Spring 2026 Newsletter

Spring Cluster Cleanup: Time to spruce things up! Join your neighbors on April 25th for our cluster cleanup. We'll have donuts provided by Alana McGinty and Eric Randall ready on the Colts Neck side from 9-10 AM. Come grab a bite, see what's on the list, and pitch in wherever you can throughout the day. Whether you stop by with the whole family or quietly tackle something on your own schedule, every bit helps. Keep an eye on the mailboxes for more details as the date approaches. The more, the merrier! 

We always need a general picking up of trash – remember our cluster stretches from the corner of South Lakes Drive and Colts Neck Road up South Lakes Drive to about across from the entrance to the park.   The golf course is our other side boundary.

Website update: We've made a few updates to the Fairgreen website! Going forward, we'll be resuming regular newsletter publishing here, and we've also expanded the FAQ section with helpful information for residents.  https://fairgreencluster.wixsite.com/website 

One small change to note: out of respect for residents' privacy on the internet, personal announcements included in the physical mailing will no longer be included in the online newsletter by default - but if you'd like something shared, just reach out and we're happy to include it.

Playground announcement: The cluster playground is scheduled for replacement in 2026! The board has been working through the planning process, and we look forward to sharing more details on timing and what the new equipment will look like as things come together. More updates to come! We received proposals from several companies and decided on the vendor and have submitted our application to Reston Association.  We were advised due to similarities from before we will have a consultation approval and not have to go before the full DRB.  This will shorten this process at RA.

Everyone, please be sure no dogs are allowed in the area of the playground, from the RA path to the golf course.  Children play in that area and dog poop is not only unsightly but a health hazard to children who are racing about, sometimes losing shoes and sometimes falling down.  Politely remind others of the reason for our signs.

The winter brought a new term to us all -“snowcrete”.  The 8” of snow followed by the 3” of sleet which became blocks of ice was a challenge.  It was hard to shovel and just as difficult to plow causing our company’s truck to break down between us and other jobs he had.  Huge chunks of ice fell from our roofs and large pieces remained intact.  (Actual photo of one such chunk that measured 3” thick.)  It though did bring some interesting photos from around the region of icy formations.  We appreciate neighbors who shoveled out other neighbors.  Special thanks to Eric, Matt, Brad, Lisa, Bob, Jessie, and Caroline who worked on opening wider the entrances to the driveways.   Others constantly worked on clearing the parking lots and sidewalks.  We appreciate everyone who  helped.. 

The hard snow and ice also caused our annual winter tree work maintenance to be delayed several times, but it has been completed.  There are a few trees that are treated each spring against pests that can harm those varieties.

Our next challenge is all the tree blooms and pollen headed our way.  Even with screens on your gutters, the maple blooms and helicopters, the pine blooms and oak blooms get into your gutters.  We encourage everyone to have your gutters cleaned after the blooms are all down.  We literally saw one house a few years ago with trees sprouting up in the gutters along the roof edge. Some of us have the gutters cleaned in both the spring after the blooms are all gone and in the late fall after all the leaves are down.  Screens may help keep most leaves out, but the small blooms often penetrate screens. 

Drainage clearing: With spring showers on the way, we'd like to ask residents near storm drains and water drains in the cluster to please help keep them clear of leaves and debris. Clogged drains can lead to standing water and drainage issues that affect the whole cluster. A quick rake or blow off with a leaf blower every now and then goes a long way!  The same thing helps with the parking lot concrete gutters along the edges of the parking lots.

Trash issues:  Remember although you can put trash out in heavy duty plastic bags – not thin ones - we do have a lot of wildlife in our cluster.  Your trash needs to be secure and not easily torn apart by raccoons, foxes, birds or other animals.  Raccoons have gotten quite good at opening trash can lids that some thought were pretty secure.  If your trash can does not have a hard snap close, you many need to put a couple of bricks on the lids or secure them some other way.  One resident saw an older raccoon trying to teach a younger one how to open a trash can!

The board is aware and investigating the recent trash collection issues. We hope Patriot is back on its game as they have been pretty reliable the last few years and rarely missed a pickup except in inclement weather.  If everyone’s trash is not picked up, leave your cans out.  Our Vice-President Lisa will contact the trash company to have it collected the next business day.  If yours is the only one out, you may have missed an early morning pickup so please take that back to your house. 

