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Community News
Spring, 2025
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PLEASE PAY YOUR HOA DUES
Your HOA assessment was due in January. If you have paid your 2025 assessment, thank you! If not, we will continue to send you reminders until the unpaid account is turned over to the HOA attorney for collection. If you are having trouble paying your assessment, please contact the BOD; we can work with you to set up a payment plan. But you need to let us know. If you fail to pay your assessment and the past due account is turned over to the HOA attorney for collection, the initial assessment can increase substantially VERY quick with added attorney fees that the individual homeowner is responsible for. Attorneys are expensive, so please pay your assessment now. Gratefully, our yearly non-payment rate is very low. Thank you!
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IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN
Your home is a valuable investment so take pride in your curb appeal. A beautiful home with poor upkeep is aesthetically unappealing and reduces the value of everyone’s home. You are responsible for maintaining your residence so that it meets the requirements of our HOA covenant guidelines. Every two years the HOA conducts a community wide covenant inspection. The last inspection was completed in 2023. The next covenant inspection will be conducted this year and is scheduled for the first week of April. The biennial inspection will primarily focus on paint/rotten wood, fences, roofs, driveways, and landscaping. If you have a violation, you will be notified by letter and given time to correct it.
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ANNUAL EARTH DAY CELEBRATION
We are thrilled to invite you to join us for a special Earth Day celebration! Together, let's honor our beautiful planet and take action to protect it for future generations. The annual Snowden's Mill HOA Earth Day Celebration will be held on April 26 at 10 AM. We will gather at the playground on Serpentine Way behind Snowden's Ridge. You can catch up with your neighbors and make our community look even better by picking up trash around our neighborhood. We hope that you can join us.
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INVASIVE VINES-FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE
Invasive plant species are damaging Maryland's environment. From bamboo to vines, invasives, environmentalists say, have wrapped their tendrils all across Maryland and are killing our trees and native plants.
The United States Department of Agriculture defines invasive plants as non-native or alien to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction can cause economic or environmental harm or adversely affect human health.
Invasive plants have unfair advantages over native plants, especially in human-disturbed habitats. They reproduce aggressively in multiple ways, and at a much faster pace than indigenous plants.
We have invasive plants in our neighborhood that are costly to remove, strands of bamboo and trees that have been killed by vines. We have two big invasive species, bamboo and ivy. The ivy is growing up into many of our trees which will eventually kill the trees by blocking off their ability to capture sunlight. The trees are what captures the carbon dioxide from our cars and turns it into oxygen. Please if you see a vine growing up into a tree, cut them off at their base. This will not always kill them, but will help. We need to be observant and rid our neighborhood of these vines.
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SPOTTED LANTERN FLIES NEED TO DIE
Please remember if you see any spotted lantern flies, please kill them. These invasive insects are very destructive to plants and trees and should be killed if you see one.
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PLEASE JOIN US
The monthly HOA BOD meetings are being conducted by teleconference. You are still welcome to join us. Please check your email before the meeting for instructions on how to join the meeting.
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PLANNING A MODIFICATION TO YOUR PROPERTY?
Are you about to paint your house a different color, replace the roof with a different color shingle, or build a shed or tall playground structure in the backyard or any other type of exterior modification?
Before you break out the power tools or call the contractor, be sure to submit your plans to the HOA Architectural Control Committee.
The committee’s job is to ensure that the size and style of a project, the building materials, the color, and the overall appearance fit the association’s design requirements. The architectural control committee looks out for the entire community – including you.
If the Architectural Committee finds issues with your proposed project, we’ll try to work with you to come up with acceptable alternatives. Also, if an approved design changes, let the committee know: submit revised plans as soon as possible. If you are replacing a door for another door that looks just like the original, no approval is required. Replacing anything that looks like what is currently there doesn’t need approval.
If you undertake a building project without the association’s approval, you may have to remove the structure at your own expense. The association has the legal authority to enforce the architectural requirements, so save money and headaches by getting approval before building. You can obtain the property improvement request form on our website. If you have any questions, about an exterior modification, please let us know. Thank you for partnering with the Architectural Committee to keep your home and our community looking great.
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SMHOA NEWSLETTERS
The Communications Committee is always looking for newsletter content. Send your ideas/input to Charles Lasky.
