Walthersonian February 2014

WALTHERSON IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION

P.O. BOX 3622

BALTIMORE, MD 21214

www.waltherson.org

[email protected]

Tweet: @WalthersonAssoc

Twitter: Facebook: NextDoor:

WALTHERSON IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION QUARTERLY MEETING

When: Tuesday, February 4th, 2014 @ 7:30 PM

Where: Harbel (5807 Harford Road)

Get Involved Join WIA today! With membership your vote is counted and your voice heard in the community. Receive your monthly WIA newsletter to stay on top of what is happening in your neighborhood. Please complete the form below and send with your payment to: Waltherson Improvement Association P.O. Box 3622 Baltimore, MD 21214

February 2014

Bottles Cans and Paper Every Tuesday! Trash every Thursday! Bulk Trash (Call 311 to schedule)

Waltherson Membership/Renewal Form:

Name: __________________________________ Address: ________________________________ City, State: ______________________________ ZIP: ____________________________________ Phone: _________________________________

E-Mail: _________________________________

Please Specify: Renewal New Newsletter: E-mail Paper Mailing* _____ Individual / Business $12 _____ Senior $10

*Paper mailings are for our elderly and disabled members; please choose this option only if needed.

The Walthersonian February 2014

1

Next Meeting:

Our next meeting will be held at Harbel at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, February 4th. RetroFit

Baltimore will be out to give a presentation and the new owners of 5414 Belair Road (where

Sullys was) will also be stopping by.

Presidents Letter Hello everyone, Do you have "cabin-fever" yet? It's a soup-making, clean out the basement, lie on the couch & read a good book or watch a movie, time of year. When it's this cold, I don't like to go outside. I THINK I will do projects in the house & yet seldom get to them. Please be sure to keep an eye on your neighbors who not only don't want to get out but CAN'T get out. It felt odd not to be in our neighborhood meeting in January, after I have gone for 16 years in a row. But times change & so do we. Your Executive Board still stays busy having our board meetings & gathering & sharing information on the internet. There are several zoning concerns, liquor licenses, & permits that need addressed. We even created a separate meeting so that we can meet folks & find out more about their intentions before we approve or disapprove their requests. We also will be making a donation to several folks who helped to make our fall cook-out a success: Harbel, Peat & Shauna Biby, & the two cooks who made it delicious. We are looking to have a social gathering so we stay connected in between our meetings. We will have an informal meet-up soon at Zeke's on Harford Rd. Details coming soon. Also a bowling league is starting up in the area for anyone interested. Please let us know what you are interested in doing. Our next meeting is Tuesday, February 4th at 7:30 pm . Remember, we have changed it to Tues & stayed with the first week of the month; still at Harbel. We will have a guest speaker from Retro-Fit Baltimore that educates homeowners about the benefits of home energy, which can help lower our energy bills. Hope to see you then. Spring is right around the corner, so stay warm! Be well, Helene President WIA


2

Upcoming Neighborhood Events:

February

4th Waltherson Quarterly Community Meeting 7:30 PM @ Harbel (5807 Harford Rd) o Mail or bring in your 2014 dues if you havent already paid in advance.

7th First Friday Art Crawl

7th Parents Date Night 5:30-8:30pm @ Church of the Messiah (5801 Harford Rd) o Babysitting by Wondersitters | Proceeds to benefit the DBFA.

8th Shop for a Cause 1-5pm @ ReNew Botanicals (3015 Hamilton Ave) o Benefits to House of Ruth Maryland

8th Cupids Pub Crawl 3:30pm ReNew Botanicals (3015 Hamilton Ave) o Guys shop for a Valentines gift and then walk to a nearby pub for drinks.

9th Jewelry Show & Choclate Tasting 1-4pm @ The Gift Cellar (4337 Harford Rd) *Please check with businesses for details of their events

Upcoming Traffic/Roadwork Projects

Spring 2014

Walther Ave Bike Lane Extension from Moravia Rd to Glenmore Ave

We have requested new trees be planted in the empty slots in front of Rucks Funeral Home and the old Eko Food Mart; Forestry tells us this is on the list for Spring.

Summer 2014

Reconfiguration of the intersection at Frankford Ave & Corse Ave. A High Resolution version is available on our Nextdoor site.

Winter 2014

Harford Road Herring Run Bridge Reconstruction begins

o Harford Road will be closed at Herring Run for two years during reconstruction

SC909 & SC911: Improvements to Sanitary Sewers of the Herring Run Sewershed o Rehabilitation work on sanitary gravity sewers ranging from 8-inches to 27-

inches in diameter and manhole replacements throughout neighborhood o Affected properties can be found on PDFs at this link:

http://www.cleanwaterbaltimore.org/Affected-Properties-for-Consen-Decree-Projects.asp


3

IN AND AROUND WALTHERSON Waltherson Bowling Team(s)

Please join your fellow neighborhoods for a 6-8 week DUCK pin bowling league-- The league will

be on Tuesday nights starting February 25, 2014 and will start each night at 6:30pm--

Cost will be $10.00 per night per person, which includes shoes and games. The winning 1st, 2nd

and 3rd place teams will earn money for their community association. We will bowl at

Stoneleigh bowling lanes on York Road in Towson. http://stoneleighlanes.com/

We will have our practice night and bowling league meeting at Stoneleigh Lanes February 18,

2014 at 6:30pm. We will review the league information and have open bowling which is free of

charge.

