SPECIAL
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CONCERT IN
THE PARK
Sunday, May 11 5-8 pm
On Mother’s Day May 11th RCHCA will
host a very special event. This year the concert
has two unique features that will make it special and fun
for the entire family.
The headline act with be The RTT’s!
http://cdbaby.com/cd/rtts The RTT’s are a local group
described as: “This wholesome, rootsy and americana-styled
album charts the fine balance between an album that’s
fun, catchy, kid-friendly and yet classic, respectable and
considerate of grown-ups. This is no less than kid’s
music with adult integrity.” The Washington Post.
Friday, May 14, 2004; Page WE07. The RTT’s “grown
up side” are the Rhodes Tavern Troubadours! The Washington
Post writes: The quartet pays homage to the past by playing
roots rock, country, swing and R&B with more flair than
any band in town. They can strut through a Ray Price shuffle,
break your heart on the soul standard “The Dark End
of the Street” or get your feet moving with originals
that sound like tracks from a long-lost NRBQ record. http://cdbaby.com/cd/rttroubadours.
The second unique feature of this
year’s event is a catered dinner! The menu
features for adults: Fajita station with chicken and carne
asada, vegetarian black beans and a romaine tomato and hearts
of palm salad; For Kids (up to age 12) Grilled Hot Dogs
and Hamburgers with all the fixins. The menu is all presented
by Dish Caterers (Red Dog Cafe). People are expected to
bring their own drinks and desserts.
PLEASE RSVP and indicate how many
adults (13 and over) and how many kids. Tell mom
to relax, bring a blanket and enjoy a great concert and
dinner on us! Please, no glass containers and no alcoholic
beverages.
Where: Rock Creek Hills Park: Saul &
Haverhill
When: May 11 5-8 pm. Dinner served at 6.
RSVP: Please reply by Sunday, May 4 with
the number of adults and kids for dinner only, via email
(no attachments) to Laura Cihra at lcihra@comcast.net
NEIGHBORHOOD
WATCH
details
BAIT CAR PROGRAMS
On February 7, 2008, Joe Rosenberg and Adam Pagnucco of
Forest Estates Community Association presented the attached
document to Councilmember Phil Andrews who heads the Committee
on Public Safety. The document reviews the success of Bait
Car programs nationwide. For those of you attending our
Annual Meeting on January 26, Adam was a guest speaker who
explained how this program has worked in various cities
in the US and Canada. RCHCA has joined with eight other
citizens associations in writing our County Executive, urging
that our county adopt a similar program to stem the rise
in car break-ins and thefts. The
attached document was shown at the meeting, and is now available
on our website to inform interested readers as to how the
program works and the successes it has made in reducing
such crime.
A MESSAGE
FROM JOE ROSENBERG (RCHCA PRES) CONCERNING REQUEST FOR PEDESTRIAN
SAFETY...
The other evening I received a call from one of our local
elected leaders asking me if we would write a letter in
support of enhanced pedestrian safety. Specifically, I was
asked if we would support requesting a small amount in the
county's capital budget to fund a sidewalk for pedestrians
on
the west side of Connecticut Avenue.
We are all aware of the fact that there has been an increase
in pedestrian accidents in the area over the past year.
Many of you may know of the fatal accident on Connecticut
Avenue near Dresden last March. The woman killed there was
a close personal friend. If you are familiar with the area,
cars often speed coming northbound over a rise in the road,
with poor visibility at night and few crosswalks. Not only
are there no sidewalks in this area on the west side of
Connecticut Avenue, but the lawns slope sharply to the street,
making it difficult to walk along Connecticut Avenue other
than on the street itself.
We know that putting sidewalks on residential streets is
sometimes controversial, but I'd like to think this is not
just a normal residential area. With your concurrence, I'd
like to write this letter on behalf of RCHCA to our elected
officials requesting that a small amount of funding be reserved
for a sidewalk in this area. Please reply to this email
by Sunday evening, letting me know if you concur with lending
our voice to this important effort.
Thank you.
Joe Rosenberg jrosenberg@comcast.net
see updated correspondence
for letters
WSSC B-COUNTY
WATER TUNNEL INFORMATION
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has set up a
web site to provide information on the Bi-County Water Tunnel
(formerly called the Bi-County Water Supply Main - a.k.a.
"The Big Dig). You
can access the site HERE; or go to the WSSC site (www.wsscwater.com),
hover over Projects, and click on "Bi-County Water
Tunnel".
From the Bi-County Water Tunnel site:
a.. "Construction is expected to start in mid-2008,
taking about four years to complete in 2012."
b.. The water tunnel will be built using tunneling.
c.. There will be three shafts: one at Tuckerman Lane; one
at Connecticut Avenue, Beach Drive, and the exit from the
outer loop of the beltway; and one at Stoneybrook Drive
and Beach Drive.
d.. The working shaft will be at Connecticut Avenue, Beach
Drive and the beltway. The shaft will be 35 feet in diameter.