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TIPS FOR REVIVING YOUR LAWN AFTER WINTER
Waking up your lawn can be challenging. Early spring is one of the best times of the year. Here are a few tips for reviving your lawn after the beating it likely took this winter: feed it well, water in the morning, ease into mowing, start fighting weeds, and seed thin spots. Please follow the county guidelines on fertilizing and weed control. The environment belongs to all of us.
Read More...
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EMAIL ADDRESSES
Snowdens Mill HOA Board of Directors
smhoaboard@googlegroups.com
Snowdens Mill HOA Covenant Enforcement Committee
smhoace@googlegroups.com
Snowdens Mill HOA Managing Agent (Charles Laskey)
clasky@comsource.com
301-924-7355 x153
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COMMUNITY WEBSITE IS VALUABLE INFORMATION SOURCE
The Snowden's Mill HOA website is a great resource for your HOA needs.
- HOA contact information
- Property Improvement Request (PIR) application
- Newsletter Archive
- Covenant documents
- and much more
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TOWN HOME ROUNDUP (Helpful information for the townhome owners)
Snowdens Mill Townhome Association #1 (Tufa Terr and Tourmaline Terr)
Spring is here and the grass is growing quickly. Please remember to be courteous to your neighbors and your neighborhood by keeping your lawn mowed. We are planning to work on any down or dying trees in the common areas. If you know of any issues near your property, please let us know.
PAST DUE --- There continues to be a significant number of residents with outstanding balances on their quarterly payments. In May, you can expect to see letters outlining your balances. Please let us know if there is an issue with the letter or if you need assistance.
The Townhouse HOA would love to hear from you. Please email us with your questions or concerns at snowdensmillhoa1@gmail.com.
Board:
- Anna Douglas, President
- Wes W, Vice President
- Marc Chasen, Treasurer/Secretary
- Ermiyas Mengesha, Member
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SPRING FOOD
We hope that you enjoy the recipe section of our newsletter. We have received many positive comments. If you have a recipe that you would like to share with your neighbors, please send it. For spring food we have:
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STRAWBERRY CHIA SEED PUDDING
Ingredients
- 16 oz. strawberries roughly chopped fresh or frozen
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup yogurt any kind, dairy or plant-based
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1/2 cup chia seeds
- whipped cream for serving, optional
Instructions
1. Add strawberries, milk (1 cup), yogurt (1 cup), vanilla extract (1 teaspoon), and maple syrup (1/4 cup) to a medium bowl. Use an immersion blender or regular blender to purée until smooth.
2. Add chia seeds (1/2 cup). Stir to mix well.
3. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until chia seeds have gelled and the mixture reaches a thick pudding-like consistency.
4. Top with fresh strawberries or other fruit and/or whipped cream.
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QUESTIONS TO THE SMHOA BOARD OF DIRECTORS | |
I want to know who, what, where and why?
1.) Why has my past due assessment increased so much after a single year? Is the HOA ripping me off?
As we have been telling our neighbors, after non-payment of your assessment for ~46 months, the accounts are turned over to the HOA attorney for collection. Let’s face it, attorneys are expensive. All HOAs use the same process for collecting past due accounts and the charges are usually the same for every past due account, based on the amount of time that has past and previous non-payment history. We are required by law to ensure that all members pay their dues. The HOA will not forgive legal costs accrued from trying to collect past due accounts. Please don’t ask. The SMHOA has one of the lowest assessments in Montgomery County. The HOA Board of Directors hate when non paid accounts have to go to the attorney, but it’s the law.
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Board of Directors:
- Tracy Shahan, President
- Earl Gamache, VP
- Neil Pedersen, Treasurer
- Nikki Milcetich, Secretary
- David Golden
- Mitiku Kelkay
- Kenrick Kennedy
- Nathan Ochole
- Renu Simon
- Ryan Woodlee
Email the Board
Covenant Enforcement Committee
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Snowdens Mill HOA is managed by:
ComSource
3414 Morningwood Drive
Olney, Maryland 20832
Contact:
301-924-7355 x153
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Useful Telephone Numbers:
For medical and other emergencies, call 911. Following are other useful numbers:
- County Info/services 240-777-0311
- PEPCO (Outages) 877-737-2662
- Miss Utility 800-257-7777
- Missed Trash/Recycling 240-777-0311
- Animal Control 240-773-5960
- Poison Control 800-222-1222
- Police Non-Emergency 301-279-8000
- Street Light Outage 240-777-0311
- Street Tree Damage 240-777-7623
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