1 www.chartleyhomeowners.org

TThhee eeCChhaatttteerr

The eChatter is an electronic publication that will

supplement the 4-times-a-year Chartley Chatter.

The eChatter will be emailed to paid up members of

the Association in those months that the Chatter is

not distributed to all Chartley households.

VVoolluunntteeeerr –– HHeellpp CClleeaann oouurr SSttrreeaamm

Each April Chartley Homeowners and friends clean

the “Chartley Stream” from trash and debris that has

collected over the fall and winter. Volunteers are

needed this year on

Saturday, April 6th

from 9 am to noon. This is a good place to

earn your Community

Service Credits while

helping keep Chartley

and the Chesapeake

Bay clean.

No specific skills

are required. On site

training is provided.

Meet us at the bridge on Sacred Heart Lane, be-

tween Chartley Drive and Highmeadow Road at

9 am on Saturday, April 6th

.

Don’t forget to wear hard soled shoes or boots

and clothing suitable for the weather. Gloves and

drinking water will be provided.

For additional information contact Dan at 410-

833-3197 or by email at danpalich@yahoo.com or

Ernie at 410-833-0262 or by email at

erschmidhauser@comcast.net.

RReeiisstteerrssttoowwnn EElleemmeennttaarryy SScchhooooll

School is closed on Monday, February 18th

for

Presidents Day

Reading Night is Tuesday, February 26th

at the

school.

Battle of the Books will be held at the Chatsworth

School on Tuesday, May 7th

Box Tops for Education.

Save your box tops and drop them off at school

Got Sneakers?

Any pair of old shoes or boots are wanted except

slippers. The shoes will be recycled.

Tie the shoes in pairs and drop them off in the box

inside the front door of the school.

FFoorr VVoolluunntteeeerr OOppppoorrttuunniittiieess aatt

RReeiisstteerrssttoowwnn EElleemmeennttaarryy,, vviissiitt::

http://reisterstownes.ss3.sharpschool.com/parents/

volunteer_opportunities

DDiinniinngg aatt RReetteerr’’ss

Mark your calendar on Wednesday, May 1st for

Dining at Reter’s. This annual event is a great way to

celebrate warm weather while helping CHA raise

money for its scholarship fund. Chartley resident and

host Brad Reter welcomes residents to lunch and/or

dinner at his popular restaurant Reter’s Crab House

and Grille at 509 Main Street, in the landmark Shop-

ping Center behind Brick Bodies.

Reter’s is well known for steamed crabs and tradi-

tional Maryland Seafood but Wednesday’s special is

prime rib. Seafood is plentiful but there are many

non-seafood selections on their menu.

Participation is easy. Just bring your significant

other, your children and neighbors to lunch and/or

FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001199

2 www.chartleyhomeowners.org

dinner to Reter’s Crab House & Grille on May 1st.

Identify yourself as a CHA Dining at Reter’s partici-

pant. You may order any food and drink item from

their vast menu including daily specials. Brad will

donate 10% of the in house restaurant food and drink

receipts to Chartley Homeowners Association. Carry

out orders are excluded.

In the past this is one of the most popular CHA ac-

tivities.

KKiiwwaanniiss PPaannccaakkee DDiinnnneerr

The Reisterstown Kiwanis Club will hold their

annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner on Tuesday,

March 5th

from 4pm to 7 pm at the Reisterstown

United Methodist Church at 246 Main Street. This is

an ALL YOU AN EAT affair of scrambled eggs,

pancakes, juice, milk, coffee and tea.

Tickets are available at the door. Persons 14 and

over $6, Children 6 to 13 $3 and children 5 and under

are Free.

PPaappeerr SShhrreeddddiinngg SSaattuurrddaayy,, AApprriill 2200tthh

The Reisterstown Kiwanis Club will hold its an-

nual paper shredding day on Saturday, April 20th

in

the parking lot in front of Office Depot and Aldi’s in

the Cherryvale Shopping Center.

SSaavviinngg MMoonneeyy oonn AAuuttoo IInnssuurraannccee

by Dan Palich

At the CHA General Meeting on October 25, 2018,

we had a speaker from the Maryland Insurance Ad-

ministration. The speaker gave us two guides that

show the insurance premiums charged by the 55 larg-

est insurance companies in Maryland. The guides en-

able you to compare the premiums you are paying to

the premiums charged by other companies.

1. Auto Insurance – A Comparison Guide to

Rates – by Maryland Insurance Admin

2. Homeowners Insurance – A Comparison

Guide to Rates – by Maryland Insurance Admin

If you attended the meeting but have not done any-

thing with the guides, you need to be prodded. That's

the purpose of this article. I procrastinated for 6

weeks, but then I used the guides. And then I

switched insurance companies. As a result, I will

save $1,000 in 2019. If you have not shopped around

in the past few years, you probably can save money

also.

