Hickory Farms Board Calendar

• Dec. 10 - Board of Directors Meeting

Social Calendar 2019

• Dec. 15-18 - Holiday Decorating Contest, Voting & Awards, All Ages

Annual Assement Due

Your $250 Hickory Farms Annual Assessment (dues) is due by January 1, 2020. The amount of the Annual Assessment is set each year by the Board of Directors and affirmed by the homeowners at the Annual Meeting. Bills are mailed to each resident homeowner and each absentee homeowner who has given their contact information to the Board of Directors.

Please send your check or money order to:
Hickory Farms Community Association
P.O. Box 2239 Fairfax VA 22031

If you prefer to pay by credit card or Paypal please visit https://hickoryfarms.org/archive/annualDues.php. There is a $7.78 charge to cover the credit card processing fee.

The Assessment should be paid by the person who owns the home on January 1. Payments that are not postmarked or in the physical possession of the Treasurer by January 7 are late and the homeowner will be charged an additional $50. Payments received after that date that do not include the additional $50 charge (total payment is $300) will be returned to the homeowner for non-payment. On February 1, delinquent accounts will be turned over to the Association's attorneys for collection. At that point, the amount owed by the delinquent homeowner will be $300 plus attorney fees (another $200+) and could include significant court costs if HFCA files a lawsuit. These procedures are in accord with the Hickory Farms Community Association Bylaws, which have no provision for waiver.

• Do not mail or hand deliver your payment to the Treasurer's house.
• Write the house number and street name of your property on your check.
• Moved? New homeowner? Email owner's name, address, and telephone number to Kirk_Randall@Hotmail.com, who maintains HF records.
• Questions? Treasurer@Hickoryfarms.org

Rabbit Run - The Facts

Streams and creeks like Rabbit Run are probably the most regulated real estate in the county. Rabbit run is a Resource Protection Area (See article on page 7), Flood Zone and a potential wetland.

Four of the five bridges were removed. The east side of the Rabbit Run hiking trail is closed. Three of the bridges had their embankments eroded almost to the point of collapse into Rabbit Run. Another bridge had broken and decaying joists. Putting a new bridge cross would require permits from the Army Corp of Engi-neers and Fairfax County.

The trail on the East side of Rabbit Run continues to deteriorate. A section of the trail is supported by a mass of tree roots. The soil on top of the roots will diminish with winter’s wet weather. A person walking on it would have no indication that it is unsafe until they fall through. Two sets of warning signs have been de-stroyed by vandals. A third set is in progress.

The Board is investigating Fairfax County Stormwater Management program to repair the erosion. A long waiting list places construction start three to four years out. The design is by the professional engineering firm and funded by your property taxes.

What does Fairfax County get out of it? The State is having the County reduce three pollu-tants; Nitrogen, Phosphorus and sediments that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. Fairfax County Stormwater determined the most cost effective way to achieve these goals is repair of penal streams like Rabbit Run.

Stormwater Projects Page link:
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/stormwater/stormwater-improvement-projects Click the "green dot" on the map and a project summary pops up. Further down is a project listing and if you click on the pro-ject name, a project briefing will appear.

Water Line Failures - Consider Insurance Before It Happens to You

Well, yet another homeowner’s outdoor water line failed in November. Because of faulty construction, our homes are at significantly at risk for water line failure. Dozens of Hickory Farms homes have suffered water line breaks over the years, so I encourage homeowners to take out water line insurance before the inevitable happens.

HomeServeUSA offers insurance and other products such as for electric, sewer pipes, gas furnaces, appliances, etc. https://www.homeserveusa.com/mail/dominionenergy The premium is included in your Dominion Electric monthly bill.

Other organizations such as AARP and AAA may also offer this kind of insurance. The insurance premium for most homes is $4.99/month, which covers repair or replacement, but not repairing damage to the yard, such as seeding, sod, concrete repair, and plants. This additional coverage is $1.99/month. Once you have registered, there is an initial waiting period of 30 days, within which you will not be able to request a repair.

