New Food Pick-Up Sites — Grab-and-go-meals are available at no cost for students at 21 sites. Breakfast is served from 8-10:30 a.m. and lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. [Fairfax County Public Schools]

Reston Association Discontinues All Walk-in Service — Members can no longer pay their annual membership assessment in-person and should instead conduct services online. “Amid ongoing concern about the coronavirus (COVID-19), Reston Association’s top priority is the health and safety of our employees, members and visitors,” writes RA CEO Hank Lynch. [Reston Association]

Tips on Stay Engaged During Social Distances — “Social distancing can feel isolating and tedious, but Fairfax County offers residents numerous activities and services with which you can engage while following good social distancing practices.” [Fairfax County Government]

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr

Reston Association’s Board of Directors is set to vote on long-anticipated changes to its conflict of interest policy, which was last reviewed nearly 14 years ago.

If approved on Thursday, the policy would only regulate conflicts related to economic interest. A code of ethics, which would be adopted at a later date, is expected to govern all other conflicts related to personal and non-economic interests.

Discussions on updating the policy have been underway for more than four years as RA staff and board members attempted balance privacy rights and the need for transparency. Two independent reviews have called on RA to refine its code of ethics since 2017.

Board members, officers and other officials covered by the policy must disclose specific details as part of an annual disclosure form.

The form requires individuals to disclose ownership interests that produce a fair market value of $5,000 or more in a calendar year or an investment of $5,000 or more in any economic venture. Interests that benefit family members in this category must also be disclosed.

Disclosures do not apply for dividends from shares or outstanding shares of a publicly-held corporation.

Employers covered by the policy must also report any other sources of income over $5,000 per calendar year “from any source having a business or contractual elation with Reston Association, including affiliated Reston interest group,” according to the draft policy.

The meeting is set for Thursday (March 19) via a conference call.

The board’s plans to receive an update on a proposal to repurpose the Hunters Woods Ballfield has been postpone. The draft agenda is available online.

Photo via Reston Association/YouTube

Reston Association recently kicked off a comprehensive evaluation of its recreational facilities. The organization is seeking members for a new recreational facilities working group that will evaluate the current inventory, condition and usage of RA facilities.

Members who are interested in applying should do so by March 31. Interviews will be conducted by the Board Operations Committee on May 4 at 6:30 p.m. at RA headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive). The application is available online.

The workgroup is tasked with the following:

• Evaluate the number, condition and use of facilities like pools, tennis, ballfields, playgrounds and pavilions
• Review the long-term operational, maintenance and capital costs for RA facilities
• Evaluate usage trends for RA facilities using existing data
• Recommend to the board a process for closing or converting existing facilities to other uses.

The Park & Recreation Advisory Committee is temporarily suspended until Feb. 2021 as the new workgroup begins the analysis.

Photo courtesy Reston Association

When 81 Reston Association members cast online ballots for the current board election on the first day of voting on Monday, they voted with incorrect ballots linked to other members.

The technical error prompted Intelliscan, RA’s independent election agent, to toss the ballots out and fix the issue.

“Intelliscan has since corrected the error and come up with a comprehensive plan to address those individuals who voted with an erroneous ballot,” said Mike Leone, RA’s spokesman.

Due to the botched ballots, Intelliscan has created a special log-in to verify the credentials of the 2,500 members who plan to vote online. Members must call Intelliscan to verify their credentials, after which the company will send a new voter link with the correct ballot to cast a vote. The company is also sending paper ballots to all members as a “safeguard.”

Both corrective actions are being administered at no additional cost to RA. The issue only impacted online ballots.

An alert to inform members of the technical error and apologize for the mixup has been sent to affected members. The email includes a link for members to cast their votes online.

“This process will ensure that RA members impacted will not be able to double vote,” Leone wrote.  RA says that the issue was a one-time error that has been resolved and will not impact the remainder of the elections.

