Hickory Farms

HFCA Board Meeting Minutes

September 9, 2025

Date: 9.9.25
Time:  7- 8:30 PM EST
Location: Microsoft Teams

1. Call to Order

  • Confirmation of quorum by the President. In attendance:

☒Steven Kubrak, President (Pres.)

☒Telah Jackson, Vice President (VP)

☒Clair Hill, Secretary (Sec.)

☒Melissa Stark, Common Areas Chair (CAC)

☒Judy Deng, Treasurer

☒Tad Weed, Assistant Treasurer

☒Charles Chu, Member At-Large

☐Pam Barrett, Member At-Large (not in attendance)

2. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes

  • Review and approval of meeting minutes:

202508012 HFCA Board Meeting Minutes -- Detailed.docx

  • VP motioned to approve, CAC seconded, all were in favor, no one opposed, motion carried! Action: Secretary will post August meeting minutes to website.

3. Action Items and Updates

President 

  • 2026 Board Member Responsibilities & Nominations 
    • At-large members’ responsibilities:
      • Tasks need to be better distributed, so Board workload is balanced.
      • Need list of tasks – ask what At-large members would like to take on or be assigned. Action: Secretary to add At-large Members tasks/responsibilities discussion as November Board Meeting agenda item.
      • Tasks/responsibilities to consider:
        • Post office run or other small tasks
        • Steppingstone for board position
        • Commitment for at least a year
    • No volunteers for Board have been received:
      • VP and CAC are leaving.
      • Setup involvement/recruiting campaign via MailChimp. Action: President and Secretary to develop a Board Member recruitment plan.
      • Communication needed between officers/committees and Board – need to request updates before Board meetings, perhaps quarterly. Action: President and Secretary to develop a officers/committees reporting plan and draft informational request.
      • Proposed: Hold in-person meetings and/or include officers in Board Meetings to facilitate participation. Action: Secretary to add to in-person meeting proposal as an agenda item to discuss at next Board Meeting.
    • ACC vs BOD responsibilities: Clarifying what falls under the ACC versus the Board will help ensure we handle issues consistently and efficiently.
      • Currently, ACC oversees structures, and the Board oversees everything else.
      • Board needs to meet with ACC to discuss roles and processes.
      • ACC leader out of area – how is that working?
      • Action: President to reach out to ACC lead to discuss status and request to be included on ACC emails.
  • Community Standards (grass, garbage cans, basketball hoops) – A few recurring issues are hurting curb appeal: some homes have overgrown grass/landscaping, many have garbage cans left in front of property lines, and several basketball hoops are in poor condition or placed too close to neighboring homes. One property looks vacant. Need clear rules (for the hoops) and enforcement to improve the overall appearance. Approach? Action: President to involve ACC and determine what the current process is to address curb appeal issues, if any.
  • USPS: Extra PO Box key and follow up on USPS Informed Delivery service? Action: President will obtain additional PO Box key and give Secretary backup key.
  • VPOAA: Follow up with CIC office about VPOAA license renewal was completed. Treasurer created folder for documentation, newest documents are loaded to website; need to ensure license number is the same, links work, and update budget accordingly.
  • Tenant Issues: Update on discussion of potential legal inquiry about Farm House rental and how to address other tenant-related issues (e.g., above ground pool, notification process for issues) and who takes action: Action: President to discuss how to address tenant-related issues with ACC.

