the first summer of operation, swimmers asked to rate their experiences at the new Burgess Park public pools in Menlo Park are giving high marks to the facility, which is managed by the private firm Menlo Swim and Sport LLC.

Of the approximately 445 swimmers who filled out the questionnaire that was administered and collected by Menlo Swim and Sport, 88 percent said their expectations were met by the quality of the programs and 71 percent agreed that the fees and programs were competitive with facilities elsewhere.

The positive results on the questionnaire reflect the fact that the staff "listened to the public" in creating a schedule of swim programs, said Menlo Swim and Sport director Tim Sheeper. To accommodate the public's requests, the schedule was changed several times in the first week alone, he said.

Mr. Sheeper summarized the results in a Sept. 26 report to the five-member City Council and received general approval from council members, including both Kelly Fergusson and Andy Cohen, both of whom had opposed the way in which pool operations were turned over to a private company.

At the meeting, Ms. Fergusson and Mr. Cohen again knocked the hurry-up nature of last February's no-bid, no-rent lease agreement with Menlo Swim and Sport, reached one month after Mr. Sheeper proposed that he could operate the $6.8 million publicly funded aquatics facility. But they also praised his operation.

"All I've heard is that the programs are better than they ever were," Mr. Cohen said. "But I'm also a little concerned ... that Menlo Park gets full advantage of a $7 million facility."

Mr. Cohen added that he didn't like Mr. Sheeper's practice of charging an entry fee to parents who just want to watch their kids during the open-swim program. Sheeper defended the practice, saying that everybody has to pay because it's too hard to detect who might be swimming for free.

Resident Patti Fry complained in a recent e-mail message to the council that the fees were too high, and her message came up during the council meeting. Mayor Nicholas Jellins suggested a survey by city staff to compare fees with public pools in other cities.

Mr. Sheeper defended his rates, and said he's "not operating a normal city pool" that's open between Memorial Day and Labor Day. This pool, he said, is open year round and offers 80 hours of lap swimming a week — about twice as much as public pools in neighboring communities. It's run on a "country club model," he added.