Recap of CA’s Virtual Town Hall
We want to thank everyone who tuned in to our Virtual Town Hall on January 21 and look forward to more conversations and engagement in the future. In total, we had about 100 people join us for the Zoom event and dozens more who watched the live stream on our YouTube channel.
What was covered and why
We know not everyone who wanted to log on for the event were able to attend, so here’s a summary of what was covered.
Our community about 60 questions for our consideration. Below is a word cloud of those questions, which gives you an idea of the topics that were mentioned most.
CA’s senior staff took all of the questions and based their presentations on the interest of the public. That broke down into the following topics:
- FY 2022 draft budget overview
- Sports & Fitness (including the proposed plan for outdoor pools)
- Open Space and pathways
- Recommendations for Community Services
CA President and CEO Milton W. Matthews offered his remarks, as well as leadership from the Human Resources department and Planning and Community Affairs division.
How to watch the Virtual Town Hall
The Virtual Town Hall event was live streamed on YouTube, which allows anyone to watch it back whenever they’d like to. Click here to go directly to that video or press play on the embedded video below. We have also set up a playlist comprised of each individual presentation.
If you’re interested in tuning into a particular section of the meeting, you can follow this guide for the appropriate time codes:
- 6:30 – Introductory video featuring CA team members and CA Board of Directors Chair Andy Stack
- 12:00 – Communications and Media Relations Manager Dannika Rynes explains the format of the meeting
- 14:28 – President and CEO Milton W. Matthews gives his opening remarks
- 19:37 – Rynes responds to COVID-19 vaccine question
- 21:02 – CFO Susan Krabbe’s presentation on the FY 2022 draft budget
- 21:39 – Financial health of CA
- 23:02 – Timeline of COVID-19’s impact on CA
- 25:29 – FY 2022 proposed budget
- 32:41 – Financial side of Sports & Fitness
- 36:19 – Beyond FY 2022 forecasts
- 37:50 – Statement by HR Director Monica McMellon-Ajayi
- 40:30 – Sports & Fitness Director Dan Burns’ presentation
- 42:04 – COVID-19 protocols at fitness facilities
- 55:32 – The recommendation to close Haven on the Lake
- 58:26 – The proposed plan for outdoor pools this summer
- 1:08:39 – Comments from Planning and Community Affairs Director Kristin Russell
- 1:11:46 – Open Space & Facilities Services Director Dennis Mattey’s presentation
- 1:12:15 – Overview of Open Space, work completed during the pandemic
- 1:16:07 – Answering questions about pathways
- 1:18:52 – Answering questions about facilities maintenance
- 1:19:50 – Review of priorities on preserving Open Space
- 1:22:19 – Rynes answers question about schools reopening
- 1:23:55 – Community Services Director Michelle Miller’s presentation
- 1:30:48 – Further ways to communicate with CA and get involved
- 1:36:41 – Final words from Matthews
While we encourage you to listen to the speakers along with the slides (which provides important context), we have made the individual presentations available as well. Click on the links below to access those PDF files.
2021 Virtual Town Hall – FY 2022 Budget Presentation
2021 Virtual Town Hall – Sport & Fitness Presentation
2021 Virtual Town Hall – Open Space Presentation
2021 Virtual Town Hall – Community Services Presentation
How to stay involved and in touch
We invite anyone with a question or comment about CA to reach out and share that input. That involvement can happen in a number of ways, including:
- Call or email our Customer and Member Services department
- Phone number: 410-715-3000
- Email: CMSC@ColumbiaAssociation.org
- Follow CA on social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), send us a message or comment on those pages
- Sign up for CA newsletters
CA also has a Board of Directors, which provides strategic guidance for the organization. That Board is made up of one elected representative from each of the ten villages in the Columbia community.
Right now, that Board is discussing the FY 2022 draft budget that was presented by staff (some of which was referred to during the Virtual Town Hall). You can click here to review the detailed financial document on CA’s financials page. CA has also provided a more comprehensive overview of that budget proposal in the blog section of our website. There’s a separate article outlining the recommendation on neighborhood pools for the upcoming fiscal year.
You can get involved with any Board of Directors matters by:
- Participating in Resident Speakout during any Board of Directors’ meeting or work session
- Sending a message to the Board of Directors (Make sure to include your village so your representative can respond!)
- Reviewing meeting agendas and minutes
- Subscribing to our CA Live Stream YouTube page to watch virtual meetings live