2008 Annual Meeting Minutes

The Annual Meeting of the West Park Community Association was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on 16 October 2008 by President Karl Kraus.

Attendees: Dan Clark, Cyndy Unwin, Ken Burns, Irene Pierce, John Yglesias, and 17 others.

GUEST SPEAKER

Karl introduced the president of the KPWCA, Tony Vellucci. KPWCA represents seven different communities and over 1800 houses. He gave status about recent events:

Karl and he attended the recent Braddock District Forum chaired by Sharon Bulova. The subject of GMU students in KPWCA areas came up, and the problems that some neighborhoods are having. However, WPCA has a restriction on the number of unrelated persons residing in the same house that should prevent any house here from becoming a remote dorm. There are currently seven houses in KPW that are "student houses." Some are a problem and some are not.
Tony reported a change with the way GMU works with local neighborhood associations. Last year, GMU didn't do anything with neighborhoods. Now they are working more closely with the areas adjoining the Fairfax campus. It was learned the GMU students have begun volunteering within the community.
It's possible that parking restrictions may be coming to our streets as part of work being done elsewhere in the area: there are many neighborhoods that have problems with GMU/RHS parking. However, if there is a problem with parked cars blocking the view of oncoming traffic, VDOT is very willing to help get no parking signs to the problem corners.
Tony invited anyone interested to get involved with the KPWCA Neighborhood Watch. But he did note that police have responded two more serious incidents lately, and cautioned anyone against getting involved with an ongoing issue. Call the police instead.
KPWCA has reorganized this year, and has opened 3 opportunities for at-large members in addition to the seven board members. The at-large position responsibilities are currently undefined, but would be a great way to be involved in the community. They are elected positions.
Some have noted less Robinson student parking on Headly. They opened up another 80-90 parking spaces for students, which may be the reason.
Tony invited everyone to join the KPWCA and take advantage of all the activities they sponsor. The KPWCA president's e-mail address is President@KPWCA.ORG.

READING OF LAST YEAR'S MINUTES

The minutes from the November 14, 2007 meeting were read by Dan Clark. A member moved to accept the minutes into the record, and the motion was seconded.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Treasurer's report was presented by Treasurer John Yglesias. The report shows the proposed 2009 budget, which includes no dues increase.

We had a good year as far as trees went. We only had to take down two trees around the common area that were threatening houses. We spent $1,500 of the $2,500 budgeted.
All dues were paid. Final dues payment was received in Oct 08.
We are proposing a budget with a deficit, but that is planning for resurfacing the common area path, and provisions for the removal of additional trees, etc.
In order to support the new Treasurer, the Board approved the purchase of QuickBooks (cost not to exceed $200)

Karl asked for any final comments about the budget; there were none. The budget was proposed for adoption, seconded and passed without dissent.

OLD BUSINESS

A member reported on the intersection at Sideburn Rd. and Braddock Rd. As reported last year, some in WPCA had expressed concern that the traffic turning right onto Braddock from Sideburn should not have to yield to the traffic coming out of GMU. The member found that there have been no reports of accidents, and that the GMU traffic does indeed have the right of way. Although the acceleration lane from Sideburn onto Braddock has been lengthened, please be careful here and keep an eye out for traffic exiting GMU.
Karl reported that the dead trees overhanging Sideburn from the power station (near one of the WPCA houses and Sideburn) had been removed by Dominion Power and no longer posed a danger.

NEW BUSINESS

Karl thanked everyone for paying their dues this year, and asked for the same in 2009. There was some concern expressed about the difficulty in collecting dues and he urged all present to please pay on time.
The occupant of 10422 Healy responded to concerns over his new boat, which is kept on the street. He had checked the Fairfax County ordinances before buying it, and found no restrictions against parking it on the street, as he cannot fit it into his garage. Several WPCA homeowners present voiced their concerns about the safety issue: since the boat is on the Headly curve near Stallworth, it is very hard to see oncoming traffic due to the boat. Some also felt that the appearance of boats and trailers parked on WPCA areas detracted from the character of the neighborhood. It was noted that when considering home changes or additions, it's a great idea to talk to your neighbors as well as following the regulatory process of sending requested property changes to the Architectural Committee for comment.
There was a follow-up discussion about general safety on this section of Headly. A past president reminded us how he had looked into traffic slowing measures there a few years ago. There has been a problem, even with the normal cars parked there, in seeing kids in the street. The county informed him that they would not pay for installing speed bumps, signs, etc., primarily because Headly Ct. is a cul-de-sac. In other words, most of the people going too fast are the residents themselves, and the county is mainly interested in cases of cut through traffic.
Karl requested that all residents try to keep the front of their houses as neat as possible, trim vegetation away from sidewalks as well as remove snow after a storm since school children and others walk to school or to the Braddock Rd bus. Un-shoveled sidewalks pose a safety hazard or force people to walk in the street (also a safety hazard).

ELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR 2009

The slate of officers was proposed and passed:

Karl Kraus, President
Barb Alexander, Vice President
Cyndy Unwin, Secretary
Dan Clark, Treasurer
Irene Pierce, Member-at-Large
Ken Burns, Architectural Chair

A big thanks was given to outgoing treasurer, John Yglesias, who has ably performed the job for over six years!

A final request from the board: we are trying to gather together as many WPCA email addresses as possible. The more we have, the quicker we are able to get important news out to everyone. And, of course, the less of your money we need to spend on printing and mailing costs.

SPECIAL GUEST

Karl had invited a representative from the Verizon FIOS contractor, Ivy Smith. The representative, Billy Reed, had worked for Verizon for many years before retiring and going to work for Ivy Smith. He gave a good overview of the process they had to go through to install the fiber lines.

Brief summary:

When Media General (now Cox) was allowed to install the original cable distribution system in the early 80's, they did not have to document their cable paths as completely as the other underground utilities - phone, electric, gas, and water. Because of this, the Ivy Smith workers had to probe carefully for the cable lines, and dig more than would otherwise have been required. They had to install the fiber as close as possible to the existing phone lines (and not cut them), and had to expose all utility crossing areas. This was the explanation given for the large number of holes that were dug in our lawns.
The utility easement in lawns is considered to be 5 ft from the sidewalk. This means anything planted by a homeowner in that area may be dug up if required to access the utilities.
The installation process required Ivy Smith to drill holes in each of the pipestem driveways near the street. A temporary patch was applied afterwards, but the contractor intended to pour a new concrete section upon approval from the pipestem residents. Billy Reed requested points of contact to coordinate the concrete work, since access to the pipestems would not be possible while the concrete cured. (Note: All work has been completed.)
Billy Reed stayed after to answer questions from those present.

There was a motion to adjourn, which was seconded and passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Cyndy Unwin
WPCA Secretary

Note: These minutes were edited in accordance with the WPCA Privacy Policy and were posted 10 November 2010. The full text of the official copy of the minutes may be reviewed or obtained by request by any WPCA member by contacting the WPCA president, president@kpwwpca.org.