Hickory Farms Community Association Annual Meeting

October 15, 2013

Members of the Board Present

John Kitzmiller, President

Kirk Randall, Architectural Control Committee

Don Lobeda, Community Grounds, Paths, and Woods

Dante Gilmer, Treasurer

Ed Wagner, Secretary

Call to Order

John Kitzmiller called the meeting to order at 8:00 pm.  Eighteen (18) homeowners were in attendance, with an additional nineteen (19) represented through the submission of proxy forms. Since fifty (50) homeowners were not represented at the meeting either through direct participation or proxy, we did not have a quorum, and therefore could not continue with the original meeting.  The initial meeting was adjourned at 8:02 pm following a motion that was seconded and affirmed by a vote of participants.  John called a new meeting at 8:03 pm as a secondary quorum so that the community association could conduct the business planned for the annual meeting.

Approval of Previous Minutes

The minutes from last year’s meeting were approved, with no issues raised.

Report on Finances

Dante Gilmer reported on the community association’s finances, including the current budget and expenses and the planned budget for next year.  The community association received $29,400 in annual dues, with 196 of 198 homes having paid.  As a result of a settlement with one of the delinquent homeowners, the community association received an additional $1,039.  With some additional revenue from advertising and other sources, the total revenue for the year was $31,611.34.

The largest expense during the year was for landscaping, which was budgeted for a total expense of $19,500, with most of this expense to cover the mowing of common grounds.  Other landscaping expenses incurred to take down dead trees that created a risk to property or people.  Mowing is continuing and at least two more trees need to be removed, so the landscaping expenses for the year are not yet final.  Some additional savings resulted from lower printing costs due to publishing smaller and less frequent newsletters.  Overall, Dante was projecting a budget surplus of $6,599 at the end of this year. 

Budget for Next Year:

Project the total revenue for the community association for next year to be $30,605.  The board anticipates the need to spend additional funds on the removal of trees, which is reflected in the planned budget.  Even with this increase, Dante projects an estimated $3,075 surplus at end of next year, which if realized, will be held in reserve for future expenses.  The board anticipates an increase in tree removals, repair of paths, and other actions required as the community continues to age.

The budget for next year was approved, which allows the retention of dues at the current level of $150 per year.

Report on Community Grounds, Paths, and Woods

Don Lobeda provided an overview of the activities carried out and planned for the future for community grounds, paths, and woods.

Upper Common Ground:

Don mentioned that there were some areas where thickets, poison ivy, and other overgrowth that continues to encroach on the grassy areas of the common ground.  The board conducted a community event last spring to clean up an initial area.  Although the event was successful, a number of individuals ended up with poison ivy.  Conducting additional events of this nature is problematic because of the poison ivy issue.  It cost $300 to remove the debris that was pulled out of the common ground.  The preference going forward is to have professionals do this type of clean up with the objective of returning the common area to its original condition.  With the additional work required, the board has budgeted an additional $2,000 for grounds maintenance for the upcoming year. 

A question was raised about whether it was worthwhile removing the thickets.  Another member emphasized the historical importance of the upper common ground.  The original house for the Hickory Farm, the basis for the community’s name was located on the upper common ground.  Don will document proposed plans for removal of the thickets, including a map, with the objective of including this information in the December newsletter.  We may hold a discussion about this through the use of list serve.

Don has identified two dead trees that need to be taken down.  We expect the removal of these two trees will cost about $1,500.  One tree is behind 4315 Still Meadow.  Don is working with the tree removal company to ensure that they do not tear up anyone’s property or the common ground as part of the tree removal effort.

Report by Architectural Control Committee (ACC)

In addition to chairing the ACC, Kirk also writes the Hickory Farms Newsletter and maintains the community association’s web page.  Kirk plans to continue his work on the ACC, but requested a volunteer to take on responsibility for either the newsletter or the web page.  Kirk highlighted and thanked other people who support his work and other efforts throughout the community, which are documented on the cover of the newsletter.

During the past year, the ACC received twenty one (21) applications for a wide range of improvements.  Typically, the ACC does not have any problems with completing their review and making a decision about an application within the 30-day timeframe established by our base documents.  The ACC spent most of its time over the past year on dealing with one application.  It was ultimately resolved, but took quite an effort.  This specific case is the reason that Kirk decided to add announcements about obtaining help from someone who speaks English by asking them to register for list serve to obtain up to date information so that they can stay informed.  About fifty (50) percent of the homeowners in the community are registered with list serve.  One member raised concerns that this rate means that fifty (50) percent of homeowners are not obtaining information through list serve, and therefore are not being adequately served.  However, the board noted that all of the information available through list serve is also put into the newsletter, for which printed copies are delivered to every home in Hickory Farms.  Kirk noted that he repeats important information generally at least four (4) times a year in an effort to ensure that everyone is informed.

