Newsletter

Issue No 1: August 2024 Editor: Editor: Zia Choudhury

 

Contents:

1.    Editor’s Note

2.    Board of Directors- Assignments

3.    Meet the Board of Directors

4.    Construction Project: Update

 

 

 

 

Editor’s Note

We are pleased to restart PSC Newsletter that was suspended with advent of the Pandemic. The last Newsletter was issued in October 2018 with Tom Cutler as the Editor. We plan to issue the Newsletter quarterly to communicate with our members on club activities, projects, and tournaments.

In this issue we are informing members about a major club project that is already underway. Background and details of the project are in page 6 that have been prepared by Basil Herzstein, Project Manager. Members wishing to know more about the Project can contact Basil or Tim.

We would also like to inform our members about two major events affecting the club this year. In March, Charlie Gunn, who had been a member of the club since its inception and had made enormous contributions to the club, passed away. The club dedicated PSC Building posthumously in his name in April, although the dedication was planned before his passing away. We plan to have a narrative on Charlie and his services to the club in the next issue of the Newsletter. Professional Squash Association (PSA) is planning to hold a Charlie Gunn Memorial Ladies Tournament November 6-12 in PSC. Details on the tournament will be provided in the next issue of the Newsletter.

This issue contains information on the current Board of Members and their assignments. Members may contact any one of them on matters pertaining to their areas of responsibility.

Please contact me (choudhuryziauddin@gmail.com) on topics and issues that you would like to be covered in the upcoming issues of the Newsletter.

 

 

 

 

Board of Directors: Assignments

 

Tim Bartol : President, Squash Works, Key Card Systems

Keith Hartman: Treasurer, Finance and Budget

Zia Choudhury: Secretary, Newsletter

Tom Friedman: Building, Equipment, Grounds

Basil Herzstein:  Projects

Karl-Erik McCullough: Squash programs, Tournaments

Priti Prabhu: Membership recruitment, orientation, ladies clinics

Syed Ali: Social engagements

Ted Sabine: Lockers

Executive Committee: Tim Bartol, Keith Hartman, Tom Friedman

 

Unassigned: Main website management

 

Note: in several cases (SquashWorks, Building, Projects, Social) other board and regular PSC  members have agreed to serve in support roles.

 

Meet PSC Board of Directors

 

Syed Ali

Syed joined the club in 2004.  Before joining PSC he had never played squash except for a handful of times on an American court in what used to be Braddock Recreation Center in VA.  Syed states that he learned to play squash right here at PSC. He is a fan of NY Jets , Coen brother movies and Pink Floyd.  Syed is in charge of social engagements at the club including new member orientation.

Tim Bartol

Tim is the current President of PDC. He has been playing squash since he was in the 7th grade – or around 58 years. He considered himself a bumbler – but an enthusiastic one. He joined the PSC in 1994 and joined the board about 6-8 years ago. As for his professional life: he has had several careers. He was a typesetter (and manager) for 15 years, then an IT professional (eventually CTO) for another 10 years. Starting in 2003, he “traded places” with his wife and took over primary responsibility for raising their two kids. Throughout, he oversaw the management of his extended family’s investment pool.

Zia Choudhury

Zia has been a member of PSC since 2004, and a director in PSC Board since 2020.  He has taken an active interest in all aspects of club activities since joining as a member. He has either participated or helped in the holding of club games, helping other members to run the facilities, and maintaining an overall safe environment, particularly during the pandemic. Zia currently serves as Secretary of the Board, and as Editor of the resurrected PSC Newsletter.

 

Tom Friedman

Tom has been a member of PSC for last 15 years. He is responsible for minor maintenance of the club building and equipment. An avid squash player Tom has been on the Board of Directors for the last two term. He has been working towards providing members with a cleaner squash clubhouse. Currently Tom is working on improving club facilities and equipment and making the club premises a safe place for members.

Keith Hartman

Keith is the Treasurer of PSC. He served as Treasurer in the previous Board also.  Besides working as a Treasurer of the club Keith I helped implement the current billing system of WildApricot that we are currently using.  He has also been involved in helping with the repairs and upkeep of the building including installing a new roof and new lighting.  In his professional life Keith is a real estate property manager which adds knowledge to the management of the club and its maintenance, financial and accounting operations.