Please contact Louise at [email protected] or 410-254-0489 if you are interested in

joining the team. We need 3-5 people for a team and can have multiple teams.

21214 named #3 up-and-coming zip code for Baltimore region The Baltimore Sun recently published an article listing the top 10 up and coming places to the live in the Baltimore area and 21214 came in 3rd on the list. The zip code experienced a 22.1% increase in median sales price between 2012 and 2013. The article highlights Hamilton-Lauravilles walkable mainstreet and the large yards, porches and quality schools.

New businesses coming to the area:

Belair Road o Planet Fitness has signed a lease and will open its first Baltimore City location at

5201 Belair Road in the old Goodwill building just south of Frankford Ave. o Birdland Sports Bar & Grill is now open! Like them on Facebook and follow them

on Twitter @birdlandbar for daily deals and events.

Harford Road o BB&T Bank has opened at location at the old Wells Fargo / Wachovia building at

Hamilton & Harford.


4

Housing Updates 4817 Arabia Ave 4817 Arabia Ave sold in a receivership auction last year and progress is being made to the property. A before and after picture is shown below:

3502 Echodale Ave 3502 Echodale Ave (at Walther & Echodale) is going through Receivership. The first court date is expected to be March 4th.

3100 Rueckert Ave Update on Receivership case on 3100 Rueckert Ave "This case was postponed a number of times, as we were unable to obtain service on all parties. We had finally gotten everyone properly served for yesterdays hearing, and was prepared to request judgment. However, an attorney for the named bank (Citimortgage) in the case appeared, stating that they likely will request to be appointed to rehab the property, or in the alternative, to consent to the Citys actions. They requested a PP in order to assess the property and put a plan together. Since that was the first time they were in court, the court granted their request, and the case was reset to April 1st. "The bank being present and possibly being appointed to rehab is the best case scenario. Weve had great success in our receivership actions where the banks have been appointed to rehab, as they obviously have the financing to do it, and are motivated to get it done timely so they can proceed with their foreclosure. Im confident that should they be appointed, the issue would be resolved in a couple of months. If they merely consent to our action, then we will get the property sold at auction."


5

Block Captains Weve mentioned this in past newsletters & will continue to develop this concept. Since we are a small group, we need your help. If we utilize block captains as resources, we build a stronger team in all segments of the area. People would go directly to the block captains for their concerns. These would be filtered out, utilizing the resources & contact we have. Each block captain would have a list of contacts & then report back to the entire group & to the executive board. If everyone pitches in, we can all do our part. Please, find something that is your passion. Maybe gardening is your thing, maybe vacant houses really annoys you, maybe you want to help a neighbor whose house needs some repairs. Whatever be the case, if we all do our part, we can help each other.

Styrofoam / Polystyrene Recycling

If you want to recycle Styrofoam but cannot make it to the sanitation yard, Waltherson member Louise Harmony has offered to drop it off. Please get in touch with Robert Walshe at a meeting or by e-mailing us at [email protected] if you are interested. You can also leave a message for us on Facebook or tweet us @WalthersonAssoc. Note: CHECK THE BOTTOM OF THE CONTAINER FOR A NUMBER 6. Only number 6 items are accepted. No peanuts or packing material.

NECOP Northeast Citizens on Patrol In Northeast Baltimore we have a district wide Citizens on Patrol program called NECOP. The reasoning behind the COP program is that regular neighborhood patrols can make criminals feel uncomfortable and drive them out of our neighborhood. Participants meet at the Northeast Police station at 1900 Argonne Drive near Morgan State and get a walkie talkie to keep them in contact with the Police and then proceed to patrol their neighborhoods in their cars. Patrols normally go out each Thursday and Friday from about 7:30 - 10:30. For anyone interested in the Citizens on Patrol program, please contact Rob at [email protected].

Hamilton-Lauraville (HL) Sprouts Theres a new family group in town. HL Sprouts is a parent partnership designed to allow parents of kids aged 0-12 to meet up, arrange play dates, and get to know other parents in the area. They are a chapter of the Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance. Check them out, there are several kid-friendly meet ups going on each week in the area. https://www.facebook.com/groups/HLSprouts/


6


7

Please visit our sponsors:

*Please note, ads between pages on web version are not run by Waltherson*

Proud Member of:

WIA Volunteers

Officers:

President 1st

Vice President

2nd

Vice President

Secretary Treasurer Parliamentarian Sergent at Arms

At-Large Member

Helene Quinn

Paul McCartney

Frank Williams

Rob Walshe

Francis Beane

Lisa Hom Sue Kessel Ronisha Moore

Standing Committees and Representatives:

Housing Block Party

Traffic Schools & Child Advocacy

Block Captains

Robert Walshe, Sue Kessel, Helene Quinn, Frank Williams

Paul McCartney

Terrye Muratore

Rob Walshe, Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Harford Road CRP Rep.

Garden Sign &

Projects

Digital Outreach &

Communications

Police Liason / NECOP

Chairman

Main: Sue Kessel Alt: Rob Walshe

Ron Derr Robert Walshe Rob Walshe

Local Chapter of the

Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance

Documents

Walthersonian February 2014