Brookshire
Cluster General Assembly Meeting
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Here are
Brookshire Cluster’s annual General Assembly meeting minutes (they can also be
found on the Brookshire Cluster website at www.brookshirecluster.org) Each
year in late winter/early spring, the entire cluster gathers together for a
general assembly meeting. The purpose of the meeting is for the community to do
a year-end review and suggest/approve actions for the upcoming year. The minutes are broken down as follows, just
click on any of the following links:
Financials and Budget
Landscaping
2005 Events
Vote on board members
Other items for general discussion
2005 Plan of Action Review
·
As
of December 31, 2004, Brookshire Cluster is on track and under budget for most
items, with a net surplus of $4010.
·
As
was voted on and approved at last year’s annual meeting, BCA applied a special
assessment of $25.00 per quarter to build capital reserves for repaving the parking
lot. The need for this special
assessment will be evaluated at the end of 2006.
·
We
now have the funds to complete the paving, which is tentatively scheduled for
April/May of this year.
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·
Brookshire Cluster held two very successful
cleanups in 2004 and we’re planning two more for 2005, tentatively scheduled
for April and October.
·
If you have suggestions for the next Cleanup,
please contact John Fay
·
Some of the items already on the list for the
next cleanup are:
o short-term
drainage solutions, particularly for area between the Cluster and the
volleyball court in Lake Anne Park
o new
plant colors for the neighborhood
o removal
of invasive ivy (English and poison) throughout the neighborhood
o removal
of sand/gravel in parking lot
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- This year’s Picnic is
scheduled for Saturday, July 9th (rain date Sunday, July 10th)
- The Cluster Yard Sale will be
scheduled in early May, after the Farmer’s Market opens at Lake Anne.
- Eric Blow has volunteered to
restart the Cluster newsletter.
Please send newsletter and/or website contributions to
eblow@vtsginc.com
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- All Board Members were
re-elected for another term
- Deirdre Begley – President
- John Fay – Landscape
Director
- Leann Yoder – Treasurer
- Jackie Gaskill – Secretary
- Eric Blow - Social Director
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Other
items for general discussion
- Mulch Once again we will be ordering bags of mulch from
the Lion’s Club to be delivered some time in April; if you are interested
but have not yet signed up, please contact Deirdre Begley. We anticipate that the mulch will arrive
in time for Cluster Cleanup.
- Gutter Cleaning If you are interested in
signing up for Maple Leaf gutter cleaning service and have not already
signed up, please contact Deirdre Begley.
As a member of Brookshire Cluster, you are entitled to a discount
on their services.
- Color Palette Two new exterior paint colors
(eggplant and navy) have been added to our palette, and existing colors
have been mapped to Behr brand paints available at Home Depot. Palette can be viewed at
www.brookshirecluster.org
- Exterior Renovations Several residents have expressed
interest in renovating the exterior of their homes
- Dan Wallen will look into
finding a contractor to replace existing siding with new vinyl siding
- Jackie Gaskill will research
contractors for painting siding and trim
- Drainage Because we have several drainage problem areas, the group
voted to have engineers survey the Cluster to propose options for more
effective drainage. This issue may
also have an impact on the paved areas; fixing it will likely decrease the
likelihood of having to repave or patch areas in the near future.
- Parking Insufficient parking is still an issue
and several solutions were proposed (pending the site survey and Reston
Design Review Board (DRB) and homeowner approval):
- extend the “L” shape back
towards Chatham Colony
- replace the fire lane with
spaces (grading is an issue here)
- replace the holly trees with
additional spaces
- replace the path in front of
1534 & 1536 with one or two spaces
- Mosquito control Options discussed include:
- Run mosquito magnet already
owned by the Cluster will be run on a full-time basis and moved
throughout the neighborhood.
- Distribute anti-mosquito
pellets to anyone who would like to use them – add to standing water (on
roofs, in puddles, etc.) to kill mosquito larvae
- Bat cage – promptly
eliminated as an option
- Community Outreach In an effort to get to know our
neighbors better, we have decided to invite neighboring Clusters (Chatham
Colony and River’s Edge) to participate in the Yard Sale, with pizza and
assorted beverages to follow.
- Summer Activities
- If you’re interested in
playing softball or volleyball, contact Aaron Vinson
- If you’d like to participate
in the “Beer of the Month” group, contact Laura Settar
- Home Extension A
task force has been assembled to look into options for increasing our
living space – options include building up a level, extending out the back
or side, and adding a sunroom.
Members will research the cost, feasibility, etc. of these options
and present them at a meeting to be held on Thursday, April 14th. Within 4 months of this first meeting,
the task force expects to have a summary of options to present to all
Cluster residents. All plans will
first need to be approved by the Cluster, and then taken to the Reston
Association for approval. Task
force members are:
- Jill Vinson (Team Lead)
- Aaron Vinson
- Laura
Settar
- Sherry
DeReuter
- Courtney
Wallen
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Plan of Action Review
- Engineering
Survey (Drainage and Paving)
- Dan
Wallen and Jill and Aaron Vinson to find reputable firm to survey
- Survey
results, pending budget impacts, and a proposal will be sent to each
resident for review and to vote on next steps
- Based
on survey results, paving may be postponed; if this happens, we will
patch the worst areas as an intermediate step until a final plan can be
formulated
- Home
Extension
- Task
Force to research options
- Task
Force will meet to discuss options April 14, 2005
- Task
Force will present final option(s) to residents for review and to vote on
next steps (anticipated in August/September timeframe)
- Mulch
and Gutter Cleaning
- Contact
Deirdre Begley to sign up
- Siding
Replacement
- Exterior
Painting