October 5, 2016

7:45 pm - 4301 Still Meadow Road

Attendees:

• Bruce Bernhardt, President
• Chuck Stewart, Vice President
• Brian Roethlisberger, Architectural Control Committee Chairperson
• Don Lobeda, Community Grounds, Paths, and Woods
• Dante Gilmer, Member at Large
• Kirk Randall, Member at Large
• Bryan Crabtree, Webmaster

Bruce B. opened the meeting and noted 6 Board Members in attendance which is a valid quorum.

The HFCA Board of Directors Meeting Minutes from 9/14/2016 were approved, as revised and posted on the HFCA Website by Ed W. - Secretary.

Old Business

Violation Charging - Deed and Declaration Document and Rules and Regulations Document Changes:

Bruce B. presented a PowerPoint presentation detailing the lack of explicit violations charging language in the HFCA Deed and Declaration and Rules and Regulations documents.  Recent Virginia court decisions now require an expressed grant of violations charging in order to assess charges for not complying with restrictive covenants. Discussions and emails from our attorney also indicate express language is required. Following a lengthy discussion, the Board decided to include the PowerPoint presentation on the agenda for the Annual Meeting to inform the General Membership of the issue and seek a sense of the community regarding next steps. The presentation provided three options regarding this issue. The Board recommended option A - seek volunteers to draft changes to the Deed and Declaration document and obtain 75% homeowner signatures to document the change. The Board will also begin work on option B - modify the HFCA Rules and Regulations to align with recent court decisions, to be prepared if option A is not successful. The Board identified option C (attempt violations charging without expressed authority in Declaration) as high risk and should be avoided.

The PowerPoint presentation content included:

1. Current HFCA Rules & Regulations (highlighted) content
2. Current HFCA Deed and Declaration (highlighted) content
3. VPOAA specific Section references
4. VA Court Rulings (2) content
5. Board Recommendations - options A, B and C

The HFCA Property Inspection process was detailed and discussed

1. Identification and documentation - all 198 individual properties are inspected for compliance with Restrictive Covenants. The property inspections take place from sidewalk and public access views.
2. Violations are classified, severity assessed, next steps decided. Unresponsive property owners receive Notice Letters and Hearing Notices.
3. If Property owner does not respond to correct violations, legal action seeking compliance with Restrictive Covenants will be initiated. HFCA costs of legal action will be sought from property owner. 

A Proposal for Property Inspection Assistance, using an outside contractor was discussed. The Board agreed to seek a sense of the community at the Annual Meeting before engaging an outside contractor to assist with Step 1 of the process. The outside contractor would only complete Step 1 of the property inspection process - inspect properties, document potential violations and report back to HFCA. HFCA Architecture Control Committee (ACC) and HFCA Board will retain responsibility for Steps 2 and 3. Initial results from HFCA List Serve comments indicate a majority of homeowners did not want to engage an outside contractor. Some reasons given were cost, giving up control of the process and some provided no explanation. Initial List Serve comments summary was included in PowerPoint presentation for review with General Membership at the Annual Meeting.  

Common Property Infringement Actions

Two properties along our northern border with Fairfax City have made changes to the Northern Path without the permission of Hickory Farms. The Board discussed the infringements and delegated Bruce B. to contact the Fairfax City neighbors, alert them to the infringement on Hickory Farms private property and seek a mutually agreeable resolution. It is the policy of Hickory Farms Community Association to not allow infringement of common area property.

Complaints regarding Country Squire Rental

Multiple complaints have been received from neighbors of 4282 Country Squire since September 2016 regarding uncut grass, trash on the property, trash cans left at the curb, noise violations and guests of the property renters sitting on the roof of the property during evening gatherings at the property. Efforts were made to contact the student renters but no one would answer the front door. Contacts were made with Fairfax County Police, George Manson University (GUM) Student Life Leadership and GMU Police Department. Contact has also been made with property owner/landlord, who happens to live less than a mile from the property in Fairfax City. Neighbors were encouraged to report noisy parties to both Fairfax Police and GMU Police to establish a record of behavior over time. 

New Business

Treasurer

Treasurer Brenda D. provided current spreadsheet of 2016 Budget and Actuals for Board Review. There were no questions.

Treasurer also provided a 2017 Proposed Budget which the Board discussed, revised and approved. 2017 Approved Budget will be presented at the Annual Meeting for affirmation. The 2017 Annual Assessment charge will remain at $150.00 for the entire year. No increase is needed this year.

Webmaster

HFCA Website Software Purchase:  Bryan C. provided a list of software applications that would improve our HFCA website presentation and content arrangement. A Board Member with Web Administrator contacts reviewed the list and reported back that the software applications were legitimate and reasonable. A motion was made to have Bryan C. spend up to $600.00 on the recommended software. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

Annual Meeting Planning:

Location is set for Green Acres Community Center - reservation submitted and approved by Fairfax County.

Proxy Format was reviewed and revised to include directed and un-directed options.

Newsletter inputs - Kirk R. provided input deadlines for Newsletter publication schedule

Agenda for the meeting was discussed and decided:

1. Opening / Introductions
2. Old Business:
   • Secretary:  approve minutes from 2015 Annual Meeting
   • Standing Reports - online/Newsletter
   • Violations Charging and Rules & Regulations Changes
   • 2016 Budget to Actual Report
3. New Business:
   • 2017 Proposed Budget: review and affirmation
   • Property Inspections Process & Current Status
   • Proposal for Property Inspection Assistance
     • Sense of HF community on Property Inspection Proposal
4. 2017 Board of Directors Election
   • Nominating Committee Report
   • Election voting, tally and results
   • Announce 2017 elected Directors
5. Volunteer Recognition
6. Adjourn

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm.