Assessments Are Going Down!

The semi-annual assessments for the Inverness Forest Association are going down from $458 to $302. Now that we have completed a three-year project to repave our roads we will not have a special assessment during 2009. The increase in the regular assessment is limited to 3% per year by our bylaws. The $302 assessment due in January 2009 and July 2009 reflect this 3% increase. Thus our total assessments in 2009 will be less than they were in 2008 by $458 - $302 = $156 for each 6 month period for a total annual reduction of $312.

Minutes and a Resident's Request For Help

Here are links (at the IFA website) to the August and September 2008 minutes:
August 2008 Minutes
September 2008 Minutes

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I received an email from Mireille Canup at 10821 Deborah Dr. requesting help with cleaning up leaves and shoveling snow. She asks if there are teenagers in the neighborhood willing to perform this work. I've posted her email on the Inverness Forest website's message board at this link:
Cleanup Help Requested (link contains her contact information) If you know of any teenagers willing to work for Mireille, please contact her.

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The Inverness Forest Associaton's Message Board is a valuable way for residents to communicate with other residents. All you need to get started is to sign up. A registered user may post messages in the categories of "Home Repair and Improvement", "Inverness Parents", "Seven Locks Bike Path Project", "For Sale or For Free", and "General Discussion".

Right now few people know about the message board so there are very few postings. As residents begin to use the message board it will become more interesting and useful and that will, in turn, generate more messages and replies. So if you have anything to say to the community at large, or questions to ask, please use the message board. The more it is used, the more valuable it will become to all of us. You can even add pictures to your postings, as I did in posting Mireille Canup's request for help (see above for the link).

How does the message board differ from this blog (Inverness Forest Today)? On this blog, as on any blog, the author (me) determines the topics and the readers can click the "comments" button to comment on the author's topic. But you can't post a topic of your own on this (or any other) blog. The purpose of the message board is to let you initiate a discussion on any subject you wish.

Harvey

ifatreasurer@mac.com

Annual Meeting Notes (10/16/08)

Last night the Inverness Community held its Annual Meeting from 7:30 - 9:00 pm. About 30 Inverness residents attended. Thanks to Nicole Fleisher for a great job of organizing the meeting and taking care of all the behind the scenes details. Also a special thanks to Mary Ferguson for counting the votes, handling the check-in procedure, and validating the ballots and proxies. Here are a few of the highlights from the meeting (see the meeting minutes for complete details).

The Inverness community re-elected the three incumbents to a three-year term: Susan Little, Elliot Postow, and Harvey Levine with 69 votes each. No other resident decided to run for the board so there is still a vacant seat.

New streetlight designs were extensively discussed; Sharlene Shugarman showed pictures of two examples. The attendees commented on the pros and cons for each light. One sample light has been on display for several months at the corner of Inverness Ridge Road and Deborah Dr. Sharlene said that the board would consider erecting another sample with the second lighting style.

We were fortunate to have two realtors present -- Jayne Grant and Art Glazer -- both of whom are also residents of our community. They were asked how home prices have fared in our community compared to other similar communities given that housing prices have declined significantly nationally and locally. Both Jayne and Art said that, given the current housing environment, the Inverness Forest Community's housing prices have preformed in line with local trends.

After the election, the board members met to determine officers for the coming year. There was no change in the officers: Art Glazer will be president, Sharlene Shugarman will be vice-president, Harvey Levine will be treasurer, and Elliot Postow will be secretary.

Harvey

ifatreasurer@mac.com

Community Safety Meetings on October 6

Inverness Resident LaVerne Magarian has informed me of two events taking place on Monday October 6, 2008. Both events deal with safety. One event is "Safety for Seniors". Here are the details:

When: Monday, October 6, 2008
Where: Davis Library - 6400 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda (Community Room - downstairs)
Time: 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Topics to include: Residential security, Locks, Windows, Doors, Alarms, Landscaping, Reporting suspicious activity, When to call the Police

Presented by Montgomery County Police - 2nd District, Officer Dana Matthis - Community Services Officer 301.657.0119
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The other meeting was organized by Councilman Roger Berliner. Here are the details:

Dear Neighbors and Friends:

A public meeting regarding the Havenstein homicide and home invasion robberies is scheduled for October 6, 2008 from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM at the Walt Whitman High School auditorium. Walt Whitman High School is located at 7100 Whittier Boulevard in Bethesda, 20817.

The purpose of the meeting is for Chief Tom Manger and officers of the Montgomery County Police Department to brief the community on the status of the Police Department’s efforts and to answer questions from the audience.

Please contact my office at (240) 777-7828 if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Roger Berliner
Montgomery County Councilmember
District 1
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Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com