Searching for a new home? Start with these Open Houses this weekend in Reston.

12160 Abington Hall Lane
2 BR, 2 BA Condo
$425,00
Open Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m.

2303 Glade Bank Way
3 BR, 2.5 BA TH
$399,999
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

11525 Hickory Cluster
2 BR, 1.5 BA TH
$385,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

1610 Barnstead Drive
3 BR, 1 FB, 2 HB TH
$369,900
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

1638 Barnstead Drive
3 BR, 1 FB, 2 HB TH
$375,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

2500 Fauquier Lane
4 BR, 3 BA SFH
$569,900
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

For complete Real Estate information, visit Reston Now’s Real Estate Section.

Paced by five first-place finishes at the Northern Virginia Invitational, the South Lakes High School outdoor track team has already qualified 33 athletes for either the Class 6A conference, region and/or state championships.

Thirty-one teams from the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia participated in the meet last weekend at James Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, VA. SLHS started the season with the Centreville Invitational March 22 and followed with the Wildcat Invitational in Stafford the following weekend.

Junior Delaney Wickman won the NVI 400 meters in a state-qualifying time of 57.95. She then anchored the girls 4×400 meter relay team of senior Grace Gillen, junior Claire Nieusma and sophomore Golden Kumi-Darfour in winning the event in 3:59.91, another state qualifying time.

Claire Nieusma won the 300 meter hurdles in a region qualifying time of 47.42 while senior Danielle Hale jumped 17-01.50 to win the long jump and a spot in the region championships. Hale teamed with juniors Ozioma Chinaka, Jordan Lozama and freshman Nikayla Hoyte to win girls 4×100 meter relay in a region qualifying time of 50.64.

The team will send squads to the Arcadia (CA) Invitational and the Lake Braddock Hall of Fame Invitational this weekend. Read More

Last week, the Fairfax County Park Authority staff held a public meeting at which they laid out the draft Baron Cameron Master Plan, a plan that will guide development of the park for the next decade. It was followed by people, some representing local special interest groups, standing and saying what they wanted (or didn’t want) in the plan. The presentation opened a 30-day public comment period on the draft plan.

But there was no discussion about the plan, no collaborative thinking or problem solving on how Restonians as a community would propose to improve the plan.

Monday evening, all Restonians will have that opportunity at an interactive forum sponsored by RCA’s Reston 2020 Committee. The forum will be held at Buzz Aldrin Elementary School from 7 to 9 p.m.

Reston 2020 will begin by summarizing key aspects of the draft Baron Cameron Park plan. His presentation will focus on the most controversial aspects of the plan:  the off-leash dog park, the option to build a recreation center there, the reduction in rectangular playing fields, and the implications for traffic congestion on Wiehle. 

The forum will then break up into small groups to brainstorm community thinking about the plan, focusing on its strengths, weaknesses, what’s missing, and what the risks are in the plan.  After each group briefly presents its ideas to the re-convened group, everyone will have a chance to help prioritize them. Then, in an open conversation, we will try to arrive at a consensus as to the most important points to make about the plan.

Reston 2020 will follow up by compiling the results and sharing them with the Park Authority as a consolidated community perspective, including listing all the ideas that came out of the small groups, before the end of the 30-day comment period.

The forum aims to provide an abundant opportunity to discuss all the key issues, not just advocate a single-issue position, and reach some community solutions to controversial aspects of the park plan.

This is the community’s last opportunity to provide a Reston perspective on the draft plan. Everyone is encouraged to come to the forum and participate in making Reston’s only district park the best it can be.

Terry Maynard
Co-Chair, Reston 2020

Officers from Fairfax County Police’s Reston District Station report these larcenies in the Reston area for the week ending April 4.

900 block of Riva Ridge Drive, camera from residence

12100 block of Sunset Hills Road, merchandise from business

12900 block of Highland Crossing Drive, beverages from business

2100 block of Freda Drive, money, items and electronic device from vehicles

11200 block of Roger Bacon, medication from business

9600 block of Verdict Drive, money from vehicle

1700 block of Business Center Drive, purse from business

900 block of Locust Street, electronic devices from location

Classic Reston is a biweekly feature sponsored by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce that highlights businesses, places and people with deep roots in Reston.

Reston was planned in the 1960s, founder Robert E. Simon purposely left one thing out: a cemetery.

Simon says when his family owned New York’s Carnegie Hall, he had dealings with people in the funeral industry. He did not like what he saw, so he was not eager support the business.

But an entire generation has now lived, worked and played in Reston. It is too late to have loved ones buried here — there is no open space for a cemetery now — but a group of Restonians has been working to get a memorial garden in Reston.

“There is no special area here for people to be remembered, where we can go to honor and celebrate Restonians who have passed,” said Joe Ritchey, board chair and president of the Initiative for Public Art Reston (IPAR).

IPAR representatives are working with a Memorial Garden of Reflection committee to identify space and design a place of reflection in Reston. Members of the group spoke at last week’s Baron Cameron Park Master Plan meeting about its hope to be included in the park plans.

The Reston Master Plan changes approved by the county supervisors in February also included the framework for such a place.

“From its beginning in 1964, the planned community of Reston has lacked a special place where one can go to remember and memorialize loved ones. A clear vision for such a facility has emerged through IPAR. It should be a universal and inclusive place where Restonians can remember and reflect upon the passing of loved ones. It should respect and support the many ways in which people choose to acknowledge the passing of life. It’s design should provide a setting for tranquil reflection, contemplation, meditation, inspiration and healing,” the plan states.

The IPAR committee was formed in 2011 after the death of IPAR supporter Ann Rodriguez. It envisions a one-acre site at either Baron Cameron or Lake Fairfax Park. The site should feature natural beauty, wooded elements, as well as walkways and benches, the committee says. Once the project is awarded a site, the next steps will be to raise money to fund the project, as well as hire a landscape designer.

“In the 46 years I have lived in Reston, I have made some very close friends,” said Memorial Garden Committee Chair Sally Brodsky. “Some of them have died. I don’t grieve them in the sense I miss them every day. But I know when I can go to a place where it is quiet, my memories start popping up. In that process, I remember my close friends. I think we all need that. We have every way to be active in Reston, but we need a quiet serene place we —can just be.”

Reston will celebrate its 50th anniversary (and Simon’s 100th birthday) at Founders Day from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at Lake Anne Plaza. Complete schedule and details. 

This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Reston Town Center that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement, and private sector employee matters. They write weekly on Reston Now.

We often advise executives and employees on how to best handle their severance agreements. The following are a few most commonly asked questions when a severance agreement is offered to an employee by an employer or when an employee wants to request a severance agreement from an employer.

What is a severance agreement?

A severance agreement is essentially a contract between an employee and an employer that specifies the terms of an employee’s departure. The main terms of the severance agreement include compensation for the employee and his or her release from pursuing any legal action against the employer. Severance agreements are sometimes offered to employees who are laid off or pending retirement. In addition, depending on the circumstances, a severance agreement may be offered to an employee who resigns or is terminated. The severance agreement must have consideration or something of value to which the employee is not already entitled.

Are employees entitled to severance agreements?

Generally, employers are not obligated to provide employees severance pay unless it is stipulated in an employment agreement or the employer provides it to employees according to the employer’s general practice or policy. Most employees are considered “at will,” which means they can resign or be terminated at any time.

How can employees obtain a severance agreement?

There are various ways in which severance agreements are obtained:

• An employee is terminated and the employer then offers a severance agreement;
• An employee has been terminated, no severance agreement was proposed by the employer, but the employee approaches the employer seeking one;
• An employee alleges or has filed a wrongful termination, discrimination, or other claim, and the employee and employer ultimately agree to resolve matters through a severance or settlement agreement; or
• An employee wants to resign and seeks to negotiate severance with the employer. Read More

This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Reston Town Center that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement, and private sector employee matters. They write weekly on Reston Now.

