President’s Message

Dear ACC Members,

Updated House Rules

The Board of Governors (BOG) and the management have received an increasing amount of complaints about the compaction at some of the ACC facilities. And the debate on the domestic helpers in the club seems to be occurring more often from Members given this increased compaction.  Although this is not an unfamiliar topic of discussion at our board meetings, the BOG felt the issue has reached a tipping point where some actions should be taken to ensure the quality of the experience for the majority of our Members.

The BOG had extensive discussions at the Board meeting, various options were reviewed and in the end, the BOG felt implementation of no domestic helpers on the weekends would be a balanced decision clearly addressing the peak times at the club when compaction is worst while still allowing parents to have the options of the assistance from their domestic helpers on the weekdays.  This was actually a rule that was previously in place around 10 years ago but was relaxed as the club usage diminished but usage in the Club is very different now with an increase in F&B usage alone of approximately 41% since then.

The Board recognizes that this is a very difficult topic and there is never one rule change that will please everyone but it is becoming increasingly necessary to address the over crowdedness of the facilities during these peak times.    The implementation of the policy will take place on July 1st.  Please note that the rules do provide an exception for Members that require special assistance from a healthcare giver and both the Board and Management will try their best to help make the transition as smoothly as possible for everyone.

Playground Safety

There have been a few accidents that have occurred at the ACC playground over the last decade. Even though most of the accidents happened when underage children (under 7 years old) were left unsupervised; the BOG felt we should reevaluate the equipment to maximize safety in this area.  As the seesaw is now extinct in the playground around the States for safety reasons, the BOG decided follow this direction to have it removed from the ACC playground.  There will be an assessment made to ensure that all of our other playground equipment is up to date.

Capital Planning for 2018

The Board is also looking at the upcoming capital requirements for the Club to ensure that ACC remains competitive and up to date with current Club standards.  The Board has always taken a very responsible capital improvements strategy so that all capital improvements are funded through cash flow and we are proud to report that we have maintained our cash reserves while bringing the Club’s facilities up to an acceptable standard.

For 2018, we were assessing ACC Market, Rendezvous, Sigis, Nursery and Pool Bar as they are all approaching 10 years since they were updated.  Although all of these venues are important to the Club, we feel that Sigis has the highest level of urgency with the highest usage and very poor acoustics / high noise levels which clearly diminished the dining experience.

We consulted a sound expert to evaluate options over three years ago and confirmed the noise levels were excessive but the cost to effectively address the noise in the current design was prohibitive.  Typical noise levels for a comfortable conversation is about 60 decibels compared to a typical Saturday or Sunday in Sigis at 12:30 pm, with the noise levels averaging between 75.5 to 79.9 decibels.   But now that Sigis reached its useful life, we are currently evaluating costs to renovate this space for a fresh look and an improve ambiance with a quieter / more enjoyable dining experience.

 

Have a great summer!

Ellen Yin
President