Kirk noted that the ACC is appreciative of how comprehensive and complete most applications have been.  The applications have contained aerial photographs, PowerPoint slides, and other important detailed documentation that has allowed the ACC to quickly decide on each applicant’s request.  When in doubt, more information on the ACC application is better.

A member raised concerns about whether new residents obtain the Virginia Property Owners Association Act (VPOAA) package when they buy a home in Hickory Farms.  Kirk noted that real estate agents can download a PDF of our VPOAA package, which has been very well received.  Under Virginia state law, real estate agents are required to request the VPOAA package.  The version documented on our website has ninety eight (98) percent of the information needed by the homeowners.  Once Kirk completes a walk around of the property, any issues that need to be resolved are also documented and provided to the new homeowners by the Treasurer. 

Report on Neighborhood Watch

John noted that the number of community members willing to participate in the watch continues to dwindle.  The board discussed the situation at last week’s board meeting, resulting in a proposal to suspend Neighborhood Watch in November prior to the holidays, deciding after the first of the year whether and when to start it up again.  One member noted that the holidays are a high-crime period, so he recommended deferral of any suspension until after the first of the year.  Another member noted that perhaps people do not understand the value of having a Neighborhood Watch program, and therefore are less inclined to support it.  Kirk will follow up with the Fairfax County Police Department to obtain information on the benefits of Neighborhood Watch.  During the meeting, Kathy Gillette volunteered to take on the Neighborhood Watch Program, including recruiting new participants.

Proposed Changes to Rules and Regulations

As with last year’s meeting, this topic generated the most discussion.  Unfortunately, the member of the working group that was supposed to present information on the working group’s efforts was not able to attend.  From the board’s perspective, the working group fully carried out the task requested by the community at last year’s meeting.  They have linked every rule and regulation to the founding documents for Hickory Farms.  The working group also reformatted the rules and regulations to improve their usability.  Any rules and regulations that are not authorized under the association's founding documents were not retained.  For example, the rules related to the 30-day period for the ACC to approve or reject an application where revised to maintain consistency with the base documents.  Recent Virginia court decisions have reaffirmed the importance of ensuring that association’s rules and regulations link to the founding documents.  The board understands that the updated rules and regulations were reviewed by the community association’s lawyer.  The updated set of rules and regulations was presented to the board last week, which resulted in their approval.

Although the board has authority to approve the rules and regulations, the members of the board wanted to provide the members of the community with an opportunity to raise concerns or provide any other feedback.  The rules and regulations were posted on the community website.  The board did not receive any comments on the proposed rules and regulations in advance of the annual meeting.  One question raised was whether the community should have rules and regulations that are already addressed by Fairfax County laws.  For those situations, there was a general consensus that the board does not have an interest in enforcing a Fairfax County law.  That is the responsibility of the county.  However, a number of the rules and regulations that overlap with the county reflect specific statements in the restrictive covenants for the community.  As such, including them in the rules and regulations provides information that residents may not otherwise know about.

Some discussion occurred related to whether the inclusion of too many rules, especially where enforcement would be a county responsibility puts the community association at risk of liability due to selective enforcement.  Although different opinions existed about what selective enforcement means, there was a consensus that we need to add a severability clause to our rules and regulations.  This should include language that states that the community association will defer enforcement of any rules and regulations that overlap with Fairfax County regulations to the appropriate authorities from the county. 

Some concerns were raised about select remaining rules and regulations, including 1.7 and 1.12.  As a result of these concerns, a motion was made and seconded to defer approval of the changes to the rules and regulations to the next annual meeting.  By a vote of 23 against and 13 for, this motion was rejected by the participants.  From the board’s perspective, the working group established at the request of the community had done an excellent job of carrying out its review of the rules and regulations against the founding documents.  It was not clear that any further deferral of these changes would resolve the specific concerns of some individuals.  A member of the board motioned for an approval of the rules and regulations as developed by the special working group.  This motion was seconded.  By a vote of 23 for and 13 against, the rules and regulations were approved.

