Reston Association is expanding its Volunteer Reston Service Awards in 2017 to include more recognition categories. Nominations opened Jan. 27 and can be made through March 17.

RA’s service awards recognize individuals, families, groups and businesses that make a significant contribution to the community through volunteer service.

The 2017 awards winners will be announced at a special ceremony during National Volunteer Week, Thursday, April 27, from 6:30-9 p.m. at The Lake House.

Every year, hundreds of Reston volunteers give their time to make a difference in the lives of those around them. RA volunteers participate in community cleanup and environmental events; take shifts at community events and festivals; serve on the RA Board of Directors, advisory committees and working groups; and others provide daily operational support to the association.

Completed nomination forms should be brought to the RA headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive) and left for Ha Brock, RA’s volunteer supervisor. They can also be mailed in or emailed to [email protected].

Photo via Reston Association

Editor’s note: Since the publication of this op-ed, Reston Now has instituted a policy of no longer publishing letters to the editor that are personal attacks against individuals. 

This is an op-ed submitted by Ed Abbott, co-coordinator of Reston Recall. It does not reflect the opinions of Reston Now.

Reston Association still lacks a Code of Ethics, but we know a conflict of interest when we see one.

Eve Thompson, Director At-Large, and her husband, Rick, own the Lake Anne Coffee House as well as their condo at Lake Anne. Her husband, Rick, heads the Lake Anne of Reston Condominium Association (LARCA), which represents the owners of commercial and private properties in Lake Anne.

One of many items on a very crowded agenda at the last board meeting was a discussion of improvements to the Lake Anne docks, above and beyond the necessary repairs that are already in the budget. Mr. Thompson explained the project to the board with a very nice slideshow. He showed the board the location of the new docks and what a nice improvement they would make to the ambience of Lake Anne.

Unfortunately, neither Mr. Thompson nor Ms. Thompson, nor anyone else for that matter, volunteered the information that the presenter was the spouse of Director Eve Thompson. Nor did the Board discuss the possible conflict of interest inherent in having the husband of a board member present before the board as president of a condominium association seeking to get the RA to spend RA members’ money on a new capital spending project that would primarily benefit the property owners and businesses of Lake Anne.

A motion was introduced to hold a public hearing related to the proposed capital improvements of the docks. When Eve Thompson started to speak in favor of the motion, Director Lucinda Shannon raised the issue of Ms. Thompson’s conflict of interest. Ms. Thompson retorted that her ownership of a condo and a coffee house at Lake Anne were not conflicts.

So what are the obligations of directors when it comes to conflicts of interest (COI)? First and foremost, the COI statement must be complete and accurate, signed under penalty of being removed from the board. What does Ms. Thompson disclose about her potential conflicts? Not a whole lot. Her ownership of the Lake Anne Coffee House isn’t included. Nor is her husband’s connection to the Lake Anne of Reston Condominium Association.

Just to be clear, the statement requires that “all assets… located in Reston or involved in Reston-based activities” be listed. Ms. Thompson’s statement was incomplete and inaccurate when she signed it in April 2015, and it is still incomplete and inaccurate.

Since most directors are property owners in Reston, potential conflicts of interest are inevitable when the board conducts business. The right way for the RA board to handle these issues would be for a director to disclose a potential conflict up front, before the discussion starts. The other members of the board and/or counsel can then decide if it is appropriate for the director to participate or if she should recuse herself.

The worst way for a board to conduct business is for the director to fail to disclose a potential conflict and then disagree about it when called on it by another director.

If the board is so lackadaisical in enforcing its own COI rules, what other conflicts and self-dealing has occurred or is occurring? The Tetra property purchase comes to mind. This may be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. We may never know unless we change the membership of the board.

