Hello Neighbors,

Well, October is here and that means that Washingtonian Woods’ annual Halloween traditions are right around the corner!

Halloween Parade & Candy Hill
This year’s Halloween Parade (featuring Costume Contest and Candy Hill) will once again be held at Washingtonian Woods park.  Come decorate a pumpkin, show your creative spirit, and watch the fun at Candy Hill!  Drinks and snacks will be provided.

When:  Sunday, 10/26
Time:  3:30pm (Costume Contest at 4pm, followed by Candy Hill)

Volunteers Needed:  We are looking for volunteers to help with our festivities.  Please check out the Signup Genius page for more information on how you can sign up and help.

Halloween House Decorating Contest
Show your Halloween spirit and decorate your house for the annual Washingtonian Woods Halloween House Decorating Contest!  In order to participate, please have your house decorated by the end of the day on Thursday, October 30th.  Judging will be based on creativity, uniqueness and curb appeal and will take place on October 31st.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three homes.  Winners will be announced through our web site, mailing lists and Facebook group after Halloween. Good luck and happy decorating!

Get B00-ed!
Keep the Halloween spirit going all season.  Feel free to Boo! someone (by leaving this flyer and a treat on a neighbor’s doorstep), or keep it going when you get Boo-ed!  You can download a Boo Buddy here.

Happy Halloween!

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA

Hello Neighbors,

We had an excellent turnout of over 80 people at the CCT meeting this past Tuesday evening at the Clubhouse.  Attendees included many neighbors as well as Mayor Katz; Gaithersburg City Council Members, Jud Ashman, Mike Sesma and Cathy Drzyzgula; Gaithersburg Director of Planning and Code, John Schliting; as well as representatives from both the Montgomery County Department of Transportation and the Montgomery County Parks and Planning Commission.

Rick Kiegel and the MTA team gave a thorough presentation on current status of the CCT.  He and his team of engineers discussed in great detail the 15% complete design plan, including: design, traffic, and noise considerations.

You can read a recap of the meeting in the Gazette, here.  The Town Courier also had a reporter at the meeting, and they plan to post their article in the next week or so.

Next August is the next deadline for design changes.  Until then, we are asking the MTA to address several of our concerns.  While they have added noise mitigation behind the homes at the end of Upshire Circle to the plan (which is a “win”), there are many issues to be addressed.

Next step:  We will write a formal letter to the MTA outlining and stating our unified neighborhood stance to get the CCT off of Muddy Branch Road.  The letter will be signed by the three Washingtonian Woods HOAs (Washingtonian Woods, The Oaks, The Vistas).  Mission Hills will likely sign, as well.

We will post a copy of the letter once written to our web site, and we will continue to keep you abreast of our continued efforts.

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA

Hello Neighbors,

CCT Area 2 Advisory Committee Recap
Last Tuesday was the most recent meeting of the CCT Area 2 Advisory Committee.  Several of our neighbors participate on this committee.  In attendance from Washingtonian Woods last Tuesday evening were: Lisa Cline, Toby Lehman, Tami Mensch and Wayne Berman.

Donna Baron, Coordinator of The Gaithersburg – North Potomac – Rockville Coalition (www.scale-it-back.com), also participates on the Committee and she has posted a thorough recap of that meeting here.  Please take a moment to read it, as it reflects some of the most recent discussions on the CCT and its effects on our neighborhood.

For those wondering (from www.cctmaryland.com):  “The CCT Area Advisory Committees (AAC) were created by the MTA to encourage involvement from the community regarding the design and construction of the transitway as well as how the stations will be incorporated into the existing community. Decisions on the system design will be informed through facilitated discussions at quarterly meetings. Possible topics of discussion include station design amenities, traffic management, transit operations, safety and security, transitway access and community interface.”

Neighborhood CCT Meeting at Clubhouse
Tuesday, September 30th at 7pm

Please don’t forget:  On Tuesday September 30th, the MTA’s lead planner on the CCT project, Rick Kiegel, and a few members of his team will share updates on the project at the Clubhouse.  He will bring maps and specifics about the CCT’s impact on our environment, our traffic, our neighborhood, and our overall quality of life.

This meeting will be held in the upper level of the Clubhouse, and will begin at 7pm.  All neighbors are strongly encouraged to attend.

Please help us spread the word, and we hope to see you all there.

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA

Hello Neighbors,

Neighborhood CCT Meeting at Clubhouse
Tuesday, September 30th at 7pm

Please mark your calendars:  On Tuesday September 30th, the MTA’s lead planner on the CCT project, Rick Kiegel, and a few members of his team will share updates on the project at the Clubhouse.  He will bring maps and specifics about the CCT’s impact on our environment, our traffic, our neighborhood, and our overall quality of life.

This meeting will be held in the upper level of the Clubhouse, and will begin at 7pm.  All neighbors are strongly encouraged to attend.

Several members of the community who have been actively following the CCT will meet at the clubhouse on Tuesday, September 16th to discuss an agenda for the 30th.  This meeting is open to all.  Time:  7pm.

