South Hampton Pool Will Remain Closed At This Time

Last week, Governor Henry McMaster stated that swimming pools and spas in the state of South Carolina may again reopen to patron access under strict guidelines and greatly reduced occupancy May 18^th, 2020.

The Board of Directors has met and thoroughly weighed the options for South Hampton.  At this time, the board has decided it is in the best interest of the community not to reopen the pool and pool deck area.  The priority is the safety of all South Hampton owners and guests. Additionally, the pool can only open at 20% of the normal occupancy at this time and under strict guidelines that aren’t realistic for the HOA to be able to maintain or monitor. 

The board understands everyone’s desire to get back to normal but also has the responsibility to maintain a safe community to the best of their ability.  More information is provided below regarding the current guidelines for your convenience.  Once the Governor releases the next phase of guidelines for pools/amenities, the board will review them and make a determination at that time about reopening. 

Your understanding and cooperation is greatly appreciated during this challenging time.
Be safe!
Chris Millar
LITUS* To Let 

Guidelines Specifically for Public Swimming Pools

According to the CDC, the virus that causes COVID-19 cannot be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas, or water play areas. However, the opportunity for transmitting the virus does exist in surrounding areas. In addition to the above safe-practices, swimming pools should comply with the following additional guidelines to further minimize the potential for transmission and spread of COVID-19 in and around pools:

1. Facilities should only allow 20% of normal occupancy or 5 people (staff and visitors) per 1000 square feet of pool and deck area, whichever is less. We will be measuring the decks for you to help you to derive a number of persons allowable that would be 20 percent.

2. Person-to-person interaction and activities between members of separate households should be limited and social distancing of six feet between them should be practiced.

3. Commonly used surfaces such as bathrooms, doors, handrails, ladders, gates, lawn chairs, drinking water fountains, picnic tables, etc. should be cleaned and disinfected between each use by a different person, or at a minimum, once a day. There is just not enough time in a day to do this daily for every property. We will pick two days a week to spray with a bleach-based agent on as many surfaces as possible and hose down. We will have to divide the days (ex: Tuesday and Friday) depending on route.

4. Hand sanitizer should be provided for use by all staff and visitors. We have ordered hand sanitizer stations and refills that we can install at each property. If you do not want this, please put it in writing and send to me for the file. As time is of the essence, we will need to know quickly as is possible… we will assume due to your liability to your owners you will want this if at all possible. The supplier says they should arrive within the week, but no promises.

5. Signs and/or examples of six-foot areas related to social distancing should be posted.

6. Full compliance with SC Public Swimming Pool Regulation 61-51 is always required.

7. Remove from service or regularly disinfect sharable equipment (for example, kick boards, floats, etc.)

8. Consider lane reservations to allow family groups to use a lane or specific area of a pool.

9. Consider a phased approach to opening that brings back lane swimming and limited number participant classes before opening for general swimming
10. Life guards should continue to follow universal precautions when rendering first aid of any type to patrons (if applicable).

11. Follow CDC guidelines regarding cleaning and disinfecting.

12. Follow all applicable CDC Public Swimming Pool Reopening Guidance https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/parks-rec/aquatic-venues.html

While these guidelines are voluntary, it is in everyone’s best interest to diligently follow them as we move to re-open our economy and keep it open. Enforcement of these restrictions and cleaning procedures are entirely the responsibility of the operator/owner of the facility. In those cases where compliance with these restrictions is infeasible or cannot be achieved due to lack of cooperation by patrons or other issues, it is advisable that the facility remain closed until compliance can be achieved and maintained, or until restrictions are further relaxed. The Department does also suggest following the CDC Public Swimming Pool Reopening Guidelines as applicable to your specific facility.