Intelliscan said the issue was a technical error, as described by RA below:

Intelliscan received the Member file from RA to send out the pre-election email blast to collect any “bounce backs” from Members that had opted-in.  Voter codes were then populated.  Intelliscan realized after the pre-election email blast had been sent, that the corresponding addresses were incorrect for some Members and requested a corrected file from RA.  Additional Members where added and voters codes were repopulated within the Membership file.  Additionally, Intelliscan kept a separate “notify table” which held the names of Members that were sent the pre-election email blast.  Unfortunately, the codes in the “notify table” were not updated by Intelliscan to the correct voter codes prior to the second “kick-off” email blast.  Once RA realized that the emailed Members’ voter codes were incorrect, the association contacted Intelliscan and the voting website was taken down by Intelliscan. 

This is not the first time RA board elections have had hiccups. Last year, technical issues caused roughly 2,800 paper ballots to be returns as undeliverable. Intelliscan resent the ballots to the correct addresses and moved to extend the voting period.

Anyone with questions about the issue can contact Intelliscan by calling 252-560-8079 or emailing Michelle McRoy at [email protected].

Image via Reston Association

More Time for Metro Budget Comments — Metro has extended the public comment period for the next fiscal year’s budget by one week. Feedback will be accepted online or by mail through 9 a.m. on Monday, March 9. [Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority]

Search for Lifeguards Underway — Reston Association is actively recruiting lifeguards for the summer. Information on the position and the application is available online. [Reston Association]

Local Students Compete in International Conference — A total of 226 students from 14 Fairfax County Public Schools were selected as finalists for the DECA International Career Development Conference in Nashville. [FCPS]

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr

Reston Association members now have an additional month to file annual assessment fees. The deadline was extended from March 1 to March 31 due to technical issues with RA’s new online payment system.

Readers told Reston Now that the system did not allow members to complete payments, despite multiple attempts.

RA will waive late fees and interest charges, as well as offer a 20 percent discount for passes to pools, tennis, and pickleball. This year’s assessment is $708.

Due to issues with the online system, members can also drop-in at Reston Assiocation’s headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive) on Saturday, March 7 from 9 a.m. to noon to pay fees. RA’s member services team is also available on weekdays between 8:30 a.m to 5 p.m. to help process dues.

Earlier this year, RA transitioned to a new online feature in its existing WebTrac portal for online payments. The change came after MemberSuite — a website that launched in December — was discontinued due to “configuration challenges that are requiring significant research and additional time to resolve.”

“We recognize that some Reston homeowners have been unable to make their payments electronically, therefore we are waiving the late fee and interest charges for the rest of the month in order to give folks more time to make their transactions,” wrote RA CEO Hank Lynch in a statement. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to our members and will work prudently to ensure that these technical problems do not occur in the future.”

Image via Reston Association

Voting Underway for Reston Association Election — The last day to vote is April 3 for RA’s 2020 election for the Board of Directors. Voting information is available online. [Reston Association]

Charges Pending for Home Burglary — A burglary was reported on the 1600 block of Hiddenbrook Drive on Feb. 29 at around 3:44 a.m. The homeowners said they were awakened by the sound of knocking on their front door. Two juveniles were located a short distance away. Charges are pending. [Fairfax County Police Department]

South Lakes Girls Finish Second — “Senior Hannah Waller finished her final season on the South Lakes High School girls indoor track team as a state champion, finishing first in the 55 meters with a winning time of 6.95. This effort helped to lift the South Lakes girls indoor track team to its third consecutive second place finish Feb. 28-29, at the 6A State Championships, at the Boo Williams Sportsplex.” [Reston Patch]

Photo by Marjorie Copson

Lake Thoreau pool won’t be the only pool that’s closed for the 2020 season.

In an email to members, Reston Association announced that North Shore Pool will be closed as well due to planned construction and maintenance projects at and around the facility.

Renovation of the dock at Lake Anne Plaza is set to begin this month. The lake canal and plaza area will also be dredged, according to Reston Association.

The following improvements are planned over the spring and summer:

• Concrete deck repairs
• Re-plaster of main pool
• Replacement of tile and coping stone
• Replacement/upgrade of facility fencing – including installation of railings for the main deck staircase
• Replacement of deck equipment (access chair, lifeguard stands, ladders, railings)
• Replacement of the shade structure
• Replacement of the flooring surface in the bathhouse
• Replacement of cabinets, countertops in the office and bathrooms

RA says that its 13 other pools with remain open with adjusted schedules in order to accommodate members who use the pools at Lake Thoreau or North Shore. Anyone with questions should contact [email protected] for more information.

