Board Attendees: Kristina, Sandy, Cyndi, Kelly, Ruthie
Members: 2207
Community Updates
Parking lot rejuvenation – Kristina talked to someone at Tri Technologies and she will send someone out to look at our parking lot to give us an estimate. Might be too late to try this option. Kristina spoke with someone else at an HOA that had the rejuvenation done by Tri Technologies. The work quality was great, but she seemed unsure that it was a better option than asphalt seal coating. Grind & mill schedule for 2025, but the parking lot seems like it needs work. Tri Technologies offered to give a 15-20 min presentation at the next meeting. Sandy suggested getting a prospectus for how long the rejuvenation would last. Effectiveness reported to be better when it’s put on early after the grind & mill (within 4 years and then subsequent 4 years to extend the need for another grind & mill). Kristina will do more research.
Erosion – Kristina spoke with Chris Hughes and looked at Cyndi’s hill. Discussed planting to help stabilize the hill and asked about putting in pavers so that people can get behind the houses along that row. He will give us an estimate for the work and we can look at what we might be able to do on our own.
Tree Work – Sandy said nothing is going on with tree work at the moment. There could be a tree credit for the over trimmed holly tree that could be used toward labor for planting a new cherry tree (which we would have to buy) or grinding of stumps (which would require us to pay for renting a grinder). Sandy agreed to get numbers on the cost of cherry tree and grinding equipment rental. Not sure what the tree credit is, so Sandy will ask Chris.
Landscaping – Sandy talked with homeowners with concerns about damage done (divots) to their yards when the crew last came through for mowing. Chris Hughes said he would reseed this spring for those who had their yards seeded.
Snow/Ice – Peyton has come out to handle the snow and ice when needed. We could get a bucket of sand for the playground area or check with Peyton on how much it would cost to sand and/or salt common areas.
Concrete – Cyndi hasn’t contacted Juan yet because it’s too early in the season. Areas have been identified last year, but Juan needs to walk the neighborhood to assess if more areas have become problematic over the winter.
Siding color palette/door colors? – DRB application – Sandy still working on it. Cluster residents should meet in a special session (or roll it into a regular board meeting) to discuss door colors. We need approval from the Cluster before we can submit new door colors to DRB. Or, if our HOA guidelines don’t require a meeting, we can notify the cluster of the change using a flyer and that appears to be sufficient based on DRB guidelines. Kristina will look through the cluster guidelines to determine what is required. Sandy agreed to have a color palette for the doors by the next meeting so we can proceed one way or another.
Composting – A new compost bin has been installed by the playground. Sarah is the contact and agreed to maintain. Sandy is going to laminate the Do’s and Don’ts. Cyndi pointed out that there are discrepancies between the newsletter and the graphics provided by Sarah. Kristina will double check the different versions and send a copy to Sandy to laminate instead.
Garbage/Recycling – Kristina talked to Teresa about the communication problem as to when garbage and recycling are supposed to come, particularly when it changes due to weather conditions. Kristina will reach out to Republic, American, and other waste management companies for updated quotes. Waste Management appears to accept new business, so we could try to contact them to see if they would serve our area again.
Parking registration – 42 homeowners have responded via online form or paper document! That leaves 20 homes not registered. It appears that many homes have more than two cars, which is against our guidelines. We will keep an eye on it to make sure that parking is still available. We can send out reminders as needed.
RA HOA cluster meet and greet – Sandy attended. Got a lot of good information on DRB application. 135 clusters in Reston.
- Meet & greet available to view online via YouTube. Survey sent to clusters to determine how cluster boards engage with their constituents.
- RA is trying to get a list of contractors and vendors and which clusters use those contractors and vendors so that we can determine which vendors are good to work with and not good to work with.
- RA is looking for ways for clusters to connect to each other and looking toward clusters to work with RA to facilitate those connections. Several new people joined the website after Sandy shared the information.
- RA has discount codes for Sherwin Williams 30-40% off so we can contact them to get that information. Sherwin Williams has a point of contact we can use and work with.
- RA is pushing clusters to go back and update guidelines and color palettes. RA will enforce whatever is in our guidelines, so if we don’t want those out-of-date products we need to submit new guidelines.
- Sandy discussed door colors and door styles with them. They shared new door styles that have been submitted and already been approved, which is a good sign that we can get the doors we want (especially if another cluster already has that door approved).
- RA has revised DRB situations. There is now a 30-day turnaround. Previously the time was 5 months. RA is working on digitizing cluster standards so we will be able to go online to look at other clusters and see what they already have approved. Fences, decks, siding, and trim decisions now take place in the covenants committee to avoid going into additional committees.
- When updating guidelines, we need to pay attention to wording so that older, original versions can be grandfathered in (except in cases like the color palette where we want only the new colors).
- Sandy will look for a way to get us on future RA cluster DRB info meetings
Climate planning meeting in Fairfax County – Kristina attended. Action plan being put together to develop environmental standards and changes they want implemented in Fairfax County and they want to engage the community as much as possible. Group is looking for help from HOAs, churches, and other community groups to get their new standards and guidelines communicated to the public.
Financials
Treasurer went over monthly financials
- P.O. Box fee went up.
- HOA fees will need to go up, probably up by $20 per quarter to increase operating budget. Previous increases in dues were put into capital costs rather than operating expenses, so we may have spent from capital costs to cover operating costs. Kelly will look into this in more detail.
- Other clusters charge $270 to $350 per quarter, but some of these clusters have 100 or more homes so their budgets are much larger. Kelly will inquire what services these clusters provide to their residents.
Next meeting
- March 11th at 7 pm via Zoom