Neighborhood Association meeting set for Nov. 17
A meeting of the Lake Forest / Mitylene Forest Neighborhood Association has been scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Arrowhead Country Club.
The most important item on the agenda has to do with officers for the Association.
We will have vacancies in three of the four officer positions:
• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
If you would like more information about the duties of any of these officer positions, if you are interested in being nominated for the position or nominating someone, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
At this meeting, we also will discuss the possibility of purchasing security cameras for the neighborhood entrances. This is something many of you have expressed an interest in exploring.
Our Councilman, Richard Bollinger, also will be present at this meeting and would be happy to discuss any issues affecting our neighborhood and District.
We look forward to seeing you on Nov. 17!
Lake Forest/Mitylene Forest residents are districted to vote at Frazer United Methodist Church on Atlanta Highway.
We remind everyone that the deadline for voter registration is October 24th and the absentee application deadline is November. 3rd. Please be aware that absentee ballots must be hand delivered or have a postmark of November 7th.
The election is Tuesday, November 8th. The polls will be open from 7 am to 7 pm. Typically, the least busy times are mid-morning or mid-afternoon.
Be sure to bring your photo ID with you. All ID must be current except driver's license may be up to 60 days past due.
(This is a good time to check your license and when you need to renew it!)
by Lieutenant Denise Barnes from Montgomery Police Department
Spring has sprung; unfortunately an increase in lawn equipment theft can occur during this time of the season. Our MPD Crime Prevention Officers are providing the following tips for you to consider:
Consider having insurance coverage on your lawn equipment or check with your insurance provider to see if lawn equipment is covered under your current homeowner’s policy.
Engrave your driver’s license number and your name into your lawn equipment, take photos of your equipment, and write down the model and serial number of each item for later identification.
If you store your lawn equipment in your home’s garage, be sure to keep your garage door locked at all times. Consider an alarm sensor for your garage door.
Remove keys from any riding lawn equipment.
If your lawn equipment is kept in the backyard, consider keeping all gates that access your backyard locked. If lawn equipment is stored in a shed, consider using a high quality padlock to secure the shed. You may also wish to add a self-monitored alarm to your shed. These devices can be found at local hardware stores.
Consider looping a rope or chain lock around your lawn equipment, securing it to a heavy or fixed object.
Consider placing motion activated flood lighting near the area you store your lawn equipment.
Consider installing wireless outside security cameras to monitor the exterior of your home.
You may wish to consider purchasing GPS tracking devices; new technology provides small devices that can monitor the location of physical property and items such as lawn equipment.
Know your neighbor; communicating with your neighbors can help them identify suspicious activity occurring on your property.
Remember, the more difficult you make it for a criminal to access your property, the less chance you have of becoming a victim.
Report any suspicious activity to Montgomery Police Department Communications, (334) 241-2651.
Lake Forest and Mitylene Forest, as well as adjoinng neighborhoods Arrowhead and Town Lakes are generally considered safe places to live and enjoy your property. However, there are people out there that take advantage of our relaxed sense of security and prey upon those who cannot easily defend themselves. As of the end of September, 2016, there have been several police reports of people in East Montgomery being robbed in broad daylight, or home invasions. Nothing can prevent bad people from committing crimes, but you can do some things the lower your odds of being a victim.
- Maintain situational awareness at all times. Scan your environment continuously. Avoid engaging in microfocused tasks such as using your phone to txt / email when in public. If you are watching your environment, you will likely see most dangers and be able to avoid them. Most criminals would rather target those who are unaware of their presence. Always be that person who is aware!
- When possible, travel with a companion or two. Criminals are cowards in most cases, but the aren't always dumb. They know if there are more people, there are more chances they won't get away with the crime.
- Break up your routine. Travel home by different routes. Leave / arrive at varying times. Come home in the middle of the day from time to time if possible.
- Notice when your neighbors are and are not home. Notice what cars they drive and where they park. Be able to pick out a descrapancy in these factors that might alert you to a problem.
- Keep your home and vehicles locked. Make sure alarm systems are installed and are working.
- Do not answer your door if you do not know who it is that is knocking or ringing the bell. Post a no solicitng sign on your porch so they know not to solicit. Have a neighbor whom you can call if you feel that someone is a threat at your door or around your home.
- Consider personal protection such as pepper spray, a taser or a firearm, but if you do so, you MUST know how to use them. If you obtain a firearm, get some qualified instruction on how to use it, how it functions, and practice regularly with it. Even with pepper spray, mace or a taser, you should practice using it so you know how it works, how far it will be effective, and in the case of pepper spray or mace, how to use it without getting it in your own face!.
- Maintain a level of fitness that will allow you to offer some resistance to an attacker. If possible, obtain training in how to fend off physical attacks.
- Understand the laws regarding your property, physical defense and injury. Even though you have the right to defend yourself, you can run afoul of the law if you are not careful, and a criminal can end up the beneficiary of your mistakes. Know what you can and cannot do in defense of yourself and your property. Know what to do and not to do after an incident.
- Keep a list written down of important numbers such as a spouse, friend, neighbor and the police and EMS personnel. Having them written rather than stored in your phone means you can use them if your phone is damaged, stolen or otherwise not available.
Below are some resources that may be helpful for you in meeting the above criteria for being safe at your home and in the city.
The article that inspired this blog post: http://www.wsfa.com/story/33275154/woman-robbed-injured-in-driveway-in-series-of-east-montgomery-crimes
Places to learn self defense in Montogmery:
Tiger Rock Martial Arts 2750 Bell Rd,
Montgomery, AL 36117
Shindokan Dojo- 004C E Shirley Ln
Montgomery, AL 36117
Percy Brown's Taekwondo- 3036 Woodley Rd
Montgomery, AL 36116
Bateman Taekwondo- 3541 Mcgehee Rd
Montgomery, AL 36111
Resources for personal defense with pepper spray, tasers or firearms:
The Gun Shoppe - help selecitng the correct personal protection equipment for you.
2766A Bell Road,
Montgomery, AL 36117
Telephone: 334.239.8276
Small Arms Training-Consultants
MPD Citizens Firearms Familiarization Course
Winter weather in Alabama is unpredictable. It has been both unseasnably warm and cold! It is only a matter of time before the cold weather moves in to stay for a while. You can save yourself a lot of time, trouble and expense by being prepared.
One of the dangers - which is easily preventable - is frozen pipes. The American Red Cross provides this helpful information to get you ready:​
- Drain water from swimming pool and water sprinkler supply lines following manufacturer's or installer's directions.
- Check around the home for other areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas.
- Consider installing specific products made to insulate water pipes like a "pipe sleeve" or installing UL-listed "heat tape," "heat cable," or similar materials on exposed water pipes. Newspaper can also provide some degree of insulation and protection to exposed pipes.
- Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children.
- When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe - even at a trickle - helps prevent pipes from freezing.