Election of 2013 Board of Directors

The Board of Directors had three vacancies.  John Kitzmiller, who has served on the board for the past eight (8) years, including multiple years as president has decided to step down.  Kathy Sayyed, a member at large for the last two years has also resigned.  Other board members are willing to serve for another year, although Dante Gilmer would like to have a volunteer to assist him as treasurer.  Obtaining a volunteer to assist Dante may determine whether he is able to continue beyond this year given his other responsibilities. One member of the community, Charles Stewart, volunteered to fill a member at large position.  The board will still have vacancies due to the lack of volunteers, and currently does not have a president or vice president.  The board will meet to determine who will fill these different roles.  A motion was made and seconded to approve the remaining board and new nominee (Bruce Bernhardt, Dante Gilmer, Ed Wagner, Kirk Randall, Don/Sara Lobeda, and Charles Stewart).  The vote approved the motion.

Other Business

Unfinished business related to the rules and regulations remains, such as looking at other documents including the by-laws.  One suggestion was made to change the 30-day rule for the ACC approval, but also recognized that the seventy five (75) percent of homeowners required to approve a change to the founding documents probably negated the value of the effort.

The board is working on ensuring document retention.  Looking at options for some type of central storage; probably electronically to the extent possible.

A member of the community expressed concerns that the board was not doing enough to focus on important quality of life issues, such as group homes for college students, etc. that are occurring in the community.  In fact, members of the board have undertaken efforts to contact Fairfax County, including documenting specific information that they can use as part of their investigation.  This is a Fairfax County regulation and enforcement issues, and not something that the board can take on itself.

The board noted that one student group home is now occupied by a family.  The group of young men living on Country Squire has been reported to Fairfax County.  The county has found that this home is in violation and notified the owner that they have 30 days to bring this home in compliance.  The board recognizes that these group homes create problems for our community, but this is a county enforcement issue over which the board has no control. 

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 PM.

Hickory Farms Board Meeting

October 9, 2013

8:00 – 9:15 pm 

Attendees:

John Kitzmiller, President

Dante Gilmer, Treasurer

Bruce Bernhardt, At Large Member

Don Lobeda, Community Grounds, Paths, and Woods

Kirk Randall, Architecture Control Committee

Ed Wagner, Secretary

Perry Singh (observer)

Rules and Regulations (Presented by Bruce Bernhardt)

• The working group completed its review of the rules and regulations based on the legal documents used to establish Hickory Farms.  As a result, all of the rules and regulations are directly linked to specific authorities provided within the legal documents.  This review includes the changes in legal interpretations associated with the Virginia Property Owners Association Act (VPOAA), where specific court decisions have further defined the authorities allowed under the act. 
• The board discussed the status of the updated rules and regulations, which were posted for review by the community.  The board also offered to make available hard copies on request.  As of October 9, 2013 the board had received no comments on the results of the working group’s review and update of the rules and regulations. 
• The board discussed a specific proposed change to the rules and regulations related to applications to the Architectural Control Committee for proposed additions or modifications that require approval in advance.  This change had not been implemented, but was under consideration pending completion of the formal review authorized at last year’s meeting. 
  • Specifically, the review of the rules based on the founding documents for Hickory Farms determined that the 30-day time period for deciding on applications must either result in an approval or rejection. 
  • If the application is incomplete, neither the Architecture Control Committee nor the community association board has the authority to extend the 30-day period to allow for modifications or updates to the application. 
  • If the application remains incomplete at the end of the 30-day period, the Architectural Control Committee has no option other than to reject the application.
  • The homeowner may submit a new application with a complete set of information for reconsideration.  In that case, the Architectural Control Committee will have 30 days from submission to determine whether to approve or reject the application.  That is, with a new application, the clock starts over. 
• Although the board has the authority to approve the rules and regulations, it prefers to provide the homeowners within the community the opportunity to endorse the rules.
  • The board approved the rules and regulations, which are based on the legal documents for the community. 
  • The board agreed to bring the rules and regulations to the annual community association meeting for a vote by the homeowners.
  • Although the board doesn’t anticipate any issues with an individual rule or regulation, if necessary, the community can reach agreement on approving specific rules and regulations, while reworking any issues associated with those that the community does not approve.
• Mike and Bruce are working on a presentation that will be used to update the community on the process and results of the working group’s efforts over the past year.  We anticipate that the presentation will take about 10 minutes, while allowing an additional 5 minutes for questions at the end of the presentation.

