Monthly CA A PUBLICATION OF COLUMBIA ASSOCIATION
DEC 2014
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You Spoke, We Listened: Columbia Speaks Brings Community Input Pickleball: Funny-Named Sport is CA’s Latest Offering 2014 Holiday Events Calendar
CA Makes Major Solar Energy Pact
Here Comes the Sun! By Tripp Laino
op on a bike for a spin class, use an elliptical trainer or simply flick a light switch at Columbia Gym or Columbia Athletic Club beginning in 2015, and the energy you use will no longer come from sources that include fossil fuels, but rather from clean, renewable solar power. Columbia Association (CA) has agreed to use solar power generated at Nixon's Farm in West Friendship. The two-megawatt system will provide nearly a quarter of the electricity CA uses annually, which essentially equals moving two of the organization's most energy intensive facilities to a climate-friendly power source. CA does not have to provide the resources for building or maintaining the solar installation, but has committed to buy electricity generated from the system for 20 years. In addition to the generation of power, the agreement includes solar renewable energy credits, which enables a meaningful reduction in CA’s greenhouse gas emissions. “This will result in a 13-percent reduction in CA’s carbon footprint and significantly improve CA’s
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Columbia Association will be installing a similar set of solar panels at an adjacent site at Nixon's Farm in West Friendship.
(See Sun, page 6)
Join the Conversation!
ColumbiaAssociation.org • Facebook.com/ColumbiaAssociation • Instagram.com/ColumbiaAssn • Twitter.com/ColumbiaAssn • YouTube.com/CATVchannel C A M O N T H LY 1
Reginald Avery, Oakland Mills 443-545-6714 Reginald.Avery@ca-board.org
Nancy McCord, Wilde Lake 410-730-2309 Nancy.Mccord@ca- board.org
Michael Cornell, River Hill 410-531-9340 Michael.Cornell@ca-board.org
Tom O’Connor, Dorsey’s Search 410-336-9269 Tom.Oconnor@ca-board.org
Brian Dunn, Kings Contrivance 301-473-0077 Brian.Dunn@ca-board.org
Gregg Schwind, Hickory Ridge 443-831-8847 Gregg.Schwind@ca-board.org
Jeanne Ketley, Town Center 301-596-1097 Jeanne.Ketley@ca-board.org
Andrew Stack, Owen Brown 410-381-8897 Andrew.Stack@ca-board.org
Alan Klein, Harper’s Choice 410-992-3025 Alan.Klein@ca-board.org
Russell Swatek, Long Reach 410-799-1497 Russ.Swatek@ca-board.org
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CA BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2014-2015
Winter Activities for the Whole Family! he latest edition of CA’s seasonal Activities Guide has arrived, and brings with it a new way to get up-to-the-minute information on your favorite CA programs and activities. By visiting ColumbiaAssociation.org/ActivitiesGuide, on your phone, tablet or computer, you can not only have access to the guide wherever you go, but you can also sign up to be notified when new guides are published, and see instantly when any changes have been made. Activities with updated or changed information will be highlighted by the asterisk graphic seen above. Clicking on the graphic will show you the new information. The new design also features video presentations about selected topics, updated with each edition of the guide. The winter edition will highlight the renovations at the Hobbit’s Glen Golf Clubhouse, trends in group fitness classes and personal training tips for stronger abs. As always, the guide also highlights new classes, programs and activities offered by CA. Inside, you’ll also find schedules for your favorite CA locations, like pools, tennis courts and the skating rink, as well as a full listing of all offered classes and programs.
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You Spoke, CA Listened n mid-October, Columbia Association (CA) hosted “Columbia Speaks, CA Listens” at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center. Nearly 100 people participated in this interactive meeting and provided their ideas on CA’s programs and services; governance structure; and communications and community engagement efforts. In addition to these three topic areas, participants were encouraged to pose questions and comments on other topics via handwritten note cards. CA President Milton Matthews and board member Nancy McCord welcomed the participants and stressed how much they valued their input. During the meeting, Matthews also answered questions and committed to responding to each and every one question raised during the event. The participants discussed their
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PHOTO BY KEITHAN SAMUELS
About 100 residents attended “Columbia Speaks, CA Listens,” held in mid-October at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center. Participants discussed ways CA could better serve the community.
issues and ideas in small groups while note takers at each table documented the discussions. These discussions were facilitated by volunteers from Howard Community College’s Mediation
and Conflict Resolution Center. Overall, the meeting was well-received based on comments made at the event and via the evaluation form responses. The evaluation asked participants to rate
their level of satisfaction with the meeting. Of the people who responded to this question, 82 percent rated their satisfaction as high or very high with 13 percent indicating medium satisfaction. Only three people (5 percent) indicated a low level of satisfaction. No one scored their satisfaction as very low. Following the meeting, CA encouraged community members to submit additional ideas and kept that option open through mid-November. All information provided at the event, along with these additional comments, will be compiled and made available in a summary report posted on CA’s Columbia Speaks website — ColumbiaAssociation.org/ ColumbiaSpeaks — in December, including the response to all questions. Follow up discussion and potential action to address ideas and challenges raised will be considered in the New Year.
