Monthly Archives: May 2023

March 2023 Wheelwright Cluster HOA Board Meeting Minutes

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

Virtual via Zoom

Attendees: 

  • HOA Board: Kristina Myers, Jade Perez, Kelly Fairbank, Joy Charles, Sandy Mohler, Cindi Hartman-Newland
  • Cluster Residents: Karen Reese (2207)
  1. Erosion/Drainage
  • Jose de la Cruz – waiting for proposal
  • Sunrise – received proposal
  • Additionally, met with Blue Sky Landscaping and Deco Footprint Design|Build
  • Fairfax County Soil and Conservation – offer a grant to HOA communities like ours called Virginia Conservation Assistance Program. Need to meet with Dan Schwartz, soil scientist to issue site evaluation.
  • The Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP) is an urban cost-share program that provides financial incentives and technical and educational assistance to property owners installing eligible Best Management Practices (BMPs) in Virginia’s participating Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs).
  • These practices can be installed in areas of your yard where problems like erosion, poor drainage, or poor vegetation occur. Qualified sites shall be used for residential, commercial, or recreational purposes with a proposed practice that addresses a need. Up to $7500.
  • Had tree to the rear of 2260 looked at by the contractors who came to look at our areas of concern and they all agreed that the tree looks ok.
  • Sidewalk area in front of 2229 and 2231 – all contractors are issuing proposals for this area as well.

2. EV/Charging Stations

  • Jill Jenkins, Cory Meacham and Kristina will make up the EV charging committee.
  • Is a charter necessary? Board Decision: Yes
  • After Action: Kristina will work to write and get approval for EV Charging Station Charter
  • Will be meeting periodically via Zoom to discuss goals of committee

3. Parking/Towing

  • Parking space shuffle: Thanks again to Sandy who graciously volunteered her time to repaint all of these parking spaces:| 2227 | 2231 | 2221 | 2225 | 2229 | [UNRESERVED]
  • Last meeting’s discussion: Should there be an update to the guidelines recommended at the next annual meeting?
  • The goal would be to update the guidelines to clear up the language on notices and individual homeowner rights to request towing for cars in assigned spots, as well as avoiding a cumbersome process for the HOA board members. We would want to include language on how homeowners should address this in a courteous way. In addition, we should include language on parking during inclement weather (Ex. Reserved Numbers blocked by snow)
  • Board Decision: Hold until annual meeting for official revision of language, which has to be reviewed by legal, but in the meantime, include a note to ask for community input on how to re-write guidelines and to ask for feedback.
  • Kristina passing off of parking list to Jade.

4. Landscaping

  • New contract for 2023 – signed and sent
  • Joy’s meeting with Chris
  • Joy and Sandy will add an item to the Spring Cleaning list to include non-toxic weed killing around Cluster.

5. Reserve Study

  • Agreed that parking lot should be done in 2024 the latest due to its deteriorating condition; initial assessment seems to have been done based on standard usage versus our actual usage.
  • Storm water drainage allowance should be kept in the study; allocating funds to this is more like an insurance policy; backup of storm water can create huge financial burdens such as damage to parking lots and erosion of homeowner land.

6. Cluster Clean Up Notes and Other Important Dates

  • Saturday, April 15th – hazardous waste pickup.
  • Saturday, April 22nd, Green Drop Donation Van – Cyndi will need a helper
  • Cluster Cleanup and cookout will be Saturday, April 29th
  • Rollaway dumpster will need to be scheduled/voucher obtained
  • Food for cookout needs to be ordered.
  • Project and Materials:
  • Wood chips
  • Wood borders around LFL (Little Free Library)
  • Invasives removal
  • Spraying weeds
  • Benches
  • Clear seal stairs
  • Painting trash bin enclosure – oxford brown

7. Newsletter Notes

  • Add note to remind to residents to email board about any landscaping issues.
  • Important dates (Ex. Cluster clean up)
  • Add note to remind residents regarding: Taking trash cans in after pickup/putting out trash late in evening day before or early morning of pick up.

8. Garbage

  • No new issues or discussion

Ad-Hoc Agenda Items

Ad Hoc: Can we post the meeting dates on the website in advance? 