To read up on the CCT and the ongoing efforts of fellow neighbors, please see the following links below:

Washingtonian Woods CCT Survey Results
Jason Klemow’s Letter to Rick Kiegel
Doris Fejka’s Letter to Mayor Katz
Washingtonian Woods Town Courier Article 1
Washingtonian Woods Town Courier Article 2
Mission Hills Report (referenced in Jason’s Letter)
Map of 4 Proposed CCT Alignments (referenced in Jason’s Letter)
Washwoods.org Recent CCT News Posts
CCT Project Website
CCT Area 2 Advisory Committee (Neighbors Lisa Cline and Toby Lehman are on committee)
Great Seneca Science Corridor Advisory Committee (Neighbor Phil Usatine is Co-Chair)

Please help us spread the word, and we hope to see you all there for this very important meeting.

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA

Hello Neighbors,

Final Weekend and Dog Swim
The Board has recently decided to keep the pool open for an extra weekend this year!  As such, the final day of the 2014 pool season will be on Sunday 9/7.  Our community Dog Swim will also be held on that day starting at 5 pm.

Here is the pool schedule for our final weekend:

Friday, 9/5:  4 pm – 8 pm
Saturday, 9/6:  10 am – 8 pm
Sunday, 9/7:  10 am – 6 pm.  Dog Swim begins at 5 pm.
The pool will remain closed Tuesday 9/2 – Thursday 9/4. 

Ice Cream Social
There will also be an Ice Cream Social held at the pool this Labor Day, Monday, September 1st from 1 pm – 3 pm.

Please help us spread the word, and we hope to see you all there!

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA

Hello Neighbors,

On account of the miserable weather forecast for this evening, our pool party has been postponed until tomorrow.  Given that tomorrow is the day before school starts for many, we shifted the party time to earlier in the day.  The party will be from 12 pm until 4 pm.

WHAT:  Washingtonian Woods End of Summer Pool & Raft Party
WHEN:  Sunday, August 24th, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
WHERE: Pool
Bring your own rafts.
Music.
Pizza, Sodas and Carmen’s Italian Ice provided.
Glass containers are prohibited on the pool deck.

Please help us spread the word of this change, and we hope to see you all there!

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA

Hello Neighbors,

As mentioned previously, on Monday 8/4/14, Washingtonian Woods resident Lisa Cline hosted a walking meeting at her home with Rick Kiegel, the project manager for the CCT.  The purpose of the meeting was to discuss how the CCT project will impact the homes along the south side of Great Seneca Highway, as well as our neighborhood as a whole.

Roughly 35 people attended the meeting, and the group walked the area between several houses in the Village and Great Seneca Highway.  Lisa’s recap of that meeting can be found here for your review.

Additionally, for those of you that have not yet already seen the recap of that meeting in the Town Courier, you can find it here.

We hope to have another meeting with Rick Kiegel for the entire community hosted at the Clubhouse sometime later on this September.  We will keep everyone posted as to when that meeting gets scheduled.

Additionally, Washingtonian Woods resident Jason Klemow has created an online survey in an attempt to get written documentation of how the residents of Washingtonian Woods feel about the CCT alignments and their potential impact on our neighborhood.  He plans to present the results of this survey at the next Board meeting on Tuesday, 8/26/14.  For those interested in taking the quick survey and getting your voice on record, please do so prior to Sunday 8/24/14.  The link to the survey may be found here.

For those interested in learning more about the Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) as a whole, the web site for the project can be found here.

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA

Hello Neighbors,

The Board of Directors is currently working on procuring new and updated neighborhood entrance signs.  The plan would be to replace all 5 existing neighborhood monuments (four along Muddy Branch Road, and one on Darnestown Road) over a 3 year period.  Spreading out the installation over multiple years, would allow us to maximize any potential benefits we may receive from the City of Gaithersburg’s Frederick J. Felton Neighborhood Matching Grant Program.

As some of you may have already noticed, a temporary mockup design of our new entrance sign can be seen at the Midsummer Drive entrance to the neighborhood (across from Mission Hills.)  If you haven’t already, please take a moment to drive by and see it.  A picture of it can be found below:

The Board plans to vote on the final design at the Board meeting on Tuesday 8/26/14.  All residents are welcome to attend.

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA

Hello Neighbors,

Please join us for our annual neighborhood End of Summer Pool Party!

This year’s party will be held on Saturday, August 23rd just before MCPS students return to school.  We’ll have DJ music, and we will be providing pizza, soft drinks and Carmen’s Italian Ice.

New this year:  we’re letting everyone bring their own rafts!  We’ll also be keeping the pool open late again — until 10pm.  So, come on out and enjoy the fun with your family and neighbors.

WHAT:  Washingtonian Woods End of Summer Pool & Raft Party
WHEN:  Saturday, August 23rd, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm
WHERE: Pool
Bring your own rafts.
Glass containers are prohibited on the pool deck.
The pool will remain open until 10:00 pm.

Please help us spread the word, and we hope to see you all there!

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA

Hello Neighbors,

We know that many of you have already coordinated directly with Lisa Cline regarding the CCT Great Seneca Alignment meeting; however, we want to make sure that everyone is aware that the meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow, should you wish to attend:

Monday, August 4th
9:30AM – 10:30AM
The Home of Lisa Cline
420 Upshire Circle

This is an opportunity to join fellow neighbors for an informational session with project manager Rick Kiegel regarding how the CCT project will impact the homes along the south side of Great Seneca Highway, and our neighborhood as a whole.

Questions: [email protected]

Thank you,
Glenn Watts
Board of Directors, Washingtonian Woods HOA