Nobody was Hurt or Killed This Time. (An HOA is AWOL on Safety)

UPDATE 8/8/2022: The HOA has had a tree company survey all of the trees on the common-ownership property and identify hazardous trees that need removal. This looks like progress. We are hoping this new list of targeted trees overlaps 100% with the (shorter) list of trees that residents have expressed concerns about, such as those described here. Stay tuned. –S.L.

Chapter 43, "Living on Cuckoo Court"

TO: County Executive Marc Elrich; cc: Montgomery County Council Housing, Planning, and Economic Development Committee; Office of Common Ownership Communities; Washington Post.

Dear Executive Elrich,

In the early hours of the morning on February 25, 2022, there was an ice storm. Limbs from huge white pine trees snapped off from the weight of the ice, falling inches from homes. One roof was hit by smaller branches. See photos. Luckily, the tops of trees did not snap off. Luckily, nobody was injured or killed, no sleeping children were crushed in their beds. Luckily.

Residents of Quail Valley HOA have been pleading with their board of directors to please prioritize these specific, HOA-owned trees for removal. (Note 1) Instead, a bunch of other trees were recently taken down. Not the trees shown here.

It is the duty of the Quail Valley HOA to ensure the "health, safety, and welfare" of the residents, per our QV HOA Articles of Incorporation. The Quail Valley HOA neglects to take down these dangerous trees (beside houses). If they are somehow not dangerous, then we need to see an LTE's (a licensed tree expert's) signed statement to that effect.

Our HOA president (on Feb 26) advises that we petition for a redress of our grievances to the property management company, who is our HOA’s hired vendor. But that company sent me (through their lawyer, Stein Sperling) a “cease and desist” letter to stifle criticism. (Note 2)

The QV HOA collects $600,000 in dues from the residents, and spends $25,000 on "tree care" each year.

The county's Department of Transportation says these trees are the responsibility of the HOA (not of our hired property management company). The county's Office of Common Ownership Communities is feckless in matters like this. I tried already. We would pay $50 to submit an OCOC form and–in a few months–endure a "mediation," residents v. HOA, about … what? Whether the HOA should be protecting the lives of its residents?

We can only conclude that human life seems to be of little concern to local governments in Montgomery County, Maryland, in the USA. Can you change this? Can you help us?

Sincerely,
Steven Sellers Lapham
18737 Purple Martin Lane, Gaithersburg, MD 20879
Traditional Powhatan Land

NOTE 1: For example, 9 blogs about these hazards have been posted in this series on PATCH.com, the first on April 9, 2021.

NOTE 2: A second cease and desist letter, this one from the neighborhood HOA itself, I disregarded.

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Steven Sellers Lapham is a 21-year resident of Quail Valley. A retired editor, he can be reached at MuskratMusic@gmail.com. The "Living on Cuckoo Court" collection of essays is on Patch.com. Read about the nationwide problem of "HOA corruption, dysfunction, and abuse" at Independent American Communities.