My 150’ water line failed in 2013 and the insurance saved me many thousands of dollars for the repair. Considering that I have what may be the longest water line in the community, I am being extra conservative by continuing the insurance, should the repair itself prove to be faulty
(hopefully not!).

Kirk Randall (Country Squire Ln)

Neighborhood Watch

Do You Know What a Resource Protection Area (RPA) Is? You May Live On One

Members of the Board of Directors have been concerned about the seven new homes that are to be built off of Burke Station Road, just north of our community. They are concerned that a large amount of storm water runoff will flow into Rabbit Run, which flows through our wooded common area behind Harvester Farm, Country Squire, and Cotton Farm. Several members met with Virginia Soil and Conservation District officials who explained that portions of some of our lots contain protected areas. This should not be cause for great concern, though. RPAs are not subject to the jurisdic-tion of the Hickory Farms Community Association. But, we are alerting homeowners who make changes to their proper-ty that they not only need to submit an ACC application for the change, but the following 21 homeowners may need to submit an RPA application to Fairfax County. This information has also been included in the following page on the Hickory Farms website, “ACC Approval of Your Exterior Renovation Project — How to Get it”

• Country Squire – 4281, 4287, 4293, 4295
• Cotton Farm – 9998, 10000, 10002, 10004, 10006, 10008, 10010
• Farm House – 4313, 4349, 4351, 4353
• Harvester Farm – 4350, 4352, 4354, 4356, 4358, 4360

Please note that part of your lot is considered a Resource Protection Area that borders Rabbit Run creek. A Resource Protection Area (RPA) is a corridor of environmentally sensitive land that lies alongside or near the shorelines of streams, rivers and other waterways which drain into the Potomac River and eventually into the Chesapeake Bay. In their natural condition, RPAs protect water quality, filter pollutants out of storm water runoff, reduce the volume of storm water runoff, prevent erosion and perform other important biological and ecological functions. Our Rabbit Run RPA in-cludes all land - whether privately owned or owned by Hickory Farms Community Association - which lies within 100’ of Rabbit Run. Development in RPAs is regulated by the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance which is enforced by Fairfax County.

If you plan to make property or building modifications on a designated RPA, you may be required to submit an applica-tion with Fairfax County. Fences that do not inhibit or alter surface water flow into the creek are generally permitted. Sheds that do not require a Fairfax County building permit (no more than 200 square feet and under 8.5’ tall - check with Zoning at 703-222-1082) are usually permitted.

To learn more about RPAs, please consult:

• https://goo.gl/P7Vv6J
• https://goo.gl/FUdM2W
• https://goo.gl/WuHosF

Do Not Put Glass in Your Recycling Tote!

Beginning Oct. 1, Fairfax County residents must place glass in the trash can or take it to the glass collection station at the Governmental Center Lot B, 12000 Government Center Pkwy. The county says bro-ken glass can contaminate other recycled items such as cardboard and metals and damage machin-ery. From now on, please place glass containers in your trash can. Contamination is a big issue in the recy-cling process, not just with glass. “If in doubt, throw it out.” Unless you are certain that an item should be placed in the recycle tote, put it in the trash can. Please read the following from Fairfax County that explains what can and cannot be recycled. It will take only a few seconds to read:

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/sites/publicworks/files/assets/documents/pdf/publications/always-never-flyer.pdf

The 2020 Board of Directors

President: Chuck Stewart
Vice President: Bruce Bernhardt
Secretary: Open
Common Areas: Melissa Stark
ACC: Pam Barrett
Treasurer: Jim Bever
Assistant Treasurer: Open
Neighborhood Watch: Debbi Buchanan
At Large: Bill Berg, Telah Jackson & Kirk Randall

Student Yellow Pages

If you wish to offer services such as shoveling snow, raking leaves, lawn mowing, babysitting, general home maintenance, etc., email kirk_randall@hotmail.com