And the conversation will continue…
PHOTO BY KEITHAN SAMUELS
Information from “Columbia Speaks, CA Listens” will be available in a report posted on CA’s website ColumbiaAssociation.org/ColumbiaSpeaks in December.
While the rich cache of hundreds of ideas are being compiled from “Columbia Speaks, CA Listens,” here are a few of your comments about changes you’d like to see regarding governance, CA programs, services, facilities and communication methods: • The ability to purchase services, classes, and various fitness memberships (Package Plan, etc.) completely online via CA’s website. • Re-examine village and board elections.
Lack of voter participation is a major issue. • It would be great to offer residents new to the city a welcome packet that not only describes CA and how it works, but also includes budget info and summaries of places to go. • Drop-in exercise classes that are more accessible for working parents. Evenings, later in the day on Saturdays, ones that don’t conflict with Sunday morning religious services.
C A M O N T H LY 3
Pickleball Silly Name, P Exciting New Game
By Tripp Laino
ickleball is a game with a funny name, but it’s a sport rising in popularity in pockets nationwide that has now reached Columbia Association’s (CA) courts. Brine-haters rejoice; it has nothing to do with cucumbers. Pickleball mixes elements of badminton, tennis and ping pong, according to Anish Manrai, CA’s general manager of tennis. The unusual name for the game comes from the creator’s dog, Pickles, who used to chase down the errant balls and retrieve them. Pickleball requires far less running than tennis due to its smaller 44-foot-by-20-foot court (a tennis court is 78 feet by 36 feet). The game moves swiftly thanks to quick volleys between players. Most drop-in games are played as doubles, further cutting the court size down for easy maneuvering. CA provides rackets and balls for play; the rackets are about twice the size of a ping pong paddle, and the ball is about the size of a tennis ball, but looks more like a wiffle ball.
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The change in size makes things a bit interesting for tennis players, Manrai said. “If you’re a tennis player, it takes getting used to,” Manrai said. “You’re playing with a much smaller-sized racket and the wiffle ball gets affected by the air. It bounces lower, a little bit funnier.” CA launched the game with a social event in July, and since then has hosted weekly drop-in times for the game at facilities. Now “I was pickling that the weather’s colder, the game is cucumbers and available at the was on the internet Owen Brown looking for recipes, Tennis Club, 7150 and I tripped over Cradlerock Way, on pickleball, and Wednesdays from I thought ‘That’s 1pm to 3pm. Drop-in time for me.’” is $3 for members, Sylvia Bell, Pickleball player $5 for Columbia Cardholders and $6 for non-members. Manrai said he’s hoping to start offering leagues and lessons, but for now the drop-in time is helping keep players busy. Manrai assured me that anyone can pick up a racket and get into a game of pickleball, so I decided to take up his challenge, despite my complete lack of tennis skills and having never played the game before. Frankly, I hadn’t picked up a racket of any sort (unless a flyswatter counts), since a brief flurry of racquetball with friends in college years ago. I quickly found out Manrai was right —
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Consuelo Stewart returns a shot from Sylvia Bell, who has been playing the game since September. Bell says she enjoy’s pickleball’s lower impact on her joints and the camaraderie of fellow players.
pickleball is simple, easy to learn and a whole lot of fun. Within just a few minutes of learning the ropes from fellow players Consuelo Stewart and Sylvia Bell, I was zipping around the court, enjoying the unique thwock of the wiffle ball bouncing off the thick paddle. An hour later, I was a full-fledged pickleball convert, playing rapid back-and-forth rallies with an ear-to-ear grin. Stewart has been playing the game since August and said she started attending CA
drop-in times after researching the game online. She said she had very little experience with other racquet sports, having played racquetball when she was younger, but that she enjoyed pickleball’s easy entry for new players. Bell, who has been playing the game since September, found pickleball completely by accident. “I was pickling cucumbers and was on the internet looking for recipes, and I tripped over
pickleball, and I thought ‘That’s for me,’ ” she said, laughing. She said she hadn’t played tennis in about 10 years but enjoys pickleball’s lower impact on her joints and the camaraderie of her fellow players. “Play once and you’ll be hooked,” she said.