Vice President

  • Anniversary Event:
    • Will be hot!
    • Walkinshaw is confirmed (on his calendar) (5 minutes).
    • Everything is ordered.
    • Board should be there at 11 am for setup (VP will be there around 11:30 as she will be picking up cakes).
    • President has drinks (water and sodas); food arriving between 12 and 12:30.
    • Asst. Treasurer bringing Bluetooth speaker.
    • Bring canopies, coolers, and dollies: everyone!
    • Newsletters and bags going out tomorrow – CAC giving to newsletter delivery team, goal is to be completed by Friday.
    • History doc not ready – leaving up to At-Large Member Pam Barrett to distro.
    • Receipts submitted via Teams to Treasurer – Board will go in and approve.
    • About 130 attendees RSVP … maybe more, so planned for 200 people.
    • Social Committee will do the serving to make sure all will be served.
    • Treasurer will send out event reminder via MoneyMinder.
    • RV with bathroom will be available for team use – can put food in there too (i.e., cakes).
    • Can also use pool fridge, if needed.
    • Action: Secretary will take photos of Anniversary event and post to Teams.
    • President drafting opening speech – provide any content to him, if desired (5 minutes).
  • Newsletter Process Discussion:
    • Several pieces involved in production of newsletter. How can we consolidate under one or two people? CAC spoke with two residents who are interested in owning and updating the look and feel of the newsletter, as well as content, printing, and distribution.
    • Current Process: Content to Editor, Editor puts in Template, Newsletter sent to Board to approve, then CAC gets newsletter printed (pays for it) and distributed.
    • Propose: Send via email to track open rate and survey preferences.
    • Propose: Maybe issue every other month. Alternate with Bob Cosgriff’s bird articles.
    • Propose: 2026 send both ways (printed and electronic) and then follow up with survey, including frequency desired. Jan-June send newsletter both ways and then survey in July, including content/timing/format preferences.
    • Actions:
      • CAC to follow up with newsletter editor/new production coordinators regarding process and assumption of tasks.
      • Secretary to send newsletter electronically via MailChimp starting in January 2026 to track open rates.
      • Vice President to provide training to Secretary re survey mechanism.
      • Secretary will send resident survey in July 2026 regarding content/timing/format preferences. 
  • MailChimp: President will be MailChimp backup. Future resident communications to be sent to Secretary to distribute via MailChimp and update website calendar accordingly, as needed. 
  • Debit Card: Sent usage guidelines to Board members for review on 8/12: HFCA_Debit_Card_Usage_Guidelines_DRAFT.docx.  President voted to approve, Asst. Treasurer seconded, all approved. Actions: Treasurer will open separate checking account – President and Treasurer will be owners. Treasurer will make an appointment with bank – maybe next month. President and Treasurer will coordinate time.
  • Tenant Rules Letter: Drafted letter for Board review and sent on 8/14: HFCA_Tenant_Welcome_Email_to_Homeowners_Template.docx. Include in Welcome Wagon materials? Yes. Action: Secretary to send email to all homeowners of rental properties to ensure current contact info and send most recent newsletter.
  • Listserv Process: Discussed updating email list. In the future, need to let Listserv owner know when someone is moving. Action: Setup with Listserv owner, Secretary, and Treasurer to discuss cleanup and future maintenance process.
  • Emails from Community: Who takes the lead? Response to driveway referral and yard sale inquiries? Actions: Secretary to refer driveway inquiry to Listserv. Secretary to Ask yard sale coordinators to look at Listserv messages and respond as to whether or not a yard sale will be held this fall. 
  • Community Communication – Action: Need to create current communication process map to review with Board and look for opportunities for improvement. (Secretary)
  • Operational Calendar– Action: Secretary needs to coordinate meeting with CAC to discuss operational calendar format.

Treasurer

  • Check book: Ran out of checks. Need to order a new check book. No board approval needed. Action: Treasurer to order additional checks.

Common Areas Chair

  • Northern Path:
    • Boundary posts research – deferred to fall/winter.
    • Fairfax City Map Correction – Bob Cosgriff to follow up.
    • NV Water & Soil grant status – deferred to fall/winter.
  • Entrance Signage
    • Pricing on options -- $30,000 to $35,000 cost. Board voted on approving costs up to 40K – VP made the motion, President approved, all voted aye!!!! Motion carried.
    • Actions – Community Vote: VP to put together survey. Will be sent out via MoneyMinder by Treasurer (early next week after celebration). One week response due time (send to homeowners only).
    • Review of signage costs in relation to reserve funds – budget is sufficient.
    • Signs need to be stored somewhere. Shed on common areas or HFCA board member to store? CAC garage for now.
  • Tree Issues:
    • Reply from Fairfax County re Rabbit Run dead tree issue? Nothing yet. Bob Cosgriff looked at tree that he thinks we should hold on removing as the county will be coming in to remediate. Board agrees.
    • Action: The CAC/BOD should not be reaching out to the homeowners in regards to dying trees & rear facing fence issues.  This should be considered an ACC issue according to our documents, but due to a 2008 informal agreement by that BOD, it separated responsibilities.  Invite the ACC to the November BOD meeting, so we can discuss the 2008 informal agreement and sort out duties to the correct committee.
  • CAC Committee:
    • Teams site/folder for CAC members needed by December 1. Licenses renew in October (put on debit card). Bump up number of licenses so every committee member can use Teams. VP is now admin need new Admin – Charles Chu will take over admin role! He can use his credit card, if needed. Action: Member At-Large Charles Chu will assume Teams administration role and increase licenses so committee members may access site.
    • CAC annual meeting held on Sept. 7 but would prefer quarterly meetings. Action: CAC Will post CAC committee annual meeting notes to website after reviewing.
    • Additional CAC support obtained:  Larry Rodgers – Tree issues; Bob Cosgriff– Rabbitt Run remediation and bird houses; Rich Dudley – Mowing.

Member At-Large

  • History Booklet: Pam Barrett is handling.

4. New Business

  • Action: CAC will review storage options & possible pavilion plans to the CAC Team. Target completion of sending it to the BOD is in Q1 2026.  
  • President looking into solar power– maybe group buy, to be determined.
  • Community trash bin – do again? Action: Secretary will check with Rich Dudley and Bob Cosgriff to see if they recall community trash effort, associated costs, and if it was deemed a success.

5. Announcements and Comments

  • No additional items noted.

6. Adjournment

  • Confirmed next meeting date on October 14 with first topic being a review of the Annual Meeting slides (due on October 7)
  • Action: Secretary to invite all other committee members to October 14 Board meeting.
  • Annual Meeting on October 21; 5 to 10 minutes for presentations.
  • VP will not attend Oct. 21 meeting.
  • Adjournment – President moved to adjourn, VP seconded, all aye at 8:53 PM.

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