January 10, 2023

Minutes of the Hickory Farms HOA Board held on 10 January 2023 

Location 

Zoom 

In Attendance 

Telah Jackson- Acting Vice President 

Tad Weed- Associate Treasurer  

Ken Sorg- Treasurer 

Ben Noviello-Secretary 

Melissa Stark- Member at large 

Pam Barrett – ACC 

Meeting was called to order at 7:02 

Motion to approve minutes was made by Ken and seconded by Telah.  Motion passed with Melissa abstaining. 

Old Business 

New Board Members 

Tad, Ken, Ben, Melissa, and Pam (retroactively) confirmed they would maintain current positions. Telah agreed to remain acting Vice President. 

There was a discussion of the need to secure a volunteer for the board, and the possible implication for annual dues if an outside management firm would need to be hired.  Ben agreed to write a draft notice for the newsletter and post it in Teams.  The board agreed to work to share duties until a suitable volunteer was located. 

Teams 

Ben explained the basic structure of Microsoft 365 “teams” and stressed the desire that it be used instead of email.  He clarified that he was available to assist if anyone had issues with access.  He clarified that it was possible to grant “guest access” to different “Channels,” such as the Commons Area Channel and the ACC Channel. 

 Treasurer report 

Ken provided update on “Money Minder” and the “Chedder-up” payment and invoice options associated with it.  He stressed that these new capabilities would make the annual assessment process much easier for everyone.  

Commons Area Report   

Melissa provided an update on commons area trees that need to be removed, and clarified that Fairfax Country was responsible for the next steps in the process.   

Melissa noted that the new agreement with the landscaping company is largely unchanged, except the option to have flowers near the main entrance had been removed since the location seemed unduly inhospitable.   Further, in order to protect newly-established groundcover, alternatives to herbicides were being explored. 

A motion was made by Ben, and seconded by Telah, to authorize Melissa to purchase up to $1,200 worth of ground-cover plants needed, as well as to accept the new landscaping contract 

ACC Report 

Pam updates the status of properties in violation.  

New Business 

Telah described her desire to create a set of strategic priorities for the new year.  It was suggested that this would be a wonderful use of the collaborative environment of Teams.  

Melissa moved to close the meeting in order to start an executive session with respect to ACC issues.  Telah seconded.  Motion passed 

The Executive Session resulted in an agreed strategy to balance the need for enforcement and acknowledgement of mitigating circumstances.   

Ben moved to adjourn; Ken seconded. 

Executive session adjourned at 8:30