We often advise employees on how to best handle their employment problems in the workplace either while they are developing or after an adverse employment action. It is important for employees who are experiencing workplace problems to stay focused and calm while issues are developing and to follow some general guidelines. Here are 10 tips:

1. Relax.

When facing employment issues, don’t get visibly upset in the workplace. For instance, if you are meeting with Human Resources (HR), it is important to remain calm during the HR meeting. As difficult as it may seem at the time, it is important to stay calm even when dealing with significant employment issues. It generally is not helpful to argue with HR or a supervisor over an employment issue that arises. Doing so can put an employee at risk for discipline, placement on leave, or even retaliation. Listen to what HR or the supervisor has to say, remain non-committal about any allegations, but indicate a willingness to cooperate and work out any employment problems, if at all possible.

2. Don’t Post About Employment Issues on Social Media.

It is highly recommended that an employee not post his/her employment problems on social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter). Employees often forget who they have friended in the social media realm or haven’t adequately set privacy settings. Despite having set privacy settings adequately, there still may be an extended audience (e.g., friends of friends) who are privy to the employee’s posts.

Our firm often sees insubordination or misconduct cases involving posts that employees have placed on their social media accounts about issues in their employment (or about a particular supervisor) that have somehow been forwarded on to the employer or supervisor involved. Employers and their attorneys have simply become more adept at obtaining this type of information. Read More

Fairfax County Police are investigating a burglary that took place in the 1600 block of Washington Plaza on Tuesday.

An employee of a business at Lake Anne Plaza told police someone entered the business and took property.

Police did not say which business or what was taken.

In other crime news from the Reston District Station this week:

LARCENIES

11900 block of Democracy Drive, purse from vehicle

11400 block of North Shore Drive, property from business

2400 block of Centreville Road, jacket from business

By Terry Maynard

Things were looking promising last summer for opening the Silver Line. We might actually have Metrorail service in Reston by the end of 2013 as promised repeatedly since the project began.

Then the project timeline derailed, so to speak.

The start of Silver Line operations is now three months overdue and no one involved with the line’s construction is willing even to speculate when service will begin. Press reports say that start-up has been delayed “indefinitely.”  Supervisor Hudgins has said she would be “very disappointed” if operations were not begun by the end of summer. Yet, there is the distinct possibility that the Silver Line won’t open to Reston until 2015—more than a year late. How many millions of dollars over budget and who will pay those sums remain huge unknowns despite contract terms putting cost overruns on the contractor and the project manager, MWAA.

We first got a hint of significant construction schedule issues to come when two test trains knocked handrails and emergency shutoff switches, reportedly installed in the wrong place, off the wall of the rail tunnel in late 2012.  How does a competent contractor on a multi-billion dollar project put handrails and switches in the wrong place? Nonetheless, assurances were given that there was nothing wrong with the tunnel even though an inch of settling in the tunnel floor had been reported a year before these incidents.

And press reports kept dribbling out last spring that there were problems with the line’s Automatic Train Control (ATC) system, including unauthorized changes in the design by its builder, Alstom Signaling. The ATC system controls train movement and ensures proper spacing between trains. The failure of the ATC system on Metro’s Red Line killed nine people and injured dozens more in 2009 when one Red Line train plowed into another.    Neither MWAA nor the contractor would confirm the ATC problems. Read More

A 26-year-old Reston woman was arrested Saturday night after allegedly showing up naked at the Arlington Magistrate’s Office.

Police say Maura Fussell arrived at the magistrate’s office around 11:00 p.m. seeking to visit her husband, who had been arrested in Clarendon earlier that day.

She was drunk, completely naked and refused to get dressed or leave in a cab, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Sternbeck was unable to say whether Fussell arrived at the office wearing clothes and subsequently removed them, or whether she arrived there naked.

Fussell was arrested and charged with indecent exposure and drunk in public. She was held in jail until sober, police said.