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Board hears 2025 aquatics season review; staff outlines pool usage, maintenance and implications for 2026 budget
Summary
Staff presented season-by-season "report cards" for each pool, usage heat maps, maintenance metrics and proposed hour changes for 2026. Board members sought more granular data on lifeguard costs, weekend and late-hour usage and the relationship between added hours and expenditures.
Reston Association staff presented a season review of the 2025 aquatics program, including a pool-by-pool "report card" with usage, maintenance, condition assessments and proposed hour changes for the 2026 draft budget.
Aquatics staff said Season 3 in 2025 ran nine weeks and will be nine weeks in 2026; Season 2 was three weeks this year and is proposed to be four weeks next year. Those schedule clarifications inform the draft operating budget's line for pool hours. Staff reported draft 2026 pool-hours in the budget at roughly 10,046 hours and described two proposed additions: opening Shadowwood earlier in Season 2 (an added 160 hours) and extending Season 2 at additional facilities (an added 294 hours). Shadowwood hours were not included in Draft 1; the board discussed including that change and its draft budgetary impact.
Staff also presented participation metrics: the distinction between "unique visitors" (individual people) and "total visits" (aggregate check-ins), heat maps showing members traveling to destination pools, and hourly scans showing low participation during many final hours of operation. Staff said scans are recorded on entry but not exit; hourly physical counts are used as a cross-check. Directors asked staff to provide additional analysis separating fitness-hour usage from general swim hours to determine whether low late-hour counts were caused by scheduled fitness activities.
Maintenance and capital planning: Staff highlighted that few pools required unplanned closures in 2025, which they credited to recent maintenance investments. Glade had comparatively more closure days (four) than other facilities, which staff attributed to additional features and equipment. Directors praised the season reporting and the condition-assessment program and asked that condition scores remain part of future report cards to inform capital planning.
Budget implications and follow-up requests: Directors requested more granular cost analysis separating the incremental cost of raising lifeguard wages from the cost of added hours to isolate each variable's budget impact. Several asked for breakdowns of weekend versus weekday usage and peak-hour patterns (including Friday night and weekend evenings). Staff agreed to provide those data as input to small-group budget working sessions. Directors also asked staff to confirm whether camps will be budgeted for nine weeks next year to match Fairfax County school schedule variability.
Why it matters: Pool hours, staffing and maintenance drive a material portion of Reston Association's operating budget and are a high-interest issue for members. The board used the season review to shape Draft 2 budget choices and to identify data gaps staff will fill before final budget adoption.
Next steps: Staff to deliver more granular analyses (lifeguard cost vs. added hours, weekend and end-of-hour usage separated by fitness programming, confirmation of camp-week assumptions) and to incorporate condition-assessment results into capital prioritization.
