Giving Thanks for Pools!
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A publication of the Florida Swimming Pool Association / www.FloridaPoolPro.biz November 2020 Giving Thanks for Pools! FSPA CHAPTER NEWS Florida Pool Prosm CONTENTS Published monthly by the Florida Swimming Pool Association Look to your right Association Mission: Advancing 4 President's Column Florida’s swimming pool industry. President S*** You Should Know David Pruette 4 David Pruette’s Electrical Services, Inc. Orange Park Business is booming, let's be thankful Vice-President 6 this November Maurice Bushroe Executive Director’s Column Blue Ribbon Pools, Daytona Beach Treasurer FSPA successfully leads the fight Don Ball The Pool Works of Florida, Inc., Largo 8 against sneaky flood zone code push Secretary of State Mickey Sigmon Maintenance and technology Pool Pro, Inc., Fort Pierce 10 Service Article At-Large Director Deidre Bedford West Coast Pools, Bradenton Pool construction in the wake of a At-Large Director 12 pandemic Ben Evans Builder Article American Pools and Spas, Inc., Orlando Past President PIPAC donates $80,000 to pro industry Jim Bingold Proline Distributors, Boca Raton 13 candidates Executive Director Social inflation and insurance Wendy Parker Barsell, APR, CEM 16 Insurance Article Sr. Dir. of Communications & Marketing Charis Tyson Look before you leap Education Program Manager Grandy & Associates Mary Anderson 19 Government Affairs Manager Dallas Thiesen 22 Pool Routes Membership Development Manager Tora Buttaro Chapter News PR & Digital Media Coordinator 25 Miles McCreery Calendar Accounting Manager 41 Cheryl Cotten Administrative Assistant Valerie Swika Administration Specialist - Membership Dawn McManus January 8-9 2555 Porter Lake Drive, Ste. 106 Sarasota, FL 34240 (941) 952-9293 / (866) 930-FSPA Board of Directors Meeting Fax: (941) 366-7433 www.FloridaPoolPro.com Jupiter Beach Resort Jupiter © 2020 Florida Swimming Pool Association. All rights reserved. The contents of this All FSPA members are welcome to attend state Board of Directors meetings. If publication may not be reproduced in any form you would like more information or to RSVP, visit industry.floridapoolpro.com or without written permission of the publisher. call 800-548-6774. 2 Florida Pool Prosm • November 2020 FSPA CHAPTER NEWS November 2020 • Florida Pool Prosm 3 FSPA PRESIDENT Look to your right I'd like to take a moment to recognize the young lady to my right. Wendy Parker Barsell is celebrating being part of the FSPA for 20 years! Since I have been serving on the FSPA Executive Committee, I have come to realize how incredibly important she is to our organization. She has an astonishing memory of everything that has transpired in those 20 years. She has taken the annual Show to new heights which is a David Pruette full-time job in itself. I feel like we are very fortunate FSPA President [email protected] to have someone with her knowledge, skill, and passion for our industry serving as executive director! S*** You Should Know Q: When can my local building department start enforcing the 2020 Building Code? A: The 2020 Florida Building Code (7th Edition) will official take effect and be enforceable on December 31, 2020. After that date all swimming pool and spa construction must comply with the newly adopted 2020 Building Code. In the new code there have been extensive changes to the commercial swimming pool and spa code, including a change to the commercial pool sizing formula. There are no changes to the residential swimming pool building code. Make sure that you and your employees are registered to take the 2020 Florida Building Code Updates class and the 2020 Commercial Pool Sizing class in person at the 2021 Everything Under the Sunsm Expo February 19-20 at the Orange County Convention Center. 4 Florida Pool Prosm • November 2020 FSPA CHAPTER NEWS Congratulations, Wendy! On September 19, the third state Board meeting of the year was held in St. Augustine. It was a meeting full of important ideas and decisions. As with every meeting, concessions had to be made to reach any final agreements. I feel like this was best expressed by Dr. Bill Kent, an original founder of the organization, when he made this statement: “Today’s honest debate and differences of opinion regarding the finalization of the FSPA by-laws was a great example of “democracy in action”. After fair deliberation, a vote was taken and the Board reached an agreement that everyone agreed to honor. This open process is an important aspect of making any publicly-owned organization operate with integrity of purpose." There are often points of contention and discussion in these meetings expressed by your Chapter's state representatives, which reflects the true passion they all have for this industry and this organization. I'm always happy to see people having healthy debate in the meeting and having very friendly and civil conversations afterward. I would like to thank all of