All,
At our annual meeting we discussed establishing a Rock Creek Hills chapter
of “The Village”, which provides supportive services to local communities.
Fifi Chase will host a meeting in this regard on May 16, 8:00 p.m. at her
house [on] Old Spring Road. A representative of The Village will be
there to discuss the organization. Drop a note to Fifi at (fortfifi@aol.com) if
you would like to attend.
Yours,
John M. Robinson
Dear Members,
As you are aware, on April 11, 2013, Judge Rubin made on oral ruling against
the Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association and the individual plaintiffs on
matters relating to the proposed conversion of Rock Creek Hills Local Park.
On April 23, 2013, Judge Rubin entered a 13 page written Declaratory
Judgement stating his reasons. Counsel, the Association, and the individual
plaintiffs have reviewed the April 23 order carefully and have again
concluded that the Court’s erred in ruling that (1) the plaintiffs have no
standing to challenge the proposed conversion, (2) the Board of Education
has a valid reclaim right to the park, and (3) the government defendants did
not violate any statutes in deciding to convert the park without further
review by the state agencies having statutory jurisdiction over the proposed
conversion. Therefore the Association and the individual plaintiffs are
appealing the April 23 order. In addition, the Association’s park
litigation fund has the resources to pay all its current obligations and has
accumulated a modest reserve for the initial phase of the appeal.
Yours,
John M. Robinson
9616 Old Spring Road
Kensington, MD 20895
See our Meeting Minutes page, or the link below:
Dear members,
At the April 11 court hearing Judge Rubin ruled for the defendant government
agencies and issued a declaratory judgment dismissing the Rock Creek Hills
Citizens Association’s and the individual plaintiffs’ complaints. The
complaints had alleged that the Montgomery County Planning Board, the Board
of Education, and the County Executive, as well as three state agencies,
incorrectly decided not to follow certain statutory requirements in their
plans to convert the Rock Creek Hills Local Park to non-park. Our counsel
and your community members involved in this litigation (who attended the
hearing) believe that the Court’s decision was erroneous for several
significant reasons. We are now evaluating an appeal of the merits of the
Court’s decision.
Yours truly,
John M. Robinson
Dear Members,
At tonight’s April 4 meeting, starting at 7:30, we will elect officers and
may vote on items relating to the middle school and park litigation and
some covenants issues that have come up since the electronic newsletter was
sent out. Please make sure you have paid your dues if you want to vote.
Regards,
John Robinson
UPDATE 4/4/2013:
Dear neighbors:
Residents have paid $6,560 in dues for 2013. This amount represents 164 of the roughly 660 households in RCH … about 25% of households. We are 5% better than the same period last year.
The 2013 dues payment window is still open … either by mail or by hand tonight at our general meeting. Bring a check if paying dues tonight.
Dues, $40 per year, are voluntary; however, a neighbor who has not paid dues is not allowed to vote on matters presented at general meetings. We will probably vote tonight on covenant matters and the middle school litigation proceedings.
Checks must be made payable to RCHCA in order for our bank to process them. Make send your payments to:
RCHCA Treasurer
Attn: David Hall
3103 Kent Street
Kensington, MD 20895
Thank you,
David Hall
Treasurer …. for another 11 hours and then the position will be vacant unless someone from the neighborhood steps forward.
—————————————————————
Dear neighbors:
There is the possibility that one or more votes will be held at this Thursday’s general meeting (April 7, 2013 @ 7:30 pm – click here for to visit our meetings page for details) on matters affecting the neighborhood. Only residents who have paid 2013 dues are permitted to vote. Please double-check your records to ensure your dues have been paid. Dues payments of $40 will be accepted at the door. Checks only, please.
David Hall
RCHCA Treasurer
Dear neighbors:
I am resigning as treasurer of Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association effective April 4th, which is the date of our next general meeting. I have enjoyed my 3-year stint as treasurer. I felt that the work was worthwhile and interesting.