Thousands of Jobs Added in County — The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority says 160 U.S.-based and 34 foreign-based companies worked with them to add about 7,500 jobs in 2016. [Fairfax County EDA]

Reston Association Committees Meet Next Week — The calendar for Reston Association next week includes meetings of the Board Operations Committee, Environmental Advisory Committee and Community Engagement Advisory Committee, as well as the Design Review Board panel. [Reston Association]

Seniors Invited to See ‘Age of Love’ — Reston Community Center will host a showing of “Age of Love” for people 55 and up next Friday. The film is described as “comic and poignant.” Dessert and a discussion will follow. [Reston Community Center]

Polar Plunge is Next Weekend — Don’t forget, the 10th annual “Freezin’ for a Reason” Virginia Polar Dip is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 11 at Lake Anne Plaza. There is still time to get involved, or to just make plans to attend. [Lake Anne Plaza]

Four positions on the Reston Association Board of Directors will be up for vote in this spring’s election, and the names of the candidates have been released.

No incumbents for those seats are on the list.

Up for vote for three-year terms are an at-large seat currently held by Jeff Thomas; the Hunters Woods/Dogwood District seat, currently held by Lucinda Shannon; and the apartment owners’ seat, currently held by board president Ellen Graves.

Graves has reached her two-term limit. Neither Thomas nor Shannon, who are each coming to the end of their first term, applied for re-election.

The North Point District seat currently held by Danielle LaRosa will also be up for vote. LaRosa was elected in 2016 but will resign at the end of her first year. The person elected to fill the seat will serve the remaining two years on the existing term.

Candidates for the seats on the nine-person board are as follows:

At-Large Director (3-year term)
Roberto Anguizola
Eric Carr
Mike Collins
Charles Dorfeuille
Ven Iyer
HeidiAnne Werner

Hunters Woods/Dogwood District Director (3-year term)
Syazana Durrani
Victoria White

North Point District Director (2-year term)
Arlene Krieger
John Mooney
Don Wright

Apartment Owners’ Representative (3-year term)
David Bobzien
Hank Schonzeit
Kevin Witt

More information about each candidate is available at the Reston Association website.

As defined by Reston Association, the board is responsible for the following:

· Determining the long-range mission and goals of the association
· Establishing RA policies and procedures
· Monitoring finances, approving budgets and setting the annual assessment rate

The deadline for potential candidates to file was Jan. 27. Candidates have until Friday to withdraw their applications, according to Mike Leone, RA communications director.

Votes will be cast by residents between March 6 and April 3. Election winners will be announced at the RA board’s April 11 meeting, with the new board to be sworn in the following day.

(This article was edited on Jan. 31 at 1:45 p.m. to better contextualize a statement made by CEO Cate Fulkerson.)

No public hearing on the proposed Lake Anne dock project was agreed upon by Reston Association Board of Directors at its meeting last week, following spirited discussion about the plan.

Bridget Hill of the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization addressed the board with a number of ideas for the future of the Lake Anne Village Center, which were the results of a 2015 community charrette. Ideas ranged from enhanced lighting and concrete pavers to the addition of kiosks or even a floating restaurant.

Garrett Skinner, RA’s new director for capital improvements, made his suggestion to the board — to proceed with a direct replacement of the dock and set a public hearing for community input on the future phase of the project.

Multiple board members took umbrage with the second part of that recommendation. Director Lucinda Shannon said she could not understand why discussion of another potential capital improvement plan would be scheduled while others have already been placed on hold.

“Let’s take care of what we already have, and not keep adding more,” Shannon said.

Shannon was referring to the Pony Barn and Central Services projects, which are both on hold until the review of the Lake House project is complete.

CEO Cate Fulkerson said the board was approached by representatives of the Lake Anne Merchants Association and Lake Anne of Reston Condominium Association regarding the project.

“We wanted to make sure the board had an opportunity to learn about the charrette and have a public input session before you decided what you wanted to do,” she said. “We’re going to move ahead with the other piece, because it’s really important to maintain what we have, but this was a community request.”

Direct replacement of the existing dock, which RA Parks and Recreation Director Larry Butler said has had no major refurbishment in about 20 years, is scheduled to cost about $400,000. Those funds have already been allocated. Additional changes would require review by RA’s Design Review Board and Fairfax County’s Architectural Review Board, which considers changes to Historic Overlay Districts such as Lake Anne Plaza.

When Eve Thompson, the board’s secretary, joined the conversation, Shannon cut her off by saying she has a “serious conflict of interests” regarding the project. Thompson and her husband are Lake Anne residents and own the Lake Anne Coffee House. Board President Ellen Graves asked Shannon to “be respectful” of her fellow directors.