Lake Thoreau Pool — which was originally built in the 80s — is also set to get a facelift.

Voting in the 2020 Reston Association Board of Directors election will run from March 2 through April 3. This is the last candidate profile. Featured here is Robert Petrine, who is running against Kerri Bouie for an At-Large seat with a three-year term.  

With the exception of minor formatting edits, the Q&A candidate profiles are published in unedited form. Each candidate had an opportunity to answer the same questions in their own words. 

How long have you lived in Reston? What brought you here?

My wife and I first visited Reston in 1969 on our first trip to DC and decided then that Reston would be our home if we could ever move to the area.  We fell in love with Reston’s diversity of people, housing, income levels and its embrace of living in Nature. It seemed like a place where learning never dies.  

When a job opportunity arose, we moved to Reston in 1976 and have been here ever since.

What inspired you to run for the board?

We are in the midst of redevelopment of the TSA corridor that has changed our community forever.  Going forward we should collectively have a voice in the planning process. In my opinion, the most effective way to influence that essential work is through RA as our collective representative.  

I have been working intensely for the past 4 years with other community members to understand and communicate development that has already been approved as well as what may happen to our community in the future. Careful planning will be essential to maintain the planning principles set forth in the current PRC zoning ordinance including Reston’s founding guidelines.

My professional background enables me to advocate for improving RA’s financial reporting to members – posting monthly financial reports is not enough. Members need to be clearly and concisely informed of how money is being spent – it’s their money.  They shouldn’t have to wonder how much amenities and programs cost to run and maintain. The information exists, and members shouldn’t have to search for it. 

What are three of the biggest concerns you have for Reston?

Supervisor Alcorn’s proposal to reopen Phase II of the Comprehensive Plan may provide our community an opportunity to contribute to the plan review in a meaningful way.  We must make the most of that dialogue to promote and protect the interests of RA members. 

The Board and the membership need the knowledge I have of business and financial operations to immediately address RA’s related issues.  

Reston is one of 14 cities globally that has been designated a Biophilic Community.  We as a community need to continually build upon work that is already underway to ensure that Reston is at the forefront of planning for and adapting to climate change.  

What do you hope to accomplish by being on the board?

• Ensure that the membership understands how RA assessments are determined; that the membership is regularly informed of RA’s finances in an easily understood way; and that an effective system of internal controls is in place and operating to established policies to meet the Board’s fiduciary responsibilities to RA members
• Work to strengthen the role of the advisory committees in setting issues and priorities for RA with regular, periodic reporting of their deliberations by committee chairs or their representatives at taped RA Board meetings.
• Ensure that Reston Association members are effectively represented on the taskforce to review the Reston Master Plan.
• Promote an appreciation of and stewardship for the open space that makes Reston unique in the DC metropolitan area.
• Encourage actions, both individual and collective, that minimize climate change.  In the long run, I believe that proactive solutions will save RA members significant future costs and promote a healthier community.

How will your personal or professional experience help you in your role with RA?

• I have professional experience in finance, strategic planning, risk management, and financial regulation: 28 years of private sector experience as an auditor, accountant, and independent management consultant as well as the chief financial officer of two banks; and 20+ years’ experience as a federal bank regulator. 
• I have served on several professional boards and civic committees including the Electronic Funds Transfer Association, the Greater Washington Society of CPAs, the Education Committee of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, and Metro’s Riders Advisory Council.  
• In addition, I bring to the RA Board a commitment to community engagement.  Specifically, for years I have regularly attended meetings at RA including BOD, Fiscal Committee, MTAC, BGC and BOC as well as Nature Center events.  For five years I served as the treasurer of the Fairway Cluster, and I have testified before the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission on local land use, the PRC zoning amendment, and transportation issues.

Photo via Reston Association

Apartment Fire in Greywing Square — A fire started in the kitchen of an apartment unit on the 12000 block of Greywing Square yesterday evening. The cause of the fire is under investigation. [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department]

Reston Association Meeting Moved — Next week’s Board Governance Committee has been moved to March 3 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting takes place at the Walker Nature Center. [Reston Association]

Submission Sought for Mary B. Howard Invitational — The Greater Reston Arts Center invites artists to submit a proposal for the new exhibition, “An Excellent Thought About a Quality Idea.” Submissions are due by March 15. [Greater Reston Arts Center]

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr 

The Reston Association’s Design Review Board bid farewell to two longtime architects and board members this month.

