Board Meeting Minutes

The annual meeting of MSCA was held at Beverly Farms elementary school on June 3, 2002, as publicized in advance and in accordance with our bylaws.

Bob Gross, President, opened the meeting at 7:30. In his President’s report, Bob noted that the association continued to function strongly and recognized Vice President Kim Ford and the other officers and board members for their contributions. Treasurer David Grossman reported that we had approximately 240 houses in paid status at this time and were continuing efforts to increase the level of participation. A healthy treasury balance of about $6400 has been achieved. It was decided to clarify that dues payments cover the period of the coming calendar year.

It was announced that our yard sale was a success and the participants donated a portion of their proceeds to charity, raising approximately $150 for a worthy cause. Next year’s calendar will include a holiday party as we continue to expand the social opportunities in the community.

Secretary Tom Hall then announced the results of the call for nominations for officers of the association. All standing officers volunteered to continue in their positions, and there were no new nominees offered. Re-election of the current slate was unanimous. The need for a volunteer Webmaster, and a chair for the Roads and Safety Committee was noted by the President. Volunteers should contact him at any time.

The community was fortunate this year to have two guest speakers of interest to the members. The first was Delegate Jean Cryor, our representative in the Maryland House of Delegates. Delegate Cryor reviewed a few of the many highlights of this year’s legislative session, particularly the achievements of the united Montgomery County delegation in winning a major battle to improve our share of an overall increase in school funding. This was followed by an informative briefing from MSCA member, Joseph Lavorgna, who is the Director of Planning and Capital Programming, Montgomery County Public School system. Mr. Lavorgna described the time tables and methodology used to determine which schools would be renovated and when.

After the speakers, the floor was opened for comments and questions from the homeowners. A couple of recent incidents of vandalism on Smoketree Road were discussed by a concerned resident, who also noted that county police do not devote major attention to investigating or trying to track down vandals. Several suggestions were proffered by the speaker and others, many involving improvements in lighting. Another suggestion was to put trash cans and other movable items away and out of sight. This may project an impression of better care and attention being paid by residents to their property, and may remove some targets of opportunity for vandals as well. If the Board is notified of incidents, we can publicize them, raise the level of awareness, and consider appropriate actions. The possibility of getting more police patrols, particularly on Saturday night, was discussed. Options for pursuing this include calling the community focal point officer, who spoke to us at last year’s annual meeting, and considering establishment of a Neighborhood Watch program. If a volunteer is available to pursue such avenues, they can be discussed at a future business meeting of the Board.

In closing, the President thanked everyone for coming. A door prize drawing for two gift certificates to Home Depot was held to show appreciation for those who supported the association by their attendance.

Refreshments provided by Geppetto Catering, courtesy of owner and MSCA resident Josh Carin, were enjoyed by all.

Meeting was adjourned.