by Doug Taggart

 "I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.  If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.  If the end brings me out wrong, then ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference."

by Abraham Lincoln

Last month in my President's Page I mentioned that in June of this year the Board had issued a contract to a security consultant (Threat Analysis Group (TAG)) to conduct an assessment of the community and make recommendations on how subcontracted security and "in-house managed" safety patrol services might be realigned to better meet our needs.   The final report, which was outbriefed at the August 9^th Board meeting, has been useful in forcing the Board to step back and examine our requirements for including a Community Patrol component in our contract with the professional management company (Armstrong), and the subcontracting of off-duty police. (Note:  A number of years ago the MPOA put in place a contract with off-duty police to conduct "in community" patrols for a limited number of hours on weekends throughout the year).  

I'm not yet prepared to provide details on what the Board's reexamination might conclude, but we are looking very closely at the costs and benefits of providing "in-house managed" Community Patrol services and subcontracting of off-duty security services in the pursuit of enhancing Montclair's overall security.  

With that said, I must emphasis for all residents, if you observe what you believe is criminal activity (including traffic violations), or should you experience criminal activity at your own homes, the Police are your first and only resource to call.  Informing the Community Patrol of what you have observed/experienced after the Police have been contacted is helpful in allowing the Community Patrol to understand patterns of crime, to pin-point problem areas in the community, etc... but the Patrol is not empowered to provide any response to criminal activity.  I want to emphasis that point again...the only call to be made by any resident experiencing problems that are criminal in nature is to the Police. 

I would also like to clarify a point that I made in last month's President's Page regarding the dredging of the lake.  In that article I indicated that a survey/engineering assessment of the lake would be done this fall and that following that assessment the lake would be dredged during the late winter/early spring of 2007.  I have since learned that the "window" to conduct dredging in the late winter/early spring is too narrow given uncertainties of dealing with potential ice coupled with the need to complete the work early enough so as not to impact the spring spawning of the lake's fish stock.  The result, dredging of the lake will be done in 2007, but it will be done in the fall of 2007.

Recently I have been asked by a number of residents what the procedures are for obtaining permission to conduct solicitations for donations on Montclair's streets/intersections (residents have undoubtedly observed numerous sports teams and charitable organization conducting this type of activity on Waterway Drive intersections on many Saturdays).  Please note that the process of seeking approval for this type of activity on all public roads is managed by the County.  Residents wishing to apply for these permits must contact the Police.  After a permit has been applied for and approved by the Police it is beneficial for the Community Patrol to be informed of the date, time and location of the activity, but the MPOA does not have a role to play in approving these activities or managing them.  These activities are approved by the County and not by the MPOA.

I would also like to take a moment to remind residents that there are covenant guidelines in place that address the posting of signs in/around the community.   Please see the Community Guidelines, Article 5, Para 5.4.38 (available on the Montclair website http://www.montclairva.com) for details on the guidelines on the posting of signs in accordance with our covenants.

If you wish to provide comment or input please few free to send an e-mail to me at Dougtag@aol.com.