The shaft will be constructed by blasting. "Operations
at this shaft will be 24 hours per day for the duration
of constuction period."
e.. The retrival shaft will be at Stoneybrook Drive and
Beach Drive. The shaft will be 25 feet in diameter. The
shaft will be constructed by blasting. Operations at this
shaft will be periodic during daytime operations.
f.. "Tunnel construction could impede use of Rock Creek
Park in some areas. Specifically, biking, hiking (Rock Creek
Trail), and traffic along Beach Drive could be affected
because of increased traffic and construction site use.
However, measures such as re-routing the biking and hiking
paths and traffic planning could minimize the areas inaccessible
for recreational uses in this park during construction.
No significant long-term recreational impacts are anticipated."
There is a lot of information about the tunnelling process,
maps, frequently asked questions, etc. on the WSSC Bi-County
Water Tunnel web site.
Regards,
Mike Baker
Grace
Episcopal Day School Development
Another topic that was discussed at Saturday's RCHCA meeting
was the Grace Episcopal Day School Development. (There is
a sign announcing the development at the intersection of
Beach Drive and Stanhope Road.)
The site plan shows the proposed multi-purpose building
located to the south of the current school building. The
proposed multi-purpose room is 18,268 square foot. The multi-purpose
building is rectangular in shape. The east-west exterior
length of the building is 191.5 feet. The north-south exterior
length of the building 98.6 feet. The eastern side of the
multi-purpose building lines up with the eastern side of
the current school building. The western side of the multi-purpose
building is further west than the front of the current school
building by about 50 feet.
In addition to the multi-purpose building, the site plan
shows a new soccer field east of the the multi-purpose building.
The next step is to for the site plan to go before the
MNCPPC Design Review Committee. This should occur some time
in March. "DRC meetings are open to the public but
are not public hearings." The current
DRC schedule is available HERE, which is also the source
of the previous quote.
After the Design Review Committee, there will be a public
hearing. RCHCA will be notified of the public hearing and
will post the notice to RCHCAnet.
The site plan should be on the MNCPPC web
site before March. Once additional information has been
posted, the following procedure will retrieve it.
a.. Please
CLICK HERE ;
b.. in the "Learn about Development Activities in Montgomery
County" window, click on Next
c.. In the Search for Project Details by Application Number,
enter the project number (120080230), and click on Search;
d.. In the Search Results window, click on Search for Related
Plans & Reports
e.. In the Additional Search Parameters window, click on
Select All, and click on Search
Please note that the material has not yet
been posted to the MNCPPC web site. The information should
be posted by March.
(POSTED BY MIKE BAKER ON RCHCANET 1/28/08)
THANK YOU
SHANNON HAMM!
After last night's election, this is the first time many
years (I don't know how long) that Shannon Hamm will no
longer be an official in some capacity for Rock Creek Hills
Citizens' Association. Among her prior offices have been
President, Vice President, and Covenants Chair, and possibly
more that I don't know of. She has single-handedly been
responsible for doggedly (pun intended) ensuring that Rock
Creek Park serves our community, including keeping doggie
bags in the park, as well as restoring trash cans and
obtaining new amenities such as the water fountain, pavilion
and sidewalks. She also greatly upgraded our covenants compliance
and approval process, now capably in the hands of Vince
De Cain.
In sum, thank you Shannon for your tireless effort on behalf
of Rock Creek Hills. Best of luck in the future.
(POSTED BY JOE ROSENBERG ON RCHCANET 1/28/08)
A MESSAGE
FROM JOE ROSENBERG, PRESIDENT RCHCA
One of the issues that many Rock Creek Hills residents have
expressed concern over in recent months is that of car break-ins
and related thefts. As many of you know from attending the
last RCHCA meeting, this is a type of crime that has been
growing rapidly in this general area and throughout the
county.
In an effort to speak to our elected officials with a strong
voice, I have been in touch with other citizens associations
that have similar concerns. While the police typically suggest
locking our cars and removing valuables from sight, we wanted
to request the county to consider more pro-active programs
that have a proven track record for reducing crime. We learned
that many other jurisdictions throughout the country, including
Arlington County
VA, have adopted methods such as the "bait-car"
program. In this method, cars are set up with video cameras
and sometimes GPS, and are made to appear easy to steal
and/or attractive for break-ins with observable items of
interest to would-be thieves. See www.baitcar.com <http://www.baitcar.com/>
for some very interesting video on this type of program
in action.
