Please continue to stay safe and wear your masks and stay socially distanced. Vaccines are on the way and we expect by summer or mid-summer the country may be beginning to turn the corner. However, in the meantime, do your part to keep yourself, your families, and your neighbors safe.
Congratulations Jimmy Lutz & Michelle Huang on the birth of their son Denver Lutz on December 16th, 2020
Christmas Tree Collection: We have not yet been given an official date for Christmas tree pick-up, but we expect them to be collected the first two Wednesdays in January – the 6th and 13th. All tinsel and decorations must be removed, and the trees should not be placed in plastic bags as they will be composted. After those dates, they can go out with Thursday trash.
Yard waste is suspended until March 4th. During the "non-yard waste season," you may put out leaves and other brush with the regular trash on Thursdays. The trash company has recycling on Mondays and asks that it only be put out on Thursdays. They need to be in compostable paper yard bags. Plastic bags are not accepted. The trash company may pick up leaves set out with Christmas trees, but they did not confirm that in this year's reminder. You can put leaves and yard debris in trash cans if the trash can is marked “yard debris.” They should not exceed 35 pounds for regular trash and recycling and 50 pounds for yard debris (per our contract). Bundled yard debris must be in lengths no longer than 4’, and no branch larger than 3" in diameter. Unbundled yard debris is not taken.
Thank you to everyone who came out to cluster cleanup. A couple of residents on Colts Neck Court made one of the streetlights more visible by cutting back the large bush that had overgrown the light. Thank you also to those members who took the time to come to the annual meeting in October. Because we had to do this socially distanced, we appreciate households sending only one member. The Community Center had the room well prepared for a safe meeting. Thanks to Rodney D'Souza (nonresident owner) and to Steve Tucker for their monetary donations. We’d like to see more of you so please consider coming out or contacting a Board member and taking on a special project!
Treasurer's report: Year-end figures are enclosed for owners. This year everyone is paid on time which is excellent! There were no extra fees from late payments other than a carryover of a 2019 delinquency paid in the first quarter of this year. Dues will increase $5 per quarter for 2021: $330 per quarter. The split will be $69 for the parking lot fund, $31 to the capital reserve fund and $230 for the general fund. Annually, our trash contract goes up as do our landscaping costs. Our insurance premium on general liability greatly increased as it does every 2nd or 3rd year. Additionally, taxes increased greatly.
Tree work will be performed in mid to late January/February since we receive better rates in the winter. This year we are focusing on a few dead trees in the woods and a row of trees along the guardrail on our side of the street between the entrance to the park and the entrance to South Lakes Court. These trees are dying and dropping limbs on South Lakes Court and our arborist has stated they need to be removed. Most are black locust which came up on their own many years ago. Although we hate to lose trees, we need to address these. Thank you to all the owners on South Lakes Court for signing off on and agreeing to this removal. We are working to get on the schedule for a Reston Association DRB meeting as they must ultimately approve the removal of trees that are not yet dead. The application form called for quite a bit of information and we submitted 66 pages of photos and information to support this application.
If you have personal tree work, you can have your work concurrently scheduled by contacting John Holtzapfel at Northern Virginia Tree Experts (703) 263-3199. It will be greater cost-savings for you to have it done when the crews are already here. Remember if you wish to take down a tree, you also have to file an application with Reston Association if the tree is still living, its trunk is larger than 4" in diameter, or if it is an ornamental tree such as a holly, dogwood, Japanese maple, etc.
It's time to update the cluster directory! Please fill out the enclosed form and return to Debbie Carroll or to another board member. These forms need to be returned, even if there are no changes. It is important that this information is current and on file so that we can reach you in the event of an emergency. Please don’t make us canvas door-to-door to collect yours!
Snow removal: We thought we would make it through 2020 with no snow removal costs, although as you know, that did not happen with the December 16th storm.
You know the drill! But a reminder on snow removal:
The snow contract only covers the parking lots, and for liability reasons, they do not get very close to the cars.
It is your responsibility to shovel your walk and the main cluster walk in front of your house.
Keep a path in front of the mailboxes!
Help your neighbors who may have difficulty shoveling their own walks.
When shoveling out your vehicle, do not put your snow in the path of another car, in a neighbor's unoccupied space, or on the sidewalks.
If the snowplow has not been through, you can put a limited amount in the drive, but it must not impede the plow or other vehicles. Otherwise, you must push it to the curb - or on the island on Colts Neck – no fun!
Help the parking lots to drain faster by removing leaves from the gutter pans in front of your cars.
On South Lakes Court, one spot per house is reserved. It is permissible to park in any unmarked spot, but when there is snow, be considerate of your neighbors. If they have taken the time and shoveled out one of the extra spots, leave it for them until all spaces are open again. Two cars on South Lakes will always have to move when it snows as the end cars will be blocked in by the snowplow. The snowplow will push snow to the ends of the parking lots, so some normally reserved spots may not be available. If you plan to have guests, you may need to shovel out another space or park on Old Crafts Street, or on Golf Course Drive across the golf course, both of which have street parking.
Some residents on Colts Neck Court, who are not regularly using their second spot, may be agreeable to providing that space to neighbors who have extra cars to give more clearance for the snowplows. If you would like to volunteer, please contact your neighbors. The forecast for this winter is more snow than last winter – so please keep in mind that volunteering a spot could mean the loss of that spot for an extended period.
Sand is available in the "sand containers" for traction. There is a container located on each side of the cluster. Please do not use it on the walks - it tracks badly into people's homes. Kitty litter is also great for traction, but it tracks even worse into homes if put on the walks. Any product used on the main walks should be one that will not damage the concrete, so please check the labels.