After Action: Jade will post the remainder of the year’s meeting dates posted on the website. (2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. )

February 2023 Wheelwright Cluster HOA Board Meeting Minutes

By | | ,
Leave a comment

Virtual via Zoom

Attendees: 

  • HOA Members Board: Kristina Myers, Jade Perez, Kelly Fairbank, Joy Charles, Sandy Mohler, Cindi Hartman-Newland
  • Cluster Residents: Karen Reese (2207)  and Antonella Cordero (2261)
  1. Board responsibilities – assigning tasks for 2022 (leftover from Jan meeting)
  • Landscaping (Chris Hughes)-Joy Charles
  • Garbage Pickup (Theresa Cunningham)- Kristina
  • Parking – Jade
  • Tree Committee Liaison (Mike Pendleton-chair)-Joy Charles
  • Cluster Sign – Joy Charles

2. Reserve Study

  • Kelly and Kristina met with Jim from Mason and Mason on Monday, January 23rd
  • Revised starting number for reserve account and talked about adjusting the amount we currently allocate to the reserve fund every year.
  • Agreed to make adjustments to the reserve study in the final report rather than going back and redoing a draft version.
  • Present members agreed the parking lot should likely be done in 2024 at the latest due to its deteriorating condition; the initial assessment seems to have been done based on standard usage versus our actual usage was the consensus among the present members.
  • Present members agreed that storm water drainage allowance should be kept in the study as allocating funds to this is more like an insurance policy; backup of storm water can create huge financial burdens such as damage to parking lots and erosion of homeowner land and this helps keep the cluster financially secure.

3. Erosion/Drainage

  • Kristina reached out to Jose de la Cruz, who previously worked in Cluster, and Sunrise, who also completed work previously, to see if we can get a couple of bids on Erosion/Drainage work. Sunrise may be available next week and we’ve not heard back from Jose yet.
  • After Action: Kristina will reach out to our current landscaping team as well for another bid.
  • Previously, Kristina met with Fairfax County Soil and Conservation to ask for an erosion consultation and there may be some additional ideas we can put in place to help with erosion from that previous consultation.
  • We will need to taper erosion efforts due to cost.
  • Board Note for Joy: Joy brought up a concern raised regarding erosion that may impact trees behind 2258; Sandy recommended the tree committee take a look to see if something could be done. )
  • After Action: Kristina will look again at the areas near 2250-2256 to see which area needs to be addressed first for erosion.
  • Ad Hoc Issue:
  • Cyndi raised a concern about drainage issues in front of her home (2231) on the way to the Tot Lot. Water doesn’t seem to be draining and is potentially creating hazards during bad weather. Previously Jose recommended a French drain for this that would be on the side of Cyndi’s front yard.
  • After Action: Kristina will look into this with Jose and Sunrise to see what can be done to reroute drainage and see if there is something more that could be done there that would help.

4. EV Charging Stations

  • Homeowner at 2251 has offered to participate in the EV charging working group.
  • Recruit at least one more member.
  • After Action: Kristina will reach out to Jill and Mary, as EV owners, and Mike Pendleton was recommended by Sandy.
  • Next step would be to outline the charter and overall goals for the group.
  • Board Note for Kristina: Kristina will let us know about her communications to the other community members and will share next steps from there.

5. Parking/Towing

  • We have not yet reached out to Legal yet regarding towing, but we have confirmed Roadrunner is on the website as our towing company and we confirmed they are still operating.
  • Discussion of Current Parking Sign and Cluster Parking Guidelines Language (See Referenced Materials)-Should there be an update to the guidelines recommended at the next annual meeting?
  • The goal would be to update the guidelines to clear up the language on notices and individual homeowner rights to request towing for cars in assigned spots, as well as avoiding a cumbersome process for the HOA board members. We would want to include language on how homeowners should address this in a courteous way. In addition, we should include language on parking during inclement weather (Ex. Reserved Numbers blocked by snow)
  • Board Decision: We must be on hold with this until the annual meeting. Per Cluster guidelines, for official revision of language it must be reviewed by legal. In the meantime, let’s ask for community input on how to re-write guidelines and to ask for feedback.
  • After Action: Jade will follow up with the board to ask how best we can request feedback in advance.
  • Reassigning parking spaces
  • Cindi Hartman-Newland (2231) requested a review of her current assigned parking space for possible movement closer to her home.
  • After Action: Kristina will have a conversation with nearby homeowners to see how spaces could be shuffled to accommodate all parties.
  • Reference Materials from Board Meeting
  • Recent photo of current Parking Restriction Sign in Upper-Cluster
  • Current Cluster Guidelines regarding Parking 

