2009 CHEAFest
October 11th, 2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Partridge Place Cul-de-Sac
It's a chance to meet your neighbors, greet old friends and make new acquaintances. Hot dogs and hamburgers and other picnic fare will be served. You are welcome to bring a dish, although it is not necessary. There will be entertainment for the children. We hope to see you and your family there.
College Heights Estates Newsletter
FALL 2009
On Line Edition
September 2009
Dear College Heights Estates Friends and Neighbors,
The seasons seem to come and go at an ever-increasing speed. Labor Day marks the end of summer. Our children and grandchildren have started a new school year, CHEA Fest is coming and so is the annual falling of the leaves.
First the good news, I hope you have noticed that all of our street signs have been replaced, the posts and hardware painted and refurbished. We very much appreciate our neighbors Ron Browning, Joe Novello and Ellen Wallis for their hard work on this project. The entrance gates also have been spruced up and Joe donated his time and effort to refurbish them. The landscaping and its maintenance around the Wells Parkway entrance gate have been most generously donated by Alex Norman of Hyattsville Nursery, 3421 Hamilton Street in Hyattsville. We appreciate Alex’s help in keeping our College Heights Estates entrance beautiful.
More good news, CHEA Fest will be held on Sunday, October 11th this year from 2:00 - 4:30 p.m. at the Partridge Place cul-de-sac. Please put the date on your calendar. In addition to our standard fare of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, salads and desserts and whatever interesting dishes neighbors choose to bring, we are planning to have a magician and a face painter to entertain the children. Thanks to neighbor Sheila Kates who located the magician. I look forward to seeing you all at the CHEA Fest.
Now for the bad news, the County is NOT vacuuming leaves this year due to budget cuts.
Please be sure to let your displeasure known to our elected officials. (See related item on page 3 of this Newsletter.) Homeowners have the following options:
1.Bag your leaves in plastic bags or closed trash containers and bring them to the curb for the Wednesday lawn waste pick up;
2.Contract with a lawn care company to remove your leaves; or
3.Mobilize your neighbors on a block by block basis and get a contractor to take them away.
We are exploring that last option and will provide company names and costs as soon as we have them.
Our sincere thanks to John and Anne Scott who keep us so well informed with our CHEA Alerts for safety issues of immediate urgency, our web site maintenance, and our newsletter. Visit our website at www.CHEAMD.com. Good communications are so important and they help to keep us connected. If you are not receiving emails from us, be sure to send me your email and we’ll add you to the emailing list. You can reach me at beverly.silverberg@gmail.com.
Thank you also to those of you who have heeded our gentle reminder to pay your dues for 2009 and to those of you who have put it aside for another day, please make today the day you write your check to CHEA and bring or send
it to our treasurer Don Hein at 4109 Clagett Road.
If you are interested in joining the board or running for a CHEA Board office, please let me know at the email address above. Elections will be held by the end of the year.
SEE YOU AT THE CHEA FEST!!
Beverly Silverberg
President, College Heights Estates Assoc
E-MAIL ADDRESSES
Many of you have submitted your current email address to CHEA in order to receive CHEA Alerts which are time critical notifications to residents, particularly in the area of safety-related information. If you have not been receiving our alerts or other CHEA emails, please send your new or updated email address to CHEAMD@CHEAMD.com.
CHEA MEMBERSHIP FEES
Welcome to those who have recently joined CHEA. The annual membership fee, still only $25, is the primary source of funding of CHEA activities. The fee covers street sign and gate maintenance, newsletters, and the annual CHEAFest. Please send your annual payment to Don Hein, CHEA Treasurer, 4109 Clagett Road, College Heights Estates, MD 20782.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Doctors Community Hospital is holding its fifth annual Women's Health Conference on Saturday, October 24, 2009, at the University of Maryland University College, Inn and Conference Center in Adelphi. The $50 fee includes the plenary and three breakout sessions, continental breakfast, seated lunch with speaker, signaturegift bag and garage parking.
Go to:http://www.dchweb.org/dch/services/womensctr/conference.html for more specific information on the schedule, the presenters and topics for the conference as well as registration procedures, and payment methods.
The Department of Family Services is holding a free Caregiver’s Conference on September 30th at Camelot by Martin’s in Upper Marlboro. The conference will provide information on available County services, programs, and resources for those who are caring for an aging parent, relative, or friend, as well as covering strategies to reduce caregiver stress. You must pre-register. For more information, go to
http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/.
