Leaf Pickup This Week

You've probably noticed that Emerald Landscaping has put out the "Leaf Cleaning This Week" signs. One of our residents, Sue Ellen Parrott, sent me an email with a suggestion for getting rid of leaves on your property.

Before I get to Sue Ellen's email, I wanted to point out that our community suffered a $12,000 bill for storm drain clean out this year. Leaves that washed into the storm drains during rains were the principal culprit. I'd like to thank Stephanie Cooperstein who, prior to an earlier leaf cleanup, raked accumulated leaves from in front of a storm drain so that they wouldn't be flushed down the drain by an impending rainstorm (Stephanie: thanks for the photo!) . If you see accumulated leaves in front of a storm drain, please help save the community money by moving them.

Here is Sue Ellen's email:

On Dec 3, 2008, at 10:49 AM, Sue Ellen Parrott wrote:

Harvey, I called Emerald Landscaping and asked when the last leaf collection would be and was told it would be next week. You might want to alert residents that if they want their leaves taken away by Emerald, the leaves should be piled on the street near the curb before next week (but not near a storm drain! -Harvey).

Thanks for your updates.

Sue Ellen Parrott
7964 IRR

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Scrooge -The Musical Comes to Potomac

Scrooge - the Musical will be performed by the Potomac Theatre Company starting November 21 and running until Sunday December 7, 2008. Performances are at the Blair Theater at Bullis School, only a six minute drive from Inverness Forest.

(From the Potomac Almanac):

The Potomac Theatre Company will celebrate its 20th year with a production of "Scrooge: The Musical" beginning Friday, Nov. 21. Shows run from Nov. 21 through Dec. 7 each weekend at the Blair Family Center for the Arts at the Bullis School, 10601 Falls Road, Potomac. For more information and to purchase tickets call 301-299-8571 or visit
Potomac Theatre Company.
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I have been attending and photgraphing the rehearsals and am very impressed. Director Ron Sarro has assembled a fantastic cast for this production, which is an ideal show for the holiday season. The Potomac Almanac has a feature story on this production of Scrooge both online and in the current edition.

You can see a wonderful live performance of a great show for a fraction of the cost of a downtown show. It is much more convenient than traveling downdown since the Blair Theater is only a six minute drive from Inverness.

I'll be working the lights during the performances; stop by the lighting booth at the back of the theater and say hello during intermission or after the performance.In addition to my photographs that appeared in the Potomac Almanac (and one in the Gazette), you can see the entire Scrooge photo collection here:
http://harveylevine.smugmug.com/Theater/637404

Harvey

ifatreasurer@mac.com

Minutes from the October 2008 Annual Meeting

The October minutes of the Annual Meeting are online at the community's website. Here is the link: October 2008 Annual Meeting minutes.

I've been told by several people that printing paper copies of the minutes and distributing them by hand is a quaint, old-fashioned idea that is bad for the environment because it requires the killing of trees.

I think online delivery of the minutes is better than paper distribution. Here are my reasons:

1. It cost the community almost $1000 per year to print the minutes. Online distribution of the minutes is free.
   
2. Trees have to be killed to supply the paper for paper copies of the minutes.
   
3. it wastes a lot of the Secretary's time going to Staples each month to have the minutes printed, collated, and stapled and then going to the volunteer's houses to drop off the stacks of printed copies.
4. The volunteers (like me!) spend a lot of time each month going door to door to deliver paper minutes. Since so few people have volunteered to help the community despite repeated requests in the minutes this past year, the burden on those that do help out is large. Online delivery would lessen the burden.
   
5. So many people are now used to receiving important information online (online banking, brokerage statements, receipts for purchase at Amazon, etc) that reading the minutes online would be easy and normal (and you wouldn't have to throw away a piece of paper after you've read it).
6. Some people keep files of the paper minutes for future reference. Online distribution makes this unnecessary since the past minutes are already online (back to Jan 2007 which is when our webmaster, Nicole Fleisher, started putting the minutes on our website).
   

Those people who do not use the internet could still receive paper copies. Only about 3% of the people I've talked to in our community say they don't have internet access. Also those people who have an internet connection but would rather get paper minutes could share the burden of paper minutes distribution by offering to distribute paper copies to those who don't have online access to the internet (or to those who, like themselves, would rather receive paper copies). Or we could put a stack of printed minutes at a nearby location (Cabin John Mall or the Potomac Library for example) for those people who want a paper copy. Another idea is for a few people who want paper copies to act as distribution points for other people who also want paper copies.

