Who is the Red Hook Pool?
The Red Hook Pool is a private, not-for-profit (501c3) organization whose main purpose is to provide a family centered aquatic facility for its members.
What is your mission?
Our mission is to provide a safe and fun pool environment for our member, guests and their families. Extensions of this basic goal involve maintaining an effective lesson program which encourages life long swimming appreciation and skills for children and running a competitive swim team in order to introduce young swimmers and their parents to the sport of swimming.
Who can join?
Anyone can join the pool, membership is not limited to residents of Red Hook.
How does the pool make an income?
Yearly memberships, swim lesson fees, guest fees and donations are our sole income providers. We are not a town pool, so we receive no tax dollars for our operation.
What are the expenses of the pool?
Expenses are salaries of the Pool Director, Swim Instructors and life guards. Pool repairs, electricity, chlorine/chemicals, electric and plumbing repairs/upgrades, phone and wifi.
How is the pool maintained?
We have no paid maintenance staff, so all cleaning is done by the guards; repairs by board members or local contractors.
Who makes the decisions?
We are run by a volunteer Board of Directors which meets throughout the year.
What is the structure of the Board?
The board is made up of four officers: President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary, as well as five board members.
What sets you apart from other local pools?
We are the only non-tax supported pool that is open 2.5 months a year that does not require members to post a bond to be a member, in addition to their yearly membership.
What are the different types of membership available?
The memberships available are Family Pass (one or two adults related by marriage (or similar relationship) and their unmarried children and dependents under the age of 22, as of May 30th of the membership year, living in the same home), Senior Pass (must be 55 years old by June), Single Membership Pass and Student/Youth Pass (Person must be at least 12 years old or under 21). Babysitter/Caregiver (must be at least 16 years old and must be combined with a family membership. Each babysitter/caregiver needs a pass and MUST have a child(ren) with them when entering the pool.
The board did a thorough research of other private pools clubs in NY, NJ and CT area to ensure that we were in line with other private pool's registration fees. After this review, it was determine that we are significantly less expensive, don't require a bond or volunteer hours, and are a much better value, than any other private pool in the area. Additionally, we need to cover the increasing costs of lifeguard wages (and the annual minimum wage increases) and the increases in utility costs, chemicals and other increases in order to stay in the black each year.
Why don't you offer a single parent with child add-on-rate or two-person family rate?
As a board of directors and a private, non-profit organization (who receives no tax dollar support) we need to be sure that we are covering our costs to maintain a safe and healthy pool environment for the summer. We need to bring in a certain amount of money each year to remain fiscally solvent. After a review of our membership over the past few years, it was determined that keeping our membership structure the same was the most fiscally responsible solution. We don't take the discussion of membership lightly, and often spend many hours discussing this topic.
Why don't you have a daily rate?
The daily rate model is often seen in public or town pools, which the Red Hook Pool is not. We rely on our seasonal memberships, swimming lesson rates and donations to meet our costs each year. After much review, it is not a sound financial decision to allow for daily rates.
What was your rate in 1991?
A family membership in 1991 was $295 with 10 hours of service or $350. without any service. When you look at the significant rising costs of electricity, chlorine and labor, as well as other memberships, you can see the Red Hook Pool continues to be an economical choice with small increases in price over the past 33 years! Your membership is the most important commodity we have, and we strive to keep the costs low while continuing to operate and maintain the pool.