Reston Association: In October, Reston Association planned to repave the path from the entrance of South Lakes Court up to Putting Green, but it was postponed, and we expect it to be done next year. RA Counselor: Kelly Beavers - (703) 435-6521 – kbeavers@reston.org. We can't say she is particularly fast about returning calls or e-mails, but be persistent. The head of the Covenants Department is now Cameron Adams, cadams@reston.org.
Given some high turnover, it’s a good idea to check RA's website (www.Reston.org) if you need to reach out to our current advisor. Go to “Property Owners Resources,” then “Design Review.” At the bottom of the page click on the blue link for “Covenants Team and Appointments.” On the right side of that page, select “Advisor Assignments.” An excel spreadsheet will download. Look for “Fairgreen Cluster,” (“Colts Neck Cluster” is a different cluster), then scroll over to the right to get the advisor's contact information.
Parking lot repaving: As everyone knows, due to Covid-19, we postponed the repaving of the parking lot. We hope that with a vaccine on its way by the 2nd quarter of 2021 that we will be able to do this in the summer of 2021. We know it will be inconvenient being out of our lots for several days and we will do our best to make arrangements at the park and hopefully with the Golf Course. Reston Association will also permit us to use their parking lot over there for a couple of nights (corner of Sunrise Valley and Reston Parkway – across Reston Parkway.) If you have somewhere else you can park, we suggest you do so, especially for second cars. The park will not hold everyone. We have the funds on hand to do this and want to be proactive before potholes form and the project becomes costlier. We know delaying it this year is going to add additional consultant and repaving costs. We will provide everyone with further details as soon as this is scheduled so everyone can make all the necessary arrangements.
New entrance signs: Our entrance signs were installed in 1990 and thus were 30 years old. The one on Colts Neck Court had fallen apart. At the annual meeting in October, the membership voted to replace both signs so they would match. The new signs, installed in November, are made of sand foam and are lighter weight so the posts are not as thick to hold them in place. All the juniper around the sign on Colts Neck was removed per vote at the annual meeting. That area will be planted in grass when appropriate. We had the funds on hand for the signs. The cost was $4,694.72 and we also paid Landcare $520.00 to remove and dig out all the juniper which was overgrown and the only thing holding up the Colts Neck Court sign.
Other cluster expenditures: The membership approved Bill Brooks purchasing and being reimbursed for new solar lights along the steps on both sides leading to the tot lot. Bill has installed those lights. That expense was $116.59. Debbie Carroll is slowly scanning and shredding 46 years of cluster records and cleaning out her basement of many years of records. The Board approved an expense of $50.87 for a portable hard drive to back up the documents on the flash drive.
Additional Trash Reminders: Shorter days mean trash can be put out earlier, however please be mindful that no trash, including yard waste, should be put out prior to dark the night before pickup. Please retrieve your trash cans on the days of pickup. If you will be out of town, ask a neighbor for help. Remember that trash cans should be either on your decks or screened from view with appropriate plants. With permission, RA will grant approval for certain wooden screens. No trash cans are permitted on the sides of end units.
You can schedule a pickup with American Disposal for furniture and other large non-metallic household items (not to exceed two cubic yards total in volume) on your second collection day each week. There will be an extra charge for special pickups that exceed two cubic yards total in volume, and for the pickup of ferrous metals/white goods such as stoves, refrigerators (all CFC’s should be removed prior to pick-up), washers, dryers, hot water tanks, and other bulky metallic items. Special pickups need to be scheduled with American Disposal in advance, and you must make arrangements for the payment for those pickups. The cluster does not pay for personal charges. The number for American Disposal is (703) 368-0500.
Recycling: Recycling can be put out in the bins provided by the company or in your own personal rolling recycling bins which can be purchased from Home Depot, Lowes, etc. All recyclables should be clean and rinsed well. Dirty recycling can cause us to lose this service so all please pay attention to what is permissible. Please check the cluster website for recyclable items or American Disposal's website and consider the information presented as you put out your recyclables.
Although we have not yet received notice that American Disposal is not collecting glass, some companies have already begun this practice as Fairfax County is no longer accepting it. The county has installed purple collection bins at various sites throughout the county. The closest to us is one located at the back of the Park and Ride on the corner of Reston Parkway and Lawyers Road. Only bottles are accepted, and they are to be loose and not in bags. They need to be rinsed of food and beverage debris. Nothing else is permitted there. Should American Disposal no longer collect bottles you will be required to take them to the recycling dumpster as county ordinances still provide mandatory recycling of certain items, including glass.
If you have not signed up to receive e-mails in the event of trash pickup changes (common in the winter), now is a good time to let Debbie know you would like to be on this list. The trash company will not put their trucks on the road if the conditions are dangerous to their crews.
Cluster website: We wanted to remind you of our relatively new website address: https://fairgreencluster.wixsite.com/website.
Officers for 2021 remain the same. Being unable to find any candidates willing to serve, Debbie Carroll agreed to return to the Board as Treasurer (but is cleaning out her basement so maybe the next time someone will want her jobs!) The officers elected immediately following the annual meeting are as follows:
President – Jenni Canning Jacyna
Vice President – Nancy Streiff
Secretary – Caroline Fitzpierce
Treasurer – Debbie Carroll
Member at Large – Atif Irfan
Upcoming Board meetings: There have been far fewer board meetings due to Covid-19. Please check with board members if you wish to attend since as our meetings will remain inconsistent until we are beyond Covid-19. The meetings we held in 2020 were held socially distanced and outside. At this time, we do not have meetings scheduled for the first quarter of 2021. We will advise via the website if there is such a meeting and will provide dates for future meetings on the website and in upcoming newsletters.
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