Board Membership  (Presented by Kirk Randall)

• John Kitzmiller, who has been a member of the board for a number of years, including filling the role as President has decided that he will not run for the board this year.
• Kathy Sayyed has also decided to resign after serving on the board for a couple of years.
• The remainder of the board has agreed to stay for at least the upcoming year, however, it’s important for other members of the community to volunteer to fill board positions.  The option of using a professional management service if we have insufficient interest would be very expensive.

Budget (Presented by Dante Gilmer):

• The Board reviewed Fiscal Year 2013 budget and actual expenses.  The association is in good shape financially, as a result of some expenses being lower than expected.  For example,
  • We received $1400 more than expected.
  • The funds identified for the social committee were not expended because no one has volunteered to plan any community events.
  • We budgeted $1,800 for legal fees, but only expended $900 for these services, with an additional credit of $325 available.
  • Landscaping is running low, but there is additional work on tree removal that needs to be done.
  • Two homeowners have not paid their dues for Fiscal Year 2013. 
• As the community continues to age, there will be expenses for repairing common ground walk ways, removing dead trees that present a risk to people or property, etc.
• Based on our current projected expenditures for Fiscal Year 2014, the board agreed to retain the annual fees at their current level of $150, which will allow us to address these increasing needs for the foreseeable future without additional increases.

October 2013 Community Association Meeting (Presented by Kirk Randall)

• Kirk will prepare an agenda document, including documentation about the rules and regulations results.  Kirk will also bring by-laws and other founding/legal documents as back up if required for the discussions.
• Kirk plans to issue the next community association newsletter by the weekend of October 12, 2013.  The newsletter will include a proxy form for anyone who cannot attend the meeting on October 15, 2013.  Kirk distributed the proxy form this week by email. 
• Kirk will issue a reminder email on Monday, October 14, 2013, which will also include a proxy form.
• Someone has been vandalizing the sign announcing the community association meeting that has been located at the Roberts Road entrance.  A member of the board has had to repair the sign three times.

Community Grounds, Paths, and Woods (Presented by Don Lobeda)

• Don noted that a tree located behind 10017 Round Top is almost entirely dead.  The board agreed to obtain an estimate to take it down.  The requirements for this job include:
  • Avoid driving heavy equipment on the common grounds to avoid creating ruts due to the amount of rain that we have recently had.
  • Cut the stump low to the ground, but we will not grind the stump.
  • The board will talk with the owner of the neighboring property about taking the tree down.
• Have another dead tree on one of our paths that is mostly on our property. 
  • This tree could be a threat to houses within Hickory Farms.
  • There will be too much debris to leave the downed tree at the site – the board approved spending up to $2,000 to remove the tree and the remaining debris.
• Don will get an estimate to clean up the large briar patch in the upper common area.  Unless this problem is addressed, the briar patches will continue to expand.
• The board also discussed having a tree removal expert or arborist walk around the common grounds to identify trees that need to be taken down.

Architectural Control Committee  (Presented by Kirk Randall)

• Kirk noted that most everyone cooperates in application for upgrades to their properties.
  • Of the few who have not, language issues appear to contribute to the lack of understanding about the rules and regulations. 
  • Kirk has added other languages to the cover of the newsletter in an effort to provide options for improving communication.
• As a member of the community, all residents are encouraged to notify the board if you see changes being made to the property.  Certain types of changes must be approved in advance before any work may be done.

Neighborhood Watch (Presented by John Kitzmiller)

• The board discussed the idea of whether we should continue neighborhood watch given that responsibility for conducting the watch is falling onto fewer and fewer residents. 
  • When first started, we had sufficient volunteers to allow each person to participate in the watch about once every 6 months.
  • Currently, participants conduct neighborhood watch about every 6 weeks.
  • If this trend continues, we may have to abandon neighborhood watch.
• In the interim, the board agreed to a strategy of limiting neighborhood watch to the time of year when people tend to be outside given the limited number of people participating.  The board recommends stopping neighborhood watch in early November in advance of the holidays, with the start up time in Spring 2014 to be determined at a later date. 

Social Committee (Presented by John Kitzmiller)

• Unless there is interest in having social events for the community, and someone is willing to volunteer to coordinate the planning, etc., we may decide to eliminate this position, including the designation of funds for it in the budget.

Retention of Records (Presented by Bruce Bernhardt)

• The board plans to do an inventory of the records that we have available.  We could use a volunteer to assist us with this effort.

