Riverdale Heights/Riverdale Hills/Crestwood Community Assoc.

July Meeting Minutes

July 11, 2007

Meeting Minutes July 11, 2007

Attendance: approximately 75 members. Discussion on when to meet, decided to alternate from Saturday to Wednesday. Next meeting will be Saturday August 11 at 11 AM; the September meeting will be on the 12th at 7:30 PM.

Update on Activities:
On Saturday July 7th members of the Association teamed with the police to clean up graffiti. Co-chairs of the Graffiti Committee asked that you call them to report graffiti, trash, or other debris.

The Department of the Environment, Department of Public Works and the Police has been working hard on the area around Sheridan and 58th and 59th. Vacant lot has been cleaned, the graffiti on the street has been covered, and arrests have been made.

Dumpster to be scheduled in late August or early September; it will be available from Friday night through Sunday.

There is now a link about the Association on the Fire Department’s website at www.rhvfdvolunteers.com.

It was clarified that the by-laws that are being developed are not new laws aimed at citizens. Rather, they are laws that govern the association, i.e. meeting frequency, membership, officers.

Two members attended a Citizen Advisory Committee. PG Police stated that all are welcome at these meetings; they are held once a month at the District 1 station. They learned that a National Night Out event is planned for the evening of August 7th at District 1. We are welcome to set up a Community Association table.

Committees/Working Groups Update:
Working groups that still needs volunteers:
Neighborhood watch
Street Repairs (Graffiti clean up committee will identify streets and sidewalks
needing repair, and report it to Department of Public Works)
Livable Community (5 members signed up)
Nomination Committee
Hospitality Committee

The Communications Committee will have a meeting on August 1 from 6-8 PM at the community garden. There is a need for more Street Captains for each block. A block is about 20 houses. Existing Street Captains need to count the number of houses in their assigned areas and report that number to the head of the Communications Committee.



Presentation from PG County Police District 1
Captain Valez congratulated the citizens for forming an association and their hard work to date.

Some activities happening in 2007 are:
The District now has two captains
Formation of Community Response Team (CRT)
30 new recruits for District 1
Beginning “Suspicious Car Stops”, this always leads to decrease crime
“Suspicious person stops” will start soon
Community Responsiveness meeting scheduled for July 12th with Marty and Bill Newman
Truancy patrols will pick up this school year
PG County does have a curfew, 10 PM weekdays and 12 PM weeknights

Concerns raised by Citizens were:
The police were asked about gang awareness and it was decided that at the next meeting the police will conduct a gang education session. The manager of the 911 operators will also attend to address concerns.

The group that has a permit to play soccer at William Wirt is not abiding by the permit. The Principal of William Wirt listened to the citizen’s complaints and will pass these problems on to the Board. The police asked the citizens to call the police when they see problems with this group. The association will support the Principal’s request for more lighting at the school.

There was a discussion about only seeing the police when there is a problem and citizens wondered if the police patrol the area. The police stated that they do patrol between calls, but they are driven by the calls. Anyone is welcome to go on a ride along to see how busy they are.

Several people complained about the lack of street lights and how dark the streets are. The police suggested that everyone keep their front porch lights on. The association will request the Department of Public Works to perform a street light analysis.

The police were notified about the problems at the playground at 61st and Somerset. The Captain took note of the location and stated that they would visit this area. Officer Davis handed out index cards and asked members to write down specific concerns and return them to him. Several cards were given to him; he will respond to the member who provided the concern. Beginning July 17th, Officer Davis and his staff will personally visit citizens in our neighborhood.

Several people brought up the issue of people out at night with spray paint cans either in their hands or in bags. The police encouraged everyone to call the police about any suspicious activities, they will respond.

The fire department addressed the concerns about fireworks, they said for any fire code violation call the Fire Service at 301-583-2200.

Maureen of the Youth Center, Principal Coleman, Eric Olson, and the Police were congratulated and thanked for all their efforts.

Meeting adjourned with another request for volunteers for the committees.

Meeting Minutes July 11, 2007

Attendance: approximately 75 members. Discussion on when to meet, decided to alternate from Saturday to Wednesday. Next meeting will be Saturday August 11 at 11 AM; the September meeting will be on the 12th at 7:30 PM.

