After months of debate, the Columbia Association Board of Directors has approved its new six membership packages and pricing structures, while resolving a push from seniors to incorporate a pool-only membership.
Discussions to bundle current Columbia Association memberships began in early April in an effort to simplify fitness and recreation choices for new and existing members. However, the plan outraged many senior residents who disagreed with having to pay for several amenities in order to use one particular facility.
The board's vote at its May 26 meeting was unanimous in approving the new memberships and pricing as well as adding the senior swim option, according to Board Chairman Andy Stack.
"The board decided to sell a pack of 10 pool passes to seniors – those over 65 – and they can use the one pass to get into the pool one day; either the athletic club pool or the Columbia Gym pool," Stack said.
The senior pool pass is separate from the six memberships, and requires seniors to purchase the recreation membership, Stack said, which includes outdoor pools, the swim center, the ice rink, indoor and outdoor tennis, the skate park and the sports park.
"Then, they would be eligible to purchase a pack of 10 passes to use the other pools," Stack said. "We're charging $20 for the 10 passes."
Although the transition to the new membership model is in its earliest phase, Columbia Association Marketing and Communications Director Norma Heim said that current members will be matched with a new membership that best aligns with their current package with no additional cost until their membership renewal.
"In virtually every case, they're going to be getting more than they currently get," Heim said. "Whenever their membership comes up for renewal, they can choose to either continue in the membership they transition to or they can change to one of the other ones, if they prefer."
The six memberships, which take effect in May 2017, include fitness, recreation, AquaFit, weekday GolfRec, seven-day golf and GolfFit packages.
Certain memberships will replace others. For example, the new AquaFit membership — priced between $85 and $164 depending on whether members are existing members or new, residents or nonresidents — will replace the current Package Plan Plus membership that costs from $68 to $160.
Other packages will include additional amenities, such as the GolfRec membership, which includes five-day golf memberships as well as the Recreation membership.
"We did adopt a pricing structure recommended by management, which pretty much keeps prices similar to what they are currently," Stack said. "The new AquaFit membership, which is more like the current package plan plus, is going to be higher than they're currently paying. We actually decided to phase in the price for [residents] over a five-year period, so they're not hit with one big jump."
Pricing for facility memberships and package plans vary based on membership types, number of people on the membership, income qualification and whether they live on Columbia Association-assessed property.
According to notes from the board's work session on April 28, pricing for certain memberships will feature roughly a 2 percent increase.
"The pricing structure is revenue neutral, which means we intend to raise the same amount of money under the new system as we would have under the old system in FY18," Stack said. "We're not expecting any large increases."
The board also hopes to move toward a monthly membership process to accommodate members who only use the facilities during a certain time of the year.
"That seems to be what the market wants because it gives people more flexibility," Stack said. "We're going to monitor all of this and look at how memberships work. We'll need time to convert all the existing members to the new memberships."
Heim said community outreach to inform residents will begin in August and continue through the transition in May 2017.