“The fact that I own a coffee house and an apartment, I don’t believe is a conflict,” Thompson said. “I’m a community member who has an opinion about the dock.”

Thompson asked the board why they would not consider the opportunity of improving a facility when it arises, as they would with a baseball park.

“[Do we replace an amenity] exactly as it is, or do you look at it and say, ‘Let’s improve it?'” she said.

Fulkerson said the issue was being brought to the board’s attention only so they could learn about the ideas on the table and determine what they want to do going forward.

“I want to be respectful of the fact that you’ve had a member request,” Fulkerson said. “We just need to know what to do next. That’s why we’re here.”

Director Ray Wedell said it was “crazy” that the board was spending so much time talking about the project at its January meeting. He said with as many as four new directors arriving in this year’s election, it would make more sense to allow the new board to make such a decision.

“This is an important project, and I’m not going to rush in and say, ‘This is going to look cool,’ and ‘Wow, wouldn’t Lake Anne look neat?'” he said. “I don’t know why we’re spending time putting an agenda together that goes till midnight on stuff we don’t have to deal with right now.”

No motion was made on advancing the project.

Timeline chart via Reston Association

The Reston Association Board of Directors decided at their Thursday meeting to hold off until next month on determining whether to add the future Sunrise Square cluster to RA.

CEO Cate Fulkerson had planned to ask for board consideration of the request following a public hearing at the meeting; however, that decision was postponed after a number of questions were raised by both board members and community residents.

The property is located at 11690 Sunrise Valley Drive, the former site of the American Press Institute headquarters. That building was demolished last fall.

Concerns raised Thursday regarding bringing the new development into Reston Association included a clause written into the agreement that would make RA responsible for maintaining a shared-use public space on the property; and the fact that as the property is not yet part of RA, development was not scheduled to be considered by the Design Review Board.

Director Ray Wedell said he didn’t feel comfortable making a decision one way or the other on the property until the board had fully considered what approval would mean.

“This is just one of many [new developments] coming up, and it’s going to be somewhat of a test case. Like it or not, it may set some kind of precedent — good and bad — on a lot of different issues here,” Wedell said. “I don’t want to open doors to give people a back doorway for getting things approved that shouldn’t be approved, nor do I want to set a precedent of us appearing to be obstructionist or over-regulatory.”

Eve Thompson, board secretary, said it is important for new developments in Reston’s Transportation Station Area corridor to become members of RA, but that the situation involves “walking a tightrope.”

“We want the membership — the property is going to get developed regardless of what we say or do,” she said. “So we’re trying to get them in the fold without [giving up too much].”

Director Sherri Hebert said the loophole created by allowing the development into RA before it goes down the channels required for existing properties would be “dangerous.”

“It’s not going to meet our standards, our Reston principles,” she said. “I’m not sure that I would want to create that loophole and precedent for anybody else on the TSA to do the same thing, come after the fact and say, ‘We want to be members, but we just bypassed everything that you value in Reston.'”

Citizen Irwin Flashman also addressed the board, saying he didn’t believe there had been enough notice of the public hearing.

“There needs to be much more time for the public to review the documents, think about them, discuss them and raise questions to the board as to whether this is appropriate or not,” he said. “Too often we have seen with the Reston Association a rush to judgment, and too often, the rush to judgment has been wrong.”

Fulkerson said information about the proposal was provided to the Board Operations Committee in November, and that proper public hearing announcements were made.

The board eventually decided to hold a second public hearing on the matter at its Feb. 23 meeting, with RA committees including the Design Review Board to examine the plan before that time.

The Reston Association Board of Directors has agreed to a $45,000 independent review of its Lake House project, to be conducted by the StoneTurn Group. Terms of the review require the work to be completed by Feb. 28.

According to information provided by the Reston Association board about the deal:

StoneTurn was one of the original finalists chosen by the Tetra Review Committee to conduct the impartial study. After a local company, Mediaworld Ventures LLC, terminated contract negotiations with the Reston Association earlier this month, the board moved to enter into negotiations with StoneTurn immediately during its regular monthly meeting Thursday.

