Hilltop Community Minutes

September 3, 2012

 

Our summer brunch, meeting, and second bike parade of the season were held on Labor Day this year. The July 4th brunch/meeting was cancelled due to the extremely hot weather and the extended power outage, which caused some people to be away from the community.  Nevertheless the kids went ahead with their bike parade on July 4th and, in fact, celebrated both holidays with bike parades this summer.  There are a few photos from July 4, but none from Sept. 3.  Please send any that you wish to share to Lance at:  webmaster@hilltop.net or lanceoptican@gmail.com.

Many thanks to Elizabeth and Ian Richards for allowing the continued use of their carport for this brunch and meeting.  The perfect place!

The event was attended by 29 adults; 18 homes were represented by at least one person.

President’s Message

Bryan called the meeting together and welcomed everyone with a few remarks, briefly discussing the reasons for the postponement to Labor Day.  He mentioned that there is a PEPCO map online to show the areas without power.
http://www.pepco.com/home/emergency/maps/stormcenter/
The phone number to call to report an outage is:  1-877-737-2662. To report a downed wire call:   202-872-3432.

The Board (composed of the officers and committee chairpersons) met on July 30 and the minutes from that meeting will be posted on the website along with these minutes.

Treasury Report

Ian has recently installed an extra mail box located on a tree along the driveway close to his house for people to drop their checks into the slot.  He will check this at least once a week.
He reported that approximately 2/3 of the community had so far paid their 2012 dues. He will contact those who have not yet paid by email and then follow up with a phone call -- or a knock on the door.

Next year the Board decided to have the dues payable at the time of the winter meeting.  A notice will be sent ahead of time as a reminder. Those who cannot attend the meeting should also pay the dues by that date.

 

Landscaping Committee and County Liaison Reports

Unfortunately Carol Simon, Landscape Committee Chair, could not be present at the meeting.  Brian led a discussion of the current status and future plans. Oscar Sanchez has provided minimal maintenance for the hill.  It is difficult to sustain plantings due to water runoff, soil erosion, severe cold during some winters, and lack of water for new plants.  Grasses are the only thing so far that seem to grow well.

Marsha pointed out that gullies have formed from the runoff and mentioned that the County had provided a rock swale, but does not maintain it.  Norma would like to see the migrating grass cut as it creeps up the slope.  (The grass on the hill, in most parts, is actually a weed.)

Ian reported that $760 was paid to Oscar last season and $700 was paid recently.  He will ask for itemized bills in the future.

A suggestion was made to ask the County what they would recommend for the hill and to see if they would pay for it (or part of it). 

Kenan reported that the road paving is finished.  The County workcrew returned to even out the asphalt patches, build an asphalt swale into the grassy area at the top of the hill, and repaint the yellow double line at the corner.  Lenny said that he called the County several times about the resurfacing (Kenan also called several times) and wanted everyone to know about the 311 County phone number for repairs.  Kenan said it takes several phone calls.  This number is also appropriate to request snow plowing.

Regarding the landscaping and budget, Lenny suggested having a Community Day when everyone could volunteer and work together to do planting and weeding, etc.  He said that community effort is how the first gazebo was built.  Norma suggested keeping it simple with plants like pachysandra and liriope that do well in the shade and cold weather without extra watering.

Ian stated that other communities on Seven Locks Road have a drain along the road.  He suggested calling Councilman Berliner’s office and asking him to walk the road and offer suggestions.  Carol L. agreed and said he was very responsive to his constituents and mentioned that she knew him personally. 

Ahmed noted all the different suggestions at this meeting and said we should have a consensus and a formal statement of the problem to present to Councilman Berliner’s office.  Ron and Lenny agreed.  Ron agreed to draft the letter with Jane’s help.

 

Dues Increase  

This discussion brought up the subject of the lack of money in the Treasury to do anything other than minimal maintenance on the hill.  The dues have not been increased for at least twenty years.  Bryan worked out the inflation-adjusted figures and said that $100.00 twenty years ago is equivalent to $170.00 today.  Presently there is no money in reserve for emergencies.  At the July 30th Board meeting, the members voted unanimously to increase the dues to $150.00 in 2013.

(At about this point Bryan had to leave the meeting to help Kia with their newborn and Lenny took over the remainder of the meeting.)

A vote was taken and the community also voted unanimously to set the dues at $150.00 beginning in January.

 

Webmaster’s Report

Lance reported that the Hilltop website is “alive and well.”  He encouraged everyone to send any news they wish to share. (This can be engagement, wedding, baby, or graduation announcements; travel news; vacation photos; kid’s photos, etc.)  Only first names are used on the website.

Conclusion

Celia, the Social Committee Chair, who organized this event, thanked Carol L. and Mandy for their help with the meeting preparations, and also Ian and Elizabeth for the use of their carport.  (I hope we thanked Celia in return!)