Personal tools
You are here: Home → Newsletters → Newsletter, Mar. 2008
Log in


Forgot your password?
 

Newsletter, Mar. 2008

Email: manager@chevychasesection5.org

VOLUME 42 NUMBER 1 MARCH 2008

Section 5’s largest source of revenue is a portion of the State income tax paid by Section 5’s residents. Unfortunately, Section 5 will not get its share of income tax revenue unless its name appears on the Maryland income tax form in the box marked, “City, Town or Taxing Area”. Also, remember to write “Montgomery” in the “Maryland County” box. A sample of the form appears below. Please don’t forget to complete these sections when filing your taxes and if someone else prepares your taxes, please remember to instruct that person to complete those two lines.

On February 1, 2008, the Montgomery County Police Department implemented a new crime data service to enable residents to access neighborhood crime incident information via the Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Users of the service may also elect to receive free email alerts of crimes which occur close to their homes. Enter www.CrimeReports.com to access this free service.

The men at Montgomery County Sanitation and Recycling, Inc. who do such a good job taking care of our refuse throughout the year were thrilled with the generous response of residents to the call for a Holiday Fund for them. They send their heartfelt thanks to Section 5 residents.

Recently, most Section 5 residents have received the latest Assessment Notice from the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. This year, the State is requiring that a one-time application be completed to continue receiving the Homestead Tax Credit or to start receiving the credit if eligible. This credit limits the allowable increase in the Property Tax to 10% per year. Failure to send in the completed form in your Assessment Notice WILL result in an unpleasant surprise in your Property Tax Bill next July. For more information, call 1-866-650-8783.

If you notice a street light out, you may call PEPCO at 1-877-737-2662 to report it. You must have the exact address where the pole is located. PEPCO claims to replace street lamps without 72 hours.

It’s the spiffy new Prius parked in the first space on Howard Avenue in the Town of Kensington in front of the train station and its’ waiting for you to rent. By the hour – by the day—for a weekend. Rates from $7.75/hour to $56./day. Contact www.zipcar.com

Please join the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School community on Thursday, March 6, 2008, 7-9 pm, for its 2nd annual festive evening of wine, chocolate, and cheese, to benefit Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School’s after-school tutoring, mentoring, and other academic support programs. Given by the B-CC HS Educational Foundation, the event will be held at the Woman’s Club of Chevy Chase, 7931 Connecticut Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland. The B-CC HS Jazz Combo will perform. For ticket information, go to www.bccedfoundation.org or contact Carole Brand at csbrand@verizon.net or 301-657-2547.

It’s easy to donate. Just load your books in boxes or bags and drive to B-CC’s Chelton St. entrance for curbside pick up by volunteers, from 10 AM to 2 PM the first Sunday in March (2nd). Tax forms are available.

All types of books are needed—fiction and nonfiction; children and adult; paperback and hardcovers; all languages. NO encyclopedias, textbooks or magazines, please. The proceeds are used for equipment, teacher training, and special programs that make B-CC High School one of the best. Questions may be directed to Peggy Hsieh McIntosh at peggy_hsieh@yahoo.com.

Residents are reminded to be observant and thoughtful when they park on Section 5 streets. Parking is often limited and some streets are very narrow making on-street parking even more difficult. Please:

  • Make certain not to block a neighbor’s driveway.
  • Make the best use of on-street parking.
  • Do not park opposite a neighbor’s driveway.
  • Observe the 30 ft. No Parking zone that is required at a STOP sign.

Please be considerate of everyone and pick up after your dog. Please make certain that your dog is on a leash when not in a fenced yard. Don’t let your dog defecate on the public right-of-way or private property other than your own without cleaning up.