Meeting Adjourned

Respectfully submitted,

Ed Wagner, Secretary

Hickory Farms Board Meeting

July 24, 2013

8:00 – 9:10 pm

Attendees:

John Kitzmiller, President

Dante Gilmer, Treasurer

Bruce Bernhardt, At Large Member

Kirk Randall, Architecture Control Committee

Ed Wagner, Secretary

Rules and Regulations (Presented by Bruce Bernhardt)

The working group has continued its review of the existing rules and regulations for purposes of doing a comprehensive comparison of the founding documents to our current regulations, as required by the Virginia Property Owners Association

•        Bruce planned to visit the Fairfax County Courthouse to do a final search for the original legal documents.

o   Bruce has original homeowner package from February 1996; just before the previous set

o   The first declarations were done in the mid 1970s

o   An amendment was done in February 1977

o   The Board discussed the need to keep the original court-based copies; share the content of regulation changes with members, but not the detailed legal documents due to the potential use of these documents for identity theft or for some other nefarious action against a homeowner

o   Bruce plans to scan all of the documents that he finds

•        The working group planned to meet on July 29 to complete the finishing touches on the revised final set of regulations

•        Will present the revised regulations at the annual meeting in October for which the working group has developed a slide deck to help with informing the membership

•        As agreed to at the October 2012 Annual Meeting, the board will review the changes prior to presenting them to the membership at the annual meeting.  The schedule for completing this effort is as follows:

o   Provide a final draft to the board by July 31, 2013

o   Board will review to determine if any questions or issues need discussion

o   The Board will hold a special meeting early in the week of August 26, 2013 only if any

o   Bruce will draft a summary article for the September edition of the newsletter by questions or issues are identified and require further discussion September 1, 2013

·         Plan to distribute the newsletter by September 6, 2013 to the community to provide a month for their review in advance of the annual meeting

·         The article will provide a URL to see the detailed regulations, with option to call if someone needs a hard copy

·         Community can provide comments through ListServe

·         This approach is consistent with providing the VPOAA package; homeowners obtain get most of their information from the website with house-specific information provided through hard copy

•        No one has raised any questions about the need to change the association by-laws, so nothing planned at this point; will look at whether there is a need over the next year

•        The board discussed the need for a document repository

o   Agreed that the retention of documents needs to have a specific person assigned to it

o   The board discussed the idea of obtaining help from the community to support the

o   Need to have the same type of focus on tracking insurance tasks for the association board through this task, such as establishing a deputy secretary position

Budget (Presented by Dante Gilmer)

• Overall, the homeowner’s budget situation is good.  Expenses are as expected and within plan.
  • Recently paid the monthly landscaping and a printing bill.
  • Have budgeted $450 for community social event(s), but no one has volunteered to coordinate this effort. 
• All but two homeowners have paid their annual dues for 2013.
• The board has notified the association’s attorney about both cases of delinquent dues.
  • The attorney is notifying the homeowners.
  • A lien has been placed on one of the homes.

October Meeting (General Discussion)

• The Board agreed to schedule the next Annual Meeting for October 16 or 17, 2013, depending on the availability of a meeting room at Green Acres.
• Both the September and October newsletters will announce the meeting date, time, and location.

Trash on Back Path (General Discussion)

• Board members and residents of the community have noticed trash accumulation along the path adjacent to a neighboring community.
• The board discussed options for dealing with this issue, including placing trash bags at the location, but the options may create other problems, such as attracting unwanted animals.

New Virginia Laws  (Presented by Kirk Randall)

• Kirk Randall provided a summary of Fairfax County Office of Consumer Affairs Channel 16 show broadcast on July 23, 2013.  This show was an information session for homeowner associations with a focus on new Virginia laws that affect Homeowners Associations (HOAs.)  The general theme of these laws is that HOA’s regulations must be based on the legal declarations on which for the Homeowners’ Association.  This has been the focus of the special working group established at last year’s annual meeting.  Specifically, the working group has been doing a comprehensive review of the HOA’s current regulations to ensure linkage to the founding legal documents.
• The various new laws covered in the television show are outlined below.
  • HB 1595 – Late fee requirements for those HOAs that have Declarations that do not directly address late fees.  The law provides for late fees when a homeowner’s payment of annual dues is 60 days late.   The law limits the interest to five (5) percent of the annual dues.  After review of this new law, we may need to revise our Annual Assessment late fee policy.
  • HB 2305 – Requires a statement in the Disclosure Package regarding HOA restrictions on solar energy facilities.  The board will determine what updates are required to the package.
  • HB 1861 – Lenders (banks, mortgage companies, etc.) are now required to notify the HOA when it begins foreclosure upon a homeowner in the community. This will give us a heads up should we need a lender’s address for Annual Assessment purposes. We can add “notice to lenders” information on the web page.
  • HB 2202/2000 – Home-based businesses are permitted unless contrary to Declaration. Our Declaration states: “No noxious or offensive trade or activity shall be carried on upon any lot nor shall anything be done thereon which may be or become an annoyance or nuisance to the neighborhood.” Fairfax County requires that home-based businesses obtain a Home Occupation Permit from the county’s Zoning Permit Review Office.
  • HB 1711 – Introduces a new requirement about the deferral of an annual HOA meeting. The specific requirement is that if the deferred Annual Meeting was to include the election of officers, the announcement about the rescheduled meeting must inform the homeowners about the election of officers.
• A discussion was then held regarding notices for Board meetings. The experts reiterated that the VPOAA requires advance notice of Board meetings in a manner that will reach “a majority of the homeowners.” If the ListServ reaches a majority of homeowners, then the use of this media should suffice for the Hickory Farms Board.

