Wheelwright Cluster
Annual December Board Meeting 2023
Virtual via Zoom
Google Slides Presented at December Annual Board Meeting
Attendees:
Board: Kristina Myers, Cyndi Hartman, Kelly Fairbank, Joy Charles, Jade Perez and Sandy
Cluster Residents in Attendance (Collected via Zoom Chat):
- 2209 Mohler
- 2211 Rider-Huang
- 2215 Chou
- 2231 Hartman-Newland
- 2226 Myers
- 2228 Perez-Lucas
- 2213 Fairbank
- 2220 Charles
- 2271 Moran
- 2221 Pendleton
- 2249 Colescott
- 2262 Conrad
- 2216 Soderberg
- 2224 Cook
- 2274 Zambrana
- 2248 Matheny
- 2205 Salva
- 2250 Mohler
- 2243 Beasley
- 2251 Meacham
- 2230 Wiley
- 2207 Reese
- 2256 Weber
- 2244 Cai
- 2219 Wingell
- 2261 Ortiz
- 2246 Redlin
- 2242Weissman
- 2259 Bhide
- 2233 Keally
Agenda
- 2023 in review
- No questions
- Goals for 2024
- 2 additional parking spaces in the lower cluster
- Charge Up Fairfax program for EV Charging installation
- Dominion’s Level II Charging Program
- Greenspot
- Greenspot and Charge Up Fairfax Downsides
- Repaving of the parking Lot
- Website Improvements
- Functionality and Appearance
- Lower Cluster Island added to the cluster maintenance
- Clean up the tot lot equipment and add new mulch
Questions on Tot Lot
- Based on reserve study expenditures that are listed, do we know the current usage? Do we know the usage in the neighborhood?
- We are in a period of heavy usage.
- Could the board look at mosquito repellents nearby?
Questions related to EV Charging:
- Have we considered guidelines for individual owners who want to put in their own charger?
- The board and the individual homeowner would be required to work together on an agreement on the installation and maintenance, including what would happen if you moved. This may be feasible, but there may be restrictions on the ability of a homeowner to do so based on where their spot is located in conjunction with their home. This has not yet been done and therefore there are unknown variables here to predict.
- How is EV charging being considered in conjunction with the parking lot and parking lot maintenance?
- The Board is trying to do this, but without finalized decisions on EV we need to ensure we’re focusing on the problems at hand rather than future problems. We’re also hearing from contractors etc. how difficult it would be to have this many decisions made at once that could all line up in terms of timing.
- In addition to EV charging stations how about covering the lower cluster parking lot with a simple shed covered with solar panels?
- The Board can look into this as an option.
- 2023 budget in review
Questions on 2023 budget
- Please explain the difference in reserves from this year versus last year’s reserves.
- What is the usefulness of the reserve study if we have money in a checking account that is not included in the overall expenditures schedules?
- Have we separated tree removal from the capital expenditures or the operating budget?
- Have we done a deeper dive into possible, cheaper options for our landscaping in terms of competitive bidding?
- Not at this time, the work done by Chris and team has been both acceptable, but, additionally, our landscaping is at a competitive price for the neighborhood.
- Jon, our neighborhood resident who works in the industry, weighed in to say it seems that our company is offering us competitive prices and they seem to be, in his opinion, doing a fair job for a fair price.
- While the board can review for competitive pricing, we want to ensure we’re not just reviewing for the overall lowest price, but also for the quality of the work and flexibility to work with the cluster as needed.
2023 Expenses Budget Line Items Pending
- We’ve not yet been charged for the Fall dumpster for clean up.
- We’re still pending on trash and streetlights for the year.
- We’re rolling over $4500 from the concrete budget and this has to count on our budget for this year so we know it’s a roll over.
- 2024 proposed budget options
- We over budget on some areas, like trash and recycling, to account for regular increases in prices.
- Landscaping is currently scheduled to go up in price for 2024, per industry standards.
Questions from members
- Dan Moran- Out of curiosity, do we have a spreadsheet that breaks down what the dues have been in past years?
- Kelly will put together what she can and will send this to Dan.
- Have we removed everything from the budget that we can? Can we reduce costs any further?
- It doesn’t seem we can to Kelly based on a the current budget and our current costs which are already as low as they can be.
- What is the justification for the increase? Is this to build up the capital expense reserves or to pad operating expenses?
- This is about building up the reserves for the cluster, according to Kelly we need to do this because we’ve not had this reserve contribution historically.
- Can we delay the vote? Do we have enough information? Are we sure we understand how the capital reserves are being applied against the 130K that we have in our checking account?
- The vote is majority. We can take the vote today, as there is a no vote option for cluster members and we will review where we stand.
- Cory-Do we have a procedure or guidelines on what we should have in our checking account?
- Sandy-Clarification on the length of time the board has been working with the Reserve Study board and VA special assessment guidelines.
- Paul- Do we have a breakdown of all of the Cluster accounts that can be reviewed and visualized? Would this help us all to understand this better?
- Mark-It’s fair to take a few extra minutes to figure out the specifics on the checking account dollar amount in relation to our capital expenses and encourage cluster residents to read the reserve study.
- Mary Ellen- It might be worth looking at other investment options, like a money market account, to see where we could create additional cash flow for the cluster.
- Decision:
- With 9 No and 15 Yes the board will move forward to allow for voting on the overall budget increases; members will be emailed a link to vote post-meeting.
Pet Waste updated guidelines
- Would it be possible to reduce mulch on islands to help pets feel more comfortable using the bathroom there?
- That’s a possibility the board can review.
- Karen Beasley asked for a pet-waste sign to be put at the light pole near her house.
- Proposed purchase of new speed bump
- 2nd speed bump is proposed for the entry so that we can keep the existing speed bump in one location instead of moving the existing speed bump.
- Should we consider putting one in the lower-cluster loop as well? Conversion was good and Kristina asked our lower cluster residents to help weigh in on the location if we decided to do this in the long-term
- Kerry recommended taking a look at GunSmith to see their permanent speed bump.
- Is snow the only reason for removable speed bumps?This was a limitation of our previous snow plowing company, but the temporary speed bumps were also a short-term proof of concept that a permanent speed bump would be a good measure of impact.
- Open positions on the board
- Aaron Rider has nominated himself for a position on the board
- Sandy, Kristinaristina and Kelly renewed.
- Aaron Rider voted in as Secretary to replace Jade Perez who is stepping down.
Ad Hoc Requests from Cluster Residents
- Can we remind people to put away their trash bins on time?
- Roberto-Can we ask Chris about the bushes near his house that are dying?