Several concerned residents addressed the board Thursday evening, following the announcement by Vice President Michael Sanio, to share their thoughts about the ongoing saga. Karen Wilkens, of Waterview Cluster, said she is frustrated about what she sees as continued overspending on the project.

“I’ve lost a lot of faith in Reston Association, and I’m stunned to hear that you’re contemplating signing a contract that would spend an additional $45,000 on that property,” she said. “The amount of money that was overspent, it’s gross negligence.”

The Lake House property was purchased from Tetra in 2015, for a cost nearly double its tax assessment. Renovations on the property to transform it into a community building have cost three times more than expected. An independent audit was requested.

Mediaworld Ventures LLC came together and announced they would do the work for a $1 fee. After months of negotiations with the RA board over the details, that proposal fell through with finger-pointing from both sides.

Reston resident Jill Gallagher, a management consultant and former budget analyst, was a member of the Mediaworld committee. She addressed the board Thursday night and expressed her sorrow over the fact that the hard work the committee did was, they view, stonewalled by the RA board.

“I was very disappointed that we didn’t get the contract,” Gallagher said. “We had worked very hard from August until the end to try to understand what happened.”

Gallagher provided board members, for the record, with the assessment the committee had drawn up regarding the meeting at which the board voted on a referendum to purchase the property.

“We had many, many questions, including a two-hour executive session that occurred before the project was even presented. To members, it looks like a lot of the decisions were made before you even heard about the project,” Gallagher said. “A lot of things happened at that meeting that your members are not aware of. I think that is the source of this problem.”

Ed Abbott, representing Reston Recall, provided the board with a report on what his group — which has the expressed goal of having board members involved in the Tetra/Lake House purchase removed — has analyzed about the deal.

“The only way Reston gets back to its purpose as defined in the deed, articles of incorporation and bylaws, is to elect a board with a majority of members who will undertake a thorough evaluation of RA’s organization including but not limited to the senior staff leadership team,” Abbott said. “Reston Recall will be reaching out to the candidates in the upcoming election and supporting those that agree.”

Concerns about the quality of the board’s minutes were also brought up during the meeting — first by a director, Sherri Hebert, who questioned the report from a Dec. 7 special meeting with the Mediaworld committee.

“[The minutes] lacked any substance, meaning there was nothing in the minutes that even talked about why the meeting was happening, nor what some of the major concerns were within the discussions,” Hebert said. “I’d like to see the minutes be added to… to add some of that context to the minutes. Minutes should be written so that if we want to reflect on them at some future time, we know what happened.”

Board Secretary Eve Thompson said the board’s standard for minute-taking is not to try to capture the dialogue, but rather just to capture topics and decisions.

“I believe I followed the standard as I understood it,” Thompson said. “What else would one put? That people were upset? That people were happy? … I don’t think it’s realistic and it’s not the standard of any of our minute capture to try to do that.”

The Dec. 7 meeting was also not video recorded and placed on YouTube, as regular meetings are.

The board eventually agreed to re-assess the minutes from the Dec. 7 and Dec. 13 meetings and bring them back for approval at February’s meeting.

Citizens who spoke later in the meeting also expressed their feelings about what they see as bare-bones minutes. Resident James Dean said given controversial actions such as the Lake House purchase, residents deserve more from the board’s meeting reports.

“It may be usual for you to just record votes and actions,” Dean said. “[But] your membership wants more information from you than just a recording of your actions and your votes.”

The next meeting of the Reston Association Board of Directors is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23.