Richard Newlon, who served on the board for 21 years, and Neal Roseberry, who served on the board for 18 years, ended their terms in mid-February, leaving two vacancies on that board.

Reston Now caught up with the retired board members to get their thoughts on how the board has changed since they joined the DRB, as well as their top concerns as Reston continues to grow over the coming years.

Richard Newlon

After a 21 year tenure on the DRB, quite a bit has changed in Reston. Probably the largest aesthetic and environmental impact I’ve seen in Reston is the intense development occurring in the Toll Road corridor. We’ve seen the Transit Corridor vacate all of their covenants in 2011 in their effort to allow residential development along the Toll Road. At the same time, the owners removed their own Architectural Review Board…leaving no entity to review any of the “Transit Area’s” designs. It’s pretty obvious Reston has lost a lot of its Planned Community identity by this intense development without any design review of the Transit Area.

When I first became a member of the Design Review Board (DRB) in 1999, Reston wasn’t completely built out…there were remaining residential lots still available. Many of our clusters were aging, and to this day, remain targets of developers seeking profits with dense residential proposals. Intense “internal” development is a continuing concern to the essence of Reston. The DRB has been instrumental in working with these developers to make their proposals more contextual and with a density more appropriate to the neighborhood. This continues to be a major challenge to our community. Growth and change are going to happen, but the strength of Reston’s initial Governing Documents that created the DRB, gives our members a chance and a voice to affect any future development. It is important for our members to remain aware of all development proposals and become a part of the process. 

Our Stream Restoration has been a major success and provided both safety and beauty to our forests and valleys. Snakeden Branch was the first and perhaps the most controversial. It launched a major environmental solution to the years of development and lack of stormwater management in the county. Now, 15 years later, the forest that surrounds Snakeden Branch has returned, and the stream monitoring has kept all in place for years to come. The restored areas have certainly assisted in solving some of the run-off issues that have plagues Reston sine its inception.

Serving on the DRB for these years has been a personal community involvement and educational experience for me. It has been a way to get to know our planned community with its many architectural styles and association members. At the same time, it has made me aware of the boundaries of our PRC and the areas of the DRB’s purview. The “shotgun” developing happening in the Corridor is certainly not Reston-like or internally coordinated. This was an enormous opportunity for the developers to continue the nature of a planned community, but they have consistently maximized their particular development to the exclusion of the potential of a beneficial design opportunity. 

Our clusters are aging, and every week at our DRB meetings we have Cluster Boards coming to us with concerns and desired revisions to update their Cluster Standards. It is imperative our clusters continue to work together and with the RA Covenants Staff toward this updating. The Cluster Boards must be more active and part of the process. There remains much to do to keep Reston as the flagship of a planned community. Our Village Centers will be coming under the developers gaze as more development opportunity for them. I’m sure the remaining (and new) members of the DRB will be up to the task, and hold on to all that makes Reston such a wonderful place to live.

Neal Roseberry

How has the DRB’s role evolved as Reston has evolved?  

In some ways, DRB’s role is the same as originally set forth in the Governing Documents: ensuring quality design that is harmonious with nature and neighboring architectural context. However, with intensifying redevelopment of older neighborhoods, the bar is raised, and the challenges to meeting the goals of design review are more significant than ever. Reston needs to evolve with the times, but we must respect existing context and neighborhoods in the process. Design Review helps ensure orderly redevelopment with continued emphasis on context and good design, understanding and mitigating the impact of redevelopment that in most cases is overly intensive upon first review. The role of the DRB today more than ever is a first defense against redevelopment that is inconsistent (sometimes entirely inconsistent) with the design goals of Reston.

 What would you say has been the most rewarding part of serving on the board? 