The treasurer’s job mostly entails handling dues payments, reconciling accounts, drafting very simple financial statements and writing checks to pay expenses throughout the year. The most time-consuming task is handling dues payments; however, this task occurs only one time per year, usually February. “Handling” means accepting payments, depositing payments at our nearby bank and updating our Dues Paid list.
I have been using Quickbooks. The new treasurer can takeover where I left off if this person owns Quickbooks software … for Windows or Mac. Accounting for the association can be done manually, too. Quickbooks is nice, but over-kill for our needs. I just happened to have it on my computer when I became treasurer. That said, QB made creating financial documents easy … click, click, done. Made keeping track of who is current with dues easy, too.
The RCHCA treasurer also wears a second hat. By tradition, the new treasurer will also be a member of the Board of Rock Creek Hills Covenants, Incorporated (RCHCI). RCHCI was organized in 1958 by RCHCA to take over the responsibilities and power over covenants in Rock Creek Hills from developers. This position is suited for anyone who has strong feelings either way about enforcement of covenants.
Please call or send an email if there are any questions.
Respectfully,
MARCH 18 UPDATE:
Dear Members,
Regarding the RCHCA litigation before Judge Rubin, the hearing scheduled for
tomorrow, Tuesday March 19, has been postponed until March 26 at 3:30.
There is no reason to believe that this is of any significance beyond a
conflict in the Court’s schedule.
Yours,
John M. Robinson
Dear Members,
On March 15 there was a two hour hearing before Judge Rubin on the RCHCA
lawsuit regarding the proposed conversion of Rock Creek Hills Local Park to
school site use. The hearing was continued until March 19 for another two
hours beginning at 3:00. Please do not be concerned about this development.
Our counsel and your local litigation team believe that the continuance
reflects the Court’s efforts to render a well informed decision and is
consistent with our perception that we are receiving a fair hearing. This
does not mean that we will ultimately win on the merits, but given the
proceedings so far, we remain positive about the ultimate outcome of this
procedurally and substantively complex case.
My regards,
John M. Robinson
President, RCHCA
Dear RCHCA neighbors:
Our treasury has received $3,800 in 2013 dues as of this afternoon. This amount represents 95 of the 600-plus households in our neighborhood. Dues go towards two major neighborhood socials: the Mother’s Day Concert in the Park and the Children’s Halloween Parade & Barbecue. Other expenses often arise unexpectedly. A well-funded treasury gives us options when this happens.
Dues are voluntary; however, a neighbor who has not paid dues is not allowed to vote on matters presented at general meetings.
Checks must be made payable to RCHCA in order for our bank to process them. Please send your payments to:
RCHCA Treasurer
Attn: David Hall
3103 Kent Street
Kensington, MD 20895
Thank you,
David Hall
Click here for pdf version of the February 2013 Newsletter
Dear Members,
This is the electronic newsletter for the annual meeting and for the first quarter of 2013. The principal issues are scheduling the Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association (RCHCA)annual meeting (Thursday, April 4, 2013), the status of litigation related to Rock Creek Hills Local Park and its immediate future, our general financial situation (including dues), and the election of officers.
The RCHCA annual meeting will be held Thursday, April 4, at 7:30 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Day School, 9411 Connecticut Avenue, in the multi-purpose room. The meeting has been delayed to coincide with the anticipated date of a court ruling on the merits of RCHCA’s suit to prevent the conversion of Rock Creek Hills Local Park to non-park use, in this case a proposed middle school. The agenda items include the status of that litigation, RCHCA’s overall financial situation, and the election of officers.
The RCHCA complaint was filed on August 16, 2103, in Circuit Court against the Montgomery County Board of Education, the County Executive in his official capacity, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission (the Planning Board), three state agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and the Montgomery County Council. The action against the Council was later dismissed without prejudice by stipulation. The legal issues are such that it was necessary to sue all of these agencies. The number of parties involved increased the amount of filings well above what is normally involved with a significant increase in cost.
