Author Archives: Wheelwright Cluster

Wheelwright Cluster Board Meeting – November 12

Attendees: Kristina, Jessica, Sandy, Cyndi, Sarah, and Kelly

Financials – Treasurer went over monthly financials and projected costs.

2020 Budget Review

• Net income currently at $32,000 for the year
• Kelly will do a multi-year review to see how much we’ll have coming in on an annual basis for the parking lot resurfacing

2021 Budget Review

• Treasurer developed draft 2021 budget based on 2020 budget
• $4000 for tree maintenance
• $10000 for tree removal
• $100 increase for general liability insurance
• $200 for room rental
• Landscaping at same amount
• Separate line item for extra grass seeding? Yes, it will be under grounds maintenance in next budget
• Snow removal budget remains the same
• Trash increase of $200 for the year
• $7000 for erosion control 

Annual Meeting 

• Room reserved and layout confirmed – large central atrium area
  • Setup virtual way to attend – buy a decent speaker with cluster money? 
    • A couple examples were suggested in the chat
    • Many options suggested include: Skype, Zoom, Teams, etc.
  • We have already paid for the room, but might try to negotiate a refund due to COVID
  • Survey residents to see if they would prefer to attend or could attend virtually – Sandy will put together and send it out once the board reviews
• Need to replace Sarah and Jessica
• Use of Menti – Jessica
  • She gave a short demo of the software
  • Way to collect feedback from residents in real time via a word cloud or map
  • Good way to collect feedback anonymously
• Looking for someone to own the following options to present
  • Asphalt rejuvenation – Jessica
  • glass pickup – Jessica
  • electric car charging – Cyndi
  • community compost option – Sarah
  • Cluster siding palette, Hardie board, and vinyl options – Sandy
  • Audubon at Home visit summary- Kristina
  • Erosion – Kristina
  • Online payments – Kelly will mention with annual budget review

Guidelines Changes and DRB Applications

• Both shingle color updates and erosion/drainage plan approved by DRB
  • Shingle colors will need to be added to the cluster guidelines and updated on the website
• Hardie board and house colors – RA approval – Sandy
  • Discussion about email
  • We are currently approved for the T111 (12” on center)- normal cluster siding – propose removing from current guidelines; current ones will be grandfathered in
    • Not available off the shelf at Home Depot or Lowes
  • Approved for Hardie Board – 8” on center – more widely available 
  • Vinyl comes in 5” on center currently – no longer available – will have to replace the colors – light grey
    • Propose to remove the vinyl siding option due to limited stock and colors
  • Alura (the company that offers pre-finished Hardie board) –  Cypress (green), Ashen or Nantucket Gray (tan), Coastal Blue or Pewter (blue), Flagstone, Sterling Grey, Granite gray, savannah wicker, calvary (dark blue) are some of the suggestions
    • Sandy to order swatches and we’ll compare in person

Concrete Contract – Cyndi

• Date scheduled – Monday 11/16 – Cyndi will put a note on houses in the whole first row about the work
• 2245 concrete work -is it a common area? – have not yet heard back from the county.  Will address in early 2021 

Transition of duties

• Kristina – interim president
  • Seal and PO box key passed on
• Cyndi – interim vice president

Dues Payment

• dropbox of check that is independent of the house – next month and beyond
• Kristina went ahead and ordered this:

• Board voted to move the box and reimbursement for Kristina’s purchase – will put a note on the existing box about the move

Tree Work – Steve/Kristina

• DRB application for 2250 tree submitted and approved
• Scheduled for December 1st -3rd – will post an announcement on Facebook and Website 
• Sign to be strategically placed at least 3-4 days prior to work

Landscaping – Sandy

• Seeding and weeds cost and coordination – completed.  
• Dennis at 2256 says the seeding did wonders for the area between the path to woods and his house.

Reston Association Covenants Administration

• Next upcoming virtual meeting will be ‘Resources and Tools for Cluster Leadership’ and will include a robust discussion of who to contact for common issues and concerns
• Monday, November 16^th at 6:30pm – Kristina and Cyndi will try to attend

Community projects – for annual meeting discussion

• Future
  • Ideas?
• Past
  • Fall cluster cleanup
    • List of projects started/completed
      • Removal of invasive plants near the tot lot
      • Removal of invasive plants to left of little free library
      • Digging trench and repositioning and securing pavers by 2249
      • Spreading wood chips along bus path
      • Spreading wood chips behind 2219
    • Dumpster – send out notice exactly what can and cannot be disposed of for future cleanups.
  • Halloween – great feedback from the community.
  • Tot lot trash bin – Sandy – will work on in Spring 2021 cluster cleanup

Newsletter issued 11/11

• Concrete dates
• Erosion
• Annual meeting
• Maybe link to Hunter Mill District News
• Tree work reminder
• Board meeting positions

Next meeting 

• Annual meeting Monday December 7th
• Virtual/in-person

These considerations apply for annual meeting:

• STAY HOME if you have COVID-19 symptoms, have tested positive for COVID-19, are waiting for test results, or have been in contact with someone with COVID in the past 14 days.

