At his last meeting as the president of the Reston Association’s Board of Directors, Andy Sigle shared the changes he has seen in the past year and his proudest accomplishments as the association’s leader.

Sigle first joined the board in 2011 and was elected as the president last year.

“When I began the term this past spring, things were in a little bit of a tumult,” Sigle said at last night’s meeting (March 21). “We were without a permanent CEO. The CFO had recently resigned. The board was in a big transition.”

Bringing stability and positivity to the association were his personal goals as the board’s president, he said. “I think we have done that and thank you.”

Sigle shared his top three accomplishments:

• co-leading the charge against a proposed density increase for the Planned Residential Community (PRC)
• passing the RA’s budget
• hiring the new Chief Executive Officer Hank Lynch

The new board is set to select its new president after the elections for five uncontested seats end in early April.

Google’s Reston employees will have quite the view once they move into their new office space next to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.

The tech giant will have the top four floors of the 16-story, Helmut Jahn-designed building at 1900 Reston Metro Plaza, Maggie Parker, a spokeswoman for Comstock Companies, told Reston Now.

Reston Now took a tour of the top floor for a look at Google’s future workspace.

On a clear day, Google employees will have views of Tysons to the east and Dulles International Airport to the west, Parker said. Looking south, they’ll be able to see the Fairfax County Government Center. The building offers a glimpse of Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland.

The area around the building is also set for some changes in the future. Plans for a hotel, two residential buildings and an office building will give a new look to the land between Reston Station Blvd and Sunset Hills Road, Parker said.

While Google hasn’t officially announced its new Reston residence (the secret is out, thanks to permits), the company previously said it will significantly expand its operations in Northern Virginia as part of a $13 billion round of investment in new offices and data centers across the U.S.

“With new office and data center development, our workforce in Virginia will double,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a blog post on Feb. 13.

Parker said she does not know how many workers from nearby offices (there’s one in Reston Town Center) or new jobs will fill the Google space.

Google won’t be moving into an empty building — a workspace called Spaces currently occupies the fourth and fifth floors.

Reston fire earlier today — Updated at 2:15 p.m. — Firefighters were on the scene of house fire in 2500 block of Freetown Drive around 2 a.m. The fire is now out. “Two occupants were home at [the] time. Fire in wall, quickly extinguished. Fire accidental. Cause: electrical event within [the] main electrical panel in [the] basement. No civilian or firefighter injuries. Damages: $5,000.” [Fairfax Fire and Rescue]

Development finds financing — “Rooney Properties secured $29.1M in preferred equity from Parse Capital for the 407-unit Faraday Park development… The project, branded as Faraday, will consist of two seven-story multifamily buildings with 10K SF of ground-floor retail at 1831 Michael Faraday Drive in Reston.” [Bisnow]

Playdate Cafe — The Great Falls Library is hosting a playdate from 10 a.m.-noon for kids under the age of 5 accompanied by an adult. [Fairfax County]

Photo courtesy Adam Smith

An Aldrin Elementary School student received a surprise celebration in front of her classmates today (March 21) for her artwork.

Shortly before 2:30 p.m., Aldrin students assembled in the lobby of the school for an announcement by Principal Shane Wolfe. The Virginia Lottery then surprised fifth-grader Elizaveta G. with the news that she is one of three winners statewide in the “Thank a Teacher Art Contest.”

Jennifer Mullen, the public affairs and community relations manager at Virginia Lottery, told the students that the lottery started the artwork contest last year as an addition to its notecard writing to thank teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week. Three students’ pieces were selected from 700 entries, Mullen said.

The Virginia Lottery presented Elizaveta with a $150 gift card along with $1,000 for Aldrin’s art department.

Elizaveta’s original design will be used on thousands of thank you notes that will be distributed to public school teachers in Virginia during National Teacher Appreciation Week in May.

Wolfe facilitated a Q&A between Elizaveta and her classmates, who asked questions about her favorite color (“blazer blue and red”), how long it took to make the art (“one to two hours”) and who told her about the contest (her mom).

The other two winners have not been announced yet.

Two roads in the Reston area are closed due to flooding, according to tweets from the Fairfax County Police Department.

