The Burnt Mills Community

Burnt Mills Citizens Association Listserver FAQ
Version 1.0b, June 3, 2016

Changelog:

• Version 1.1, August 6, 2023 – Clarified that one-time personal moving sales or garage sales are not included in commercial use and are OK to post.
• Version 1.0b, June 3, 2016 – Initial version posted to website.

What is a FAQ?
FAQ is an acronym for “Frequently Asked Questions.”

What is the Burnt Mills Citizens Association Listserver?
A listserver is an online system in which any subscriber can send an Email to a central address, and a copy will automatically be sent to all subscribers. The distribution list of subscribers is centrally maintained. Our listserver is administered on behalf of the Burnt Mills Citizens Association (BMCA), subject to the approval of the BMCA president. The listserver is currently managed by Yehuda Katz.

Who can subscribe?
The BMCA is only open to residents of properties covered by the BMCA’s jurisdiction. Some former residents may still be subscribed.

What is its history?
The BMCA Listserver was started in the late 1990’s, but it initially only had a few subscribers and was rarely used until 2001. It was originally implemented using TopicA’s software, but in 2009 it was moved to Google Groups. Every message posted since the move to Google Groups can be found on our listserver’s Google Groups website, https://groups.google.com/group/burntmills.

To view this, you must be logged with a Google account that was created using the same Email address that you use to receive the listserver messages. Messages from the TopicA days are no longer available.
Since its creation, the BMCA Listserver has primarily been managed by Ira Levine. When he has not been available, former BMCA president Dan Wallace filled in for him.
We currently have over 130 subscribers, some of whom are in the same households. We estimate that the listserver reaches about one-third of the homes in the BMCA’s jurisdiction.

What is the Privacy Policy?
The listserver managers will not share the subscriber list, except with BMCA officers. Subscribers must “opt in” to be added – no one is signed up without his or her permission. The listserver itself is a “hidden” Google group and therefore does not show up on a non-subscriber’s Google search for group names. Unless one of our subscribers forwards a message outside the group, only subscribers can see our message traffic.

How can you help?
We would like to increase the number of Burnt Mills residents who subscribe to the listserver. If your neighbors haven’t subscribed, please let them know it’s available.

What are the message policies?

• No anonymous messages will be sent. Please put your full name somewhere in your message, especially if your Email address does not reveal your name. Optionally, it’s nice to add your street name after your signature.
• Please do not send the text of someone’s copyrighted material, such as newspaper columns, to the listserve without first obtaining written permission from the copyright holder. Instead, if the material is available somewhere on the web, you can send out a simple link to that site without having to ask for the copyright holder’s permission. Please include a short text description too.
• No attachments will be sent (but there’s a work around — see How To, below).

What are appropriate topics for messages?

• Burnt Mills and its residents.
• News about the surrounding area (White Oak) that affects Burnt Mills residents.
• Giveaways from residents.
• Requests for recommended local services.

What are some inappropriate topics?

• Nothing illegal. No slander or hate speech.
• Don’t attack people, especially your neighbors! Use diplomacy.
• No swearing, jokes, or political endorsements.
• No commercial messages, and no solicitations for charities – one-time personal moving sales or garage sales will be allowed, limited to one message per person in a six-month period.
• No messages that say nothing more than “I agree with an earlier message.” (see Netiquette, below)
• Attaboy and Thank You messages are discouraged, except those sent on behalf of the BMCA, usually by the officers (see Netiquette, below)
• Due to the time it may take for messages to be approved and then read, it’s usually best not to use the listserve to try to notify people about current short-lived situations, like traffic jams.

How to…
…Join the BMCA Google Group:
Fill out this form: https://forms.gle/Uuce5ghbkUuxhq2Z7

…Post a message:
Send email to: [email protected]

…Unsubscribe:
Using the account you want to remove from the listserver, send an Email to:
[email protected]

…Send an attachment
Not allowed, but we can usually put files in the cloud and send out a link. Contact the manager for more information.

…Embed a picture in your message:
Not allowed except via a link. To share a picture, see “Send an attachment” above.

…Add colors, underlines, bold, font changes, etc.:
To some degree, you can use the formatting options in your Email client.
Note that some recipients’ Email systems will display every message as plain text.
Also, not all computers have all fonts, so please use the default fonts or common ones.

Netiquette
With well over a hundred subscribers, if each subscriber devotes just one minute to examining a typical message, that’s over an hour and a half of combined neighborhood time expended for each message. Long messages will take up even more total time. A reply would double it.

Therefore, please be respectful of our subscribers’ time by following the above rules for appropriate topics. If you respond to a previously posted message, please move the discussion forward. For example, please don’t simply post that you agree with someone; add something new to the discussion instead. Unless you are acting on behalf of the BMCA, please don’t use the listserver to simply thank someone; send your thanks directly to that person rather than to the entire listserver. He or she will still appreciate it and you will save hours of community time.