By GEOFF PENDER - glpender@sunherald.com
JACKSON -- A grieving mother hopes something positive can come from her family’s tragedy -- improved, statewide regulations for fencing and gates around public and quasi-public swimming pools to prevent children drowning.
“I never want anyone to feel the way I feel,” Lea Montjoy said. “I can’t have my son back, but anything we can do ....”
William Lee Montjoy, 3, of Diamondhead drowned Sept. 25, 2010, at the Pass Christian Yacht Club pool. Authorities said he wandered away from a group of children that afternoon and fell into the pool. That same weekend, another toddler in Jackson County awoke before his parents, got outside and drowned in a pool at the house. Drowning is the second-leading cause of deaths for children in the U.S., on average 1,000 a year.
SUBMITTED PHOTO William Lee Montjoy, 3, drowned Sept. 25, 2010. A pool-safety bill pending in the Mississippi Legislature is titled the William Lee Montjoy Pool Safety Act.
Mississippi House Bill 1281, the William Lee Montjoy Pool Safety Act, authored by Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, would require private clubs, apartment or townhome complexes and homeowners associations to have specific types of fencing around their pools and gates that automatically swing shut and latch. It would not apply to homeowners. It’s modeled after Texas law, and Florida and other states have similar regulations.
The bill passed the House overwhelmingly, then after some changes last week it passed the Senate unanimously. It’s back before the House, which could concur and send it to the governor or call for more work on differences with the Senate.
“I’ve had experience with losing a child,” said Baria, who praised the Montjoy family and friends’ efforts pushing for the legislation. “I know how difficult it is to deal with and how one thing you keep asking is is there something I can do to prevent this from happening to someone else. There is something we can do here.”
Senate changes to the bill include grandfathering of some fences and enclosures and giving those falling under the regulations until the beginning of next year to comply. Sens. Sean Tindell, R-Gulfport, and Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, pushed the bill in the Senate and said some concessions were required for its passage, and that some Senate changes helped strengthen the bill. Baria said he’s still reviewing the Senate changes but is optimistic a strong law will be passed.
Tindell said one key factor was unaltered: pool enclosures will have to have self-closing and latching gates.
“I’ve got a 4-year-old,” Tindell told his fellow senators as he lobbied for the bill. “Last summer, he fell in the pool at my house. It happened so quickly. I didn’t even hear it. I just turned around. It can happen so quick.”
Some lawmakers questioned whether the bill is an “unfunded mandate” to pool owners, but the measure has had overwhelming, bipartisan support, and Tindell said most pools open to the public, tenants or club members already have enclosures that easily can be brought into compliance.
Some areas in Mississippi have building codes that require pool enclosures and other safety measures, and many insurance companies demand such safety features before they’ll cover an organization’s pool. Lawmakers said the Montjoy Act would allow any stricter codes to stay in force but would set a statewide minimum.
“I agree we don’t want an unfunded mandate, but the main purpose of this bill is child safety, and we need to keep the focus on that,” said Sen. Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland.
Lea Montjoy said her family has had an outpouring of community support, with friends starting a “Swing, Latch, Lock” pool safety campaign to put signs on pool gates, a Facebook page and and the William Lee Montjoy Children’s Education Fund through the Gulf Coast Community foundation. She’s also heard from people across the state who’ve noticed pools that don’t have adequate fencing or gates.
“I hope something positive comes,” Montjoy said. “My main goal is to prevent somebody else from feeling like me.”
Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/04/15/3883849/familys-tragedy-prompts-pool-safety.html#storylink=cpy
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