6. Landscaping

  • New contract is confirmed for 2023 and Kelly is just waiting on an updated contract to sign.
  • Discussion of recent issues regarding pet waste in the cluster:
  • Should cluster guidelines need to be updated to improve language and designate more dog-appropriate areas?
  • Should we just get more signs to ask for respectful dog-walking habits?
  • Board Decision: We will send out a friendly Neighborhood notice similar to the parking notices recently sent asking residents to ensure they are picking up after their pets and we will revisit Cluster Guidelines to reflect reality and get those voted on at the annual meeting.
  • Ad-Hoc Discussion: Joy and Sandy will add a plan for the spring cleaning to tidy the lower cluster design to manage the amount of mulch, as well as adding 4 season friendly plants, and looking at the grading.
  • After Action: Joy Kristina recommended asking Chris for some intermediary ways to help keep the lower-cluster island tidy.
  • Ad-Hoc Discussion: How can we make sure residents know how to raise Landscaping issues to the board? We’ll remind them to do so via email and we will get those issues brought up to Chris and the landscaping team.
  • After Action: Kristina will include this note in the next newsletter.
  • Ad-Hoc Discussion: Joy and Sandy will add an item to the Spring Cleaning list to include non-toxic weed killing around Cluster.
  • After Action: Joy and Sandy to update Spring Cleaning list

7. Garbage

  • No new issues reported

Housekeeping Items

  • Next meeting date: March 14th
  • Approved Date for Spring Cluster Clean Up: Saturday, April 29th
  • Dates for Cluster Clean Up Items
  • 15th will be goal to have for Hazardous Waste pickup
  • 22nd will be goal for for Donation/Green Drop

Wheelwright Cluster Board Meeting Minutes January 2023

By | | ,
Comments Off on Wheelwright Cluster Board Meeting Minutes January 2023

Agenda

  1. Board Decisions on Division of Labor for 2023
    Snow Removal (Mike Peyton)
    -Kelly will keep this for the coming year.
    Landscaping (Chris Hughes)
    -Sandy will keep this and will work on the DRB’s first before she dives into lower cluster redesign; she’s hoping to get others in the cluster included, particularly those who live near lower cluster.
    Garbage Pickup (Theresa Cunningham)
    -Jade or Joy-Decide who might like to pick this up at next meeting
    Concrete (Juan) –
    -Cindy will keep this.
    Dominion (watchlights)
    -Cindy will keep this, but is having trouble with hearing back from Dominion and may need a back up. (Note: Kristina followed up with Dominion on the lights that are out in front of 2220 and 2228; orders were put in and lights seem to be working now. Kristina will be backup in case Cindy needs help calling Dominion; Jade can backup)
    Legal (Chesapeake) – Kristina
    -Kristina holding on this one.
    Parking – keeping an eye on suspicious vehicles, trying to update cluster vehicle list
    -Jade will take this on.
    Tree Committee Liaison – contact with the tree committee (reports on tree trimming/removal updates
    -Jade or Joy can take on being the liaison
    Note: We need to be supportive of this group to ensure this group can move along at a steady pace.
    Community outreach
    -E-news
    -Facebook updates
    -Sign
    -Kristina will continue with this. (After Action: Request for Jade or Joy to help with bringing the sign for the neighborhood; Jade can help if shown where and what to do )
    Erosion
    -Kristina will continue with this.
    Parking Lot Repair/repaving
    -Shelve this one until we meet with Mason & Mason again
    House Exterior Redesign – Sandy
    -Sandy will hold onto this one, especially as we work through DRB’s.

2. Reserve Study
-Updates
Corrected numbers?
Waiting on updated numbers and Kelly is coordinating.
-Do we have a meeting date?
Not yet, TBD.

