Members of the Columbia Association’s Board of Directors got an earful on the topic of gym towels last week at a public hearing on the association’s proposed budget.

Association leaders have proposed eliminating towel service at CA’s three gyms beginning Nov. 1 as a money-saving measure. Officials say it would save about $391,000 in the first year, and a total of $5 million over 10 years, while cutting down on the amount of chemicals CA contributes to wastewater by laundering the towels.

Several gym patrons, however, told the board that the change is unacceptable and that members consider it part of the dues they pay to attend the fitness facilities.

“I’m not here asking for money, I want my towel back,” Joel Prescott, a Long Reach resident and gym member for 25 years told board members at the Jan. 27 hearing. “I’ve never heard of anything so absurd.

“How did this get on the budget before the citizens were asked about it? ... If this is the type of thinking at CA, then I’m sorely disappointed.”

A few residents told board members that gym patrons will begin to look for memberships at other clubs if they lose what they consider to be an important service at the CA gyms.
Thirteen of the 33 speakers at the hearing addressed the towel issue, with nine saying they either outright opposed eliminating the service or had major concerns with it. A few said it would be OK.

Carlton Haywood, an Oakland Mills resident who spoke on behalf of CA’s Sports and Fitness resident advisory committee and Aquatics advisory committee, said the sport committee supports eliminating the towel service for cost savings and environmental reasons, while the aquatics committee members came to an even split on the issue.

“I, personally, don’t feel it’s that great a burden for me to carry my own towel,” Haywood said. “When I heard the cost numbers, frankly, I was shocked.”

Two-year budget

Columbia Association, the nonprofit that owns and operates Columbia’s recreational facilities, is funded through user fees and an annual tax-like lien on property within the community.

The proposed spending plan for fiscal 2011 and 2012 maintains the current annual charge rate of 68 cents per $100 of assessed property value, as well as a 2.5 percent cap on the property fee over the next two years.

The budget calls for $59.3 million in expenditures in fiscal 2011, which begins May 1, and $61 million in fiscal 2012. For capital projects, the organization plans to spend $10.5 million in fiscal 2011 and $9.9 million in fiscal 2012.

At last week’s hearing, residents also testified about CA’s watershed management plans, its plan to create a Community Development Service Bureau to assist villages with master planning, and potential future uses for the community’s tot lots that are slated to be removed.

Several residents told the board that planning and carrying out watershed improvement projects in Columbia will require a highly specialized, full-time employee.

In an interview after the meeting, CA Board Chairman Philip Kirsch, of Wilde Lake, said he probably would support funding a full-time position, although he believes it would be hard to find
someone fitting the job description, which would likely require expertise in engineering, grant writing and community education campaigns.

‘Expert guidance’ wanted

Several speakers, particularly those representing Columbia village associations, applauded CA President Phillip Nelson’s initiative to create a Community Service Bureau, tasked with overseeing revitalization projects through the work of an urban planner and outside consultants.
 
The new bureau was proposed in response to requests for more support from leaders in Columbia’s 10 villages.
 
“The villages need expert guidance to help us develop our community plans. We’re not retail experts,” said Karen Hitcho, chairwoman of the Long Reach Village Board.
A few speakers also commented on the fate of 35 of the community’s 171 tot lots, slated to be closed over the next decade because of underuse.

Long Reach resident Sharonlee Vogel said she’d like to see defunct tot lots converted into dog parks, while River Hill Village Board representative Frank Saletel said his group would like to see the open space created converted to serve more mature populations, with such things as exercise stations, Frisbee areas, running markers, vegetation ID markers and benches.

The board is slated to vote on its budget Feb. 24.

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