 

 

 

Basil Herzstein

Basil has been a member of the club for approximately 25 years. He is a regular player who plays on average 3 to 4 times a week and is very familiar with many of the issues that confront club members and the club in general. Currently Basil is in charge of the construction project which is aimed at addressing some safety concerns and issues facing the club.

Karl-Erik McCollough

Karl has been playing Squash since 1981, and has been a member of the Potomac Squash Club since 2011. By training, he is a psycholinguist, and professionally, he has a long history of research in multimodal communication. He can also cook. Karl is in charge of

Priti Prabhu

Priti has been a member of PSC for over 4 years. She started playing squash a few years ago after her children took on the sport about 6 years ago. As the Director of Membership she is in charge of new member recruitment and orientation and is the lead member for ladies tournament and clinics as well.  Along with volunteering on the board, Priti is a Physical Therapist by profession and has been working with the adult population for over 20 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction Project at Potomac Squash Club

Basil Herzstein

 

About 10 months ago I noticed that some repairs were necessary to the deck and posts in front of court three. I contacted a contractor that I have used personally and asked for advice. It was originally thought that it would be a relatively quick repair job. He advised me that we had serious compliance and safety issues to contend with.

 

As a result, the board hired a certified and licensed architect Kevin Driscoll to advise us. The club, as a commercial building, is held to higher (and different) standards than residential properties. Though, having been built 50+ years. ago, it is also grandfathered from many (though not all) current commercial code requirements.

Among the many issues that were discovered are:

1. There must be a fire escape at court 3. The distance from that court to the one in the men’s locker is too far.
2. The stairs and deck were built without any permits and were not built to code. They are the wrong size.
3. The posts holding up the deck are the wrong size and are starting to buckle. They are not secured as per code.
4. There should have been a steel beam holding the deck up instead of an illegal wood beam that does not meet any code whatsoever.
5. Also, there are many other potential violations, especially electrical but also ADA (handicap access) related.

 

This project running right now will not address all of our potential code violations and safety issues. But it will make a substantial down payment on them. Why go to the trouble? After all, we have done fine for decades. There are two answers:

1. We have also been LUCKY for decades: no one has gotten seriously hurt on the premises, nor have we had a fire. It is only when something goes wrong that safety and code issues become material.
2. Last year, out of the blue, the Fire Marshal told us that they had been informed that the club had possible serious fire issues. That led to a series of discussions (and at least one visit). In the end, we were cleared primarily because of our grandfathered status but also because we already had well-advanced plans to address the biggest fire problems. The lesson: as long as we are “behind on code” we are subject to blackmail from anyone who wishes the club ill.

 

The architect then approached the county and found out the data the county had on file consisted entirely of one 1960’s construction plan that was never implemented. So, we had to approach the county and go before a special zoning appeals board to 1) establish a new file with an accurate plan of the current building and 2) share our plans to resolve the safety issues described above. The appeals board approved creation of a new file.

 

We then went back to the permits office to request approval for our specific construction plan. A long series of issues came up, all of which (eventually) were resolved in our favor. Once all the legalities were cleaned up, we approached 3 recommended contractors for bids and interviewed them. We have chosen Smith Metro Group. They presented the board with a plan to do the work in a timely manner and the plan is for the renovations to be completed within approximately 6 weeks. They started on August 1, 2024.

 

Project components:

• Work will be done to protect the club and court floors, and to allow us to use Courts 1 and 2 during construction.
• Court 3 will be covered with RAM board and the exercise equipment will be placed on supporting wooden boards to protect the floors.
• The glass wall will have a protective wall built around it.
• Plastic sheeting will be put up between 2 and 3 to reduce dust travel into the club.
• A covered entrance will be built to go from the men’s locker room to court 2.
• A temporary door will be built in the men’s locker room in front of the bath and shower areas so that men can continue to use those areas without imposing on the women and children who travel through the rest of men’s locker room to get to courts 1 and 2.
• Court 1 will not be impacted.