Succession Planning (Presented by Kirk Randall)

• The board discussed the fact that no members of the community have offered to take on a board position for next year
• The board will continue to personally reach out to members of the community

Directory (Presented by Dante Gilmer)

• We may have all of the information required for the directory, but Dante will conduct a review
• We plan to compile an updated list for distribution to the board
• The board may have a few printed copies available in case community members ask
• Do not have sufficient sponsors to cover the costs for a community-wide distribution of printed copies

Meeting Adjourned

Respectfully submitted,

Ed Wagner, Secretary

Hickory Farms Board Meeting

June 5, 2013 - 8:00 – 9:20 pm 

Attendees:

John Kitzmiller, President

Dante Gilmer, Treasurer

Don Lobeda, Community Grounds, Paths, and Woods

Bruce Bernhardt, At Large Member

Mike Mehrman, Rules Committee Member

Pam Barrett, Rules Committee Member

Ed Wagner, Secretary

Rules and Regulations

·         The Rules Committee has developed some slides to help the residents of the community understand the process that the committee has followed in developing recommendations for consideration by the entire membership

o   Briefing includes the hierarchy (i.e., order of precedence) of the Association’s documents (i.e.,  rules and regulations)

o   Mike will distribute the briefing to the board for review prior to its release to the entire community

·         The rules committee reviewed some background on the basis of their review process

o   The committee started with the restrictive covenants, followed by rules and regulations

o   Each document is intended to provide additional clarity to the higher-level documents

o   The higher the level of the document, the more difficult it is to change; that is the requirements for changing the document become more stringent

o   The community association cannot make a change to a document that puts it in conflict with a higher-level document

·         The Rules Committee used the Deed of Declaration and Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions, which include the restrictive covenants

o   Restrictive Covenants are documented in Article 7

o   The By-Laws represent a document that is lower than the Restrictive Covenants

o   The Rules and Regulations reflect a lower level document that provides more details based on the Restrictive Covenants and By-Laws

·         The Rules Committee has contacted to Fairfax County for purposes of validating that they have the correct copy of the legal documents; as of the date of the board meeting,  the county had not responded

·         The Rules Committee tried to match the Rules and Regulations back to the higher-level documents to ensure consistency

o   If rule or regulation appeared to be in conflict with the higher-level documents, they identified it for deletion – For example, the committee identified the rule on constraining the number of pets as inconsistent with the number of pets limitation specified within the Restrictive Covenants

o   If the rule or regulation matched the higher-level document, the identified it for retention, with the possibility of revising the language to provide further clarity

o   The Rules Committee tried to review every rule or regulation change that had been made over the years

·         The Rules Committee has proposed a redesign of the structure of the Rules and Regulations document, which will be covered in the briefing

·         The committee reviewed the Due Process document, but didn’t make many changes other than to some titles and headings; an example was that the document refers to Exhibit C, but Exhibit C does not appear to exist

·         The Deed of Declaration and Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions include references to charges – the board meeting included a discussion about the extent of the board’s authority to fine or assess liens on individual homeowners

o   The original regulations were documented in 1991, and were amended in 1997

o   The reason for implementing the due process procedures were the result of the issue related to whether a fence in the front yard was allowed

o   The due process document covers “assessment of liens”, which are allowed for “charges and assessments” against a property

§  Subsequent documentation focuses on “annual charge” (i.e., our dues)

§  The committees review indicates that this language may limit the board’s ability to assess charges only for issues related to the payment of annual dues

o   The Declaration focuses on common areas; need to ensure that the community is focused and disciplined in relation to ensuring that the rules enforced are based on the Declaration and Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions

o   The Rules Committee recommended that the board should take the most conservative route to avoid the type of litigation with a homeowner that bankrupted an Alexandria HOA; focus entirely on the common areas and yearly dues

