Johnson County closes pools at ‘resort-style’ subdivision after kids get injured, sick
Earlier this summer, Brian Schmeidler’s 11-year-old son exited the pool at his Johnson County subdivision with badly cut toes.
“We’re talking deep cuts across four of his five toes on one foot,” he said. “They were deep and bleeding a lot.”
He didn’t think much of it until his 8-year-old experienced the same problem a week later.
“What I did think of was how nasty the pool was. It was cloudy, disgusting,” he said. “My thought process was, well there’s so much chlorine in these pools, nothing’s going to happen anyways.”
But Johnson County officials recently found deficient levels of chlorine in the pools at Cedar Creek, a sprawling housing development in Olathe where homes can fetch between $500,000 and $2 million. And since a county inspector briefly closed pools there this week, multiple families have come forward complaining of illnesses after using their community pools.
Schmeidler’s 7-year-old daughter developed a severe ear infection. Among his six kids, others have had ear problems in the past, but never her. And it wasn’t just any old ear infection, he said. Behind her ear, the flesh near her hairline had turned a dark red, nearly purple shade.
“We were just in shock,” he said. “My wife is a primary care physician. So I know a thing or two and she especially does. We were just in shock.”
County closes pools
A county inspector closed the pool behind the Cedar Creek clubhouse on Wednesday after a routine inspection found chlorine levels of .12 parts per million — well below the minimum of 1 parts per million and the recommended 3 to 5 parts per million for large, busy pools.
Because inspectors could not locate the pool’s required test kit or log, many residents are wondering how long the pool had been unsafe.
Like others, Schmeidler only began to suspect the pool as the cause of his daughter’s illness after reading Facebook posts from other Cedar Creek residents whose children were ill.
“I’ve had enough,” he said. “They are compromising people’s health and safety.”
Chlorine levels are crucial in preventing illness from spreading in public pools. If water is chlorine deficient, it can lead to skin infections, ear infections and stomach illnesses, said Mary Beverly, the environmental health division director at the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment.
By Thursday, the county had received multiple reports of illnesses from families who had used the pools at Cedar Creek.
“We’re definitely getting those,” Beverly said. “We don’t need to get anymore because the whole situation is being handled with our inspector. They certainly can take their children to the doctor, to the pediatrician to get checked out.”
A separate pool at Cedar Creek was found chlorine deficient on Thursday but it was allowed to reopen after the issue was corrected.
County records show the large clubhouse pool was allowed to reopen Thursday morning after chlorine levels were recorded at 2.12 parts per million.
Beverly said the county was monitoring the situation but has not determined if illnesses could be traced back to the pool.
“Things are headed in the right direction,” she said.
Larry Louk, president of a board that oversees amenities at Cedar Creek, said the organization had received no complaints of illnesses as of Thursday afternoon, though residents were filing reports with the county and posting complaints on Facebook and on a neighborhood social media platform.
“We have not been informed directly of any kids being sick from the pools,” he said. “There’s been some chatter on our website. But nobody’s called the HOA or me or contacted us about the kids being sick.”
In an email to residents, a separate HOA official said tests showed acceptable levels of chlorine in the pool early Wednesday. But the pool was then inundated with swimmers and failed the surprise test from the county inspector later in the afternoon.
The email acknowledged complaints about children injuring their feet in the pool and said the organization would close the pool for three days to remediate the issue with the texture of the pool coating. It also asked residents to report any illnesses directly to the HOA.
“If there is an issue, we will take whatever action is necessary to make our pools safe to use.”
Mounting tension with HOA
The problems at the pools have only underscored complaints from an organized group of homeowners within the Cedar Creek development, which advertises “resort-style living.” Near the confluence of K-10 and K-7 highways, Cedar Creek is home to rolling hills, limestone bluffs, waterfalls and thick woods.
In recent months, a group of homeowners have publicly opposed the leadership of their homeowners association. They have argued that the boards that oversee the association and the amenities are unresponsive to homeowner needs and have neglected the much-touted amenities of the development.
The group Cedar Creek Homeowners United has amassed a following of more than 500 on Facebook and has gathered more than 300 signatures on a petition seeking structural changes to the HOA. That group, which has hired legal representation, is seeking mediation with HOA attorneys.
Nick Payne, one of the leaders of the group, said the HOA has known about problems with the pool cutting up kids’ feet since last year but has failed to act. On Thursday, parents who are part of the Facebook group posted multiple photos of bloodied feet they say were injured in the pool.
“It’s all part of the problem of the HOA board not listening to homeowners,” said Payne. “And they’ve allowed our amenities like the clubhouse and the pool to become run down.”
‘It’s not safe’
Stephanie Smith understands that problems arise and pools get shut down at times.
“What we’re upset about is that our HOA is not being upfront about the problems and they’re downplaying everything.”
After her family’s first two trips to the pool this summer, all three of her young sons returned with bloody toes, she said. Such complaints were already common in Cedar Creek and she thought: “It is what it is.”
But after a visit to the pool in mid-June, all three boys developed upper respiratory infections. The pattern repeated when her family later met up with friends at the pool: her friend’s two children got sick just days after swimming.
“It seems to be all the same symptoms for all these parents,” she said.
Smith, an ICU nurse, said she has been keeping her children at home this summer refraining from indoor activities outside the home. The pool was their only exception, but she’s now convinced it was what made her kids fall ill.
Like others, she only learned of widespread illnesses after other residents posted their experiences on social media.
“I had no idea that this many kids were getting sick. I definitely wouldn’t have taken my kids there had I known something was circulating in the water,” she said. “It’s not safe.”