Update on Activities:
On Saturday July 7th members of the Association teamed with the police to clean up graffiti. Co-chairs of the Graffiti Committee asked that you call them to report graffiti, trash, or other debris.

The Department of the Environment, Department of Public Works and the Police has been working hard on the area around Sheridan and 58th and 59th. Vacant lot has been cleaned, the graffiti on the street has been covered, and arrests have been made.

Dumpster to be scheduled in late August or early September; it will be available from Friday night through Sunday.

There is now a link about the Association on the Fire Department’s website at www.rhvfdvolunteers.com thanks to Andy.

It was clarified that the by-laws that are being developed are not new laws aimed at citizens. Rather, they are laws that govern the association, i.e. meeting frequency, membership, officers.

Two members attended a Citizen Advisory Committee. PG Police stated that all are welcome at these meetings; they are held once a month at the District 1 station. They learned that a National Night Out event is planned for the evening of August 7th at District 1. We are welcome to set up a Community Association table.

Committees/Working Groups Update:
Working groups that still needs volunteers:
Neighborhood watch
Street Repairs (Graffiti clean up committee will identify streets and sidewalks
needing repair, and report it to Department of Public Works)
Livable Community (5 members signed up)
Nomination Committee
Hospitality Committee

The Communications Committee will have a meeting on August 1 from 6-8 PM at the community garden. There is a need for more Street Captains for each block. A block is about 20 houses. Existing Street Captains need to count the number of houses in their assigned areas and report that number to the head of the Communications Committee.



Presentation from PG County Police District 1
Captain Velez congratulated the citizens for forming an association and their hard work to date.

Some activities happening in 2007 are:
The District now has two captains
Formation of Community Response Team (CRT)
30 new recruits for District 1
Beginning “Suspicious Car Stops”, this always leads to decrease crime
“Suspicious person stops” will start soon
Community Responsiveness meeting scheduled for July 12th with Marty and Bill Newman
Truancy patrols will pick up this school year
PG County does have a curfew, 10 PM weekdays and 12 PM weeknights

Concerns raised by Citizens were:
The police were asked about gang awareness and it was decided that at the next meeting the police will conduct a gang education session. The manager of the 911 operators will also attend to address concerns.

The group that has a permit to play soccer at William Wirt is not abiding by the permit. Principal Coleman from William Wirt listened to the citizen’s complaints and will pass these problems on to the Board. The police asked the citizens to call the police when they see problems with this group. The association will support Principal Coleman’s request for more lighting at the school.

There was a discussion about only seeing the police when there is a problem and citizens wondered if the police patrol the area. The police stated that they do patrol between calls, but they are driven by the calls. Anyone is welcome to go on a ride along to see how busy they are.

Several people complained about the lack of street lights and how dark the streets are. The police suggested that everyone keep their front porch lights on. The association will request the Department of Public Works to perform a street light analysis.

The police were notified about the problems at the playground at 61st and Somerset. The Captain took note of the location and stated that they would visit this area. Officer Davis handed out index cards and asked members to write down specific concerns and return them to him. Several cards were given to him; he will respond to the member who provided the concern. Beginning July 17th, Officer Davis and his staff will personally visit citizens in our neighborhood.

Several people brought up the issue of people out at night with spray paint cans either in their hands or in bags. The police encouraged everyone to call the police about any suspicious activities, they will respond.

Meeting Minutes July 11, 2007

Attendance: approximately 75 members. Next meeting will be Wednesday September 12th at 7:30 PM. Our guest speaker will be Kim Lugo of the Neighborhood Watch; she will instruct us on how to create and maintain a Neighborhood Watch program. Hakim Muhammad of the Kingswood Civic Association will join us as our guest. Their association has a long standing Neighborhood Watch program; Hakim will augment Kim Lugo citing his association’s personal experience.

Incorporation required for association - we must become incorporated as a non-profit company with tax-exempt status. Once incorporated, we can accept Federal Grant monies to fund special projects, request donations from local businesses, and our dues and donations will be tax exempt. The cost to file for incorporation is $620. Between voluntary donations and the 50/50 we were able to collect enough for the application fees, with $30 left over.