The December meeting is the Annual Meeting. Next meeting – December 7, 2020.

Attendees: Kristina, Jessica, Sandy, Cyndi, Sarah, and Kelly

Financials – Treasurer went over monthly financials and projected costs.

• Discussed missed dues payments – after 2nd quarter of missed payments, then the certified tow letter goes out to the owner in order to prevent longer times of unpaid dues

Transition of Duties

• Kristina and Jessica met last week to discuss the transition of her duties – Jessica will stay on as a director but step down as president
• Kristina will be the de-facto president and transition effective November 1 until the Annual Meeting when the next election is held
  • Kristina will run the next two meetings
  • Jessica will attend the next two meetings as a regular director board member
• Sarah is planning to step down from the board in December
• Cyndi is stepping up as Vice President after this meeting (temporarily)

Guidelines Changes and DRB Applications

• Shingles guideline changes – Jessica

Scheduled for October DRB, details TBD

Jessica emailed the DRB representative to find out the scheduled date

• Erosion Work – Kristina
  • Scheduled for October DRB, details TBD
  • Jessica also emailed about this, too, and is still waiting on a response
• Hardie board and house colors – RA approval – Sandy
  • Pending color selection – no updates this month. Will reach out to vendors in the next week to get samples and have a discussion by the next meeting
  • Sherwin Williams partnership 

Tree Work – Steve/Kristina

• Posted on FB page, will post on the website this week
• DRB application for the tree – approved
• DRB application for 2250 tree in progress

Landscaping – Sandy

• Stump plans – no real movement and probably will postpone until the Spring of 2021
• LFL bushes – recommended removal at cluster cleanup
• Seeding and weeds cost and coordination – any takers? 
  • Not many – only 7 houses. The company will bill the cluster and then the cluster will bill the homeowners.
  • Kristina will give a deadline for requests by Monday, October 12 in the next newsletter
• The landscaper will have a hazardous waste pick-up on October 17.
• The landscaper will spray again soon; 
• Sandy identified four different cluster spots (in front of the sign, to the left of 2233, right next to Karen Beasley’s house, and by the mailboxes)
• A quote for a soil-enriching project to those areas is $425, plus $600 to add the topsoil by mailboxes and Karen Beasley’s house 
• Would have to build this into the budget – $1000
  • There is currently room in the overall project to move funds over to pay for this additional project – we had four votes to proceed with this project
  • Sandy will schedule the work with the landscaper for this fall
• Removing the poison ivy on cluster property?  Is a project that is part of the cluster clean-up

Audubon Walkthrough Update and review – Kristina

• Discussed trees that would work better in the peninsulas and fit better in those areas – focusing on native trees and plants
• Creating mulch donuts instead of much volcanoes to help with roots – easy project for the cluster cleanup
• Discussed the vegetation at the entrance – she recommended that we start replacing the vegetation from scratch – none of the current vegetation is native to this area
  • Recommendation of native and resilient perennials that would look nicely groomed instead of annuals
  • An example of what it could look like can be found by the Walker Nature Center
  • Mentioned the invasive species near the little free library and putting in a hummingbird plant area
  • Discussed erosion control in some areas where there is severe sloping – erosion blankets
  • The rest is found in the report that Kristina shared with the board.

Street Lights – Cyndi

• It doesn’t need glass, sent to RA for confirmation
• Discussed whether or not to replace all other street lights with the same LED bulbs – decided to leave it as-is for now

Concrete Contract – Cyndi

• Need to send the deposit to the scheduled date
• 2245 concrete work -is it a common area? Not sure, but Kelly will ask her contacts to see if we can get documentation on what falls on cluster property

Snow contract owner

• Cyndi will take over as contact for the snow removal coordination
• Mike Peyton will remain our contractor this year with a $25 increase in prices – voted unanimously

Community projects

• Future
  • Habitat for Humanity – not going to do this for the fall cleanup
  • Hazardous Waste Pickup – Sandy – scheduled for October 17
  • Fall cluster cleanup – Sarah will be the main coordinator that weekend (October 26-27)
    • Review sign up survey – any edits? None – good to send out
    • Dumpster – Sarah
    • Who can pick up materials? Sarah
    • Add project of fixing the steps near 2261 – Sandy will take lead on this project

Halloween project – Sandy and Kelly to lead

• Will put in the next newsletter and add a note for where to donate candy
• Will budget $100 for candy – voted and approved – to go towards Halloween

Annual Meeting – all set to go

• Two board members up for election – Jessica and Sarah
• Electric stations – Cyndi
• Community Composting – Sarah
• Electronic dues payments – Paypal/Square – Kelly – discuss at the annual meeting

The November meeting will still be virtual. Next meeting – November 12, 2020.

• Review 2021 budget – Kelly to pull together documentation
• Sandy will reach out to Landscaper to see if there will be an increase in prices
• Jessica will write up a notification about the annual meeting – will send out via e-newsletter, post on the website, and maybe with a flyer