the Board members for their commitment of time, talents, and treasure. I am always impressed by their generosity towards community, membership, and political interests! www.UnderTheSunExpo.com Business is BOOMING and we’re done ZOOMING See you February 19-20 Face-to-face in Orlando November 2020 • Florida Pool Prosm 5 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Business is booming, let's be thankful this November I remember back in April having a discussion with a local member about remodeling my pool. We agreed this winter would probably be a good time – it was early in COVID shutdowns and we both made the very wrong assumption that the impact on the pool industry would be negative. Fast forward six months and the pool industry is booming – for some it’s the best it’s ever been. Wendy Parker Barsell Needless to say, my pool will sit in its 1987 glory a little FSPA Executive Director longer! [email protected] In our most recent member business survey, 85% of respondents have an optimistic view of the coming months. The majority of respondents are still seeing an increase in calls for new pools, remodeling and repairs. Just over 55% have added employees and 33% are advertising for more employees. While 2020 has brought so many things we didn’t expect, we are thankful that the swimming pool industry is our industry. We are thankful that pool service and construction are considered essential and were able to continue working throughout the pandemic. We are thankful people who are working from home are taking more time to enjoy their beautiful pools which our industry builds and maintains. And most of all, we thank you for your membership in the Florida Swimming Pool Association. Mark you calendar for our annual trade show – we will be in person, face- to-face, on February 19-20 at the Orange County Convention Center. I can’t wait to see each of you and thank you for your hard work and dedication to the Florida homeowners during this crazy thing we called 2020! 6 Florida Pool Prosm • November 2020 FLORIDA POOL PERMITS Permits provided by HBW / www.hbweekly.com County Name September 2019 September 2020 Alachua County 23 8 County Name September 2019 September 2020 Bay County 32 13 Brevard County 64 109 Liberty County 0 0 Broward County 64 49 Manatee County 74 186 Calhoun County 0 0 Marion County 18 28 Charlotte County 91 116 Martin County 44 38 Citrus County 31 22 Nassau County 16 14 Clay County 22 27 Okaloosa County 26 28 Collier County 201 156 Orange County 146 127 Dade County 142 176 Osceola County 88 67 Duval County 57 62 Palm Beach County 155 200 Escambia County 19 22 Pasco County 104 164 Flagler County 33 26 Pinellas County 59 77 Franklin County 0 1 Polk County 75 88 Gadsden County 4 0 Putnam County 3 1 Gulf County 1 0 Santa Rosa County 43 45 Hernando County 19 21 Sarasota County 134 158 Highlands County 5 10 Seminole County 16 21 Hillsborough County 144 181 St Johns County 72 112 Holmes County 0 0 St Lucie County 69 73 Indian River County 39 46 Sumter County 41 37 Jackson County 3 3 Volusia County 17 64 Jefferson County 0 3 Wakulla County 3 6 Lake County 34 48 Walton County 34 24 Lee County 230 245 Washington County 3 2 Leon County 16 17 TOTALS 2514 2921 November 2020 • Florida Pool Prosm 7 FSPAREGULATORY CHAPTER UPDATE NEWS FSPA successfully leads the fight against sneaky flood zone code push at FBC By Dallas Thiesen, FSPA Government Afairs Manager / [email protected] During the Florida Building Commission (FBC) meeting October 13, the Florida Swimming Pool Association, Florida Natural Gas Association, Florida Propane Gas Association, Florida Home Builders Association, and others vigorously opposed the funding and creation of a Florida Building Code Appendix that would contain optional, extreme and unreasonable building standards for construction in Special Flood Hazard Zones. As a result of FSPA-led opposition, the FBC declined funding for the Code Plus Appendix project. This marked another FSPA victory against unreasonable flood zone regulations. If the Code Plus Appendix project had been approved, the FBC would have funded the creation of an appendix to the Florida building code containing extreme and excessive flood mitigation building standards. Under the proposal, these unnecessarily strict standards would have been optional statewide at first. However, the extreme Code Plus Appendix standards could have been adopted by local municipalities or counties as local code amendments to the Florida Building Code and been made mandatory. Adoption of the unnecessary Code Plus Appendix would have threatened FSPA’s recent victories with the Department of Emergency Management and the FBC in reversing requirements swimming pool and spa equipment be installed above base flood elevation in flood zones. The Code Plus Appendix would have also added unnecessary confusion for consumers, contractors, and building officials when navigating construction projects on or near Florida’s 1,350 miles of coastline.