The Mountain Valley neighborhood email group is a simple way for residents and property owners to stay connected and share information that matters to our community. The group is hosted through Google Groups, and only subscribed members can send messages through it.
To send a message to your neighbors, address it to:
mountainvalleyneighborhood@googlegroups.com
Messages you receive will have a Subject line that begins with “[Mtn. Valley: #]” followed by a sequential number.
If you would like to be added to the group, please contact the MV Webmaster(s).
Guidelines and Etiquette
This email group is meant to help neighbors stay informed about HOA news, neighborhood activities, social events, road and safety concerns, and other matters of shared interest to Mountain Valley residents.
Most of this comes down to courtesy: send neighborhood-wide messages when they are useful to many people and send private replies when the conversation is really between individuals.
Replying to Neighborhood Emails
Please use “Reply All” only when your response will be helpful to the neighborhood as a whole.
A thank-you note, personal response, question for the sender, or conversation between a few neighbors is usually best sent directly to the person(s) involved.
Identify Yourself
We have new neighbors moving in regularly, so please put your name and street address at the bottom of your email. For example, 200 MVD.
A Little “Netiquette”
Before you hit Send, ask yourself if what you are sending is factual, kind, necessary and helpful. If the answer is no, maybe it doesn’t need to go to the entire neighborhood.
Please be respectful of neighbors and differing opinions. Avoid personal attacks, inflammatory comments, and messages written in all caps, which can come across as shouting.
You are responsible for the accuracy of information you send to the group, including information copied from social media, websites, artificial intelligence or other sources. Please take a minute to make sure something is accurate before sharing it.
What’s Appropriate?
As a general rule, a message should be useful or interesting to a reasonable number of Mountain Valley residents, or it should relate to our neighborhood or nearby community.
Good neighborhood-wide messages include HOA information, Mountain Valley social events, road or safety conditions, lost or found pets and items, neighborhood garage sales, new resident introductions, website or directory updates, and appropriate birth, death, or health announcements concerning current or former neighbors.
A one-time request for emergency assistance for a neighbor or someone closely associated with a neighbor may also be appropriate.
Charitable and Community Requests
We have a generous neighborhood, and many Mountain Valley residents are involved with worthwhile organizations and causes.
Residents may occasionally share information about charitable events, donation drives, volunteer opportunities, school fundraisers and other community causes with which they are personally involved.
For this group, “occasional” generally means no more than one charitable or community appeal from the same resident or organization within a 90-day period. An initial announcement and one reminder for the same event or collection may count as one appeal.
Please avoid using the neighborhood email group for recurring fundraising, routine promotion of outside events, organizational newsletters, membership solicitations, or regular marketing for an outside organization.
This is not meant to discourage anyone from supporting a good cause. It is just a way to balance worthwhile community activities with the main purpose of the group: keeping Mountain Valley neighbors connected and informed.
Please Watch the Volume
Remember that every message goes to a large number of your neighbors.
When there are too many repetitive, promotional, or unnecessary emails, people may start tuning out neighborhood messages, turn off email delivery, or leave the Google Group altogether. We may not always know when that happens, and we want to keep the group useful when there is something important to share.
Please help us keep the group useful by being thoughtful about both the frequency and relevance of what you send.
Commercial, Political and Religious Messages
Occasional notices from residents about personal items for sale, garage sales, Girl Scout cookies, school fundraisers and similar activities are fine.
Please do not use the neighborhood group for ongoing commercial advertising or routine business promotion.
This group is also not the best place for political campaigning or advocacy, religious advocacy or preaching, jokes, chain emails, viral videos, or similar material.
Privacy and Security
Please respect your neighbors’ privacy. Do not share another resident’s personal information, email address, telephone number, travel plans, or other private information unless there is a legitimate reason or you have their permission.
The Mountain Valley Google Group and neighborhood directory are not mailing lists for outside organizations. Please do not copy, share, or use residents’ names, email addresses, or other contact information for outside organizational, commercial, political, religious, or fundraising mailing lists.
Please use discretion when sharing photographs of neighbors, their homes, vehicles, or children.
Also use caution with links, attachments and requests for money or personal information. A message appearing through the Mountain Valley email group should not be considered an endorsement or verification of a fundraiser, organization, website or request.
If something looks suspicious, don’t click on it. Contact the sender directly or check with the MV Webmaster(s).
Photos and Attachments
Please avoid multiple high-resolution photos or unnecessarily large attachments. When practical, a link to the information is often better than attaching a large file.
Do not forward messages in a way that unnecessarily exposes other people’s email addresses or personal information.
Help Us Keep It Useful
The Mountain Valley email group works best when we all use a little common sense and consideration before hitting Send.
The goal is simple: keep our neighbors informed, help neighbors communicate with one another, and avoid so much unnecessary email that people stop paying attention to the messages that matter.
MVHOA reserves the right to review or remove messages that are inconsistent with these guidelines or otherwise inappropriate for the neighborhood email group.
Thank you for helping keep Mountain Valley connected.