·         A discussion between members of the Rules Committee resulted in a disagreement on whether the changes previously adopted by the community association are valid; may need to have an attorney review to make this determination

·         As part of this discussion, it became uncertain as to whether the Rules Committee had the most complete set of by-laws for their review

o   Pam’s copy differed from the one used by the committee

o   Pam indicated that changes to the by-laws had involved an attorney to ensure their validity

o   The Rules Committee took an action to do another document review based on the different version of the by-laws

o   One aspect of the review is to ensure that the by-law changes are supported by the founding documents

o   The committee will contact our law firm to discuss this situation

·         The Rules Committee also provided some recommendations/guidance on rules and regulations that their review identified as valid

o   Guidelines on submitting plans for home modifications to the Architectural Review Committee

§  The issues is how to define the term “submitted”, since it drives how the committee operates and the rights of the homeowner

·         The Declaration states that the board has 30 days from submission to review the application

·         The committee thought that the current language in the rules and regulations was not consistent, so they plan to provide revised wording that provides a clear concise method for both the committee and homeowner to know the submission date

§  A second issue related to language around approval or rejection

·         Approval is valid only as described

·         Deviation from the approved plan requires a new application

·         The committed will propose adding some specifics about impact for rejecting and returning property to original state

·         The Architectural Review Committee also is not authorized to grant exceptions, which the proposed regulation allows

o   Self Storage Containers: The original documents define the restriction as being “forward of dwelling”

§  Need to revise the wording in the rules and regulations to note that the prohibition references forward of the dwelling to ensure consistency with the restrictive covenants

§  The restrictive covenants contain no statement about the duration, but only their prohibition, therefore the rule allowing up to 30 days is invalid

o   The board had proposed a rule covering the use of Common Grounds that required advance notification of the board if you planned to host event of 20 or more kids

§  The Rules Committee’s review raised question about whether this is valid

§  Reason for rule was related to ensuring that users did not leave a mess on the Common Grounds

§  The Rules Committee recommended that the regulation focus on the requirement for clean-up

§  We already have a requirement that common areas limited to use by residents, so at least one Hickory Farms resident must be involved

·         One additional recommendation made by the Rules Committee was the establishment of a record retention policy

o   Under this policy, it would be the responsibility of the incumbent for each position to turn over records to his or her replacement

o   The recommendation was to add this policy to the by-laws, which define the responsibility of each officer

Budget (Presented by Dante Gilmer):

• Community Association budget is in the black; Dante noted one clerical error, which has been resolved

• Only two residents had not paid their annual dues at the time of the meeting

• The board had a follow up discussion about whether to change banks based on previous service charges incurred at Sun Trust

  • All banks have similar service charges
  • We can avoid the service charges by being more strategic in depositing checks (i.e., split deposit over two months)
  • The board agreed to this strategy rather than switching banks
  • The board may look at moving the association’s certificates of deposit when they are up for renewal

Succession Planning (Presented by Kirk Randall)

• The board had a discussion about succession planning, which is important since a number of board members have been serving for a long time and may not be available to serve another term
  • John Kitzmiller, who has been serving the board for a long time would like to have at least a year off
  • Other members would welcome  providing the opportunity for other residents to serve
• Need to start talking with members of the community now rather than hoping to obtain volunteers at the yearly community meeting
• Dante expressed the concern that no one was following up behind his work to ensure transparency and accuracy
  • In previous years, the board was required to have an audit
  • He recommended having an assistant to back up treasurer
  • Should consider backups for other board positions as well
  • Need to leave it open so that people don’t feel trapped
• Would like to come up with a synthesis of this approach to communicate the idea of assistants to the community
  • Bruce agreed to draft an article for the website
  • The target date for the write-up is June 28, 2013
• Would like to have a meeting to discuss participation on the board
  • Agreed to announce meeting to the community
  • Need to receive notice about who is willing to participate so that the meeting is manageable

Meeting Adjourned

Respectfully submitted,

Ed Wagner, Secretary

Hickory Farms Community Association (HFCA) Board Meeting

March 13, 2013

8:00 – 9:20 pm

Attendees:

John Kitzmiller, President

Dante Gilmer, Treasurer

Don and Sara Lobeda, Community Grounds, Paths, and Woods

Bruce Bernhardt, At Large Member

Kathy Sayyed, At Large Member

Ed Wagner, Secretary

Budget (Presented by Dante Gilmer):