Dues – the membership agreed on dues of $10 per membership household. Only dues paying members can vote on matters of the association. Dues will be collected at the September meeting, prior to our voting in officers.

Nomination of Officers: President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer for one-year terms. Nominations for each office were received. The nomination committee will develop ballots for next meeting so we can vote for officers.

Committee Updates:
• Livable Community Committee
 The Livable Community Committee met with county landscape designers to improve the Kenilworth Ave/Rittenhouse Street entrance. The County is to clean the area up soon which consists of the entire 10,000 sq. ft. area (on your left as you enter Rittenhouse from Kenilworth) from Kenilworth to 57th.
• By Laws Committee draft distributed and voted to accept with the following highlights:
o Name of the Association: The Riverdale Heights/Riverdale Hills/Crestwood Community Association (RRC Community Association)
o Boundaries: North: Brier Ditch
South: East West Highway
East: 64th Avenue
West: Kenilworth Avenue
o Voting: Each membership dues-paying household shall have up to two votes by adult residents (must be over 18 years of age)
o Dues: Dues shall be $10 per year per household
o Membership Year: Begins on the first day of October and ends on the 30th day of September
o Officers and Terms: A President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer, with the Secretary and Treasurer each having one alternate The officers shall be elected to serve for one (1) membership year
• Community Improvement Committee (formerly Graffiti removal)
o Recently more areas needing clean up have been identified and we're planning action. Graffiti was again cleaned up or covered over on Thursday, August 9th. Please take part; if you don’t want to join the committee, at least make sure your street is clean of debris and graffiti.
• Community Clean Up Committee - Vietnam Veterans will have trucks in the parking lot of the Multi Cultural Youth Center on August 31, 2007 to accept donations of clothes, furniture, etc. Receipts will be provided, as your donations are tax deductible.
• Communications Committee – We can always use more volunteers to distribute flyers announcing upcoming meetings and other important community communications. Several members joined the committee at the meeting.

Other News and Updates:
• Principal of William Wirt rescinded the soccer permit; the weekend of July 28th and 29th was their last game at William Wirt.
• Beginning the evening of August 13th, the gates at the entrances to the William Wirt parking lots will be locked. This should deter unwanted activity.
• On July 31st the association sent a letter to the Superintendent of PG Public Schools requesting increased lighting all around the school to support Principal Coleman’s request, and in addition to a similar letter from Council Member Eric Olson.
• This year William Wirt will have a uniform code. Tan pants will be required for each grade, with white shirts for 6th grade students, gold shirts for 7th grade students, and black shirts for 8th grade students. The school needs help with uniforms for 120 students; contact the school if you wish to help. Several members made donations at the meeting.
• Deputy Director of the Multi Cultural Youth Center, announced open AmeriCorps positions. Please contact the Deputy Director if you know of someone who is interested in one of the positions, or if you want more information about them.
• The Metro folks are drafting a plan for a new Purple Line that may come through our neighborhood. We will request someone from Metro to speak at our October meeting (date of the meeting will be announced at our September meeting) so we are aware of their plans, and can ask questions and respectfully voice any concerns.
• A plea was made for members to support our volunteer fire department – donations are cheerfully accepted, and volunteers to help with Bingo Night and other events are always needed and welcome.


Guest Speaker:
Mr. Tony Avendorph of the Police Gang Task Unit spoke about the type of gang activity in and around RRC and what his Unit does to respond to it. There are four members of the unit that patrol all of PG County. Along with many other duties the Unit assists in crime investigations, patrolling the community, and performing anti-gang education at the schools. Mr. Avendorph asked that his Unit be notified of “tags” (graffiti) and that pictures of the “tags” are shared with the Unit to assist them in investigations. Special note: our association will write a letter with an accompanying petition to send to everyone in the State and County government to applaud the Gang Unit and to insist on their receiving more resources. A representative from our association will be visiting each residence to request signatures on the petition.

Members voiced special concerns:
• Dangerous tree on 62nd Place. A member of Council Member Olson’s office will report the tree to DER.
• Rittenhouse Street needs repaving, and large commercial trucks are parking on the left side of the street as you enter our community. We will request Public Works to repave the street as well as post “no parking” signs.
• A request was made to change the name of Briar Ditch to Briar Creek. We will research how to make that change.

Meeting adjourned