Hunter Mill Road between Hunting Crest Lane and Mount Sunapee Road closed shortly before 4 p.m. today.

Fox Mill Road between Folkstone Drive and Thoroughbred Road in Herndon closed around 2 p.m.

Police advise locals to avoid the area and use alternate routes.

A Flood Watch is in effect for Fairfax County and surrounding areas until midnight, according to the National Weather Service.

More from NWS:

* Until midnight EDT tonight

* A widespread soaking rain around 2 inches is expected. Isolated amounts of around 3 inches are possible. The steadiest rain is expected through 6 pm this evening, with residual runoff possibly persisting through late this evening.

* These rainfall amounts may cause small streams and creeks to go out of their banks, as well as cause flooding of low-lying, urban and poor drainage areas.

TRAFFIC ALERT: Hunter Mill Rd is closed between Hunting Crest Ln and Mount Sunapee Rd in Reston due to water in the roadway. Please avoid the area and use an alternate route. #FCPD #TurnAroundDontDrown pic.twitter.com/7rjes9vCMT

— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) March 21, 2019

TRAFFIC ALERT: Fox Mill Rd is closed between Folkstone Dr and Thoroughbred Rd in Herndon due to water in the roadway. Please avoid the area and use an alternate route. #FCPD #TurnAroundDontDrown pic.twitter.com/043T2TkLSZ

— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) March 21, 2019

Images via Google Maps 

The Reston Association’s Board of Directors are set to discuss truncating its biennial budget processes at its meeting tonight (March 21).

Treasurer Eric Carr and Chief Executive Officer Hank Lynch are scheduled to present a proposal that would shift the Reston Association to an annual budget cycle.

Currently, RA’s budget process has an intense first year that calls for community projects, benchmarking programs and more the budget gets developed in the second year.

Carr and Lynch will tell the board that the current process does not provide RA the flexibility to make changes to the budget on an annual basis, according to their presentation.

A new timeline would propose the following:

• June: RA Board has budget conversations for next year’s priorities
• July: Staff presents the first draft of the budget, and RA sends the accepted draft to the Fiscal Committee
• November: Staff presents the final draft of the budget

Ultimately, the proposed change aims to free up more time for other issues by tightening the budget process. The presentation notes, however, that the board will have to be disciplined and fully engaged in order to succeed.

The meeting is set to start at 6:30 p.m. at RA’s headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive).

The draft agenda for the meeting is available online.

The Reston Association is giving Restonians a few extra days to vote in the Board of Directors’ election after a technical issue caused approximately 2,800 paper ballots to be returned to RA as undeliverable.

The RA Elections Committee became aware of the issue last Friday (March 15), RA said in a press release yesterday (March 20).

The association then told Intelliscan, an independent vendor that provides election and survey services, to resend the ballots to the correct addresses and extend the voting period to 5 p.m. on April 3.

“The original deadline of April 1 was changed in order to accommodate some voters who did not receive their ballots when expected earlier this month,” the press release says.

The five uncontested seats each need to reach a quorum of 10 percent of eligible voters to make the election results official.

Three candidates are incumbents:

• Catherine Baum for a one-year term as the Apartment Owners Representative
• Caren Anton for a one-year term as the Hunters Woods/Dogwood Representative
• John Mooney for a three-year term as the North Point Representative

Tom Mulkerin, a residential real estate agent who has served on the board of the Lakewinds II Cluster Association, is running for a three-year-term At-Large seat.

Aaron Webb, who has served on the board of the Lakeside Cluster, is running for a three-year term for the Lake Anne/Tall Oaks Representative, which is currently filled by Sherri Herbert.

Results of the election will be announced at the Annual Members’ Meeting on April 9.

