By Linda Taaffe

The media is off-limits to individual members of the Rosita Pool task force. Members agreed during their first public meeting Friday to follow voluntary guidelines to keep pool discussions in their meetings and not in the media.

The eight-member citizen group that includes neighbors, school representatives, pool proponents and city officials is scheduled to meet Fridays for the next five weeks to review various options for the swim center planned at Rosita Park. The task force is scheduled to make a recommendation to the Los Altos City Council Sept. 27.

The pool complex had been tied up in a legal battle since 2003 when neighbors sued the city over unresolved traffic and noise concerns identified in environmental studies related to the project.

The judge determined that the city had complied with the court’s request to conduct further environmental studies on the project and gave the final OK to move forward with the center Aug. 16.

The first item on the task force’s agenda was to establish ground rules.

Councilman John Moss, a member of the task force, said the media is welcome to attend and report on meetings. Members, however, decided not to speak individually to the media “in order to avoid misunderstandings.”

Mayor David Casas formed the task force earlier this year to enable more public input on the project. Members are charged with providing the council a framework for the scope and use of a pool center. The city may build as many as three pools or as little as nothing at the site.

The council was scheduled to hold a special meeting Tuesday to give the task force direction. The next task force meeting is 7 a.m. in the Los Altos School District Board Room at Covington School.