If you haven't read the minutes online in the past, you can read the October 2008 minutes online by clicking the link above. What do you think? Is it just as easy (or easier!) than handling and reading paper minutes?

I'd like to do a trial run of online delivery of the minutes on the Deborah Drive side of Inverness Forest some time this winter. I've picked Deborah Drive residents since that part of our community has a higher proportion of residents on our email list than on Inverness Rdige Rd. For this test we will only deliver paper copies to those people who don't have internet access and to those people who specifically request paper copies by sending me an email. I'll send out an email a few weeks before the trial run to Deborah Drive residents so that they will have plenty of time to "opt out".

I'd like to know what you think about online delivery of the monthly minutes. Please leave your comments on this post (by clicking on the word "comments" -- add your name to your comments unless you truly want to be anonymous ) or send me an email.

I have to go now because I have to distribute paper copies of the October minutes. It does seem awfully cold outside this morning...

Harvey

ifatreasurer@mac.com

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

Call for Candidates for the Board of Directors

This year Board member Nicole Fleisher is head of the Nominating Committee for the election of board members. Every year three of the nine seats on the board come up for election. This year there is an additional vacancy as well. Nicole has provided the following communication to the Inverness community.

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

---

(From Nicole Fleisher):

Why do you live in Inverness? You probably live here for the same reasons as many of the rest of us: good schools, a safe community, proximity to the city, beautiful treed lots…

In order to keep our neighborhood safe, clean, and to advocate for you as residents, your Inverness Forest Association Board of Directors works in an all-volunteer capacity to keep our community running. But we can’t do it alone! We need YOU!

The Board currently has one open vacancy and will have three additional terms up for election at the annual meeting on October 16th. Why join the Board? You can have a tremendous impact on your community! You live here and your voice and ideas are vital to keeping this community strong and beautiful. If you are interested in making a positive impact in your neighborhood by joining us on the Board, please e-mail Nicole Fleisher at Nicole.f@inverness.org. To be included on the proxy ballots for the annual meeting, please e-mail Nicole by September 22nd. If you decide that you’re interested after that date, you can still e-mail Nicole and have your name included on the ballot as a write-in. We look forward to hearing from you!

Burglary Target Fights Back

The August 1, 2008 posting featured a story about an attempted burglary. Since then, several community car burglaries have been reported on Inverness Ridge Rd. and Deborah Dr. Max Rapoport, whose car was burglarized, has decided to do something about it. Max has asked me to post the following comments…
**********************************
Dear neighbors,

In wake of recent acts of vandalism and theft in our community, we are seeking volunteers to form a neighborhood watch. We are looking for volunteers to patrol the neighborhood at night (12:00pm – 6:00am) in effort to make us all feel more secure.
Please email Max Rapoport for details (MaxRapoport@gmail.com)

I did some research and if we get enough people we could register the “watch” with the local PD.

Thanks,

Max.
**********************************

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

July 2008 Minutes

The July 2008 board minutes have been completed and uploaded. Here is the link to the July 2008 minutes.

At the link above you can read the minutes online or download a PDF version to read or print on your computer

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Opportunist Burglary Attempt in Inverness Forest

Abdol Rahnavard of 10801 Deborah Drive told me about an attempted car burglary near his house earlier this week. Abdol's son was awakened in the early morning hours by sounds in the parking lot. He looked out his window and saw a group of young men trying car doors to see if any were unlocked. He awoke his father and they called the police.

The young men apparently arrived in a car that they left running nearby. Abdol and his son noted the license plate. The young men noted they were being observed and left. When the police arrived and called in the license plate number they discovered that the would-be burglars lived a few blocks away and went after them.

Thanks to the vigilance and quick wits of Abdol and his son the burglars were unsuccessful and likely had an unpleasant interview with the police.

Lessons learned:

1. Lock your car so that opportunist burglars can't have easy access to your property

2. Would-be burglars should rethink their career path if they are dumb enough to go off on a noisy crime spree in a car with its license plate clearly visible.