RA Summer Camp Registration Starts Soon — In its latest “Reston Today” video, Reston Association reminds residents that summer camp signups begin next week. [Reston Association/YouTube]

Foreign Policy to Be Topic of Community Library Event — The Reston Regional Library invites anyone with an interest in current events and U.S.-foreign relationships to take part in a roundtable discussion Friday. The topic of the day’s activities, which will also include a film, is “The Future of Europe.” [Fairfax County Public Library]

‘Party Time! Excellent!’ — It has been 25 years since “Wayne’s World” hit the big screens. Now, Wayne and Garth will be back in select theaters across the nation for two nights only, Feb. 7-8. Bowtie Cinemas at Reston Town Center will be among those showing the film, along a special introduction and a discussion among the film’s stars, on Feb. 8. [WaynesWorld25.com]

Hitchcock Classic to Be Shown at RCC — If “Wayne’s World” isn’t your idea of a classic, perhaps you’d be interested in an upcoming film presentation at Reston Community Center’s CenterStage instead. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film “Rear Window” will be shown at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 6, preceded by a free continental breakfast. [Reston Community Center]

Among the items on the agenda for this month’s meeting of the Reston Association Board of Directors is a report on the status of the Lake House review. In addition, the Board’s executive session is scheduled in part for the purpose of discussing “contractual matters related to Tetra/Lake House review.”

Board Vice President Michael Sanio is scheduled to deliver the report during Thursday’s meeting. No details about its contents were made available within the meeting packet.

The Lake House, formerly known as the Tetra building, is located off Baron Cameron Avenue between Lake Newport Tennis and Brown’s Chapel Park. Reston Association passed a referendum to buy the building in May 2015 for $2.6 million. Needed renovations were budgeted for about $259,000; however, that number quickly ballooned to $655,000.

An independent review of that cost was planned, with a local group called Mediaworld Ventures LLC announcing they would do the work for a $1 fee. After months of negotiations over the details, that proposal fell through with finger-pointing from both sides.

Among other items on the agenda for the meeting are the following:

Overview of Elections & Referenda Resolution 3; Campaign Rules & Standards of Conduct

Public Hearing — Addition to Property Request Sunrise Square

RA Position on Reston Transportation Funding Plan

Fairfax County Specimen Tree Designation Request

Capital Improvement Planning — Lake Anne Dock & Dredging Project

The board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at RA’s offices (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive).

This is an op-ed submitted by Mediaworld Ventures LLC. It does not reflect the opinions of Reston Now.

To our fellow Reston Association members,

We are the Reston residents who came together under Mediaworld Ventures LLC and were selected to conduct an independent review of Reston Association’s acquisition of the Lake House, and subsequent renovation budget overrun. We were selected over many applicants for our professional expertise, our commitment to service and our cost of $1. Our sole intent was to serve our membership and help Reston Association improve its processes.

From September until December, we were involved in detailed negotiations with Reston Association and its attorney over a consulting agreement that established the terms of the independent review. Our team worked countless hours reviewing and amending the 17-page agreement to ensure the review’s integrity and members’ interests were protected. The conditions presented to us were extremely restrictive and we felt they would hinder our ability to conduct a truly independent review. Further, the agreement did not guarantee a public release of the final report by the Reston Association, which our team felt was critical to “ensuring the concerns of the community were addressed” — a condition in the RFP, set by Reston Association, which we agreed to meet.

When we reached an impasse with the Reston Association attorney we requested a meeting with the Board. At a public meeting on Dec. 7, we highlighted four major issues that we felt would hinder our ability to fulfill our obligation. We believed the Board understood our concerns regarding the restrictive terms and tone of the agreement, and we hoped it would result in a more reasonable agreement, especially after we learned that the Board signed a simpler, four-page contract with another consulting firm. Although the revised agreement we received in return resolved some of our concerns, it contained additional terms and conditions leaving a number of issues unresolved. In spite of the Association’s offer to pay for liability insurance, we felt that there was still an unacceptable level of risk remaining in the last proposed revised draft. Given the almost three months of contending with some of the same issues we had raised earlier, we felt the likelihood that further negotiations would be productive were minimal and that it would be best to terminate the negotiations.

We are very disappointed that we could not come to terms with Reston Association on this work. A more detailed review of the contract negotiation can be found at http://reston2020.blogspot.com/2017/01/review-of-mediaworld-contract.html.

Dick Stillson

Jill Gallagher

Moira Callaghan

John Higgins

Sridhar Ganesan, President, Mediaworld Ventures LLC

For some, this was just a three-day weekend.

But for 100 Reston volunteers of all ages, Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend provided an opportunity to give back to their community. Reston Association and Reston Community Center partnered with Southgate Community Center, Cornerstones and The Closet on several community service projects Saturday.