Although there are a number of issues related to standing, timing, and the
like, there are two principal substantive issues. Somewhat more than 20
years ago RCH Local Park was developed with Public Open Space (POS) funds.
Given the use of these funds, the most important issue is whether RCH Local
Park may be converted to non-park use without full DNR review of the
conversion, and if conversion occurs, whether the converting agency must
replace the current park with the same amount of new parkland providing
replacement recreation facilities of the same recreation value as those now
located in RCH Local Park. DNR is arguing that because the improvements
arising from this development of our park are more than 20 years old no DNR
review of the facilities is necessary nor is their replacement by the
converting agency required. We believe there is no statutory or other legal
basis for this position. In addition, we are arguing that the law bars the
Planning Board from transferring the RCH Local Park for non-park use unless
it finds that RCH Park is not needed for park purposes, which speaks for
itself.
Since the filing of the complaint, the parties have completed most factual
and document discovery, and each side has prepared motions for summary
judgment based on the record to date. In our case, that effort has meant
preparing such a motion containing multiple counts against each of the
defendant parties, as well responding to each of the defendant’s arguments
about why our actions should be dismissed. The defendants have filed their
answers to our motions to dismiss, to which we will now reply. At that
point the record should be complete and we anticipate that the case will be
decided without requiring a factual hearing.
The hearing on the pleadings is scheduled for March 14, 2013. RCHCA
continues to believe in it and the individual plaintiffs will prevail, and
therefore the defendant parties will be enjoined from converting RCH Local
Park to non-park use without complying with the required statutory
provisions. Such compliance would be extremely expensive as it would
require the purchase of new land, and thus would likely require any new
school to be located elsewhere. Depending on the court’s ruling and the
actions of the defending parties, we will discuss at the April 4 what
actions the Association should take.
For the reasons I have discussed, this lawsuit has been quite costly. By
December 31, we had spent somewhat in excess of $50,000 and have raised just
enough funds to cover our costs through that date. You will recall that
RCHCA determined that this litigation would be funded as a separate
association activity, and that funding would be solicited as needed to
moderate the impact of that funding. To this end, RCHCA established a
litigation account to be kept strictly separate from our general operating
funds.
We have done so and it is our intention to continue to fund this litigation
from a separate account. Another round of funding is being requested at
this time. Specifically, an additional $20,000 is needed to sustain the
litigation through the end of March (after the hearing on the pleadings).
As before, in addition to maintaining separation of litigation funds from
other association funds, if there is a surplus in the funds raised since
December 31, they will be refunded pro rata based on the contributions since
that date. Please make any checks to the Rock Creek Hills Citizens
Association, noted to the Litigation fund, and mail them to John M. Robinson
at 9616 Old Spring Road, Kensington, MD, 20895. The funds should be
received no later than March 1, 2013.
This is the report for the general operating fund which has been separately
maintained as a reserve for other important matters such as the enforcement
of the RCHCA covenants (particularly related to ongoing fence and
construction issues), meeting and minor regulatory and tax expenses, and our
community activities. As of December 18, 2012, our checking and savings
account totaled $14,089. This is not as much money as it seems when
ordinary operating expenses for 2012 were $8033.47 against ordinary income
of $8107. 47. A final report will be provided by our treasurer at the
meeting, along with a request that you renew, or join, our membership. An
envelope requesting the payment of the $40 per household will be coming your
way. Please contribute.
We will be electing RCHCA officers for period through January 2014. The
following have agreed to serve another term: President, John M. Robinson;
Vice-President, Samuel Statland; Secretary, Kenneth Sanford. David Hall is
stepping down as Treasurer after excellent service in computerizing our
books and straightening our past records. He will provide Quicken training
for his successor, who we badly need. Please step up and volunteer for this
important, but modest, time commitment.
Neighborhood Directory
Contact Suzanne Mintz if you did not receive your copy (May 2009).
Kensington, MD 20895
Montgomery County News