Please remember that no trash should be put out before after dark the night before trash is to be picked up and trash cans should be picked up as soon as possible after pickup – for a lot of people when they get home from work.  As we get more daylight the time to put out trash moves later.  Regular trash is picked up on Mondays and Thursdays, recycling is picked up on Wednesdays.  We are now back into yard waste season as of April 1^st so yard waste is picked up on Saturdays.  Yard waste season runs until Christmas eve when it reverts to being picked up with regular trash for a couple of months.  During yard waste season the county requires yard waste to be taken to composting sites so why it is picked up separately and why you need to have it in paper bags and not plastic ones.   

Speaking of animals, keep in mind there are lots of deer in our area too who love to eat your plants.  If you are not planting deer resistant plants, you may need to spray some flowers, hostas and other plants with a deer repellant if you don’t want to provide late night snacks for the deer.

Financial news - Cluster tax returns:  Our tax returns have been prepared and filed.  We use an accountant that specializes in homeowner associations where even though we file a 1120 corporate return, there are regulations where we only pay on our interest income.   In 2025 we made less interest than we did in 2024, thus our taxes were a little less.  The total amount of the federal tax liability for 2025 was $1,319.00.  With the quarterly estimates we had to pay last year, we had an overpayment of $373.00.  Our quarterly estimated payments (other than the first quarter which will be reduced by the overpayment) will be $474.00.  For the state, our tax liability was $401.00.  We had an overpayment of the estimated taxes of $115.00.  Our quarterly estimated taxes will be $115.00 and like the federal one, the first state one will be reduced by the overpayment to Virginia.  Filing the straight 1120 corporate return our federal tax rate on our interest income is 21% and our state tax rate is 6%.  If we had chosen the 1120-H (homeowner association return) we would have been paying 33.33% in federal taxes. This is why we have an accountant do our tax returns.

In other financial news as most of you know from the annual reports, our trash contract has a monthly surcharge due to diesel fuel prices.  The rate in 2025 ranged from a low of 3.13% (June & July) to a high of 5% (December).  This year our first 3 months the rate was 5%.  In April it jumped to 10% and as gas prices continue to skyrocket, so will our trash bill. 

Approvals from Reston Association.  It's the time of the year when people want to make improvements to their homes.  Please be sure on any exterior home repairs that you get the appropriate approvals from Reston Association.  We always encourage you to check with our advisor before you spend large sums of money (or even small ones) to see if an approval is needed for your specific project.  If they say no application needed, keep that email as counselors change and interpretations can be different.  Watch carefully all components.  If you need RA approval, there are a few things that can be approved at staff level.  The next level is a consultation where the Covenants Department meets with a DRB member.  You don’t need to appear at these meetings.  Those things are ones the Covenant Department recommends but is outside their jurisdiction to approve these projects.  It is extremely unlikely that your project won’t be approved in these situations.  The last step in the RA approval process is the hearing before the Design Review Board.  Usually that is a 3 member panel, although sometimes just 2.  You should be prepared to attend these. 

There were a number of sales in the cluster last year and owners shared their Reston Association violations with us.  Debbie Carroll contacted our advisor to get the reasons and clarifications behind some things.  She has made a list of things people were being picked up for when they received their disclosure packages.  If you want a copy of that list, she will be glad to provide it to you.

Our counselor at Reston Association remains Erin (Keele)  – erin@reston.org. 

Things you might not think about are Reston Association says no to red mulch and white rocks (river rocks are approved).  Trees over 4” in diameter measured 4 feet above the ground require RA permission to cut down if they are living.  Keep photos of dead ones you take down.  Often they want you to plant another tree, but not always.

Golf course news:  It’s been quiet lately.  Hopefully it remains that way.  We're waiting to see if a traffic study will be done. Then we will know that the owners of the Reston National Golf Course are moving forward.  As you may know, the owners of RNGC claim they have by-right to develop a section adjoining our cluster.  Among other requirements, the County is requiring them to complete a Traffic Impact Analysis study by FCDOT.

What we/you do:

Keep an eye out for traffic monitoring systems in the South Lakes, Colts Neck area, and inform Rescue Reston quickly about the presence of these systems if you see anything on either Colts Neck Road or South Lakes Drive. www.info@rescuereston.org  Sometimes traffic studies happen to be installed during school vacations, and other times that might be more advantageous to the developer requesting it.

Sign up with Rescue Reston  www.rescuereston.org for alerts when things with the golf course heat up.  Connie Hartke does a great job of letting all around the golf course know what is happening.  We have a resident working closely with Rescue Reston too and when we know anything, we will let you know too.

Upcoming board meetings (7:00 pm): 

April 22 – 11850 South Lakes Court

May 20, 2025 – 2129 Colts Neck Court

June 18 – 2129 Colts Neck Court

if you plan to attend check with a board member first.  There can be times when meetings have to be rescheduled due to work schedules, illnesses, etc.