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FBSP Picnic- Saturday June 15, 2019 @ Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co)

Please join Friends of Barton Springs Pool for their 2019 Membership Picnic on Saturday, June 15th from 1:00 – 3:00 pm at Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. (ABGB), 1305 W Oltorf St, Austin, TX 78704!! 

We have reserved the outdoor picnic table area, will have food and drinks tickets available, and will be raffling off swim passes and FBSP towels.  With the good folks at ABGB donating the first 50 beers, we’ll cover the tab for pizza slizes (2) and drinks for members who show up.  Raffles will be held every 30 minutes (or so), and then at 3:00pm, an unofficial and non-sponsored bike ride will likely spontaneously occur to proceed to the Barton Springs from ABGB for some afternoon fun at the Springs.

Come by, introduce yourself to the current board members, and learn more about all of the good things we are doing and what we hope to accomplish in the coming year. Please RSVP to fun@friendsofbartonspringspool.org

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New Board Member — Jennifer Robenalt

On May 28, 2019, the board voted to elect Jennifer Robenalt to serve on the board as our Advocacy Chair.  Jennifer grew up in Austin, Texas, has worked in the communications/marketing/public relations space, and enjoys swimming with her son at Barton Springs 4-5 times a week!  Chillin’ with the kids, how cool is that?  We are delighted to have Jennifer join our board!

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New Board Member — Renee Weissend

In January, 2019, the board voted to elect Renee Weissend to serve on the board as our Fundraising Chair.  Renee lives in the Zilker area, is a graduate from UT’s MBA program, works at Dell on their Global Marketing Strategy for IoT Solutions, was recently married,  and loves Barton Springs Pool.  We look forward to working with Renee as an excellent addition to our board!!!!!

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President’s Report: June, 2019

Friends,

Happy almost Summer! The FBSP Board, and I in particular, would like to give A HUGE SHOUT OUT to the 30+ emergency volunteers who showed up with less than 24-hours’ notice to help clear the pool of flood damage on Tuesday May 7th. These amazing volunteers showed up and with their help we cleared much of the flood debris off the south lawn and nature trail and put the finishing touches on removing gravel from the pool at the north corner by the dam. Their work allowed BSP staff to concentrate on the pool once the flooding stopped which meant the pool was able to reopen sooner!!!

FBSP Picnic- Saturday June 15, 2019

I am pleased to announce that the FBSP Picnic is scheduled for Saturday, June 15th from 1:00 – 3:00 pm at Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. (ABGB), 1305 W Oltorf St, Austin, TX 78704!!  We have reserved the outdoor picnic table area, will have food and drinks tickets available, and will be raffling off swim passes and FBSP towels. Around 3:00pm, we’ll bike over to the pool from ABGB for some afternoon fun at the Springs. Come by, introduce yourself to the current board members, and learn more about all of the good things we are doing and what we hope to accomplish in the coming year. Please RSVP to fun@friendsofbartonspringspool.org

Upcoming Volunteer Cleanings

Our next volunteer cleaning is on Thursday June 6th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. This year we have gotten a lot of interest from corporate volunteer teams to work along our regular crew of dedicated volunteers. A special THANK YOU to ABGB, BRC Recovery, AMD, Whole Foods, and American Youthworks for participating! Your engagement is an invaluable and very welcome contribution to our volunteer efforts. For members that have not previously volunteered for one of our cleanings, please join us! For more information and to sign up, visit our website at www.friendsofbartonspringspool.org.

Ongoing Advocacy

As many of you know, FBSP is focused on raising awareness and advocating for change at the pool. One of those ongoing efforts is re-populating the aquatic plants in the pool. These plants play a key role in the pool’s ecosystem and are necessary to the quality of water and the overall health of the pool. FBSP is part of a small group of stakeholders manning this initiative and is putting together a team to monitor and maintain the aquatic plant presence, which has been challenged by recent repeated flooding.

Another important effort outside the fence is improving safety in the creek above the Pool near the upper dam. We are working with Save Barton Creek Association and others to get temporary warning signs posted while we look at potential long-term solutions to this issue.

We are looking forward to seeing the bathhouse rehabilitation project begin sometime in early 2020 thanks in large part to Barton Springs Conservancy, which celebrated its considerable fundraising accomplishments, including an especially generous donation from the Moody Foundation which helped meet its fundraising goals for the project. A big congratulations to BSC and endless thank yous for your ongoing efforts on this project!

Call for Board Members

The FBSP Board has openings available for members who want to take their participation with the pool up a notch. Members interested in getting more involved should contact me at president@friendsofbartonspringspool.org to chat more about how you can help take us into the future.

On a personal note, I have started my daily sunrise swim at the pool and hope to maintain that ritual throughout the summer. I enter from the south gate and hang out near the diving board so if you have the will to get up and see the sun rise over the pool, come join me and a few others as we start the day with a cool refreshing dip in the pool…:)

See you at the pool,
Steve Barnick, FBSP President

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BSP Staff Needs Help with Debris Removal (May 7….)

Friends,
Volunteers are needed to help with removing flood debris at the pool, starting on Tuesday morning, May 7, (9am) for as long as it takes. Please wear clothing/shoes/gloves you do not mind getting wet, and bring some sort of water bottle to stay hydrated. FBSP will set up a table under the display case on the back wall of the bathhouse with water containers to refill when needed. Tools will be provided by BSP, and if needed, we may enlist APF to get more rakes, shovels, wheel barrels . Please meet at the bathhouse pool entrance in the morning.
 
Background info:
 
             The pool was extensively damaged with flood debris scattered 1/3 of the way up the hill of the south lawn. Much of the lifeguard staff is filling wheel barrels and hauling that away. There is still a lot to haul out.
             A very large pile of gravel in the pool near the north side of the down stream dam near were the pump is located. The pump took on some major damage with fencing and pump area. The 8″ dia pump inlet that was attached to the dam wall was pulled away. It is still attached but a huge section is draped over the dam wall and dangling in the creek.
             They have about a dozen PARD folks filling 5 gallon buckets with gravel from that area and hauling it to the area near the upstream dam where what is left of the compost pile is. Most of the compost structural walls are damaged and all of the compost is gone. They road adjacent to the compost pile was washed out exposing some creek monitoring cables, they are filling that area with grave being removed from the pump area.
             The nature trail has some flood debris that needs to be removed most of the damage is near the upstream dam on the south side were there appears to be a tree uprooted that has totally trashed the permanent gate in that area. The creek is still flooding into the pool so much of that area is not safe to work.

             Watershed divers are assessing the damage in the pool. The entire pool was scoured a lot of large rocks have been jostled about, and another large deposit of gravel is in the mix in the middle deep area of the pool.

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Greetings Friends,

Spring has sprung and the Friends of Barton Springs Pool Board of Directors is gearing up for another exciting year of protecting and preserving the Barton Springs Pool! We’re busy with projects inside and outside the fence and very excited to announce the return of our annual membership picnic in June. Stay tuned for more details!

Our first volunteer pool cleaning was a huge success and we want to carry that forward throughout the year by encouraging members to join us for these vital pool preservation efforts. Pool cleanings take place on the first Thursday of each month and allow volunteers to catch some rays and get their hands dirty in support of the pool. See the schedule below and sign up for the date and time that work for you. Snacks and refreshments are provided and the first ten people to sign-up for a cleaning get a free FBSP t-shirt!

See you at the Pool!

FSBP Board

Upcoming Pool Cleanings:

April 4                  (9am-12pm or 12-3pm)
May 2                   (9am-12pm or 12-3pm)
June 6                  (9am-12pm or 12-3pm)
July 11                  (9am-12pm or 12-3pm)
August 1               (9am-12pm or 12-3pm)
September 5        (9am-12pm or 12-3pm)
October 4             (9am-12pm or 12-3pm)

Have questions about pool cleanings? Contact us at president@friendsofbartonspringspool.org.

Not a member? Become one today! Contact us at info@friendsofbartonspringspool.org to get on our mailing list and to learn about upcoming volunteer events at the Pool.