• 194 homes have paid their annual fees
• Concerns about the cost of banking with SunTrust
  • Have a limit on number of bank transactions per month, including deposits, after which we pay a fee
  • Since deposit of annual fees generally occur during the month of January, we typically exceed the monthly limit
  • Board agreed to check on other banks
    • Kathy will check with Capital One
    • Ed will check with BB&T
    • May also consider checking into a local credit union
• Taxes have been completed

Common Areas (Presented by Don Lobeda):

• The board discussed the water runoff from the back path that goes to the swimming pool

• Observations during wet weather do not indicate that drainage problem is severe
• Identified one area where we may need to add large rocks to eliminate the water runoff that drains into a homeowner’s yard
  • Estimate that we need 2-3 cubic yards of large rocks
  • Purchase of rocks from local home improvement store is probably not an option; rocks would be too small
  • Will  need to move the rocks by hand
  • Need to complete this within the next year to eliminate the potential for erosion of the path
• Board will initially investigate two options for fixing this problem
  • Contact Fairfax County to see if they are willing to fix the drainage problem
  • Follow up with a local Boy Scout Troop to see if they would consider this as a public service project
• Board has been notified of concerns about the amount of brush encroachment in common areas
  • In the upper area, a number of trees have vines growing on them, which eventually could kill the tree
  • It’s too expensive to contract with a commercial firm to clean up this problem, especially given the extent across both common areas
  • The board plans to approach this as something to be addressed over the long term by making it a community effort during which we work one area at a time
  • The board will follow up with Keith Ferguson about the file of pictures to identify the key areas to work
  • The Board established April 13, 2013 as the first community cleanup day, which will focus on the upper common area near the boxwoods
  • The Board will consider scheduling another day in the Fall
  • Notification of the cleanup day will be done through the  Hickory Farms list serve
  • Ed will take responsibility for purchasing plastic bags and poison ivy/brush killer for the effort
• Don will also ask the lawn maintenance staff about the use of their equipment to cut down brush on both sides of the paths to keep them clear
• A truck ran off the road causing damage to a common areas (deep tire ruts)
  • The board decided that the best approach to ensuring the repair of this damage was by notifying the Fairfax County Police so that the driver’s insurance company would cover the repair
  • We will need to get the estimate to repair the property

Rules Working Group (Presented by Bruce Bernhardt):

• The working group continues its review of the rules and regulations
  • Working group reviewing all rules and regulations
  • The working group is ensuring that there is a linkage between each rule/regulation to the correlating language on which the authority is based
  • Review of due process rules and regulations is based on the Virginia Property Owners Association Act and HFCA Declaration and Covenants
• The working group is proposing the restructuring of rules and regulations into four resolutions
  • Resolution 1:  Individual Property Rules and Regulations
  • Resolution 2:  Common Areas Rules and Regulations
  • Resolution 3:  General Policies
  • Resolution 4:  Due Process Rules and Regulations
• The board had an in-depth discussion about the importance of this effort in light of the experiences of other homeowner associations
  • The working group has identified examples of association that were sued by residents of their communities, resulting in the need to sell off common areas to pay for legal fees, etc.
  • These law suits related to an improper enforcement of rules – going beyond the association’s authority, such as adopting fines that are not tied to their legal authorization
  • One homeowner’s association had to pay $400 thousand in legal fees
• Individual Property rules and regulations will line up one for one with the covenants established for the community
  • The working group identified one item that they believe to be problematic
  • This item is related to the rule about when the “clock” is considered to have started related to the submission and approval of plans
  • The wording of this regulation is very important to ensure clarity about when the 30-day notice starts
    • According to covenants, 30 days starts with the submission of the plan
    • We need to define what “submission of the plan” means
    • The current rule refers to “receipt” of the plan, which may be problematic in terms of the language in the covenant
    • Any change to the covenants requires approval by 75% of the homeowners
• The working group is trying to complete draft of the proposed changes by April 2013 for purposes of bringing it to the board for an initial review prior to bringing them to the entire homeowner’s association (as agreed to at the last annual meeting)

Neighborhood Watch (presented by John Kitzmiller):

• Board briefly discussed seeking additional volunteers for the HFCA Neighborhood Watch.  A meeting was proposed to invite new homeowners to attend to understand what volunteering for the Neighborhood Watch entails.

Meeting Adjourned

Respectfully submitted,

Ed Wagner, Secretary