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Deborah Dr. Still in the Dark

Update July 28, 2008: I am happy to report that the lights on Deborah Dr. are now working.

Most of the street lights in our community on the Deborah Dr. side have not worked in two weeks. The streets are so dark that I've been using a powerful flashlight when I walk my dog after 9:00 PM. Without a flashlight it's easy to trip and fall.

The day after the lights were reported out of commission our president, Art Glazer, called our lighting contractor, GHE, and asked them to find the problem. GHE came the next day and reported that Pepco is not supplying power to the electric meter. Sharlene Shugarman, board vice-president, called Pepco immediately and reported the outage. She made several subsequent calls to Pepco but so far the lights are still out. Art contacted one of the repair crews that were in our community a year ago relocating power lines. Although the repairman said he would look into it on Monday (yesterday), the lights are still out.

What should we do next? The board welcomes your suggestions as always. Please leave a comment on this post if you have any ideas.

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

June 2008 Board Minutes

The June 2008 board minutes have been completed and uploaded. Here is the link to the June 2008 minutes.

At the link above you can read the minutes online or download a PDF version to read or print on your computer

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Local Live Theater This Weekend and Next

We are certainly fortunate in the Potomac area to have several very good local theater companies. I have the privilege of being the photographer for two of them: the Victorian Lyric Opera (VLOC) and the Potomac Theatre Company (PTC). Both companies are performing this weekend and next weekend.



VLOC is performing Gilbert and Sullivan's "Patience", which is a fun spoof through the world of Victorian poets and the swooning maidens attracted to them. Here is the Wikipedia article on Patience. The show has typical G&S bubbling music and witty dialog and the VLOC performance is fantastic. Find out more and order tickets here.


PTC is performing "On Golden Pond", an exploration of the sometimes tense relationships between three generation of a family. Here is the Wikipedia description of On Golden Pond. The Potomac Almanac ran a story on this production this week (along with my photographs of the cast). If you missed it, here is the link: Potomac Almanac story about On Golden Pond. Reservations at 301-299-8571.

I'll be the lighting operator for all the performances of On Golden Pond except the June 22 matinee (I'll be at the performance of Patience that day). Stop by the tech booth at the back of the theater to say hello to me after the show.

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

May 2008 Board Minutes

The May 2008 board minutes have been completed and uploaded. Here is the link to the May 2008 minutes.

At the link above you can read the minutes online or download a PDF version to read or print on your computer

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Community Beautification Day!

Community Beautification Day will be held on Saturday May 17 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM. Complete information can be found on the splash page (first webpage you come to) at the IFA website: http://www.invernessvillage.org/

Donuts, coffee, and trash bags will be available. And door prizes! (Well, there isn't any door outside so maybe I should call them "lawn prizes"). A famous freelance photographer from the Potomac Almanac might stop by to take photographs (yours truey, of course).

Please see the website at the link above for complete details.

Harvey

May 8 Board Meeting -- Unapproved Roof, Again!!

At last night's meeting, the board once again took up the issue of what to do about Mr. Salamanca's unapproved roof (10843 Deborah Dr). (Click on picture for a larger version) For those unaware of the situation, last summer Mr. Salamanca installed a synthetic roof on his house. He did not apply for permission to install this roof as required by our covenants (see Covenants, Article 5). Two board members visited him prior to the removal of his old roof and told him that he needed ACC approval before installing a synthetic roof, but he went ahead with the installation anyway.

The issue is not whether this new roof material should be allowed; the issue is that Mr. Salamanca did not apply to the ACC for the required permission before installing the synthetic roof. The board feels that if Mr. Salamanca's actions goes unchallenged, then the precedent would be set that anyone can make any changes to the exterior of their house without ACC approval.

Montgomery County has a commission, called the CCOC, to hear homeowner association disputes. The board filed a case with the CCOC and Mr. Salamanca was invited by the CCOC to state his position in writing. The CCOC, as is generally does, asked the parties involved to mediate their differences. If mediation is not successful then the case will be resolved by the CCOC. Last night the board discussed whether there can in fact be a mediated solution.

Note that the issue is whether there is a possible compromise on the failure to apply for ACC permission, not on whether there is a possible compromise on the roof material (which is irrelevant since the use of this roof material is not before the CCOC). Is there an acceptable middle position between "following the rules" and "not following the rules"? It seems to me -- and I'm not speaking for the board here only for myself (I'm not one of the board's representatives to the CCOC)-- that there is no middle ground between following the rules and not following the rules.

What do you think? Do you have a comment on this issue? If so, please click on the comment link and let us know your thoughts. We created Inverness Forest Today for two reasons: so you can be informed about what is happening in our community, and so you can provide your opinion to the board and to the rest of the community.

Harvey Levine

April 2008 Minutes Uploaded

Well, this is fast! Thanks to Elliot Postow, Secretary of the Inverness Forest Association, for emailing me the April 2008 minutes as soon as they were in final form. This is the first time that the minutes are being distributed online before the paper copies even went to the printer.

Here is the link: April 2008 Inverness Forest Association Board Minutes

If you would like to attend the next board meeting, it will be held on May 8, 2008 at 7:30 PM on the third floor at Summerville.

If you would like to bring an issue before the board but can't attend the meeting, please add a comment to this post or send me an email.

As always, I'd like to hear your ideas about how to make Inverness Forest Today as useful as possible to the community. Provide your suggestions for a future column on IFT.

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

March 2008 Board Minutes

The March 2008 board meeting minutes are online. Below is a link to the PDF file. When you click on the link you'll have a choice of either previewing the file online or downloading the file to your computer where you can read or print the file with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader that is standard software on almost every computer in the world. Let me know if you have any trouble.

March 2008 Board Meeting Minutes

The April minutes should be online in the next few days. The next board meeting is on May 8, 2008 at Summerville (as usual) at 7:30 PM. We meet on the third floor and visitors are always welcome. I'll post a summary of the meeting on the following day.

Harvey

Thanks for Signing Up!

Welcome to this edition of Inverness Forest Today. I want to thank everyone who has signed up to receive the board minutes (and other information) online. The savings in paper is not only good for the environment, but it will save the community printing costs and some wear-and-tear on the volunteers who deliver the paper copies.

We are just starting our effort to make better use of the internet to keep the Inverness Forest community informed. Using the internet will allow us to provide information (such as the minutes) to the community much more efficiently. Plus, you now have a way to provide your comments on what you read and to read the comments of others. Each posting on Inverness Forest Today has a "Comments" link that lets you respond to the post. I will read your comments and respond if I have something useful to say. More importantly, other residents will also see your comments on the post and may add their own thoughts. Please keep your comments confined to the topic addressed in the post.

If you would like to address issues not covered in Inverness Forest Today, the IFA website provides forums for just that purpose. Once you have a login, you can start a topic or add your comments to an existing topic. While you don't need a login to read the forums, why not create one so that you can join in the discussions.

Also on the IFA website you can read about who's on the board, the past board minutes, budget and finances, governing documents, architectural controls, and many other areas of interest. While Inverness Forest Today will give you information quickly (but briefly!) on what is going on in Inverness Forest, the IFA website is where you'll find in-depth information and where you should go to research questions. For example, to view our Governing Documents look on the IFA website at this location: Governing Docs

This is just the start of our online effort. Participate on the IFA website and here on Inverness Forest Today and your ideas will be heard by the IFA community.

If you know of other IFA residents who would like to receive the minutes online, view Inverness Forest Today, and make their views known on the IFA website, please ask them to send me an email at ifatreasurer@mac.com and I'll add them to the mailing list.

Harvey Levine
Treasurer, Inverness Forest Association
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Welcome to Inverness Forest Today

Welcome to Inverness Forest Today. This blog will update the Inverness Forest Community on what is going on in the community ("Which contractor is again digging up our front lawns?"). I will use this blog to bring you highlights of board meetings on the day after the meeting. Other board members can contribute to this blog so you have a broader view of what is important to all Inverness Forest residents.

Readers of Inverness Forest Today can post comments on any blog entry. Other IFA residents can read your comments and respond with comments of their own. By establishing a dialog between the board and the community, you will be able to bring important issues to the attention of the board.

I'll try to provide links to other websites that contain information of interest to the Inverness Forest community. In particular, I will link to interesting discussions on the IFA website that now lets community members start discussions on topics of interest to them. Feel free to leave comments on this post and any future posts. You may also send me email.

Harvey Levine, Treasurer of IFA