October 20, 2010 HFCA Annual Meeting

Members of the Board present: John Kitzmiller, Dante Gilmer, Keith Ferguson, Kirk Randall and Jaime Gutierrez

Not enough members to have a quorum. Meeting was cancelled and reconvened 15 minutes later.

Minutes from last year’s meeting were provided to those present, after a period to allow members to read, they were approved. It was requested by one of the homeowners to provide the documents handed out, a couple of weeks prior to the meeting.

Old Business: John Kitzmiller

John indicated that Non-conforming letters were sent to homeowner’s whose property were not in compliance with the covenants, rules and regulations.  About 50 letters were sent out, out of the 50 homeowners, 10 were sent because they had not taken the required measure to correct the deficiencies within the indicated time period. Board will follow up.

Rules & Regulation.  Fences and Storage Pods.

Fences.

1. A proposed change to the Rules and Regulation’s wording regarding the term of “front yard”, in an attempt to better define what a “front yard” is, was proposed. This proposed new definition had been circulated to the homeowners via the list server and the Board had not received any comments in favor or opposed to it.  After discussion the proposed changer was approved. See discussion below

Existing paragraph 4(l), to be replaced in its entirety.

“Fences may not be constructed in front yards; i.e., a fence shall not extend into the area between the street and the front building restriction line. On corner lots, homeowners may construct a fence between the side building restriction line and the sidewalk. However, homeowners are cautioned that such fence may be subject to a height limit set by the Fairfax County code, which is four feet at the time this paragraph was implemented.”

New paragraph 4(l).

For the purpose of interpreting Hickory Farms Restrictive Covenant Article VII(3) under this Section 4 only, each lot has a single front yard, which is the area between the front building restriction line and the street or pipestem driveway. The front building restriction line runs along the front edge of the main entrance side of the house and continues to the property line(s). A fence may not be constructed in a front yard. On corner lots, homeowners may construct a fence between the side building restriction line and the sidewalk. Homeowners are cautioned, however, that any fence that faces a street or pipestem driveway may be subject to a height limit set by the Fairfax County code, which was four feet at the time this paragraph was implemented.

2. A second proposed change to the Rules and Regulation, Paragraph 4(i), changing the allowed colors to be used to paint the fences from “natural and white” to “natural wood or white”. After discussion, the proposed change was not approved.

Storage Pods

With the advent of storage PODS, the Board felt that regulations be added to the Rules and Regulations to prevent the prolong use of them. This proposal was also circulated to the homeowners via the list server. No comments were received in favor or against. The Board proposed the following regulation. After discussion, it was approved by the homeowners

New 10(c) Self-storage containers and portable storage units, including so-called storage pods, may be kept on a homeowner’s property for no more than thirty (30) consecutive days. This period may be extended, if approved by the Board of Directors for good cause. Such storage containers may only be for the personal use of the resident; business or trade uses are prohibited.

One of the homeowners inquired about window air conditioning units. Whether or not they are allowed. The Rules and Regulations do not address windows air conditioning units, therefore the Board indicated that they are allowed. If the Board receives any complaints in the future, it may consider the issue.

Grounds: Keith Ferguson.

There were no major issues. Over all it was a quiet year. Three trees were removed from the common grounds, because they were in danger of falling and possibly causing property damage or were laying /resting over a homeowner’s tree.

Treasurer: Dante Gilmer

Projecting expenses to the end of the year shows that we should end with a small surplus. The budget presented for the coming year maintains the dues at $125.  The homeowners affirmed the budget proposed.

Neighborhood Watch: John Kitzmiller.

John Indicated that less than 1/4 of the homeowners participates in the neighborhood watch program

Election of new Board members.

Nominations and volunteers were requested from the members present, none were received. The present Board members indicated that since there are no new volunteers, they will continue for one more year. The vote was unanimous