Successful First Emerson Town Hall!

The first Emerson Town Hall held on Wednesday, June 17 was a success, with approximately 40 residents engaging in a lively and informative session with three Emerson Board Members and CMC Management.

The meeting answered many questions and allowed residents to not only voice concerns, but also offer ideas for enhancing the community. Several audience members volunteered to help with community initiatives.

The next Town Hall is scheduled for August, with the precise date and time to be announced.

Alternate times (besides 7 PM on weeknights) will be considered to allow more residents to attend, especially since many have long commutes.

These notes are not in strictly chronological order because in some cases grouping topics made them more understandable.

Highlights

• Many questions answered about Emerson budget, Pool, capital expenses (major improvements), revised Architectural Guidelines, parking, traffic, Maintenance/Landscaping, dog waste stations, and safety
• Board wants to create FAQs because many of the same questions come up at every meeting
• List of the priorities of the Emerson Board of Directors handed out to attendees (reproduced below)
• Much discussion with all attendees about how to engage the community and involve them in both attending and helping organize committees and events
• Many are eager to help
• Attendees want a community where people know each other, not just a collection of homeowners

Details

Minutes: Autumn Walk Election Results and Meeting Notes 6/15/15

Autumn Walk elections were held on Monday, 6/15/15 and Mike Fitzgerald was elected to the Board. Your Autumn Walk HOA Board of Directors for 2015-2016 are:

• Damon Wood (term expires 2016)
• Dharmesh Patel (term expires 2017)
• Mike Fitzgerald (term expires 2018)

Other major items:

• Call for volunteers: 2015 Picnic
• Finances in very good shape
• Plan to proceed with Autumn Walk monument sign
• Various repairs
• Including issue of jurisdiction over sidewalks
• Snow removal
• Parking

Meeting Details:

1. Quorum established - 12 houses (of 12 needed), meeting called to order at 7:08 PM
1. 5 homes in attendance (9806, 9811, 9836, 9848, 9854)
2. 7 proxies (9804, 9814, 9832, 9845, 9852, 9860)
3. CAS Management represented by April Day
4. Fred Leong agreed to take notes for Minutes, will continue to manage email, web site, FB
2. Financial Review (as of 5/31/15) - April Day

We Have Flamingo!

The Lone Flamingo has been spotted in the neighborhood!

What does this mean? Find out here:

• Flamingo Fridays!

JHU Applied Physics Lab: World-Class Innovation in Howard County

The largest employer in Howard County, with roughly 5000 employees, is Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Lab (APL), just 3 miles down Gorman Road from Emerson.

Today APL is a center for scientific and space research, while also hosting graduate classes in engineering and other scientific disciplines.

But APL has a long history of innovation, to include literally creating from scratch one of the modern technologies that virtually all of us have come to depend on -- the first satellite navigation system, which would eventually become the Global Positioning System, better known as GPS.

First Emerson Town Hall Meeting Wed. 6/17

Emerson HOA (our master homeowners association) will hold what is intended to be the first of regular bi-monthly town meetings on Wednesday, June 17th.

These forums are intended by the Emerson Board of Directors as a means for the Board to learn about issues of concern to Emerson residents, answer questions, and solicit ideas for the improvement of our community.

The intent is to stagger the Town Halls and Board Meetings in alternating months (e.g., Board Meeting in May, Town Hall in June, Board Meeting in July, etc.).

Please make plans to participate!

Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Time: 7 PM
Location: Emerson Clubhouse

---

The notice from Emerson Community Management:

Emerson's First Town Hall Meeting

Wednesday June 17
7pm
in the Clubhouse

The Board of Directors is announcing the first of a series of regularly scheduled Town Hall Meetings.  The goal is to have these meetings alternate with Board Meetings and they are designed to give all homeowners an opportunity to voice concerns, raise issues, and brainstorm solutions in a setting that allows for longer discussion.

Join the Board Wednesday June 17th at 7pm for a night of great conversation and productive discussions!

If you have any questions, please contact the Management Office by phone or email.

Proxies Needed for Autumn Walk Annual Meeting Mon. 6/15

Please remember that we need a quorum of 12 houses for the Autumn Walk Annual Meeting and Elections on June 15th, 2015!

If you cannot attend, please fill out and return the proxy forms that you received in the mail.

You can choose to have your proxy simply count against the quorum or you can opt to designate someone who will be present to vote on your behalf.

The meeting will not be valid unless quorum is met, so please help us!

Meeting Agenda

7:00 PM: Member Sign In and Certification of Proxies
7:05 PM: Quorum Established
7:06 PM: Call to Order and Introductions
7:08 PM: Current Financial Review
7:15 PM: President's Report (overview of community related topics)
7:30 PM: Election

• Announcement of current nominees
• Call for nominees from Floor
• Words form nominees
• Offical Vote
• New Board Member(s) announced

7:45 PM: Open Forum for Community Concerns

8:00 PM: Meeting Adjourned

Notes: Emerson HOA 6/1/15

Highlights from the Emerson Master HOA Meeting on Monday, June 1, 2015:

1. First Emerson Town Hall scheduled for Wed., June 17th at 7 PM in the Clubhouse
1. Want to solicit ideas for improving the community and answer questions from residents
2. Intended to alternate with the bi-monthly Board Meetings

Riversdale Mansion (College Park, MD)

Just 9 miles down the road from the College Park Airport is Riversdale Mansion, built between 1801 and 1806 by Belgian businessman Henri Joseph Stier.

The estate became the home of Stier's daughter Rosalie and her husband George Calvert, the grandson of Charles Calvert (Fifth Lord Baltimore).

Rosalie was given title to the house by her father, as well as placed in charge of his American business interests, and her extensive correspondence with her family provides a well-documented look at life in the period up to her early death in 1821 at age 43.

Rosalie and George's son Charles Benedict Calvert would donate land from the estate in 1858 to found the Maryland Agricultural College, today known as the University of Maryland.

Cradle of Aviation: College Park, MD

College Park Airport (CGS), about half an hour away from us and established in 1909 for Wilbur Wright to train the very first military aviators, is the oldest continually operated airport in the world.

The historic airport is called "The Cradle of Aviation" because it was the site of many aviation "firsts," including the first mile-high flight in a powered airplane, the first controlled helicopter flight, and the first scheduled US airmail service.

The 2600-foot runway still supports general aviation needs today although pilots must undergo enhanced vetting procedures to fly into restricted airspace near Washington DC.

A very small Smithsonian-affiliated aviation museum is also at the airport with historical exhibits and both original and replica historical aircraft. It takes about an hour to go through the exhibit space, which has a long window looking out on the runway.

First Successful Powered Flight
Following their first short flights of several hundred feet at Kitty Hawk, NC on December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright spent the next few years working to build powered aircraft that could sustain controlled flight, and then trying to sell their invention to various skeptical governments.