Spring Break Camp — Want to learn more about Reston Association’s Spring Break Camp for kids? There’s a video. [Reston Association/YouTube]

Dollars and Sense — The free monthly group at Reston Regional Library focuses on business leaders and markets. Tonight’s 7 p.m. discussion will be about “Antifragile” by Nassim Taleb. [Fairfax County]

Crash on Sunset Hills Road — A car crash shortly around 7:21 a.m. at Isaac Newton Square closed Sunset Hills Road for about an hour. The road is now open. [Fairfax Fire and Rescue]

Civic engagement prize — Reston-based Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation’s Rebuilding Democracy Project is among the recipients of the 2018-19 Lippman Kanfer Prize For Applied Jewish Wisdom. [Lippman Kanfer Prize]

Flood Watch — It will be a rainy day. The National Weather Service issued a Flood Watch for Fairfax County and surrounding areas for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Locals can expect between 1-2 inches of rain. [NWS]

Photo courtesy Andrea Avila 

Jinya Ramen Bar looks like it’s back on with its plans to fill an empty Reston Town Center spot.

Back in December, the Japanese ramen restaurant chain posted on its website that it was “coming soon” to 11964 Market Street. Then in early January, a reader pointed out that the Reston location disappeared from the website.

An employee at the parent company of the Jinya brand told Reston Now that nothing had been finalized yet on the Reston Town Center location and that she wasn’t sure why the Reston address was posted on the website.

Fast forward two months later, and Jinya has the same address back up on its website and listed as “coming soon.”

“Reston Town Center is rooted in authentic, home-grown experiences that create special moments for all who visit and dine here,” Stephanie Friedman, the vice president of leasing for Boston Properties, the owners of Reston Town Center, told Reston Now through a spokeswoman. “JINYA Ramen Bar is our ideal partner, bringing their local success and unique menu offering to the Reston community.”

The spot has been empty since Busara Thai Restaurant left last spring after 13 years of business there.

Jinya has nearby locations in D.C. and the Mosaic District in Merrifield.

(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) Diners at the Noodles World Kitchen in Herndon tonight (March 20) can support a local public school in Herndon.

The management at the Noodles World Kitchen at 2405 Centreville Road will donate 25 percent of tonight’s sales to the Lutie Lewis Coates Elementary School.

Customers who eat the noodle chain — formerly known as Noodles and Company — between 4-8 p.m. can tell the restaurant staff that they are supporting Coates.

Image via Google Maps

After a year-long hiatus, the Reston Association’s Pedestrian Lighting Working Group made a comeback at the Design Review Board’s meeting last night (March 19).

Working group members Larry Butler, Rick Landers and Bill Burton presented a progress report as a first step toward developing specific lighting guidelines for RA properties and pathways.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins’ recent call for more streetlights around Reston and some criticism of the lighting at the Sekas development along Sunrise Valley Drive renewed the focus on the lighting, Butler said.

“Lighting is going to be at the forefront for some time to come,” Butler said.

The report highlighted two main goals:

• development of “contextual application guidelines” for lighting
• prioritization of pedestrian lighting in the community — common areas including pathways and recreational amenities, transit station areas and clusters

Butler said that the working group is also adopting some guidelines from the Reston Annual State of the Environment Report (RASER).

Burton showed the Design Review Board the Reston lighting map that was created by overlaying existing pathway lights on a new land use map. Burton said that the working group members walked or biked Reston pathways and corridors to note areas of no, low, medium or high lighting.

The map has four main zones:

• zone 0: areas with no existing lighting for areas where RA wants to preserve darkness
• zone 1: traditional residential areas — most of the Planned Residential Community — that may want additional lighting
• zone 2: village centers, brightly lit schools and athletic fields that will need future lighting replacements
• zone 3: transportation corridor and Reston Town Center

In addition to marking the traditional RA pathways, the map also notes travel corridors along certain roads that bicyclists and pedestrians might frequently use.

The map is meant to serve as a template for the Design Review Board’s review of lighting requests, he said.

Identifying areas that need more lighting is just one step.

“We want to do it right,” Butler said, mentioning LED lights on timers.

Landers added that the technological advances in LED lights provide more options for dimmer or brighter lighting, along with being more energy-efficient.

Vice Chair and Architect Member W. Neal Roseberry praised the three working group members for their effort, which has broad appeal to Restonians. “I think this is really pretty common sense,” he said.

While the Design Review Board supported the map and expressed a desire in making a future action item around lighting, Richard Newlon, the board’s chairman, questioned how much detail should get decided around lighting while still creating an enforceable guideline.

