After the board announced the new mask policy for the pool deck, there was understandable disagreement over the decision the HOA board made to enact our mask policy. Please trust the board when we say, “we didn’t take this decision lightly, nor do we wish we had to make the decision.” Unfortunately, this virus and the changes it has caused are coming at everyone fast this year (including the Waunakee Board of Education), and some tough decisions followed. If our members are wondering why such a decision was made, read on and we’ll try to give you some of the discussion we had in coming up with the requirement.
The first question that comes up is: “But it is outdoors, I thought masks aren’t required outdoors?” We do not feel that is true. While the governor’s website has a FAQ that covers this and says that masks aren’t required outdoors, the governor’s order as well as the recommendations of the CDC directly contradict that FAQ. Masks are not required outdoors when you can safely and effectively social distance. Unfortunately, the board and pool supervisors have seen an increasing disregard for social distancing at the pool. People were doing a fantastic job when the pool opened, but as time passed, people either became tired of distancing or more casual about choosing to be close to others. With the children of the neighborhood, we knew that this was going to be a trouble spot from the beginning and the board does accept that it is likely impossible to stop kids from playing together/staying distant. Along these lines, we’ve also seen adults and teens who are actively choosing not to social distance, with instances like: sitting close to one another on the pool edge or pool deck when clearly not of the same household, holding a party on the pool deck, taking up a majority of the pool by doing things like throwing footballs around the pool, etc. These are choices that were made by people of an age to know better than to ignore the social distancing rules we have enacted this year for the pool.
If you read CDC’s advice about the use of masks, one of the first things you’ll read is: “CDC recommends that people wear masks in public settings and when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.” This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t social distance, it means that when you can’t (or as noted above, won’t), wear a mask. Since our members are finding it increasingly hard to maintain social distancing, wearing masks when on the pool deck/sitting on the edge of the pool is the easiest way to help our members stay safe. Other options we have considered include requiring scheduled sign-ups of limited numbers of HOA members to be able to use the pool. We felt that masks were a lesser inconvenience in regard to the balance between keeping as many people safe as possible and allowing a great number of HOA members to use the pool.
Another item that went into our decision to require masks was the text of the order, the amount of runway time to enforce the order (two days), and a lack of assistance from DHS in regard to how to interpret that text. The text of the order that the board interpreted to apply to the pool is as follows:
1a: “Enclosed space” means a confined space open to the public where
individuals congregate, including but not limited to outdoor bars,
outdoor restaurants, taxis, public transit, ride-share vehicles, and
outdoor park structuresFACE COVERING REQUIRED. Every individual, age five and older, in
Wisconsin shall wear a face covering if both of the following apply:
a. The individual is indoors or in an enclosed space, other than at a
private residence; and;
b. Another person or persons who are not members of individual’s
household or living unit are present in the same room or enclosed
space.
Face coverings are strongly recommended in all other settings, including
outdoors when it is not possible to maintain physical distancing.
We’re taking the meaning of this as: “the pool is an enclosed space as it does not fully allow people (of different households) to safely distance when certain capacities are reached or when our members are willfully disregarding distancing.” The second part of that, underlined above, notes that “they’re strongly recommended in all other settings, including outdoors when it is not possible to maintain physical distancing.” Frankly, it has proven impossible for folks to maintain that distancing, mainly by choice. Now, it can be debated that we’re not open to the public since we’re a private pool for the use of our HOA members, but in this case, we have 180+ households that can use the pool and bring guests; we considered that to be public enough. We also contacted DHS to ask their advice about this rule and they basically abdicated their responsibility in this regard – for the most part they told us that they didn’t have specific recommendations but did tell us that: “for liability reasons, we’d recommend masks on whenever outside the pool, masks off in the pool.” That was all we received from them. This was little to no help in helping us make this decision.
When we boil this all down, our first goal is safety at the pool, our second goal is: “how do we reduce risk for everyone at the pool, including the HOA and its members?” That risk includes having to ensure policies and procedures are in place to defend ourselves against a civil suit (tort) in the event someone were to become sick with COVID-19 at our pool and bring a suit against the HOA, as the board is entrusted with a fiduciary duty to the HOA and its members. While our insurance policy protects us in the event of such a suit, it only protects us if we’re taking due diligence measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Deciding to not put a policy in place, we felt, would breach that duty to the HOA and its members. Merely placing signs that say “coming here is at your own risk” unfortunately does not abdicate this duty.
In closing, something we want everyone to understand is that this is not a set-in-stone, Moses coming down from the mountain policy. The board is not infallible and there are many times where policies are made that have unintended consequences. If we notice those unintended consequences coming at the detriment to the safe use of the pool or materially affecting the ability for people to socially distance while at the pool, we will make adjustments. We have had to do so all pool season and we will continue to do so. This neighborhood is lucky to have a fantastic group of pool supervisors and pool attendants that communicate regularly with the board in regard to the pool this season. Those people help keep us and everyone safe while also informing the HOA Board of Directors in regard to helping shape the policies to keep the pool safe. Everyone should feel responsible for to look out for one-another this year and each of us plays a part in keeping one-another safe. If that means that we have to wear a mask while on the pool deck, then we should do our part and wear a mask.