To see Pickleball in action, visit CA’s YouTube page at bit.ly/CAPickleball C A M O N T H LY 5
CA PHONE NUMBERS CA Headquarters................410-715-3000 CA Membership Service Center ...................410-730-1801 Aquatics Office...................410-312-6332 Columbia Art Center..........410-730-0075 Columbia Athletic Club .....410-730-6744 Columbia Association Camps ................................410-715-3165 Columbia Gym ...................410-531-0800 Columbia Horse Center.....301-776-5850 Columbia Ice Rink .............410-730-0322 Columbia SportsPark/ SkatePark...........................410-715-3054 Columbia Swim Center .....410-730-7000 Columbia Teen Center.......410-992-3726 Fairway Hills Golf Club .....410-730-1112 Hobbit’s Glen Golf Club.....410-730-5980
CA makes green updates in 2014 ver the last year, CA worked aggressively — its second year as an ENERGY STAR® Partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — to implement energy efficient upgrades in numerous facilities, resulting in lower utility costs, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and improved sustainability. Efforts included: • Replacement of nearly 200 exterior light fixtures with high-efficiency LED alternatives at several locations, reducing energy consumption by more than 50 percent and saving more than $30,000 annually. • Installing high-efficiency fluorescent fixtures at the Columbia Gym and Columbia Swim Center pools. • Installation of high-efficiency condensing boilers at the Columbia Swim Center, Columbia Gym and Columbia Athletic Club. • Installing ENERGY STAR® HVAC equipment for the new Hobbits Glen Golf Clubhouse. CA also worked with Baltimore Gas and Electric to promote various ENERGY STAR® products and programs available to help Columbia residents and businesses be
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Jeremy Scharfenberg, CA’s energy manager, stands amid a sea of solar panels on Nixon’s Farm. CA’s array of panels will be installed later this year.
more sustainable. CA strongly encourages all community members to explore these resources and take steps to reduce energy consumption, fight climate change, and save money.
Inclement Weather Hotline................................410-715-3154 Indoor Tennis, Columbia Athletic Club ......410-720-0149
Sun (continued from page 1)
Owen Brown Tennis Bubble ................................410-381-7255 Supreme Sports Club ........410-381-5355 The Racquet Club at Hobbit’s Glen .................410-715-3080 Wilde Lake Tennis Club ...410-730-3767
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operational sustainability,” said Jeremy Scharfenberg, Columbia Association’s energy manager. “For an organization as large as CA, getting nearly a quarter of its electricity supply from solar is a great achievement.” It’s the most significant of recent efforts CA has made to utilize renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Scharfenberg said. Those projects include solar panel installations at Amherst House and River Hill Pool, as well as a solar hot water system at
Swansfield Neighborhood Center. “CA is excited to be taking this important step toward clean energy to protect the environment and help reduce the threat of climate change,” he said. “Through this effort CA is also contributing to Maryland’s renewable energy goal of 20 percent of total generation by 2022 and supporting the ‘clean tech’ economy through jobs and hardware to build and maintain the solar installation.” Find a video tour of CA’s soon-to-be built solar farm, visit our YouTube page at youtube.com/user/CATVChannel
Haven on the Lake Slated to Open on December 15 By Tripp Laino
aven on the Lake, Columbia Association’s (CA) new mind body wellness retreat, is slated to open Dec. 15, perfect for helping alleviate the stresses of the holiday season. The facility features healing environments, wellness spa services, and a variety of mind body movement classes. “Haven on the Lake is a wonderful addition to downtown Columbia,” said Rob Goldman, acting general manager of Haven on the Lake and CA vice president and manager of special projects. “We’re excited to bring people in and show off this beautiful retreat.” CA is partnering with The Still Point Spa, founded by Marla Peoples and Tori Paide, to provide wellness spa services to the community. The spa will have 10 treatment rooms and offer services including acupuncture, Reiki, massage therapy, holistic skin care, naturopathic medicine and nutrition counseling, among others. The wellness spa will open Saturday, Dec. 6, with the healing environments and mind body
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movement classes opening the following week on Dec. 15. Unlimited use of the healing environments, which includes a movement and relaxation pool, a hot tub with a waterfall overlooking Lake Kittamaqundi, a crystal salt therapy room, steam room, cold plunge and tropical shower, costs as little as $10 per month per person for CA Package Plan Plus members. In addition to the healing environments, Haven on the Lake has three mind body movement studios — Energy, Flow and Vitality — each designed specifically for certain practices and offering classes in a variety of disciplines. Though Haven on the Lake is for adults aged 18 and older, there is also a KidSpace for children at the retreat. Haven’s hours will be from 6am to 10pm Monday through Friday, and from 7am to 7pm on Saturday and Sunday. A number of packages for use of the healing environments, classes and spa treatments, with a wide range of prices are available, as well as a la carte availability. For more information, visit HavenOnTheLake.org or call 443-864-0557.
