Regarding: Contract for Burgess Park Aquatic Center
As an active and long time member (over 15 years) of Menlo Masters and doctorate in Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner who cares about the current obesity epidemic in the youth of today, I would like to offer my support for the continuation of the contract held by Menlo Swim and Sport, LLC and Tim Sheeper.
In reviewing the proposals offered by the two other submissions I believe that Menlo Park would be taking on a significant amount of risk by not extending the contract to the current operator, Menlo Swim and Sport.
To offer high levels of service to Menlo Park residents of all ages and other community members, there is a tremendous amount of business infrastructure needed that I believe are beyond the capacity of the other proposals. Menlo Swim and Sport is a superbly well developed, efficient and effective manager of all the complementary services and processes needed to run this complex enterprise. The strongest proposal for planning and executing all functions related to the aquatic center has been submitted by Menlo Swim and Sport, specifically addressing and not limited to the below outlined areas:
1. Facilities management, cleaning and hygiene, safety and incident protocols, pool chemicals and mechanical maintenance
2. Human resources staff, policies and processes to handle high seasonal employment needs while training and employing many young adults in our community.
3. Customer friendly program registration, billing and IT support to keep it up and current
4. Customer service help desk and response team
5. Ongoing employee training, onboarding, scheduling and management for every team from lifeguards, camp counselors, swim coaches, to back office
6. Program development meeting the needs of all ages, abilities and wellness needs from infant swim lessons to over 50 people attending the 5 days a week water aerobics classes
7. Ongoing proactive communication with the community about schedules, updates, offerings and service interruptions due to weather, mechanicals and maintenance. One current example is the heater going out on Friday and by Sunday afternoon it was fixed by one of the staff members
8. Customer-facing website management and updates that are always current and straightforward
9. Onsite management and accountability for all programming with the most complete management staffing plan
10. Robust, mission driven revenue share model allowing for broad offerings by partners
When users come to Burgess Park Pool today they find a highly functional aquatics program that is well used by a wide range of residents, staffed by friendly, courteous, safety conscious professional personnel. The completeness of the programs and the competence of the aquatics center staff is an extremely positive reflection of the City of Menlo Park. I encourage the Menlo City Council to renew Menlo Swim and Sports contract for the management of Burgess Park Pool.
I strongly believe Menlo Swim and Sport is the only and best option to provide the range and level of service that the community has come to expect. Menlo Swim and Sport understands the complexity of running this business, has demonstrated its deep attention to customer needs and satisfaction and conducted its operations with the highest level of integrity and collaboration with the community.
I am asking you to prioritize the best interests of the Menlo Park Community and strongly advocate and choose Menlo Swim and Sport to continue their contract to provide the most optimal services.
Respect and appreciation for your consideration in this matter,
Michele Santilhano RN, DNP PPC
Email: Michksan@yahoo.com
Cell: 530-301-2328
