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Minutes of Annual Meeting 2010
The annual meeting of the Montgomery Square Citizens Association was held as required by our bylaws, on May 17, 2010 at Beverly Farms Elementary School. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 by President Bob Gross. As a courtesy to our guest speaker, the agenda began with his presentation.
Our speaker was Mr. Thomas Pogue, the Community Relations Manager for the Montgomery Count Department of Transportation, covering our area. Mr. Pogue’s office provides a lot of informational offerings for the local communities, and he provided packets for those in attendance. He described a re-organization of the County departments which separated the former Department of Public Works and Transportation into independent units. The Department of Transportation covers many issues of concern to citizens, including road maintenance, pedestrian safety, snow removal, parking, Ride-On busses, traffic engineering, etc. Valuable resources and information on the Department that he highlighted are available on the Montgomery County website: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/ The Department’s main telephone number, 240-777-6000 will be replaced this year with a centralized county-wide help desk, dialing 311.
Mr. Pogue took several questions from members, covering hot topics. Snow removal was one, after the sever winter. Residents questioned whether damage to curbs caused by snow plows would be addressed. Mr. Pogue responded that the Department does plan to drive the snow plow routes and assess any damage. Residents can also report damage themselves to the number above. A standardized “service request” process will be used and residents should be sure to get a service request number to use for follow-up. In response to a question on speed humps, Mr. Pogue said that traffic calming is still an active program. There are strict criteria on speed and traffic volume, with surveys and citizen input required. After the repaving of the southern portion of the community, speed humps were replaced with lower, broader models according to current guidelines. A resident noted that the striping on some was not adequate visibility. Relevant to Seven Locks Road, there are open studies still on the Sidewalk and Bikeway, and other improvements such as repaving. The County remains far behind on repaving due to budget constraints.
Mr. Gross thanked Mr. Pogue for his long record of service to the County and to the community and for coming to our meeting.
In the community portion of the meeting, members discussed the Treasurer’s report, and a report from the President. The community finances are in good shape, with sufficient revenues to meet projected expenses. About 260 households contributed dues this year. This is slightly above prior year participation rates, representing diligent work from the Membership Chairman and the Board to encourage participation. Funds go predominantly to maintain and beautify the neighborhood entrance areas, to print the community directory, and support a few neighborhood events. Events included a special ice cream social with entertainment by our neighborhood’s resident Elvis Tribute Artist which was well attended. The annual yardsale, with support from Vice President Steve Schuck, got good feedback and will remain on our calendar. There was some discussion on the community directory, validating the consensus that it should print information on participating residents only. In part, this is as an incentive, but it also reflects reality that without submission of the dues and information form, we have no basis to list members who do not respond.
Secretary Tom Hall announced that no new nominations for the Officers of the association were received, but that current incumbents did volunteer to continue in office if elected. A motion was made and seconded to re-elect the serving Officers, passing unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00.
MSCA has reported to the County’s Department of Highway Services the damage done by snow plows to the grassy areas along Seven Locks Road and to the retaining walls at the intersection of Seven Locks and Post Oak roads . Hopefully, the County will send out an inspector and replace the grass and fix the walls in the near future. The County’s phone number for requesting road repairs, or to follow-up on an existing service request, is: 240-777-6000.
Please note that MSCA has received the following information from county officials via Alert Montgomery:
Montgomery County officials are urging residents to clear snow away from fire hydrants so that they are visible from the road and accessible to firefighters in the event of emergency.
Residents are also reminded to exercise caution when shoveling snow. Shovel snow into the yard rather than the street, to facilitate plowing. Cold weather puts an extra strain on the body. Individuals with heart disease or high blood pressure should follow their doctor’s advice about shoveling snow or performing other hard work in the cold. Avoid overexertion. Heart attacks from shoveling heavy snow are a leading cause of deaths during winter.
Property owners are responsible for clearing their public sidewalks, driveways and entrances within 24 hours of the end of a snowstorm. All residents are strongly encouraged to be good neighbors by clearing the sidewalks in front of their homes, as well as assisting those who may not be physically able to do so.
MSCA encourages its members to sign up for Alert Montgomery, a FREE service, at https://alert.montgomerycountymd.gov
For Montgomery Square residents on the south side of Montrose Rd.
Beverly Farms Elementary School- Modernization Design
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is about to conduct the schematic design process for modernization of Beverly Farms Elementary School.
Below is the schedule for the design process and please know you are encouraged to participate.
The design is being conducted by a Facility Advisory Committee (FAC) will include representatives of the school, PTA, Civic Associations, neighbors, government agencies, the design architects, Muse Architects, and staff from MCPS Division of Construction.
MCPS has posted our new and updated signs on our front lawn. The signs in both English and Spanish show the FAC work session meetings that are scheduled in the afternoons and evenings to allow maximum community involvement. The schedules for the meetings are below.
FAC, Work Session Meeting #1 Wednesday, February 03, 2010 6:30 pm at the School
FAC, Work Session Meeting #2 Wednesday, February 17, 2010 3:30 pm at the School
FAC, Work Session Meeting #3 Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:30 pm at the School
FAC, Work Session Meeting #4 Wednesday, March 24, 2010 3:30 pm at the School
FAC, Work Session Meeting #5 Thursday, April 8, 2010 6:30 pm at the School
If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering what happened to the old site. In an attempt to allow us to have several editors I am in the process of moving everything to WordPress. This will allow us to post meeting minutes, upcoming events and other information in a timely manner. It will also allow the community to leave comments on the posts and pages. These changes should hopefully make the site a useful resource that you’ll visit often or add to your favorite feed reader. :-)
Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment. This is still a work in progress so you’ll see more changes in the coming days.
Tony Primerano
I’ll leave you with a familiar image from the old site.
I think I have moved everything to the new site but just in case here is a link to the old content. http://montgomerysquare.org/old
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DOT Develops Preliminary Design for Seven Locks Road Sidewalk & Bikeway Project
Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) is in the process of developing the preliminary design (35%) plans for the Seven Locks Road Sidewalk and Bikeway Project (SLRS&B). The SLRS&B project is currently in Facility Planning Phase 2.
All MSCA residents are invited to attend a SLRS&B public workshop scheduled for:
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
The Heights School
Chesterton Hall
10400 Seven Locks Road
Potomac, Maryland 20854
The proposed project will provide pedestrian and bicycle improvements along Seven Locks Road from Montrose Road to Bradley Boulevard. There are existing intermittent pedestrian facilities along this corridor but there are no offroad facilities that meet current County standards. The improvements include a “Dual Bikeway” which provides for both on-road and off-road bicycle facilities.
Improvements include:
* Two 11-foot wide travel lanes plus 5-foot wide bike on-road lanes along both sides of Seven Locks Road;
* An 8-foot off-road shared use bike path on the west side of Seven Locks Road;
* A 5-foot wide sidewalk on the east side of Seven Locks Road;
* An 8-foot off-road shared use path along Montrose Road between Seven Locks Road and the I-270 ramp;
* Northbound and eastbound auxiliary through lanes at the intersection of Seven Locks Road and Tuckerman Lane.
For further information, we have posted the MCDOT newsletter regarding this project. Click to read “pdf” file of newsletter:
Mountygomery County Seven Locks Road Sidewalk and Bikeway Newsletter
MSCA is interested in forming a Seven Locks Road Sidewalk & Bikeway Committee to assist MCDOT in bringing this project to fruition. If you are interested in joining this Committee, please contact Bob Gross at rjgross@comcast.net or 301-467-1007.
