Welcome Kits Pool Swimmers
There was a short window of opportunity this past summer while Kits Pool was open and it is encouraging to see that along with the steering committee, there are hundreds of passionate Kits Pool supporters who made the effort to sign up and become part of the Kits Pool Swimmers initiative.
In an effort to keep communications purposeful, we are providing this update following our most recent dialogue with the Parks Board.
There are many desires within the community for Kits Pool and that passion and engagement will fuel our efforts and drive success. At this stage, we have identified a single issue to focus upon for this initial year, and that is simply to have the Kits Pool season extended beginning in 2023, and we will work in collaboration with the Parks Board toward that goal.
The following is a summary of the most recent discussions with the Parks Board for your reference, identifying steps the Parks Board is taking, which will inform the role that Kits Pool Swimmers will play overall, and the roles required for the steering committee and the community of Kits Pool Swimmers.
Prior to COVID, several of us on the VanSplash Advisory Group made a presentation to the Parks Board Commissioners, and a motion passed in 2019 to have Parks Board staff deliver a report aimed at extending the season by opening 2-3 weeks earlier than normal and closing 3-4 weeks later than normal. COVID derailed this initiative, and now as a result of our dialogue with the Parks Board, staff is going to engage the new Parks Board Commissioners and deliver the associated report. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/parks-commissioner-wants-to-extend-kits-new-brighton-pool-seasons
To understand the context within which the Parks Board is operating, members of the Kits Pool Swimmers steering committee will attend a presentation with the Parks Board staff to learn about their process for developing the Kits Park Master Plan. We are awaiting an indication of timing on this, with the shared understanding that Kits Pool Swimmers can engage with the process and provide valuable input – Parks Board staff is quite keen on this as it is difficult to get meaningful engagement from the communities that are using facilities in the planning process.
We had a clear, in-depth discussion on the prime objective for Kits Pool Swimmers going forward, to have a 6-month season as early as 2024. To achieve that goal, as a step in the right direction we have agreed to work together toward establishing the timeframe that John Irwin’s motion outlined for the pilot program as noted above for the 2023 season.
Regarding the 6-month season, we discussed and agreed upon the importance of a transparent process so that we had a complete understanding of what would be required to achieve a Kits Pool season from mid April (around Easter) to mid October (around Thanksgiving). To that end Parks Board staff have agreed to work internally to develop a presentation for the Kits Pool Swimmers steering committee regarding what it would take to extend season to 6 months. This will allow Kits Pool Swimmers to assess and understand what it must achieve to support the effort – and from that outline the roles we need at the steering committee level and the Kits Pool Swimmers community overall to achieve the related objectives and deliverables.
We expect updates early in the New Year from the Parks Board and will provide purposeful updates to all the community members who have signed up for Kits Pool Swimmers accordingly.
Thank you again for signing up and please share this communication and encourage others to join Kits Pool Swimmers by going to this link: https://www.kitspoolswimmers.org/
If you want to reach out directly, please email us at info@kitspoolswimmers.org
On behalf of Kits Pool Swimmers,
Anthony Abrahams, Jarrett Vaughan, KC Emerson, Ben Aston, Mark Monro, Stephanie Strong, Navarre Bailey, Tricia Daum.