3. Next newsletter – to go out late this week or early next week
-Results of the annual meeting survey
-Electric vehicles charging stations
-Statistics
-Recruit for EVCS working group


4. Parking
-Reminders: Be a good neighbor and remember that we have limited parking; following the parking rules is a simple way to be respectful and considerate of all Cluster residents. We want to keep this simple and would like to avoid parking passes or towing unnecessarily.
-Park in your reserved space first, additional vehicles can go in any unreserved spot.
-Additional vehicles beyond 2:
-Lower cluster can park 1 or 2 additional vehicles by the Little Free Library, any more need to go on Olde Crafts.
-Upper cluster can park additional vehicles on Olde Crafts.


5. Garbage/recycling
-Reminders:
Include the garbage and recycling pickup schedule as well as yard waste pickup.
Glass cannot be recycled by Bates. Glass either needs to go in regular trash or Purple bins at the South Reston Park and Ride
Recycling cannot be put inside plastic bags and plastic bags need to be recycled at the grocery store.
Bulky, large items that cannot fit in your trash can should be reserved for Thursdays pick up. If you are unsure if your Bulky item (Ex. Mattress) can be picked up, please call Bates in advance to confirm their ability.

6. Design updates
-Stairs are COMPLETED! Huge, huge shout out to Sandy for organizing and constructing these stairs with the help of community members.
-Next design updates on the docket?
Upcoming next is finalizing the door DRB with Reston. Sandy is working to layer our DRB improvement requests to ensure we get all of the smaller (Ex. House Numbers) approvals finished before the larger, more complex redesign of the garbage bin enclosure.

7. Landscaping
-Issues?
No known issues at this time, per Sandy.
-Design plan for lower cluster island?
Sandy is hoping to do this in tandem with some lower cluster residents later this year.

8. Erosion
-Contact a few companies about erosion work behind 2250-2254, possibly 2258-2262
After Action: Kristina will be following up with a few companies to look at this. (Note: She would like to be able to potentially apply for the Fairfax Water Grant to help with this cost, if our grant is accepted. Application due date is around May 15th. )
-EV charging stations
Received legal advice from Chesapeake Law Group
-The important points were:
Right to charge act of 2020 does not mean that Wheelwright cluster has to approve individual chargers for reserved parking spaces since these spaces are not owned by the homeowner but rather the cluster
The articles of incorporation in our bylaws would need to be modified before we could install common use chargers on our common property

Discussion– Any objections to amending our by-laws for this?
Sandy- Until we know specifically what we, as a cluster, know what we want to do with EV charging stations, I think we should hold on amending by-laws.
Cindy-Do we understand what an individual homeowner putting in their own charging station would mean for the community? We should make sure we know how to write that up in the by-laws.
Kristina- Agreed, the by-laws need to be updated, but let’s reach back out to the Chesapeake Law group to be sure we understand how to actually modify our articles of incorporation and what this means long term.
Sandy- Maybe it’s not the worst thing to hear what is happening in other clusters and understand how other clusters are making these changes over time. In order to create more ironclad and intentional rules in our by-laws, maybe we learn from other clusters’ mistakes and hold for now? We have a lot we’re working on now in the cluster and this doesn’t seem to be the most pressing item we’re facing.
Kristina-Agreed, let’s see what happens with the other clusters who go forward.
Sandy-Agreed, let’s see what happens and how the Reston Association is handling this. We can benefit and save some money for our cluster this way.
Cindy-Agreed, let’s enjoy the benefit of the cumulative knowledge that Reston Association is getting on EV Charging Stations as other clusters are working on.
Decision– We will hold on amending by-laws for now while we watch for additional progress on this from Reston Association and other clusters.

9. Treasurer Laptop and QuickBooks Need
-We need to appropriate money for a new Wheelwright Cluster Laptop, at minimum, as the previous one has died, and ideally a new cloud-based Quickbooks annual subscription for treasurer’s use. If we update to the new Quickbooks, Kelly has agreed to transition previous Quickbook information and will manage this transition for the Cluster.

Decision: Board members agreed to move forward with the laptop now and get remaining board member approval on QuickBooks subscription via email before the next board meeting.
After Action: Kelly will order new laptop
After Action: Jade and Joy will provide feedback on Quickbooks Annual Subscription via email.
AdHoc Agenda Item
After Action: Kristina will follow up with our Legal Council and Reston Association to confirm what specifically we need to put on our towing enforcement signs should we need to resume towing regularly.