Happy New Year. We hope everyone had a nice Christmas.
Most important things first! Past President Jenni Jacyna recently attended a meeting of cluster representatives with Supervisor Alcorn and an aide of his. He advised that surveying the neighborhood of the neighbor's position on the golf course is not enough. He said they need to hear individually from each of us. So please contact Supervisor Alcorn with your position on reopening the Comprehensive Plan that covers the golf course. If you do not want to see the open space go away, then state you are not in favor of reopening that Comprehensive Plan. Each person in the house should send him an e-mail or letter, etc. You can do this directly to him by e-mail at huntermill@fairfaxcounty.gov, by letter to him at 1801 Cameron Glen Drive, Reston, VA 20190, or through Rescue Reston's action page. https://www.rescuereston.org/action-center/ Personalize your letter and e-mails. Form e-mails don't get as much attention. Jenni asked that this be the first item in this quarter's newsletter. You can send multiple letters.
Welcome to new resident Tripte Bakshi who is helping out the Norkos at 11870 South Lakes
Court and house sitting. Walt and Linda prefer the temperatures of Florida to Reston at this time of the year.
Also Welcome to Moataz Amer and Estela Solloso, new residents of 2113 Colts Neck Court. Estela is the daughter of Guadalupe and Hector Prieto and we are glad to have a member of the Prieto family back again.
Congratulations to Theresa and Trinidad Garnica on the birth of their new grandson, Hugh Bennett Garnica, born on December 22nd. We hope Graham will enjoy being a big brother.
More grandparent news: Congratulations to Steve Tucker on the birth of a new granddaughter, Eleanor Rae Tucker, born December 23rd. She joins Jackson as Steve's two youngest grandchildren and local ones at that.
Christmas Tree collection: American Disposal has advised that Christmas trees can be put out for pickup the first two Fridays in January – the 7th and 14th. All tinsel and decorations must be removed. The trees should not be placed in plastic bags as they will be composted.
Snow: There are many new people this year to learn of the snow policy. For some this is merely a reminder.
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. Some of our neighbors are not as young as others! We need to all look out for each other and generally do a good job of that.
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 snow plow. The snowplow will push snow to the ends of the parking lots, so some normally reserved spots may not be available while the snow blocks them. If you plan to have guests, you may need to shovel out another space or park on Old Crafts Street, the side street up South Lakes Court or on Golf Course Drive across the golf course, both of which have on 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 or who will be blocked by the pushed snow to give more clearance for the snowplows. If you would like to volunteer, please contact your neighbors. The forecast for this winter is more 12 to 18 inches, but in smaller amounts at a time. One can only hope! Keep in mind that volunteering a spot though 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 under cars, 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.
Those who can help others shovel, please do so. We have several residents not as young as some of the others! Snow and ice is hazardous and we don't want anyone falling.
Please only use products on the walks that will not harm the concrete. Don't put sand or kitty litter on the walks as it tracks into people's homes. We do have a sand bucket on each side of the cluster for use under tires if cars get stuck.
Our snow contractor only comes when we have 2" of snow on the ground. We pay one price for the first 5" of snow and then per inch afterwards. The contract is based on snow measured at Dulles which sometimes is to their advantage and sometimes to ours. Last year he did come when we had an accumulation of ice.
Trash: if you have not signed up for the unmonitored e-mail account, please do so. That is how we will alert you if we find out that trash pickup is being suspended due to weather conditions. On these days there is no makeup day. The safety of the crews and others on the road is the priority and winter conditions could affect the trash pickup. Let's hope for little snow on trash days and no ice.
Please secure your recyclables on windy days. A number of residents have gone to recycling bins they purchased which have lids on them. Please write your house numbers on your trash cans and if you will not be home to retrieve them, ask a neighbor to help take them back. Remember no trash should go out prior to dark the night before pickup. This lets you put out trash earlier for a few months.
Yard Waste: Yard waste season is suspended until March 3rd. During this "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 so asks that it only be put out on Thursdays. They need to be in compostable paper yard bags. Plastic bags will no longer be accepted regardless of whether they say biodegradable or not. 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 a reasonable weight- 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. We all know the problems being experienced this year with yard waste due to labor shortage with our company and other trash companies. They don't always make it on our regular Friday yard waste days.
Treasurer's report: Dues will remain $330 per quarter for 2022. For the first time we can remember there were no late fees charged this year. We appreciate everyone paying on time. It makes the Treasurer's life a little easier. Let's keep this up. Additional year-end financial information is included for owners.
Directory update: Included with this mailing is information for the upcoming cluster directory. Please check your information carefully and return to Debbie Carroll by the end of January to save board members from having to go door to door to collect the responses.
Cluster tree work: As usual Northern Virginia Tree Experts will do our annual work in January. Currently it is scheduled for January 13th and 14th, but could change due to weather conditions then or on jobs prior to ours.
2022 is going to be a year when we will all need to make some sacrifices. As everyone should know the parking lots were due to be repaved in the early summer of 2020 and we were just about to have the pre-bid meeting with prospective contractors when the pandemic struck and things closed down. We put off this job for two years and the lots really need attention now. 2022 will be the year when this major project is done. We will be unable to park in the parking lots for several days. We will give you heads up on the scheduled dates which are always subject to change due to the weather. Everyone will need to move their cars early the morning the work begins or risk being towed as normally the tow truck is standing by so that the work is not impeded. If you will be out of town during the time the work is projected, you will need to make arrangements for any vehicles left here to be moved. This is a heads up so everyone is aware of what is coming. More information will be provided closer to the actual work.
New cluster officers: Jenni Jacyna resigned from the Board effective the night of the October annual meeting. We want to thank her for her years on the Board and as cluster president the last few years. At the annual meeting Jimmy Lutz agreed to go on the Board. There were no other volunteers. Caroline Fitzpierce and Nancy Streiff agreed to serve another term. The new officers are as follows: President Colin Barthel (2109 Colts Neck Court). Colin agreed to join the Board when Atif Irfan moved this spring. Vice President Jimmy Luz (2135 Colts Neck Court), Secretary Caroline Fitzpierce (11850 South Lakes Court), Treasurer Debbie Carroll (11856 South Lakes Court. Board member at Large Nancy Streiff (2129 Colts Neck Court).
The first four officers can sign applications for Reston Association when you request a modification or something new. We do ask that you provide us with a copy of your application at the time we are requested to sign. You generally need an officer's signature as well as an adjoining neighbor and that of another neighbor who can see your project. The DRB application is available on Reston Association's website. There are some projects that may not need Reston Association approval, but we highly recommend that you check with our counselor, currently Erin Gable, erin@reston.org; (703) 435-6521. Our advisors seem to change a lot lately so you may need to check the website for the current assignments. The cluster outreach person is Meagan Micozzi mmicozzi@reston.org. Get it in writing that your project does not require an approval. Keep these for later as different advisors have been known to have a different opinion down the road.
We will make arrangements with the County to allow parking at the South Lakes Park which will not hold us all and will attempt to see if the Golf Course will work with us to use their parking lot after hours. Reston Association has advised that we can make arrangements to park over in their parking lot on the other side of Reston Parkway at nights.
Upcoming board meetings: 7:00 p.m.
January 19th – 11856 South Lakes Court
February 16th – 2109 Colts Neck Court
March 16th – 11850 South Lakes Court
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