CA
Board Recap
t the Columbia Association (CA) Board of Directors meeting held Nov. 13, the CA Board approved resolutions for CA to open a brokerage account with Fidelity Investments and to have CA’s advisory committees present their committee charges every other year instead of annually. The Board also heard a recommendation from the ERC that the Board invite Howard County School Superintendent Renee Foose to an open CA work session to discuss ways to further partner with the school system. The next scheduled Board of Directors meeting is Dec. 11. There is only one CA Board meeting scheduled for December. Meetings typically begin at 7:30pm and are held at CA Headquarters, 10221 Wincopin Circle. For current CA Board of Directors meeting minutes and agendas, visit ColumbiaAssociation.org/Agendas. Podcasts from board meetings are available at ColumbiaAssociation.org/Podcasts.
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CA Pays Off Bonds s of Dec. 1, Columbia Association (CA) achieved a significant milestone by paying off the last Senior Secured Bonds issued between 1973 and 2001. A total of $133 million was raised during that time from the bonds – money that was the main source for the building up of Columbia Association and CA’s physical amenities. CA created Columbia’s amenities in advance of what was long a developing community. Issuing bonds allowed for these amenities to be built for those moving to and living in Columbia, creating the high quality of life that has become the hallmark of this area. With the bond debt paid off, CA was able to take out a 15-year bank loan at a low interest rate of 3.63 percent, locking in this rate before it can rise. CA also has a line of credit of $25 million to access on an as-needed basis at a variable interest rate. These will help pay for CA’s capital projects, which are also funded by income from operations and the annual charge.
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C A M O N T H LY 7
December Community Events Breakfast with Santa
Breakfast with Santa
Sat. Dec. 6 • 9-11am Claret Hall • 410-531-1749 Tickets are $5 for River Hill residents, $7 for all others. Get tickets at Claret Hall. No reservations are accepted over the phone.
Sat. Dec. 13 • Two seatings for breakfast 9am and 9:45am The Other Barn • 410-730-4610
Breakfast & More with Santa Sat. Dec. 6 • Breakfast at 9am or lunch at 11:30am Slayton House • 410-730-3987
Ladies Night Sat. Dec. 6 • 6-9pm Supreme Sports Club, KidSpace Melissa.capo@Columbia Association.org • Eat, drink and shop! Exclusive access to special offers, giveaways and holiday spirits. Enjoy more than 25 vendors, pampering sessions and a chance to win a fabulous gift!
Lunch with Santa Sat. Dec. 13 • 11:30am-1pm Amherst House • 410-381-9600 Tickets are $5 for residents living on Columbia assessed property; $5.50 for all others.
Snacks with Santa Sat. Dec. 13 • 12-1:30pm 6800 Cradlerock Way 410-381-0202 • You must pre-register to attend this event. Please bring a canned food donation.
Town Center Holiday Party with Volunteer Recognition Sun. Dec. 14 • 6-7:30 pm Historic Oakland • 5430 Vantage Point Road • 410-730-4744 Town Center residents only. Free.
Nutcracker Sun. Dec. 7 • 3pm Stonehouse • 410-730-8113
Holiday Tea at Historic Oakland Sunday, Dec. 7 • 3:30-5 pm 5430 Vantage Point Road 410-730-4744 • $28 plus tax per person. Reservations required.
Breakfast with Santa Sat. Dec. 13 • 9:30-11am Supreme Sports Club, KidSpace 410-381-7559 • Santa is coming to town! Enjoy continental breakfast, holiday stories, crafts, and festive holiday music! Each child can have their photo taken with Santa.
Movie Night: “Elf” Fri. Dec. 12 7-9pm The Hawthorn Center 410-730-7327• Advance ticket purchase required. $5 per person.
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Pizza with Santa Fri. Dec. 19 • 6 pm Linden Hall • Lien-$4 per person, non-lien $5 per person. Magic show and balloon art. Ages 2+.
Pizza with Santa Sat. Dec. 20 • 11am Kahler Hall • 410-730-0770 Please bring one non-perishable food item per ticket: Items are given to the Howard County Food Bank.
Cookies with Santa Sat. Dec. 20 • 2-3:30pm Amherst House • 410-381-9600 Tickets are $3.50 for residents living on Columbia assessed property; $4 for all others.
Visit ColumbiaAssociation.org/Events to learn about more great events happening in Columbia!
Jazz in the Mills Presents Holiday Extravaganza featuring Davey Yarborough and Esther Williams Sun. Dec. 7 • 5-8pm The Other Barn • 410-730-4610