Dog Poop and Free-ranging Dogs

As you can see from by picture on the right (with my dog, Candide), I am fond of dogs. So is my fellow board member and dog owner, Nicole Fleisher. As a member of the Community Relations Committee, Nicole has received numerous complaints from Inverness Residents about irresponsible dog owners. Here are Nicole's comments:

Reminder to residents and four-legged friends

We are lucky to have many wonderful canine companions and their owners living in our community. As responsible, law-abiding dog owners, most of us know that it is illegal in Montgomery County to walk our dogs without a leash outside our property and that we are required by law to pick up after our dogs on common property. In every community; however, there are always a few individuals who choose to ignore or overlook these laws, and the IFA receives its fair share of complaints about off-leash dogs or people not cleaning up their dogs’ poop.

Over the next few weeks, the Montgomery County Animal Services Division will be patrolling our neighborhood to issue citations for these violations ($100 fine, increasing to $500 for subsequent violations). The Animal Services Division has also requested homeowners’ help: if you see the leash law or the pooper scooper law being broken, please call their non-emergency complaint line at (240) 773-5960 and provide as much information as possible (type of dog, owner’s address, where and when dogs are usually walked).

Dog owners, please help keep your dog safe by keeping him/her on a leash, and please help keep our neighborhood clean – there’s nothing that will ruin your day like stepping in a pile of poop!

All Inverness residents, please help by giving dog owners who are overlooking these laws a friendly reminder, or by calling the number above.

With everyone’s help, we can keep Inverness clean for everyone’s enjoyment!

If you would like to comment on this post click the "comment" link below.

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Request for Help with a Leaky Basement

I've received the following eamil from Inverness resident Yasaman Shirazi about a problem with a leaky basement.

Dear Harvey,
Do you know of anyone who can fix my leak problem in the basement. The water is coming from the top of the sliding door through the dry wall. I had someone work on it before, but it doesn't seem to have worked. Maybe someone who understands construction a bit more be helpful. Thanks

If you have a suggestion for Yasaman, please leave a comment on this post (so others can see it too) or you may email Yasaman at
y_shir@yahoo.com

(if you don't leave a comment, please copy me on your email so I can add your advise to the message board -- thanks)


Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Parking in Numbered Parking Places

The board received an email from Anwar Khan, a resident who has a problem with other people parking their vehicles in his reserved space. While our residents are aware that numbered spots are reserved for the resident of that house number, our guests might not know this. When guests come to visit, please make sure that they know not to park in a numbered (reserved) space. Please inform workmen as well. Here is Anwar's email:

Subject: Reserved parking

Hi Art,

I am not sure if you are the person to send this message to. If not,
can you please forward it to the right officer. I am having a problem
with guests and work crew parking in my reserved space. A part of the
problem might be that the reserved marking on my spot is worn and
faint. I would like to have it repainted. Could you also send out a
reminder to homeowners to let their guests and workers be aware about
the policies concerning reserved spaces.

Thanks.

Anwar Khan
8024 Inverness Ridge Rd

Does anyone have any advice for Anwar about repainting his house number on his parking space or perhaps have a set of the stencils used by contractors to paint numbers on parking spots? If you do, please leave a comment on this post or send me an email and I'll forward it to Anwar. Thanks.





Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Herbicide Survey Results and the Board's Decision

The Herbicide Survey, which closed March 11, marks the first time the Inverness Board used an online survey to solicit opinions from our residents before making a decision on an important issue.

About 20% of the households on the mailing list took the survey (not counting board members who did not take the survey), which is a high response rate. A total of 26 homeowners responded to the survey questions. Here are the results:

8 people wanted the community to continue using herbicides
1 person did not have a strong opinion either way
17 people wanted the community to stop using herbicides.

Fifteen residents provided written comments as part of their survey response. I've collect those comments together into a message on the IFA website's Message Board. Here is a link to the residents comments:

Residents comments on the use of herbicides in Inverness Forest

After hearing a presentation on the results of the herbicide survey, the board voted 7-0 to stop using herbicides on the common lawn for a one year period. A year from now the board will evaluate the state of the common lawns and decide on a long-term policy.

I want to thank everyone who took the survey. Your participation provided the board with valuable feedback on an important issue. The high response rate has encouraged the board to use online forms to request feedback from Inverness Forest residents on future issues.

I would like to thank Danie Pearson for raising the issue of herbicide use on the common area lawns. As you read the comments on the Message board (see link above), you will see that many people on both sides of this issue feel strongly. Knowing your opinion on important issues is valuable to the board when it considers important decisions. While the board can't make decisions based solely on residents views, those views are one factor that should be considered.

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Magical Merry Widow

Long time readers of Inverness Forest Today know that I occasionally discuss local live theater productions. The Victorian Lyric Opera production of The Merry Widow starts today at the Fitzgerald Theater in Rockville. This is a magical, delightful production. It has great singing, dancing, and very funny dialog. Director Debbie Niezgoda brings the show to life by recreating the atmosphere of the Pontevedrian embassy in early 20th century Paris. The music bubbles and sparkles under the baton of artistic director and conductor Joseph Sorge.

Ticket Information

The story

The cast and orchestra are so uniformly outstanding that it would be hard to single out specific performers for special praise. Instead I'll let you judge for yourself. Below are links to pictures and musical selections from the Victorian Lyric Opera production.

My Dress Rehearsal Pictures

Listen to Music clips from the VLOC production


Don't miss this show!

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com