Among the projects completed by volunteers were an outdoor cleanup; the sorting of donated toys and preparation of bagged lunches for the residents of the Embry Rucker Community Shelter; and the organization of the Southgate Community Center library and kitchen.

“Volunteers demonstrated that we each have the power to make our community a stronger and more vibrant place to live, work, play and get involved,” said Ha Brock, Reston Association’s volunteer supervisor. “Many thanks to everyone that participated in the National Day of Service.”

Brock says it’s not too late to volunteer.

“If you would like to continue to get involved, Reston Association offers a variety of opportunities in our community,” she said.

More information about Reston Association’s volunteer program is available at their website.

More than a dozen new recycling bins are being installed around Reston in the attempt to reduce trash in the community.

Reston Association says it has purchased 13 custom-made recycling bins, designed to fit the “Restonesque” style approved by the Design Review Board.

According to information provided by Reston Association:

RA staff will install the bins in high-use areas throughout the community, including sports fields and recreational facilities. RA is working on additional strategies to reduce trash and increase recycling.

Mike Leone, RA’s communications director, said local businesses sponsor the cost of the bins.

“We are always seeking individual and business donors to fund the purchase of new recycle bins,” Leone said. “The Friends of Reston, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit volunteer organization of Reston Association, works with our staff doing the fundraising for the purchase of more bins.”

The “Adopt a Bin” program is an attempt to drum up support for the recycling effort in the community. Donations can be made in any amount. For a $1,000 donation, an individual or company can have their name or company logo placed on a plaque on the bin.

RA crews service the bins and deliver their contents to the Fairfax County collection site.

Reston residents applying for pool and tennis passes for the coming season are being asked to include photographs — even for children as young as 1.

The new rule for 2017 is meant to increase security, but one resident who contacted Reston Now wonders if it might have the opposite effect.

“Requiring photo[s] of children seems like quite a liability to me,” the resident, a father of two young children, said in communication with Member Services that he shared. “If someone hacks [RA’s] systems they have pictures of all of our children and now knows where they live so they can choose which one to kidnap.”

Photos will only appear in RA’s database, not on the physical card, explained Laura Kowalski, RA’s deputy director of recreation.

“I do understand the concern about the kids, but [photos are] not being shared,” she said, adding that she is confident about the security of the system.

Kowalski said photos were printed on passes “many years ago,” but that practice was phased out. In recent years, a few residents have raised concerns about having their addresses printed on them. She said questions about security were taken into account before the new system was settled upon.

“When we researched and finally landed on the new registration system with Vermont Systems… we listened to what members’ concerns were about security, as well as how we could mitigate sharing of passes,” Kowalski said.

In 2014, passes being sold on Craigslist to non-residents drew RA’s attention. Passes are not transferable, according to Reston Association rules. Kowalski said she has encountered situations in the past where she knew passes were being misused.

“I’ve been in a pool helping someone by popping in that day, and saying [to a patron] ‘Hi, how are you?'” Kowalski said. “They show me the pass and I think, ‘Huh. I know this person, and you’re not that person.'”

Mike Leone, RA’s communications director, said the new system — including the photo registration — is designed to stop such transfers.

“Under the old system, pass swapping was a concern and RA had no way to prevent it,” he said. “So the new system provides a better, more secure system ensuring only those with a pass can get into the pool facility.”

RA’s new WebTrac online registration system is being used to sell and register pool and tennis passes. Swiping devices are being installed in all 15 RA pool facilities to handle the new system.

Residents will show their pass upon entering a facility. It will be scanned, and the pass holder’s picture will then be displayed to the staff member on duty. If it doesn’t match, entrance will be denied.

“The new system provides greater accountability, reporting data and enhanced member satisfaction and convenience,” said Mike Leone, RA communications director. “Once they have the new pass card, they won’t have to wait in long lines here at RA to obtain their annual passes, which has been the case every year in the past as pool season approaches.”

The concerned resident, though, said he has a simpler solution to the problem.

“Just require that adults bring [photo] ID,” he said. “The TSA doesn’t even require ID for children under 18 and they’re trying to stop terrorism.”