2018 Columbia Association Budget Public Hearing Summary and Other News
The article will be published in the River Hill “The Villager”, 2018 February Issue.
Columbia Association News
The Columbia Association’s (CA) board of directors has been discussing the 2019-2020 budget for several months and held a budget public forum on January 18.
During the public forum, the CA board heard the following testimonies:
- One village association asked for specific facility upgrades and funding for special programs. They also expressed dissatisfaction with the assessment share and contingency fund decisions made by the CA board earlier in the budget process.
- Several organizations asked for continued support of the Columbia Council of Arts and the Columbia Downtown Partnership.
- The Howard County Pickleball Association asked for support of pickleball activities by sharing courts with tennis court or building a dedicated indoor pickleball court.
- The CA Aquatics Advisory Committee requested a new 25-yard indoor swimming pool. In 2017, CA and Howard County conducted a joint study for 50-meter pool and could not find an appropriate location.
- Several people and organizations, either supported or opposed CA giving more than $500,000 to Inner Arbor Trust for pathway construction in Symphony Woods. A playground in Symphony Woods was also discussed. For information purposes, a 1-acre playground costs around one million dollars.
The CA board is expected to vote on the budget at the February 22 board meeting. The board would still like to hear your input. Send your comments to: Board.Members@ColumbiaAssociation.org.
River Hill News
Dalia Shlash, the River Hill board’s open space liaison, held a community meeting on January 18 to discuss site selection and upgrades for two tot lots in River Hill. Based on feedback from residents and CA, the Indian Summer Drive tot lot (RH25) and the River Run tot lot (RH4) are the locations that the association will likely recommend to CA for upgrades. The Association did hear from residents requesting upgrades to the South Wind Circle tot lot (RH22). The Association will consider requesting upgrades to this tot lot in a future phase.
The River Hill community association continues to actively share its views on the River Hill Square and Erickson Senior Living developments near the village.
Chao Wu, Ph.D.
River Hill Representative to Columbia Council and Columbia Association Board of Directors
Email: superbwu@gmail.com Website: http://www.chaowu.org
Disclaimer: This letter only represents Dr. Chao Wu’s personal opinion. It does not represent River Hill Board of Directors nor Columbia Association’s Board.