On November, 19, I co-signed a letter with leaders of eight
other local citizens' association addressed to County Executive
Ike Leggett. In the letter, we requested the adoption of
more aggressive measures to reduce this type of crime, including
more patrols and the use of bait-cars. Other signatories,
besides RCHCA include:
* Forest Estates Community Association
* Forest Glen Station Homeowners Association
* Forest Grove Citizens Association
* Kensington Heights Citizens Association
* North Hills of Sligo Creek Civic Association
* Northmont Citizens Association
* South Four Corners Citizens Association
* Woodside Forest Citizens Association
The letter is posted on the RCHCA website, and
it may be accessed HERE.
As leaders of associations representing about 4400 households,
we believe that this is the type of request that should
get our elected leaders attention. We also believe that
it shows the value of having associations in position to
make such requests.
Joe
POLICE INFORMATION
ON RECENT THEFTS FROM VEHICLES
The
press release on the County web site
"Did
You Lock Your Car?" handout
THINKING AHEAD
TO 2008...
URGENT NEED FOR NEW BOARD
MEMBERS
In 2008 Shannon Hamm is stepping down as Vice President
after many years of service to RCHCA. Also stepping down
is Bob MacDowall as Treasurer after 3 years on our Board.
As you all know, a volunteer organization like ours cannot
survive without people willing to serve in positions of
responsibility. It is unrealistic to expect the same people
to serve year-in and year-out without turnover. Unfortunately,
new volunteers have been scarce to come by in recent years.
This includes multiple-year vacancies for several of our
standing committees.
In the last several years, your RCHCA Board has worked
hard to provide our residents with various services, events
and a strong voice in addressing issues of community concern.
Among recent successes that could not have happened without
an active leadership include the traffic safety measures
approved by residents under County guidelines; County funding
for renovation of Rock Creek Park, including a new pavilion
and water fountain; and of course, our ongoing covenants
enforcement and "good neighbor" notification policy.
Our upcoming Halloween Parade and Potluck always bring out
a large turnout for festivities. Although we do not have
a Special Events Committee Chair, Eden Durbin has graciously
volunteered again to organize that popular event. None of
these things would be possible without volunteers, which
is something we cannot take for granted each year.
We are urgently seeking someone to head up a nominating
committee to find replacements for Shannon and Bob in time
for the 2008 election early in January. People
willing to serve in either position should also let us know
of that fact ASAP. Others willing to serve on our standing
committees are of course also welcome.
This is your neighborhood association. If you want it to
continue, please volunteer for our nominating committee
to help make it happen. Interested parties should contact
Joe Rosenberg at jrosenberg@comcast.net, or call me at 301-495-9821.
Rosemary Hills
Primary School Is Building a New Playground
Rosemary Hills Primary School (RHPS) is the public school
for children in grades K – 2 who live in Rock Creek
Hills. The “Rainbow School,” as it is called,
has a rich history and evokes fond memories for many Rock
Creek Hills residents. It is located just off of East-West
Highway in Silver Spring. Last spring, the PTA at RHPS decided
to do something about the sad state of the playground equipment
at the school. As a result of generous donations by families,
area businesses and several homeowners’ associations
in Chevy Chase, enough money was raised to purchase Phase
1 of a beautiful set of state-of-the-art playground equipment.
The Phase 1 equipment has been installed and is being enjoyed
by our children. The fundraising continues, however, because
more equipment is still needed. In addition, the PTA would
like to add some necessary accessories such as benches,
a water
fountain, and picnic/art activity tables.
As a resident of Rock Creek Hills and a
parent at Rosemary Hills, I respectfully put forth a motion
that the Rock Creek Hills Citizens’ Association make
a $2,000 donation to the RHPS playground campaign. It would
be an investment on behalf of the many children in our neighborhood
who currently or in the future will attend RHPS.
You will have an opportunity to
vote on this motion at the October 10, 2007 RCHCA meeting.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and
if you have any questions about the playground campaign,
feel free to contact me. Janice Pliner, 9505 Barroll Lane
301-962-6190, janicepliner@yahoo.com
RCHCAnet
At our annual meeting, the topic of whether
or not to have formal RCHCAnet posting polices was discussed
and voted on.
It was unanimous to keep posting policy
on our site informal, as is now the case. To recap, our
existing policies prohibit only two types of advertisement:
* Political fundraisers (not the same as
meet and greet the
candidate, which members previously said they approve of);
* Commercial advertisements for a business
As far as directly selling items via RCHCAnet,
the sense of our members is that it would be a courtesy
if the sender would put the words "For Sale" in
the message header to allow people to filter out such messages
if they so chose.
Thank you for you continued compliance.
