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Donations, community engagement and public safety took center stage during the March 3 Wilde Lake Village Board meeting. With no community members participating in the meeting’s Resident Speakout section, the Board jumped in to discuss spring donation requests from local organizations.
The Board heard donation requests one at a time, holding discussion and a vote after all requests had been presented.
Wilde Lake CARES
Bess Caplan, chair of Wilde Lake CARES, requested $550 from the Board “to purchase plants to give away to people who come and vote in person on Election Day” during the Wilde Lake election. The plants were previously purchased from Howard EcoWorks, which Caplan said they intend to continue. The donation would allow the purchase of native plants that will be given to all in-person voters (while supplies last), as both a “thank you” and “as an attempt to get more native plants into gardens and neighborhoods,” said Caplan.
Wilde Lake High School After Prom
Maggie Elmore, current Wilde Lake PTA president speaking on behalf of the Wilde Lake High School After Prom event, requested approximately $500 from the Board to fund the After Prom event. While she didn’t know the exact figure at the time of presenting to the Board, $500 is on par with last year’s donation request for the same event.
Elmore said River Hill H.S. and Wilde Lake H.S. both have proms scheduled for the same night this spring, and River Hill H.S. reserved space at Main Event for After Prom, the venue Wilde Lake H.S. had previously used. Wilde Lake H.S. identified Sky Zone as their alternate venue. Different from Main Event, Sky Zone does not provide security, meaning the PTA would need to hire their own. They will also have to provide food as that does not come with the venue.
After Prom is open to any junior and senior — they do not have to attend prom in order to attend the After Prom event, which will be held on May 25 from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.
“Usually we have about 200 kids [who attend After Prom],” said Elmore. “When it was at Main Event, it was $25 a ticket. We’re hoping we can make it just a little bit less, like $20 this year to make it a little more accessible. We do, of course, have scholarships for kids who cannot afford it — we’re not going to tell someone they can’t come because of financial issues.”
Elmore said they have not been able to raise a lot of money for the event and though they have money in their budget, they don’t want to use everything “because I have to leave the incoming class with a budget to start with,” she said.
The Village in Howard County
Peter Brunner, representing The Village in Howard County, requested $500 from the Board enlisting paid support to manage volunteer activity.
The Village in Howard County currently has approximately 181 members, according to Brunner, 20 of whom are Wilde Lake residents.
“We are hoping in the years to come to expand dramatically as the number of seniors in the county continues to grow rapidly, and one of the things that we need to be looking at is our ability to coordinate, recruit, vet, and manage our volunteers that provide support services to our members,” said Brunner.
The Village in Howard County is one of a group of about 400 villages nationwide, whose purpose is to enable seniors to remain active in the community while remaining in their own homes for as long as possible.
Brunner estimates the organization currently receives about 8,000 hours of donated community time per year by its members.
“We have reached the point where we do not believe we can properly support and manage that volume of volunteer activity without having some measure of paid support, and so we are approaching all of the CA Villages to elicit funding for support in that respect,” he said.
Village Website Project
Jessamine DuVall, executive director of Columbia Housing Center, requested both funds and feedback from the Board on the Village Website Project proposal.
Columbia Housing Center was founded in 2017, with a mission to champion and sustain “thriving integrated neighborhoods” in and around Columbia.
“We have data indicating that Columbia is trending towards segregation, and we are starting to lose that integration that was such a hallmark of Columbia when it was founded,” said DuVall.
One of the ways to help preserve integration, she said, is through the way people make decisions about where to live in Howard County — particularly in Columbia. That’s where she said the Village Website Project comes into play.
“We’re going to have information about Columbia as a whole, everything from history, how it’s governed, where the covenant is … we want to compile it and make it a one-stop shop for folks,” said DuVall.
The team also intends to create a landing page for each village, in collaboration with the village managers.
“We have the funds to actually build the site. It’s now like … how do we make it better?” said DuVall. While she asked for sponsorship from the Board to maintain and improve the website once it’s operational — with no particular dollar amount given — her main goal is marketing the site and finding neighborhood ambassadors to help it grow.
Donation Allocation Decision
Board Chair Kevin McAliley summarized the Board’s current standings, stating $3,500 had already been allocated for sponsorships and $2,500 had been spent on donations thus. The Board had $1,000 left to spend on donations for the remainder of the fiscal year, with additional donation requests anticipated.
“You guys are very smart in coming ahead because we have every small organization and every nonprofit in town that usually submits something between now and April,” said McAliley.
Regarding the Village Website Project, the Board determined they would discuss partnership with DuVall at a later point since she was not requesting specific funds at this meeting.
The Board then discussed the remaining requests — $550 for Wilde Lake CARES, $550 for After Prom and $500 for The Village in Howard County.
“I particularly resonated with Mr. Brunner’s presentation tonight, just about the work with the Village. I didn’t know about that. And I do think that it’s important that we kind of support our seniors in a substantive way here at the village, said AC Liaison Claudia Allen. “I was particularly moved by that, particularly given their work is specifically around helping seniors to continue to live independently in their homes. And so I do feel like that is a mission that we should support financially.”
