[The following message is from Laura Cooper, a resident High School student]

Did you knwo that frogs, ducks, geese, and tons of other creatures need our ponds? Help conserve our neighborhood wildlife by pitching in and making our community better!

When: Saturday, April 2, from 10:00 AM until clean
Where: Meet at the Gazebo next to Henry Pond

Wear old clothes, shoes, and gloves that can get dirty.

If you have any questions, call Laura Cooper of Chantilly High, who is organizing this day as part of a conservation project for Girls for Planet Earth.

On Tuesday, March 22, 2005, the Preserve at Wynmar HOA held its annual meeting. We met at the Chantilly Regional Library, from 7:00 until approximately 8:45 pm. Unfortunately, turnout for the meeting was relatively low -- only 26 households represented. We needed 29 homes for a quorum (20% of 147 voting-eligible homes). In attendance were Mike Parks (President), Jim Jones (Vice President), Ed Blansitt (Treasurer), and David Schuetz (Board Member at large). Also present was Anna Simmons, our Koger Management Company representative.

We began with a short introduction to Koger from Mike and Anna. Koger is still finishing the transitioning of people and accounts, has been working to get information from SFMC since we signed the contract, and still hasn't gotten all the financial information we need.

The meeting began at 7:05 pm, with Mike Parks (President), Ed Blansitt (Treasurer), David Schuetz (Board Member - At Large), Jim Jones (Vice President), and Anna Simmons (Koger Management) in attendance. Also in attendance was Cathy Parks.

Well, we've finally got some snow. And now seems a good time to update everyone on our snow removal services.

UPDATE - Edgemoore will continue to pay for snow removal until the Bond Release process is complete.

Removal of snow is generally done by the state. Except for private roads, which are the responsibility of the owners of that road. Our roads are state-owned, except for Autumn Glory Court, which is owned by the HOA. However, the state hasn't accepted responsibility for the roads yet (because the Bond Release process is still ongoing). So we might not get any state snow plow services this winter.

When residents first started building decks, it became quickly apparent that many were unhappy with the requirement that railings be built in the "Chippendale" style. Edgemoore and the Board at that time declined to change the guidelines, leaving it up to us, once we took over. And since then, the Board has chosen to "not enforce" the Chippendale requirement, believing it to be the general decision of the community.

Well, we've been in control for just about a year now, and it's time to make changes official. To that end, the Board has asked that residents submit any suggestions, comments, or requests regarding new guidelines. To date, the only real concerns that the Board is aware of are the deck rails, whether basketball hoops need to be stored in a garage overnight, and whether people can paint their front doors black.

For the past year, the Board has been trying to ascertain the status of the Bond Release process for our community. The Bond is a large sum of money that a builder puts aside for the County when starting a development. When construction is finished, if public areas -- streets, utilities, and so forth -- are built according to county requirements, the builder gets their bond back. The Board is assembling a list of outstanding issues that should be addressed during this process.

Just this past week, the old Cross Farmhouse (Lot 108) finally went on the market. We'd been asked many times in the past about the feasibility of buying the house for use by the community, so three members of the Board (Ed, Kevin, and David, and Jim for just a couple of minutes) walked through the house on Friday the 31st, along with a Realtor. Though it has the potential to be a great little home, it just doesn't seem to be a fit for the HOA to buy.