Joe Rosenberg, President RCHCA
10/26/06
TRAFFIC CALMING MEETING UPDATE
TRAFFIC
SURVEY SUMMARY
TRAFFICE
SURVEY DETAILS
HISTORICAL
TRAFFIC INFORMATION
On Oct. 26, a special meeting on was held
to consider and act upon the findings of a traffic safety
study performed by the county. RCHCA made this request made
last spring to address traffic safety issues at various
locations throughout our community. The meeting was very
well attended, beginning with a presentation by the county,
followed by an extensive Q&A session, and then many
thoughtful expressions of individual’s views. The
county explained that among the areas requested for consideration
of traffic safety relief, only two areas qualified for traffic
calming measures, one on Kensington Parkway and the other
on Saul Road. For these, speed humps were proposed as the
most effective solution.
Upon request by numerous residents who needed to be home
by around 9 pm, a motion was put to a vote to allow attendees
who stayed until at least 8:45 pm to assign their vote by
written proxy to the President. That motion passed overwhelmingly.
Several other motions were presented that helped to expedite
the proceedings: (a) a motion to first accept only questions
from the attendees, rather than allowing speeches before
all of the facts were clarified; (b) a later motion allowing
either speeches or questions but limited to 3 minutes per
speaker; and (c) finally, after everyone had the chance
to speak at least once, a motion was made to put things
to a vote. The motion was whether or not to allow the process
to move forward. The motion was passed by a vote of 39 to
34.
As this process continues, the county will complete the
development of a speed hump location plan, and between 6
and 9 months prior to installation, Residence Concurrence
forms will be distributed, seeking formal concurrence of
at least 80% of the residents “…whose livability
is directly affected by the traffic conditions along the
streets or street sections being considered for speed hump
installation.” A letter was sent on November 5, 2006,
asking the county to proceed in the prescribed manner. The
letter is accessible on our website
BIKE PATH
PROPOSED FOR KENSINGTON PARKWAY
RCHCA formally expressed support for a bike path on Kensington
Parkway at the October 2001 meeting. The Minutes of that
meeting are available at: http://www.rchca.org/minutes/min2001-10.htm.
The current Countywide Bikeways Functional Master Plan,
Planning Board Draft - May 2004 (http://www.mc-mncppc.org/transportation/bikeways/)
includes a proposed "signed shared roadway" bike
path on Kensington Parkway. (It is on page 9 of Table 2-2
of the Master Plan, which is available at: http://www.mc-mncppc.org/transportation/bikeways/A&A/CBFMP-bikewaytable.pdf)
Based upon previous RCHCA support for a bike path on Kensington
Parkway, the Transportation Committee has requested that
the President of RCHCA send a letter to the Maryland National
Capital Park and Planning Commission expressing support
for a bike path on Kensington Parkway, with preference for
an off road bike trail.
If no objections to RCHCA re-iterating its support for
a bike path on Kensington Parkway are raised by June 30th
2006, a letter supporting a bike path will be sent on behalf
or RCHCA.
If objections are raised, the issue will be brought up
at the October meeting.
Please express any objections to RCHCANET@yahoogroups.com
or contact a board member. (posted 6/20/06)
PARK IMPROVEMENTS
click for larger view
The proposal
was presented at the January 28, 2006 meeting. Comments
on the proposal can be submitted to Shannon Hamm at shannonhamm@comcast.net.
The
Board wrote to the Montgomery County Budget and Planning
Office in 2001 in order to be considered for a county improvement
project for the park at Haverhill and Saul Road.
The Board received a call in November from Maryland National
Capital Park and Planning Commission that they want to build
a pavilion and install a water fountain at our park. Shannon
Hamm is working with staff at MNCPPC to develop the plans.
It is not clear when construction will take place and to
what extent MNCPPC can accommodate the full request, which
also include building a privacy screen for the porta potty,
additional trash cans, and installation and up keep of the
disposable dog bag dispenser. We have also requested picnic
tables for the pavilion.
If any residents are interested in working with Shannon,
please email her at shannonhamm@comcast.net. (POSTED
12/28/05)
See related link: "THE
BIG DIG" -- WSSC - BI-COUNTY WATER SUPPLY MAIN ALIGNMENT
STUDY
PROPERTY PLATS
AVAILABLE ON-LINE
[8/26/04]On a related note, the plats themselves are available
online. Go to www.plats.net. The userid is "plato",
the password is "plato#". Unless you know the
exact lot description, the easiest thing to do is go to
advanced search and search on a description of "Rock
Creek Hills."
EVERYONE IS URGED TO SIGN
UP WITH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD LISTSERVE! PLEASE EMAIL MIKE
BAKER TO JOIN!
HOME IMPROVEMENT CHECKLIST
To get a copy of the home improvement "check list"
and sample "neighbor notification" form
CLICK HERE