  1. Change light bulbs. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
  2. Turn your computer off overnight. Leaving appliances on such as computers, televisions, and DVDs, while they’re not in use, unnecessarily releases significant quantities of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
  3. Eat local. Agriculture is responsible for about a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Choosing local, seasonally grown food avoids CO2 emissions from transporting produce around the world.
  4. Reduce your red meat intake. Producing beef releases significant quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere thanks mostly to belching cattle’s methane emissions.
  5. Turn down the heating. About half of all the energy used at home is for heating and cooling. Turning the thermostat down two degrees can save significant quantities of CO2 emissions a year. Open drapes and blinds during the day while the sun is out to heat the house. Close the drapes when the sun sets to retain warm air inside the house.
  6. Turn up, and clean out air-conditioning units. Edge your air-conditioning unit up two degrees. Checking, cleaning or replacing filters regularly will save you money and reduce CO2 emissions.
  7. Drive less, fly less. CO2 emissions from aircraft, which are already soaring, are predicted to account for five percent of global emissions by 2050. Carpool, walk, bike and take public transport when you can.
  8. Reduce, re-use, recycle. Making glass bottles or aluminum cans from recycled materials uses less energy and produces less pollution than making them from scratch each time.
  9. Calculate your carbon emissions. Take 10 minutes next time you’re online to Google “carbon calculator” and add up your carbon footprint. Tallying your total will give you an idea of where to cut down.
  10. Plant a tree. One mature tree absorbs hundreds of pounds of CO2 a year, and then stores it indefinitely in its wood fiber. Try for a native species that will promote bio-diversity.

The National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council are sponsoring a new website that lets you get rid of unwanted catalogues—fewer dead trees, less energy consumption, less recycling. The key to using the site is that you have your customer numbers on the back of the catalog. Just go to www.catalogchoice.org/#optouts.

Grease is bad for one’s health but it is also bad for sewer pipes too. Grease blockages in sewer pipes are common causes of sewage overflows and basement backups in WSSC’s service areas. Grease is a byproduct of cooking and comes from meat fats, oils, shortening, butter, margarine, food scraps, sauces and dairy products. Help yourself, your neighbor and the environment and never pour grease down the drain. And remember that home garbage disposals do not protect your plumbing system from grease.

If you aren’t interested in getting the free “Examiner”, call 1-800-531-1223 and ask to cancel your free subscription.

At approximately 8:00pm on January 20, 2008, a victim left his residence and was driving his rental car north on Winnett Road when another car in front of him stopped, backed up and blocked the road. Two men left the stopped car and demanded that the victim hand over his money and car keys. The victim complied. The two men got into the victim’s car and drove off. The Montgomery County police are conducting an investigation.

A town or city in the State of Maryland is given its municipal power from two sources: Article XI-E of the Constitution of the State of Maryland and the laws of the State of Maryland, in particular Articles 23A and 66B of the State’s Annotated Code. These sources provide Maryland municipalities with their home rule authority, essentially allowing cities and towns to pass local laws without specific approval from the General Assembly. All incorporated cities and towns possess this authority, which is exercised through the municipality’s charter.

A municipal charter is a statement of power grants and limitations that is unique to each municipality. A charter was written for Section 5 when it became a municipality June 25, 1982 and thus has the authority to pass its own ordinances. Even though Section 5 has this authority there are limits to its power. For example, even though municipalities are granted the power to establish curfews, doing so must be within the confines of federal equal protection standards as well as First Amendment protections against violating freedom of movement and association.

Section 5 homeowner has beautiful Japanese maple and wishes to learn the “hows” on trimming. If a section 5 resident has the know-how, the owner of the tree would like to learn. Compensation for services or donation to charity offered. Please leave message at 301-436-1692.

The Board of Elections needs Election Judges for the General Election, November 4, 2008. Interested voters willing to serve can download the application from the website or call 240-777-8533 to request an application be mailed to them.

COUNCIL MEMBERS; Andrew Smith, Chairman; Ira Rosenbaum, Vice-Chairman; Margy Abbott, Treasurer; Farooq Hussain, Secretary; Peter Gray, Building Inspector.

Document Actions
« November 2008 »
November
MoTuWeThFrSaSu
12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930