I learned a few things. For example, each year my

insurance premiums increased by a small amount. I

was okay with a small increase simply because it was

small. I attributed the increases to inflation. That was

a mistake. Being "okay" with the new premiums de-

terred me from shopping. I failed to realize other

companies offered better rates.

Comparing premiums was easy and took only a few

minutes. You do not need to wait until your current

policies expire. My old policies expired February

2019, but I terminated them in December 2018. My

former company then refunded to me the unused

premiums.

Comparing premiums for homeowners insurance is

straightforward. For auto insurance, I found a quirk.

The auto insurance guide selects one location to rep-

resent each county. For example, Columbia repre-

sents Howard County. Westminster represents Car-

roll County. Owings Mills represents Baltimore

County. I studied the Baltimore County rates and de-

cided those rates are high. I concluded Owings Mills

rates are higher than Reisterstown rates.

What does that mean? For auto insurance, it means

you can use the guide to compare companies. But if

you see that your current rate for auto insurance is

lower than the rate in the guide, do not conclude that

you already have a low rate. The Baltimore County

rate might be inflated because of Owings Mills. You

need to shop around.

Finally, I had earned "accident forgiveness" with

my former company; however, I lost "accident for-

giveness" when I switched companies. That is the

only negative aspect. After I go the next 4 years

without an accident, I will earn "accident for-

giveness" with my new company. Since I will have

saved $4,000 in premiums during that period, I am

okay with it.

"It often requires more courage to dare

to do right than to fear to do wrong."

- Abraham Lincoln

3 www.chartleyhomeowners.org

CCrriimmee iinn CChhaarrttlleeyy

Another New Year and another chance to pursue

our objective of zero crimes in Chartley! That must

always be our goal. In order to meet that milestone,

all of us have to work together to always be aware of

our surroundings and to always call 911 whenever we

see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. We

didn’t exactly start January off on the right foot

though. Four crimes were reported in the community

during January as seen in the chart below. As a com-

parison, 3 crimes were reported in January last year.

Type of Crime Jan

Assault (Non-Domestic) 2

Theft 2

Total: 4

Usually crime reports from Chartley residents are

scattered throughout any given week. The crimes that

are shown above were all reported on 3 different

weekends, with all but one of the crimes being re-

ported during the morning hours. All four reports

were on different streets within the community.

We were also notified at the December Police Pub-

lic Relations Council meeting that the current Com-

manding Officer of Precinct, Captain Michael

Baylog, had announced his retirement effective Feb-

ruary 1st. Since that time, we have been informed that

Lt. Will Buckingham is being promoted to Captain

and will become the new Commanding Officer for

our Precinct 3. As usual when a new commander is

assigned to the Precinct, we will arrange to meet with

Captain Buckingham in the very near future.

We have seen reports throughout our area about an

increase in theft OF vehicles, primarily due to people

warming up their vehicles while they wait in the

comfort of their home. Please remember that leaving

a vehicle running while unattended is itself a crime

and carries a $ 70 fine. So why chance both losing

your vehicle and then being fined to boot! A vehicle

will warm up very quickly when it starts to move, as

opposed to taking some time while sitting still.

With the New Year comes the opportunity to begin

things anew. I encourage everyone to make a New

Year’s Resolution to ALWAYS:

Lock it up, each time, every time.

Keep the outside of your house illuminated af-

ter dark

Never leave valuables in your vehicles

Be aware of your surroundings wherever you

are, particularly when you are outside or shop-

ping after dark

If you see something, say something! Call 911

each time, every time.

If in doubt, let the police check it out

Remember that if you don’t call 911, there

will not be a police response… no response…no

police follow up to prevent further

crimes…MAKE THAT CALL, EACH TIME,

EVERY TIME

For the rest of 2019, we are very hopeful

WWhhaatt ttoo DDoo IIff YYoouu SSeeee aa PPeett

LLeefftt OOuutt IInn tthhee CCoolldd

It can be a crime to leave pets outside in extreme

temperatures without food and shelter.

Cold weather

can be deadly for

pets. As the tem-

perature plum-

mets in many

parts of the coun-

try, the Humane

Society of the

United States sees

a marked increase

in the number of complaints about dogs and cats who

have been left outside with no food or shelter.

We encourage you to contact local law enforcement

agencies because pets left outside in extreme temper-

atures, especially without food and shelter, are at risk

of hypothermia, frostbite and even death. Their own-

ers are at risk of facing criminal charges.

The act of leaving a pet outside without food or ade-

quate shelter often receives less attention than a vio-

lent attack against an animal, but neglect is a crime.