Working to keep our neighborhoods and clusters harmonious and compatible; ensuring that redevelopment understands how Reston is different from much of the rest of Northern Virginia; keeping a focus on the natural areas, lakes, trails and recreational facilities that truly make Reston a great place to live, work and play. Reston has been, and should continue to be, a special place to live in Northern Virginia. The DRB helps ensure that, and when we do our job well, it is exceedingly rewarding. The things we do well, very few people notice; when we miss an element of new development, we see those mistakes for years to come.  Our goal is consistent, careful, thoughtful review.  As a volunteer, my greatest satisfaction comes from believing I’ve used my skills and talents as an architect to keep Reston a special place to live.

What are the top three challenges the DRB faces as Reston grows as a community? 

1. Newer members of the community don’t always understand or appreciate the things such as design review that help keep Reston a special design blend of nature and quality development.  We need to be careful that in the process of necessary updates and redevelopment, Reston doesn’t disappear into the rest of Northern Virginia sprawl. Design Review is one small tool that RA has to help do that on its covenanted land.
2. The Metro Corridor, with its abandoned design covenants, is not the model of orderly design and development that one would hope for Reston.  Traffic, unsightly above-ground parking decks, lighting and signage that would not be approved by the DRB are occurring on non-RA properties, bisecting Reston into northern and southern halves with what often appears visual chaos. This dilutes the image of Reston as a special place to live. Much of the newer toll road development is not as community-oriented as our older RA neighborhoods and clusters tend to be. And yet to the average Washingtonian, this is now “Reston.”
3. The dilemma of our two golf courses is hard to ignore. Huge swaths of north and south Reston are special places to live just because of the open space nature of the golf courses around which many communities are built. Redevelopment in those areas, apparently outside of DRB review, could ruin Reston as many of us have known it.  Community activism at the Fairfax County level is important for all of these areas where there is no RA design review.

Photo via Reston Association

Update: The story was updated to include Reston Association’s comments on the issue.

Local boat owners are protesting Reston Association’s enforcement of boat-related rules after the homeowner’s association sent out a batch of letters threatening legal action earlier this month.

While the letters are intended to enforce RA’s boat rules regarding sizes, some boat owners say they’re being unjustly threatened to comply with rules that RA has not enforced consistently in the past. In some cases, boats are one-quarter of an inch larger than what is allowed.

In response to a request from Reston Now, Reston Association said it is working with boat owners to address concerns on a case by case basis.

“We recognize the recent letter sent to those 50 members may have created some confusion but the association is looking forward to work with each of these members to satisfactorily address their concerns,” the statement said.

Cris Revaz, who owns a boat on Lake Audubon, says he made sure he ordered a boat that was allowed by RA when he moved three years ago.

This year, he received a letter from RA’s General Counsel stating that his boat was oversized and offered to enter into a written settlement as a covenant against his property to continue using the boat.

His boat is half an inch longer than what is allowed, Revaz said.

“This is the kind of mindless bureaucratic interference with people’s lives that gives government a bad name. Is there not something better the Reston Association should be doing with their time than engaging in such frivolous enforcement actions?” he said.

Inder Sud, who has lived in Reston since 1973, said he was shocked to receive the letter from RA concerning the boat he’s had for more than 25 years. Sud said he has paid annual permitting fees for the boat, which is a quarter-of-an-inch larger than the 18′ by 10′ requirement.

“Surely RA staff should be able to exercise some reasonable judgment. Before issuing such notices,” Sud wrote in an email. “Is it really worth RA resources to. Have your staff enforcing such minor variations?”

Others like Jill Norvell said they received a similar letter concerning two boats they’ve had for eight years and 20 years. In the past, they’ve received no enforcement letters and have paid annual permanent mooring fees as required.

Residents say that RA should consider grandfathering all current boats, unless they have major compliance issues and focus on new boats in the area.

Here’s more from RA on the issue:

The Reston Association Board of Directors and staff are required to enforce all Deed requirements approved by the association’s 21,000 members. Included in the Deed are specific boat size requirements for the use of Reston’s lakes. Recently, 50 members received individual letters from RA indicating their boats do not conform to the Deed specifications. RA is in the process of making some adjustments to the measuring process which will remove some of the boats from their current non-conforming status. The association is also working with those affected boat owners that remain outside the approved measurements to memorialize an agreement between the parties that will effectively grandfather the existing non-conforming boats for the current homeowners. Should the property convey at some future time, the current owner would need to bring the boat into compliance with the deed requirements or have the boat removed from the lake.

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr