MWHOA Newsletter - January 2006

3D"Montpelier

&= nbsp; Newsletter=

= &nb= sp; January 2006

The Wood Box (President’s Article)

As we wish everyone a = Happy New Year, we also wish to extend your best wishes and appreciation to the outgoing Board Members, Kathl= een Cox, Debra Miller and Harold Mohn for their invaluable service over the past seve= ral years. The newly elected Board (reflected above) assumed office in November and is already at work. Our goal for the coming year is to continue the programs such as common-area maintenance and other issues that affect our community. Hopeful= ly, the new MWHOA web site will improve communication of ideas and information. We hope you will= use this site to stay informed about our community. There has also been some discussion among the Board Members regarding a community picnic, yard sales and block parties. We would like commun= ity input and the web site provides an opportunity to express your interest.

= &nb= sp; - Dale Good, President

UPCOMING

2006 MWHOA MEETING DATES

January = 18^th 10204 Bignonia Drive

February= 15^th = Montpelier Elementa= ry School

March 15= ^th 10206 Snowden Road

&nb= sp;

Meetings begin at 7:30= p.m. and are normally on the second Wednesday of each month. Homeowners are welcome.=

Board of Directors:

President &n= bsp; = ; Dale Good

Vice President &= nbsp; Carol Haye= s

Treasurer &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Anita= Klein

Secretary = ; &n= bsp; Charles Ko= rtlang

Members at Large Alfred Vas= co, Jr.

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp;

How to Reach the MWHOA Board<= o:p>

Address: = Post Office= Box 2645

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Laurel, MD. 20709 =

Voice Mail: = (301)362-2353 &= nbsp;

E-mail: &= nbsp; mwhoa@hotmail.com

Internet = www.mwhoa.com

Newsletter Editor Carol= Hayes

MWHOA does not necessarily endorse advertisers’ products and services.

&nbs= p;

MWHOA Financial Update=

= &nb= sp; Balance Sheet

= &nb= sp; As of 11/30/05

ASSETS

CASH:

Cash Checking –= Potomac Valley $ 14,166.78 <= o:p>

New Operating &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; 3,000.00 &nbs= p;

Money Market – = Chevy Chase = 4,657.12

Money Market – = E-Trade = 8,552= .04

= &nb= sp; = = &= nbsp;

Total Cash &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; $30,375.94<= /span>

OTHER ASSETS: =

Assessments Receivable &nb= sp; = $ 2,516.50 <= o:p>

Late Fee Receivable = &nb= sp; = 642.25

Legal Fee Receivable = &nb= sp; = 990.60

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp;

Total Other Assets &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; $ 4,149.35<= /p>

TOTAL ASSETS &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; $34,525.29

&= nbsp; =

= LIABILITIES & EQUITY

CURRENT LIABILITIES:

Prepaid Owner Assessm= ents &= nbsp; $ = 209.00

= &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; =

Subtotal Current Liab. = &nb= sp; = $ 209.00

EQUITY:

Prior Years’ Excess/ (Deficit= ) $ = 16,417.50 <= /o:p>

Current Year Excess / (Deficit) &n= bsp; = 17,898.79

Subtotal Equity &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; $ 34,316.29

TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY $34,525.29 <= /o:p>

Submitted by:

Harold Mohn

FROM THE BOARD…

CO= VENANT AMENDMENT

We again must urge tha= t the approval forms included in the covenant package be returned promptly. We are encouraged by the high perc= entage of positive approvals received to date.&nb= sp; However, we still need everyone to respond to achieve the required approval percentage necessitated by the current covenants. Please help by signing and returni= ng your form now.

= NEW MWHOA WEB SITE

Check it out!! A greatly expanded program has been installed in the hope of improving communication among Montpelier Woods Homeowners and the Board. Ite= ms of safety or concerns will be updated regularly. Notices of

events throughout the county will be posted. The web site will also offer you a= nother opportunity to express your opinions and concerns to other homeowners as we= ll as any suggestions you have for them and/or the Board. For example, interest has been exp= ressed in a community picnic or block party. The web site will allow every MWHOA homeowner the opportunity to exp= ress his or her views.

= NOTE TO PET OWNERS

The Board continues to receive complaints against homeowners who ignore county laws regarding their pets. The law requires that y= our animals (cats and dogs) be controlled by a leash when off your property. It is not only good manners, but th= e PG County Animal Control Ordinance also requires pet owners to “…remove their pet’s excrement from public or private property unless otherwise allowed to remain on the property by the property owner or occupant thereof.”

LEAF PICK-UP

Every year, the schedu= le for the county leaf pick-up is different. For 2005, our area was scheduled for the first pick-up on or about December 5^th. Ther= e is a second pick-up scheduled some weeks later.= Because of weather conditions, the dates that the leaves fall and the actual pick-up dates do not always coincide. For the dates on leaf collection, = you may call (301)979-8576. If yo= u bag your leaves, you may call bulk trash pick-up at (301)952-7600. <= /span>

THANKS FOR YOUR CONTINUED

SUPPORT & COOPERATION!!

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&nbs= p; CHARLIE’S WINTER TIPS

¨ When using salt to mel= t ice on walks and driveways, use a concrete safe salt. Calcium Chloride will adversely af= fect concrete.

¨       Empty fireplace and wo= od stove ashes into a covered metal pail.&nbs= p; Immediately place the pail outside, away from your home and never le= ave the pail on a wooden deck.

¨       Have your chimney insp= ected and cleaned at least once a year.<= o:p>

¨       Use candles with care;= be sure to remove all combustibles from the immediate area of the candles

¨       Keep an extra snow bru= sh and ice scraper for your car in your home.

¨       Remove all debris from around outside heating and cooling systems.

¨       Propane tanks for barb= ecues should not be stored in your home or garage.

¨      Please observe the pos= ted 25-mile per hour speed limit in our neighborhood.

        =             &nb= sp;     -    Charles Kortlang, Secretary

        =             &nb= sp;   **********************

“One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.”
&n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;            &n= bsp;            = ;    - Jack Penn

Editor’s Notes:

&nb= sp;

Happy New Year to All!!

If you have any ideas = for articles or items of interest for the NWHOA Newsletter, I would like to hear from you. Please use the new = web site or e-mail to forward your input to the Newsletter Editor. Any and all ideas= of an appropriate nature are welcome.

One or two line announcements/ads for services provided by homeowners such as babysitting, = yard work, tutoring, etc., may be included in the newsletter at no charge. Commercial-type ads may also be pu= blished at an affordable price. Keep = in mind that the newsletter is published on a quarterly basis (January, April,, July, and October), so it may be a month or two before your request is published. Please contact the editor for additional information and/or dead= lines.        =             &nb= sp;    – Carol Hayes, Editor

Welcome to Our New Neighbors!=

We are happy to recognize some of our new neighbors to the Montpelier Woods Community.

= v&nb= sp;     Mike & Daniella Prendergast

       12101 Amblewood Drive

= v&nb= sp;     Thuy Tran

11715 Basswood Drive

= v&nb= sp;     James & Patricia Davis

11802 Basswood Drive

= v&nb= sp;     Marilyn Emmens

12015 Aspenwood Lane

= v&nb= sp;     Joseph Kim

10200 Snowden Road

= v&nb= sp;     Anthony & Tayna Holt

12207 Amblewood Drive

= v&nb= sp;     Alberto & Maria Paez

11908 Blackwood Court

= v&nb= sp;     Peter & Rita Kangoma

11910 Blackwood Court

If this mailing was addressed to a= name that is not yours, please contact the Board to update the information for y= our household.=

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“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”        =       - Les Brown=

&nb= sp;

Beaverdam Creek Watershed:

An Urban Oasis Worth Protecting

by

Kate Levendosky

Eagles, herons, otters= and orchids are right in your backyard. Beaverdam Creek, one of the healthiest streams in the area, is home = to a diverse array of plant and animal species.= Beginning at the eastern end of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), Beaverdam Creek flows for five miles before joining Indian C= reek west of Edmonston Road and eventually flowing into the Anacostia River. All of the land that drains into B= eaverdam Creek makes up the Beaverdam Creek watershed, which extends north to Muirki= rk and Laurel-Bowie Roads, south to Greenbelt Road, east to Old Laurel-Bower Road and west to <= st1:Street w:st=3D"on">Edmonston Road. A subwatershed of the Anacostia River, the Beaverdam Creek watershed is unique, as it is largely federally owned (operated principally as BARC and NASA Goddard), and the majority of the la= nd in the watershed is forested (61%) or used for agriculture (17%).

A group of citizens fr= om Laurel, Beltsville and Greenbelt have begun to form a group de= voted to protecting, promoting and restoring the water quality, natural habitat a= nd ecological well being of the Beaverdam Creed Watershed. This group, dubbed = the Beaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group (BCWWG), was started this summer by a couple of Greenbelt residents and has already hosted a number of events this fall aimed at cleaning up the watershed and educating residents about the natural history and health of this unique stream system.

The BCWWG plans on hol= ding a number of fun educational events this winter and spring, including a biodie= sel bus tour of the Beltsvill= e Agricultural Research Center in February = and possibly a watershed bike ride and guided stream walk in the spring.

If you are interested = in learning more about this unique and precious stream system and discovering = how you can take steps to protect this resource, please join the Beaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group at its next meeting on January 24^th at the Greenbelt Library from 7-9 pm. Contact Susan Barnett 301-474-7465= or Kate Levendosky 202-962-3374 for more information about this new group and = its upcoming events.

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A N= ote from the New Treasurer

In getting involved with the MWHOA in the last month, I’ve come to a few realizations that I’d like to share.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> First, our community has been luck= y to have had, since its inception, a revolving group of able volunteers who have served on its Board of Directors. These folks have helped our community without receiving any compensation. Consequently, o= ur community has never been forced to foot the huge bill for hiring profession= al managers. In fact, many area neighborhoods have to pay homeowner’s association fees that are more = each month than we have to pay in a whole year!

I’ve also come to realize that it is now an annual challenge to find the income = to match our neighborhood’s expenses.&n= bsp; The current Board is searching for new ways to keep expenses low and= is struggling to pass as austere a budget as possible to avoid imposing a spec= ial assessment this year. For many years (decades, perhaps), the Board did not increase the annual assessment = for this community at all. Our in= come from annual assessments now does not keep up with the increases in expenses= as our community ages. This year= , by raising the annual assessment the maximum 5%, that annual fee per household goes only from $47.25 to $49.61.

What are the community’s expenses? Well, much of it is what you’d expect – upkeep on the co= mmon areas, dead tree removal, printing and mailing annual assessments and the quarterly newsletter, maintaining a community website. Surprising to me, however, was the amount the neighborhood has had to pay in attorney’s fees. While I understand that a large percentage of recent attorney’s fees have been paid for updating the covenants, I was unaware of how much our neighborhood also has had to lay o= ut in repeated attempts to collect the overdue annual assessments from a minor= ity of households. That cost was multiplied last year by the need for repeated attempts to collect the overd= ue special assessment from some households.

In the past month, the Board has found a new bank with cheaper fees and has fo= und a cheaper way to maintain the website.&nbs= p; We are looking at other cost-cutting measures. There are steps, however, that all= of us can take to keep our neighborhood expenses as low as possible. <= /span>

Like the majority of your neighbors, please pay your annual assess= ment on time. Please don’t require the community to incur the cost of multiple mailings to you, the cost of paying the attorney’s fees up front to collect from you, the cos= t of certified notices and the cost of registration of a lien against your property.

When you are moving, or are placing yo= ur house on the market, please notify the Board by leaving a message at 301-362-2353.&nb= sp; This helps you, and us, by putting us on notice that we have to bill a new person for the next assessment on that address. The Board is supposed to be notified of sales of homes in the neighborhood as part of the closing process, but in reality that doesn’t always happen and then the assessment mailings go astray as mail is forwarded to people who have moved.

Please pass on the MWHOA documents to the n= ew owners when you sell, as is required by law. You can get a set of these from the Board for a small fee when you ask for the necessary letter that shows= you have paid all of your neighborhood assessments to date. Please also ask them to leave= the Board a message at 301-362-2353 to let us know they have arrived.=

Last, but far from least, please fill out the forms you re= ceived with the latest draft of the revised covenants and return them to the Board. Each time the Board has had to solicit approval of the new covenants, the cost of that effort to the neighborhood has increased. If you have misplaced these forms, just ask for a new set by leaving a message at 301-362-2353.

With small measures we can all take, we can lower our community’s expenses. That way, the Board won’t have to choose this year between cutting back on community upke= ep or adding a special assessment. Do you have ideas to share on these matters? Call the phone number above or at= tend one of the Board meetings.

Anita Klein

MWHOA Trea= surer

        =      **********************

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Prince George’s County Hotlines

Upper Marlb= oro

AIDS/HIV Information           &nb= sp;            =             &nb= sp;

National Hotline: 1-800-342-2437

Espanol: 1-800-344-= 7432

Abuse or Assault
Day: (301) 808-5624=

Evening: (301) 699-= 8605

Sexual Assault (301) 618-3154

Alcoholics Anonymou= s (202) 966-9115

Al-Anon/Alateen: (2= 02) 882-1334

Mental Health Crisis Hotline

(301) 864-7130 or 800-422-0009

Missing Children
800-843-5678

National Runaway Hotline<= /span>

800-RUN-AWAY or 800-786-2929

Poison Control

800-222-1222

Suicide Prevention

301-322-2606

County Chamber of Commer= ce

301-731-5000

Legal

Birth Records: 301-= 324-2938

Death Records: 301-= 324-2940

Crime Solvers: 301-= 735-1111

County Attorney: 301-952-5225

Court Information: 301-952-3655

Register of Wills: 301-952-3250

Public Transportation

Mass Transit Administration: 800-543-9809

MARC Train Service:= 800-325-RAIL

Metrorail & Met= robus: 202-637-7000

Call-A-Bus (priorit= y given to seniors and the disabled): 301-499-8602

TheBus (county bus = service) 301-324-BUSS (2877), TDD 800-735-2258

Commuter Connection= (car & van pools) 800-486-RIDE (7433)

Social Security Administration

800-772-1213

Voter Registration

301-952-3270, TDD: 301-627-3352

A N= ote from the New Treasurer

Anita Klein

Prince George’s County Hotlines

Abuse or Assault Day: (301) 808-5624= Evening: (301) 699-= 8605 Sexual Assault (301) 618-3154 Alcoholics Anonymou= s (202) 966-9115 Al-Anon/Alateen: (2= 02) 882-1334

Mental Health Crisis Hotline

Missing Children 800-843-5678

National Runaway Hotline<= /span>

Poison Control

Suicide Prevention

Legal

Public Transportation

Social Security Administration

Voter Registration

Abuse or Assault
Day: (301) 808-5624=

Evening: (301) 699-= 8605

Sexual Assault (301) 618-3154

Alcoholics Anonymou= s (202) 966-9115

Al-Anon/Alateen: (2= 02) 882-1334

Missing Children
800-843-5678