In addition to the progress report, Butler also gave the board a preview on other actions the working group is taking.

A pathway lighting project in Hunters Woods that the Design Review Board approved three years ago now has renewed interest because of a proffer commitment from Atlantic Realty — the developer behind the Hunters Woods at Trail Edge senior living facility — to add new pathway lighting

“We’re working with Fairfax County to get an interpretation on that proffer as to whether or not that money can be joined with our project, our current funding so that we can do lighting down there, because we don’t have enough money to do the whole project,” Butler said.

Butler said that he expects the working group to come back to the Design Review Board in April or May with information on the $81,300 promised in the proffer.

“The face of Reston is changing,” Butler said. “We want to make sure the lighting keeps up.”

Images via Reston Association/YouTube

The Town of Herndon may slightly increase the fees for facility uses and rentals while eliminating its use of the Fairfax County Park Authority’s fee structure.

Herndon’s Parks and Recreation Department provides for community-use facilities at the Herndon Community Center, which includes a pool, gym, tennis courts, fitness rooms and drop-in child care.

For about 12 years, the Parks and Recreation facilities fee schedule has included a pricing structure for community center admission fees and passes tied to the Fairfax County Park Authority rates.

A department review of current services and operational costs prompted the Town Council to rethink its use of FCPA rates.

“Staff is proposing that structure be revised to eliminate the connection to FCPA due to the significant increase in their proposed non-resident rates, which would be detrimental to a large percentage of Herndon Community Center users,” the Parks and Recreation staff report says.

The Town Council now has a proposed resolution that would base the fees on a daily resident/non-resident fee. The change is expected to recover 75 percent of the department’s operating costs through fees and charges for services, according to the Town of Herndon.

The new fee would add $0.50 more to the daily rate for both residents and non-residents.

If approved, the amended fee schedule would go into effect on Sept. 1.

Images via Google Maps and Town of Herndon

Diners today (March 20) at Honeygrow can support the South Lakes High School baseball teams.

You will need to choose the “cash” option when you order at the kiosk and then either show the flier or mention “giving local” to the cashier to have 20 percent of your order go to the baseball team.

Honeygrow is a chain that serves up locally-sourced salads, stir-fries and fruit-honey desserts.

The spot in RTC West at 12100 Sunset Hills Road is open until 10 p.m. daily.

If you want to catch one of their games, the next games are against Centreville High School on Friday (March 22). The Boys Varsity one is an away game, while the Boys Junior Varsity is on home turf.

FCPS statement — Fairfax County Public Schools recently released a statement on seclusion and restraint after “special education advocates, concerned parents and community members have raised concerns in light of recent media reports.” [FCPS]

YP Connections events — Head to Founding Farmers from 5:30-7:30 p.m. for a networking event. Registration closes at noon, and tickets cost $15 for chamber members or $25 for guests. Light refreshments and one drink ticket will be provided. [Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce]

Get Woke! Book Club — Scrawl Books has a progressive book club that focuses on reading titles that cover timely political issues. This month’s book is “Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal” by Aviva Chomsky. The discussion starts at 7 p.m. [Scrawl Books]

Photo courtesy Navid 

City of Fairfax police arrested a Herndon man after police received reports that his car rental had not been returned on time.

Police arrested the 32-year-old Herndon resident on the afternoon of March 7, the police report says.

He is currently being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on a secured bond of $1,000.

The Fairfax County Police Department’s Reston District Station reported the following incidents in recent days:

LARCENIES:

1800 block of Cameron Glen Drive, cash from location

12100 block of Eddyspark Drive, wallet from vehicle

12000 block of Heather Down Drive, jewelry from residence

1400 block of North Point Village Center, merchandise from business

1800 block of Old Reston Avenue, laptop computers from residence

11800 block of Spectrum Center, merchandise from business

12100 block of Sunset Hills Road, merchandise from business

STOLEN VEHICLES:

1300 block of Pavilion Club Way, 2009 Nissan Murano

1100 block of Vantage Hill Road, 2008 Ford Expeditio

File photo