Annual Meeting
April 15, 2008
Rocky Run Middle School

Present
Board: Kevin Corcoran, Mike Parks, David Schuetz
Management: Ernie Lightfoot

The meeting began at approximately 7:00 pm. A total of 62 homes were represented either in person or by proxy, so a quorum was present and elections were able to be held at the end of the meeting.

Unfortunately, our Tri-State representative (Jennifer Rosa) had been in a car accident and so didn't make it to the meeting. Tri-State was represented by Ernie Lightfoot. Mike told us that we didn't know her condition, but we all hoped she was okay, and added that she's been a good help so far, telling us "things we shoulda known three years ago!"

Ernie told us that the Leesburg office of Tri-State has now closed, and all correspondence should be sent to the Fairfax office.

First up was Kevin Corcoran with a financial update. We did not have a dues increase this year, and hope not to raise dues next year but can't be certain at this point. We are receiving a discount for services from Tri-State for the next 18 months or so, to try to recover (or at least offset) the approximately $10,000 that were apparently lost in the Koger embezzlement scandal. We currently have about $35,000 in the reserves fund, and are working on bids for a formal reserves study to ensure we're on track.

Next up Mike gave a quick update on ARC work and the need for volunteers for Newsletter and Social committees (which currently have no members). We've seen a lot of work being done throughout the neighborhood over the winter, but have had no applications. The Board will try to address that deficiency as we perform a neighborhood compliance walk-through in June.

Question: How many infractions have been enforced? Answer: Several, and several are "in the works." The biggest issue has been people trying to push their yard into common space, especially bad when this involves areas with protective easements.

Mike then finished with "Social Committee" business: A community-wide yard sale will be advertised for the morning of Saturday, May 17, with a community cookout that evening from 5:00 to 7:30 in the Autumn Glory common area.

Next on the agenda were significant issues in the community. First to be discussed was the continual struggle to finish with the Edgemoore Bond Release process. The Board has worked off and on with Edgemoore and the county over the past year, with no real progress. At one stage, Edgemoore offered to do some minimal work, then informally suggested an $8,000 payment for us to put towards needed corrections, but we've heard nothing formal since. The Board received two formal estimates for the cost of fixing the pond areas and the main Autumn Glory common space (including, as necessary, grading, seeding, fertilizing, and watering) and received bids in the $50,000 range, far short of the Edgemoore offer. At that point, we tried getting the county involved again, and recently the county and Edgemoore had a last-minute meeting (on April 10), but the Board was not present.

A vigorous discussion about vandalism followed.

• On the night of Sunday, April 6th (or the morning of April 7th) many mailboxes in the community were knocked over, damaged, or destroyed.
• Recently a missing letter from the entrance monument was discovered and re-attached, and within a week several other letters had been knocked off or otherwise destroyed.
• Most significantly, graffiti and other vandalism on the gazebo near Henry Pond has reached a critical point.

Mike formally proposed to the community that we remove the gazebo, on the grounds that the vandalism is out of hand and "nobody uses it anyway." David strongly argued against that, on the grounds that "we've had damage for years and have never taken any steps to fix it, and people want to use it but won't because of the graffiti." The general feeling of the 20 or so homeowners present was that removal was a good idea, though relocating the gazebo to a more visible location (like the Autumn Glory area) had some support as well. As it stands, the gazebo is in serious need of major repairs, and is not much more than an "attractive nuisance" drawing teenagers from within and without the community to drink and even build bonfires. (It was noted at this point that there's been some problems with kids drinking in the park as well). A question was asked about the cost of repairs or removal, but the Board has not received estimates for either.

Speeding in the community continues to be a problem. Many of the speeders are teenagers, and Mike urged people to get kids' parents involved. Speed bumps and stop signs were, as usual, suggested as options to reduce the speed of vehicles.

Other issues discussed:

• A garage intrusion on Benjamin Cross -- someone entered an open garage and tried the door to the house, got in, and stole a purse
• A similar intrusion on Autumn Glory -- a briefcase stolen from a car in the garage
• Illegal fireworks -- every year, especially around Memorial Day and Independence Day, a lot of illegal fireworks are set off in the community, posing a possible safety and fire hazard and significantly stressing at least one pet dog in the neighborhood. The community was reminded that any fireworks that fly, explode, or throw sparks more than about 15' are illegal in Virginia.
• The fence around the Bennet Pond storm water pond is rotting and has at some places (especially by Lot 80) has collapsed.
• There are several dead trees in the community, on common land, and some may pose a risk to adjacent homes. It's never been clear what the responsibility or liability for the community is, however, the Board will review cases as their brought to us and, if appropriate, take action. Some specific trees mentioned at the meeting:
  • Many of the plantings behind the Brookfield homes on Autumn Glory died without significant growth.
  • A large tree behind lot 109 with large amounts of poison ivy growing on it -- the community was "given encouragement" to spray appropriate herbicides on poison ivy and other similar noxious plants, where reasonable (especially when near the property line), and the Board made a note to check out this particular tree.
  • One or more trees in common space at the end of Benjamin Cross -- however, David pointed out that there is no common space along that street owned by us, and so would instead be space owned by the Paterra neighborhood.
• The Board asked Ernie to set up a meeting with Pine Ridge to discuss the common areas for mowing and other landscaping issues.
• The Board has added some additional checks and controls to the financial process to avoid a repeat of the Koger embezzlement scandal, and is considering further isolating reserves funds.
• A question was asked whether we were required to clear the snow from Autumn Glory Court. The Board has, in the past, taken the approach that it's pointless to clear that street if both connecting streets (Autumn Glory Way and Cross Meadow Place) are plowed by the County and, being low on the priority list, don't actually see any snow clearing activity for days after a major storm.
• The missing stop sign on Autumn Glory Court is now completely missing -- that is, the sign fell down about (or even over) a year ago, and now the sign has been stolen and only the post remains. It was suggested that instead of replacing the sign, we paint stop lines on the road, but a potential problem with that is that the lines will age faster and need more maintenance.

Mike briefly talked about an idea he had for "Block Captains." He envisions having several community members identify specific homes they'd be responsible for, and spend time getting to know those homeowners, serving as a casual-yet-formal interface between those homes and the Board. The idea being that the Board could be more aware of issues as they occur, and could better get information back out to the community, through such a structure. Three people volunteered to be block captains at the meeting, and each took about 10 homes to be responsible for.

The meeting closed with the election of Board members. Because we did not have a quorum at the 2007 Annual Meeting, we were unable to hold an election. The bylaws state that Board Members serve until they resign or are voted out, and as such, it was the opinion of the Board that Mike Parks and Jim Jones, both of whom were serving terms that expired last April, would continue as Board Members until the next valid election. Fortunately, at this meeting we had a quorum and so were able to hold an election. Dan Bullock, on Bennet Pond Court, nominated himself for the remaining open position on the board, and all three members were accepted via verbal "unanimous consent" at the meeting. Mike and Jim will serve the remaining two years of a three year term (the first year being that just passed since the last meeting), and Dan will serve for a full three years.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:00 pm.