LEAF REMOVAL STATUS
Open Letter to:
Dr. Haithim A. Hijazi, Director
Prince George's County Department of Public Works
Dear Dr. Hijazi,
College Heights Estates Association (CHEA) is adamantly opposed to the discontinuation of the Vacuum Leaf Collection program. We're not sure the Department of Environmental Resources has any idea of what they're getting into. If we start bagging all the leaves you had to hire contractors to come and get, is the DOE prepared to dispose of all of those bags? My yard alone will fill one of their garbage trucks. This street alone will have hundreds of bags weekly. The gutters will be full of leaves, the catch basins will fill and clog. Are you prepared to come and clear them?
You're just moving the problem from one agency to another and hoping the issue will disappear. We are not happy with your solution which is to turn what was a county service that gave you headaches back on the homeowners to deal with. We are, as I said, unhappy that this "cost-saving measure" is depriving our residents of a service we expect Prince Georges County to continue to provide. We would like you to reconsider the termination of county leaf vacuuming.
Beverly Silverberg
President, CHEA
NATONAL HISTORIC REGISTRY
The next county meeting in CHEA’s process to be designated on the National Historic Registry will be on September 15, 2009. The County Executive must sign off on the application and then it is forwarded to the state for approval. Remember that there are potential Maryland tax credits involved. We will advise you as we proceed.
AREA PROPERTY UPDATES
Lejiins (7114 Eversfield Drive)
The University of Maryland has decided not to pursue developing this three-acre private property which has been for sale for a number of years by a trustee. It is possible, according to the trustee, the property could go through foreclosure or tax sale next year. There are no buyers at this time. Thanks to those residents who commented on the University’s earlier proposal to build a small corporate center.
Cafritz Property (north of the Postal Service Distribution Center on Route 1)
The next step is to submit a zoning map amendment to change from “single family, detached” designation to “transit-oriented, mixed-use community” designation. The housing will include senior housing units, condominiums, townhouses, and apartments for visiting scholars. The centerpiece of the property will be a public square for community gatherings and events (e.g., concerts, festivals, etc.) with a five-acre park with recreational amenities. The community will total 220,000 square feet of retain space, including a 50,000 square feet for Whole Foods in addition to specialty retail and restaurants. The project plan proposes to mitigate its transportation impact in its entirety by funding and constructing a variety of transportation improvements as well as providing access to Metro, MARC and the future Purple Line. Traffic impact solutions are currently under consideration.
CHANGE of COMMAND
Prince George’s County Police Chief Roberto L. Hylton named Major Dan Dusseau Commander of District 1 which serves our neighborhood. Major Dusseau previously headed the Department's Criminal Investigations Division. He succeeds Major Kevin Davis who has been named Deputy Chief. Major Davis assisted CHEA in establishing a Neighborhood Watch Program and was very generous with his time and suggestions.
LET’s STAY HEALTHY
Center for Disease Control Guidelines
H1N1 Flu and You
Stay informed.
Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and throw the tissue away.
Wash you hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs spread that way.
Stay home from work or school if you get sick, and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
CHEA WEB SITE
Please visit us at www.CHEAMD.com for the latest happenings in our neighborhood. We welcome your feedback and ideas for the web site. Contact us at CHEAMD@CHEAMD.com with your input, suggestions, and questions.
CHEA BOARD MEMBERS
Bev Silverberg, beverly.silverberg@gmail.com
Elaine Murphy, emurphy@hyattsville.org
David Merkowitz, drmerkowitz@earthlink.net
Don Hein, donhein@verizon.net
Ron Blunck, ron@thebluncks.com
Ron Browning, arkabee@verizon.net
Selma Clayman, no mail
Lori Ewing, Greg.C.Ewing@verizon.net
Marcie Gaines, mjoygaines@comcast.net
Sam Goward, s.goward@comcast.net
Lisa Holt, balloongirl@msn.com
Mathew Kinnard, makinnard@verizon.net
Jean Lee, leejs@gao.gov
Kimberly Nugent, kimberlynugent@gmail.net
Maureen O’Brien, marob0104@comcast.net
Jean Pirovic, jpirovic@aol.com
David Popkin, henherm@copper.net
Anne Scott, jtsads@aol.com
Sandy Stein, sangret@aol.com
Ellen Wallis, sewjjw@gmail.com