"Especially in these cold months, it is important for

people to bring their pets inside and for others to re-

port neglected animals to law enforcement,” says

Ashley Mauceri, the Humane Society of the United

States (HSUS) Manager for Cruelty Response, who

fields these calls.

If you see a pet left out in the cold, speak out.

One of the most common forms of animal cruelty,

4 www.chartleyhomeowners.org

cases of animals left outside in dangerous weather are

investigated more by police and animal control agen-

cies than any other form of animal abuse. Our most

constant companions—dogs and cats—feel the ef-

fects of winter weather as much as we do, only they

are often cast outside to weather the cold or a storm

owing to a misconception that the fur on their backs

will insulate them from suffering. Without proper

shelter, food and water, these domesticated animals’

chances of survival in frigid temperatures is greatly

decreased.

While views on animal welfare vary from region to

region, there are laws in place in every state to pre-

vent needless suffering. Callers to the HSUS report

numerous cases across the country of animals left out

in the cold, but the organization is also working with

an increasing number of law enforcement agencies

that recognize the importance of intervention in these

cases.

Find out how to protect your pets from the cold.

The facts

Animal neglect is considered a misdemeanor

crime in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Felony penalties can be levied in Massachusetts

and Oklahoma for any animal neglect case.

Felony charges can be applied in animal neglect

resulting in death in California, Connecticut, Flor-

ida and Washington, D.C.

Felony charges can be applied in Georgia animal

cruelty cases where malice is proved.

How you can help

Report what you see: Take note of the date, time,

exact location and the type of animal(s) involved

and write down as many details as possible about

the situation. Video and photographic documenta-

tion of the animal, the location, the surrounding

area, etc. (even a cell phone photo) will help bol-

ster your case.

Contact your local animal control agency or

county sheriff's office and present your complaint

and evidence. Take detailed notes regarding whom

you speak with and when. Respectfully follow up

in a few days if the situation has not been reme-

died.

If you need advice, call or email HSUS. Because

we aren't a law-enforcement agency, we cannot

take legal action, but we can provide expert

counsel.

If you have pets, follow our advice for keeping

them safe in cold weather.

© 2019 The Humane Society of the United States

AADD SSppaaccee AAvvaaiillaabbllee

Two advertizing spaces will be availa-

ble beginning with the April Chartley

Chatter:

The spaces are the inside back cover

($70.00) and one ¼ page ad ($18.00).

The Chatter is published in:

January

April

July

October

The Chatter is hand delivered to all 790

homes in Chartley.

If you are interested in filling either

space, email the Chatter Staff at

chatterstaff@comcast.net.

Beginning in the July 2019 Chatter, there

should be another ¼ page ad available.

If you witness a person inflicting harm or injury on an animal, call 911 right away.

To file an animal cruelty report when imme-diate police intervention is not required, call the Baltimore County Police non-emergency line at 410-887-2222.

Baltimore County animal complaints reporting number: 410-887-7297 (PAWS).

Animal complaints can also be reported online at:

www.baltimorecountymd.gov/agencies/animal

services/animal-complaints.html

5 www.chartleyhomeowners.org

6 www.chartleyhomeowners.org

CCHHAA 22001199 CCaalleennddaarr ooff EEvveennttss

Project Location Date Time

Project Clean Stream Sacred Heart Lane, between

Chartley Drive and Highmeadow Road

Saturday, April 6, 2019 9:00 am to Noon

Kiwanis Shredding Day Cherryvale Shopping Center

(Home Depot) April 20, 2019 8:00 am to Noon

CHA General Meeting Reisterstown Elementary

School Thursday, April 25, 2019 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Dining At Reters Reter’s Crab House Wednesday, May 1, 2019 11:00 am to 9:00 pm

CHA Yard Sale Residents Yards Saturday, May 4, 2019 8:00 am to Residents

Discretion.

Bloomin’ Art Fest Franklin Middle School Saturday, May 11, 2019 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

CHA Yard Sale Residents Yards Saturday, May 18, 2019 8:00 am to Residents

Discretion.

Officer Appreciation Day Precinct #3

606 Nicodemus Road Saturday June 8, 2019 10 am to 4:00 pm

Clean Up & Electronic Recycling Day

Behind the old Mars Food Store

Saturday, June 22, 2019 9:00 am to Noon

National Night Out Chartley Park Shopping Center Tuesday, August 6, 2019 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Reisterstown Festival Parade

Main St. to Hannah More Saturday, September 7, 2019 8:00 am

CHA Crab Feast American Legion Post 116

1090 Westminster Pike Reisterstown, MD

Saturday, October 12, 2019 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm

CHA General Meeting Reisterstown Elementary

School Thursday, October 24, 2019 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

CHA Executive Board Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month (except December) at the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company, Main St., 7:00-8:30 PM. All are welcome.