To Brushy Creek MUD residents:

In the last several weeks, the District has temporarily closed Highland Horizon and Sendero Springs pools on more than one occasion to perform needed maintenance. We understand these closures have been inconvenient for many of you, and we would like to express our deepest empathy and appreciation for your understanding as we continue to improve our aquatics facilities.

We recognize that the District's swimming pools are cherished assets, especially during the months when they provide a vital respite from the Texas heat. However, as part of our ongoing commitment to providing our residents with the best possible community swimming experience, we continue to execute an extensive maintenance program aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability and safety of our swimming pools and associated parking lots. While this undertaking has been necessary, it has also been complex and demanding, and we want to share some insights into the intricate nature of our maintenance program.

The complexity of the repair program stems from the need to balance several key factors. First, we seek to minimize downtime during repairs to ensure that you, our valued residents, can enjoy these amenities as soon as possible. Simultaneously, we must ensure the repairs are thorough so as not to compromise the safety of those who use these facilities.

Lastly, we must carefully manage our resources to obtain the best value for your hard-earned tax dollars, minimizing costs while maintaining high-quality standards. Additionally, we are still addressing COVID-19 project delays and winter storm damages. While we don't expect the frequency of maintenance projects to our aquatics facilities to persist in coming years, we need to ensure District assets are well managed.

So far, we have conducted the following maintenance work on our pools:
1) In August, the sunshade structure at Sendero Springs Pool was replaced.
2) In September, the parking lots at Sendero Springs and Highland Horizon pools have been resurfaced and re-striped.
3) Also in September, the pergola at Sendero Springs Pool was cleaned and re-stained.
4) Cat Hollow Pool has been receiving upgrades and repairs since February. A reopening date is not yet available, but work includes the addition of a state-of-the-art filtration system, a full surface replastering, a deck replacement, and other aesthetic enhancements.

Maintenance and repair work that is still needed includes:
1) The bathroom floors will be resurfaced at Sendero Springs Pool.
2) The deck at Sendero Springs pool will be resurfaced.
3) The resurfacing of the parking lot at Sendero Springs Pool is complete, but some areas within the lot require a thermoplastic application. This may result in additional pool and/or parking lot closures.

In organizing projects of this nature, it is often difficult to coordinate vendor and contractor schedules. At this time, we do not have specific dates for the upcoming maintenance work. However, we will let our residents know as soon as we have time frames available. 

We also understand residents have several questions regarding these closures that we would like to address.

Why can't residents swim while maintenance work is taking place?
First and foremost, large equipment is in use, and the District must ensure there is no risk to residents. Additionally, much of the work being performed is loud and disruptive, and we do not want to cause an unpleasant experience for our residents while contractors are performing their duties.

Why is all of this work happening now?
There are several reasons the bulk of the work is taking place as fall approaches. First, usage of the pools from Memorial Day to Labor Day is too high to implement temporary closures within that timeframe. Second, while work will continue past fiscal year 2023, which ends Sept. 30, most of the maintenance and repair projects were budgeted for this fiscal year. Third, in a normal year, the District would have begun the projects in the months leading up to summer. However, February Winter Storm Mara took priority for several months as we worked to clean up fallen trees and assist with brush removal throughout the District.

How is work coordinated when multiple pools in the District need similar repairs?
In situations for which multiple pools need repairs, it is more cost-effective to have contractors plan to work on as many facilities as possible at once. In this case, Sendero Springs and Highland Horizon pools each needed repairs, so it made the most fiscal sense to temporarily close them at around the same time. It is also important to note that because Sendero Springs Pool is open year-round, it is not possible to avoid closure of the facility when maintenance is required.

Thank you for being a part of our community and for your patience as we strive to provide you with exceptional services and facilities. We are committed to maintaining transparency and ensuring that our residents are well-informed throughout this process. Your feedback and input are valuable to us, and we encourage you to reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.