Inverness Halloween Spookctacular

The Inverness Forest Halloween "Spookctacular" on the evening of Oct 31 was a big success!  More than 70 people attended by my wild guess and perhaps even more.

The event organizers, Jessica Bejarano, Cybel Wigle and Maria Angelica Antequera (and I'm sure several others who's names I don't have) did a fantastic job putting this together.  

If you've ever organized an event before, you're aware of the hundreds of little details that you have to take care of before an event can come off as flawlessly as this one. 

The kids costumes showed a lot of imagination and, as an added bonus, many of the adults came dress up in witty and clever costumes.

I submitted my pictures of our halloween event to the Potomac Almanac newspaper.  They published a large spread in the November 4 edition.  Our community is getting a lot of free publicity lately since this feature comes a month after an earlier story about the Inverness Forest Association's first annual picnic.

Here is a link to my online photo gallery:

http://harveylevine.smugmug.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=14459396&AlbumKey=3EGbb

I was not the only photographer present at the event.  Maria Angelica Antequera provided me the following link to her photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/114083389796403431388/2010InvernessHalloweenParty?feat=email#

Harvey

2010 Annual Meeting Election

The 2010 Inverness Forest Association Annual Meeting was held on October 14, 2010. The election this year featured six vacancies: three positions that were held by incumbents and three other positions that were vacant because the board members resigned before their terms were completed.

The three incumbents (Mary Ferguson, Sue Ellen Parrott, and Sharlene Shugarman) received the most votes and were elected to three-year terms. 


I would like to thank Sabine Dohrn who served on the board for six years before retiring at the end of her term this month.  She will be missed by all of us who worked with her during her tenure.  Notable achievements include an extended period on the ACC and her work as the Snow Removal chair where she negotiated contract for snow removal and oversaw and coordinated the snow removal work.

Three residents at the meeting (Martin Aliaga, Rita Carvajal, and James Ulrich) volunteered to stand for election. All three were elected to fill the vacated terms of the three former board members.

The IFA website contains the names, email addresses, and expiration of the terms of all board members updated with the results from the election. Click on the link labeled "Board Members".

Note that with the exception of the three board veterans (Sharlene Shugarman, Elliot Postow, and myself - each with 5 or more years on the board), the remaining six board members have spent two years or less on the board. This is likely to lead to many new and innovative ideas from the newcomers tempered by the experience of the veteran board members.

I also like the mix of different stages of life among the board members, which should be an accurate proxy for the the interests and age distribution within the community. We have board members who range in age from people who are retired to people with very young children. This should help give the board a perspective on issues that reflects the perspective of the community at large.

Harvey,

iftblog@gmail.com

Inverness Halloween Spookctacular

Cybel Wigle and Jessica Bejarano contacted me about the Halloween event they are planning for Sunday, October 31.  Cybel and Jessica, along with several other moms, are planning a costume party for inverness kids, along with their parents.  Parents can dress up for Halloween if they wish.  

Perhaps this will become an annual tradition.  For details, see the information below that  Cybel Wigle sent me:

Dear neighbors,

This year, we are planning on meeting on Halloween day. Please bring any snack or drink (please, no alcohol) to share. We encourage you to dress-up if you'd like, but not necessary. Bring your cameras and let's have an spookctacular night!!!

When: Oct. 31st, 2010
Where: 8100 cul-de-sac Inverness Ridge Rd
Time: 5:30 to 6:30pm

Questions? Contact:

Cybel Wigle at cjwigle@gmail.com or

Jessica Bejarano @ jbejarano@paegroup.com

See you soon!

Harvey,

iftblog@gmail.com

The 2010 Annual Meeting is This Thursday

I hope many of you will be able to attend the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Inverness Forest Association.  I look forward to meeting many old friends and new residents who have moved in during the past year.

You should have received a notice about the Annual Meeting in the mail some weeks ago.  In case you can't find this notice, here are the details. 

• Date: Oct. 14, 2010
• Time: 7:30 PM (sign-in)
•           8:00 PM (Call to order)
• Place: Chesterton Hall, The Heights School
•           10400 Seven Locks Rd, Potomac, MD 
•           (same place as last year)

If you are unable to attend, please provide a proxy (with your voting instructions) to me (as indicated on the proxy).  If you prefer, you can give your proxy to anyone who is attending the meeting.  A quorum is needed before the meeting can be held and your proxy counts towards meeting that quorum.  If we do not have a quorum, then we will have to postpone the meeting, which will be costly.

If you can't locate the proxy you received in the mail, you can download a copy from the IFA website by right-clicking on the "Download Proxy Form" link.  Choose whatever option your browser offers to download the PDF file.

Residents who are not owners are also invited to attend the meeting, but only owners are entitled to vote.

Hope to see you at the meeting!

Harvey

Harvey Levine

Treasurer, Inverness Forest Association

iftblog@gmail.com

Maintain Your Trees!

Yasaman has sent me the following email pointing out that regular maintenance of trees on resident’s properties could prevent damage or even injuries.

In light of the severe storms we've been having, I want to point out that owners should be more aware of trees in their properties, specially those that have the potential to fall over their neighbor's yard and cause damage. Even though each person's insurance company would cover damages to the structures, no one wants to be in a position to have to go through the head-aches involved. Also, if the fallen tree does not cause any damages to any structures, the insurance companies will not pay for the removal of the tree. The latter happend to me during the second blizzard this year, where my neighbor's tree fell on my deck, but did not cause major damages. Luckily, I had a very nice neighbor who paid for the entire tree removal from both his and my yard, but not everyone could be nice like him, particularly when you read the county tree laws.

 

Can you please be kind and alert the community of this very important matter.  I really appreciate it. Yasaman

Yasaman touches on one point that I'd like to expand upon.  Because both the winter and summer storms this year have damaged homeowner's trees, I've often been asked who is responsible for the damage if a neighbor's tree falls on my property.  I've asked this question of both the IFA insurance agent and arborists hired to repair or remove damaged trees.  My interpretation of the answers I've received goes something like this:  The instant a tree (or a part of a tree) falls onto your property, that tree becomes your property.  It is no longer your neighbor's property even if it had been before it fell on your property.  I'm not saying that this is the legal interpretation of the situation (although it might be), I'm just saying that all the information I've received from experts is consistent with this view.  Given this interpretation the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. You may dispose of the tree that fell on your property in any way you choose.  Your neighbor who originally owned the tree has no role in this decision.
2. Your insurance company is expected to pay for the repair of any damage caused by the fallen tree -- not your neighbor's insurance company!  The same holds true for the cleanup of the fallen tree.  This makes sense since you are now the owner of that fallen tree, even though you didn't ask for the tree or want it to fall on your property.
3. When a branch from a neighbor's tree overhangs your property, by this interpretation, that branch is yours.  You may trim it as you see fit.  An exception is that if your trimming of the overhanging branch causes damage to the tree, then you are responsible for the damage your actions has caused. If you decide to trim (or cut down) an overhanging branch of your neighbor's tree, please make sure you hire a certified arborist to analyze the consequences that will result from the trimming of the branch and make sure that your actions won't result in damaging the tree and therefore make you responsible for the damage. 

As I said earlier, I'm not a lawyer and so I don't know if the fallen tree is legally yours.  But from everything I've heard from the experts, the rules seem to function as if you owned the fallen tree.  

Perhaps lawyers, insurance people, arborists, or other knowledgeable residents in our community can provide comments since this issue has unfortunately become all to common lately.  Please leave a comment on this blog post or send me an email with your thoughts.

Thanks,

Harvey

Harvey Levine

iftblog@gmail.com