Executive Director/Village Manager: Sharon Cooper-Kerr confirmed the Board did not have the funds to grant all requests at the original amounts and should look to determine different amounts to grant.
The Board voted unanimously to grant $250 each to Wilde Lake CARES, Wilde Lake H.S. After Prom and The Village in Howard County.
Columbia Association Update
Robin Stimson, Columbia Association community engagement manager, provided updates on several CA events. The association will hold a book donation drive in March through partnership with Books for Life, collecting gently used books from March 10-24. The book donations will be collected at the three CA gyms, the CA headquarters and the Long Reach Tennis Club.
Stimson also celebrated February’s successful blood drive, stating the drive hit all targets that had been set by their partners, Care First and the American Red Cross.
“This is the second year we’ve done it on Valentine’s Day, which is for us another way to show love to your community by giving blood,” she said.
CA will also be holding a mental health movie event on May 13. The event, hosted at The Columbia Art Center, will show a mental health-related film, followed by a panel discussion “to ask questions and also be connected to resources in the area around mental health.”
Cameras In Community Spaces
Stimson also shared a statement with the Board regarding recent questions on policy for cameras in the community spaces, including what happens to the footage and what CA’s role is in managing those cameras. Stimson read the statement from CA General Counsel, John Kuchno.
“We, CA, do not appear to have a board policy or staff policy regarding access to security camera footage. The only situation where this has arisen is where an alleged crime has been committed and a police investigation ensues,” read Stimson. “We typically require a subpoena for the footage, although we may have shared with police when there is a time-sensitive investigation. We do not share with the public under any circumstances as it could lead to requests for video in connection with a civil lawsuit. In that case, we would not produce without a subpoena.”
Community Forum on Public Safety and Well Being
The Board then transitioned into a community forum section, where several public safety professionals were present to “help address some of the questions that [the community] had regarding security cameras,” said McAliley.
Present to provide information and answer questions were John McDermott, Wilde Lake Village Center Property Manager with Kimco Realty; Howard County Police Officer Eric England; and Community Action Council of Howard County President Tracy Broccolino.
McDermott shared that they currently collaborate with six Howard County police officers, with their main contact being Officer Eric England. The village center has used Securitas for just over a year.
“In the last quarter, we saw a decrease in incidents reported by about 50% [year over year],” said McDermott. “Now, the weather may be helping somewhat because it’s a little bit too cold to be outside.”
Three security cameras are installed at the center. McDermott said their policies align very closely with the CA statement read by Stimson.
“The only people who have access to those cameras are Securitas, which is the company who actually does the installation in Kimco,” said McDermott. No footage is shared with anyone unless we get a subpoena … it is not available online for anybody to look at it.”
He said the cameras have been helpful, including in instances of assaults and hit-and-run incidents where footage has been used “to ensure the safety of our centers, our tenants and everybody who visits them.”
Howard County Police Officer Eric England shared updated data with the Board, stating the department received 68 calls in January from Wilde Lake and 73 calls in February. He said most of those calls come from areas within the Wilde Lake Village Center. The area England described includes CA property, Kimco property, and CVS.
“We also handle a lot of [traffic] accidents in this area, which is the highest call volume.”
England said disorderly conduct is the second most common reason for calls in the areas between the Village Center to around Columbia Road/Brook Way. These include both disorderly conduct and noise complaints.
“As we’re starting to get warmer [weather] … the call volume will start to rise,” said England. “We’re out and about as much as we can, especially during the summer, being present. We try and make our stops through every Village Center at least once a week.”
Tracy Broccolino, President of Community Action Council (CAC) of Howard County, shared a bit of organizational history with the Board and outlined a number of resources for community members. CAC is celebrating its 60th year in Howard County, according to Broccolino.
“We are the county’s designated anti-poverty organization,” she said. “We are here to meet community needs.”
CAC of Howard County has five main services, as described by Broccolino — a housing assistance program, energy assistance, weatherization, SNAP application assistance, and the Howard County Food Bank (in multiple partner pantries).
Broccolino said the CAC also operates five early childhood locations across the county.
“We really encourage people [to reach out] the minute they start to fall behind, don’t wait,” she said. “Some of the challenges that are happening in the neighborhood can be prevented if we were able to address some of the basic needs of the community.”
One of the resources discussed included a food map of pantries in Howard County, including for community members without access to reliable transportation. Neighbor Ride is also available, providing Howard County residents ages 60 and older the option to schedule free rides with trained volunteer drivers.
Upcoming Wilde Lake Events
Thursday, April 3 at 6 p.m. — Candidates Night forum will be held at Slayton House.
Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. — Election day at Slayton House.
The next Wilde Lake Village Board meeting will be held on Monday, April 7 at 6:30 p.m.
This article was written by freelance reporter Sarah Sabatake.
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