July 01, 2007|By Sandy Alexander | Sandy Alexander,sun reporter
The Columbia Association board of directors gave its approval last week to buy new dehumidifying equipment for the Supreme Sports Club in Owen Brown and to swap land with the county school system to make room for a new parking lot at Running Brook Elementary School.
At its monthly meeting Thursday night, the board also agreed to release more detailed information about compensation for Columbia Association officers in response to a nearly five-month campaign by the watchdog group Alliance for a Better Columbia.
The Alliance's president, Alex Hekimian, said that his group e-mailed a request to the association in February for a breakdown of salary, bonuses and other compensation for the president, vice presidents, secretary and treasurer.
The request was denied, leading the group to request a vote by the board of directors.
On Thursday night, Hekimian urged the board to provide the information as a way of showing it is serious about promises by its members to make the association more open.
He also said that when Columbia property owners pay a mandatory lien to the association "they deserve to know how their money is being spent," an opinion he said was echoed in a letter by Robert Zarnoch, a Maryland assistant attorney general.
During discussion, several board members agreed that compensation information for officers was generally provided by other associations.
As long as the request targeted officers and not other staff members, most agreed that the request should be honored. A motion to release the information was approved, 9-1, with Philip W. Kirsch of Wilde Lake voting no.
The board was unanimous in its approval of a plan, developed after a couple of years of discussion between association staff members and the Howard County school system, to give the schools a piece of association open space adjacent to Running Brook Elementary School for a new parking lot.
In return, the school system will give the association land close to the Running Brook pool that is about 300 square feet larger than the tract the association is giving up. The school system has also offered to landscape along the fence line at the pool.
The elementary school has 63 parking spaces and more than 100 faculty and staff members, leading to significant problems with on-street parking near the school.
Kirsch said the Wilde Lake Village Board was in favor of the plan, and residents there were eager to reduce safety problems caused by the parking overflow.
Association President Maggie J. Brown said, "We certainly had them advance a number of scenarios until we came to one I wholeheartedly recommend."
The board's approval opens the way to further negotiations between the Columbia Association and the school system and the creation of a license agreement.
A motion also passed unanimously to approve $230,000 that was not previously budgeted this year for a new heat recovery and dehumidification system at the Supreme Sports Club Pool.
Association staff members intended to request the money to replace the unit in fiscal 2009, but the organization is faced with a $50,000 repair because the system has been operating at 50 percent capacity.
Association staff members asked to replace the 16-year-old unit now to avoid paying to repair the old one and so the new system will be in place to help heat the pool during cold weather.
The next board meeting is at 7:30 p.m. July 26.
sandy.alexander@baltsun.com
