Labor Day marks the last day for all but two Reston Association pools.

Glade, North Shore, Ridge Heights and Lake Newport will be open though Monday evening (Labor Day).

RA moves on to “Season 5” on Tuesday. You can still get some swimming in between now and Sept. 25.

Here is the Season 5 schedule:

North Shore Heated Pool & Spa, 4 – 7 p.m. weekdays; 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. weekends

Ridge Heights Heated Pool, 4 – 7 p.m. weekdays;  11 a.m. – 7 p.m. weekends.

Photo: Ridge Heights Pool/file photo

Reston Association is in the early stages of determining the assessment amounts for for 2017, which may for the first time include options other than a flat-rate payment.

RA members have always paid the same amount annually ($657 in 2016), whether the household is a single apartment dweller or a large family in an expensive house.

At-large director Ray Wedell appealed to fellow board members last month that it was part time to change the system to make it more fair. He compared it to real estate tax, which is paid according to the value of a property.

“This is an issue 100 percent of the people would get behind,” Wedell said at the Board’s July 28 meeting.

RA CEO Cate Fulkerson said at a special board meeting this week she has directed staff to look into the issue and report some assessment breakdown possibilities at the board’s September meeting.

Meanwhile, though, the board has been asked to look at assessment options for 2017 that remain flat-rate payments.

For 2016, the RA Board voted to move $1 million on reserves that allowed the association to raise assessments $15 (2 percent) from the previous year and keep the number well below the maximum $718 allowed by RA bylaws.

Fulkerson said there may be similar money available for 2017. She asked the board at the special meeting to consider these options:

Option 1 – Use surplus cash of $1.1 million to help fund operating expenses and repair, replacement and reserve funds. Assessments would ride by $1, to $658.

Option 2 – Use surplus cash of $1 million. Raise assessments $6, to $663.

Option 3 – Use surplus cash of $500,000. Raise assessments $30, to $687.

Option 4 – Offer no surplus cash to other funds. Raise assessments $55, to $712.

The cap for 2017 assessments is $750.

The board will discuss the options, as well as the new tiered approach, in September.

See Fulkerson’s entire budget presentation on RA’s website.

The dog days of summer deserve a day just for dogs.

Reston Association is hosting a “Dog Paddle” Saturday at Dogwood Pool, 2460 Green Range Rd.

Before the pool closes up for the season, it’s Fido’s turn to take a dip.

Here is what you need to know:

The event is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The fee is $4 for RA members; $6 for non-members.

Humans are not allowed in the pool with the dogs. Humans must also sign a waiver and show proof their dog has a rabies vaccination. RA also reserves the right to ask any badly behaved dogs to leave.

Register at www.reston.org or in-person at RA’s member services office.

The event could also use some volunteers. Volunteers are needed in shifts from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Volunteer roles/responsibilities:

• Dog behavior monitors (these people will also help with setup in morning and cleanup in afternoon)
• Poo Patrol (handing baggies to the owners of dogs who “doo” their thing on the deck)

Coffee and granola bar breakfast will be provided in the morning. Pizza lunch will be provided at 12:30 p.m.

Volunteers must be comfortable outdoors for duration of event and like dogs. Volunteers cannot bring their own dog and volunteer at the same time, but they can bring their own dog during the other shift for free.

Contact Ha Brock, [email protected], to sign volunteer.

First sign of the end of summer 2016: Reston Association goes to a compacted schedule beginning Monday, Aug. 22.

Turning to RA’s “Season 4” is an annual event as many of the staff members return to college in mid-to-late August.

All 15 RA outdoor pools will be open through Sunday night on their regular schedules.

Beginning Monday, here is where to swim:

Glade Pool – Weekdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Weekends, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Lake Newport Pool – Weekdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Weekends, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Tuesdays.

North Shore Pool – Weekdays and weekends, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Wednesdays.

Ridge Heights Pool – Weekdays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Weekends, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Thursdays.

Season 5 will begin on Sept. 6, with Ridge Heights and North Shore remaining open after school (4 to 7 p.m.) weekdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekends through Sept. 25.

See the RA website for more details.

Photo: Lake Newport Pool/file photo

Reston Association’s Lake House is now fully renovated and open for business.

RA is promoting the facility in a “Reston Today” YouTube video as a lakefront retreat available for meetings, corporate outings, weddings and other gatherings. Rates start at $100 an hour.

The Lake House has already been booked for a number of special events in upcoming months, and will be used for after-school care weekdays this fall, RA officials say.

But the Lake House, formerly known as the Tetra Building, is still the subject of an internal investigation. RA will hold a special Board of Directors meeting on Aug. 23 (6:30 p.m. at RA headquarters) to appoint an independent firm to conduct a review of the Tetra/Lake House Referendum and Budgets and receive information on and the first draft of RA’s 2017 Operating and Capital Budgets.

The RA Board passed a motion several months ago to convene a citizens group to hire an independent auditing firm to get to the bottom of a $430,000 cost overrun on Lake House renovations.

It is still unknown what the auditing firm’s costs will be.

RA purchased the Lake House for $2.65 million in July 2015. The 33-year-old building on the shores of Lake Newport, which served as the Reston Visitors Center for about 20 years, added to RA’s contiguous open space and fended off the chance of commercial development.

But as renovations got underway, costs soon began mounting. RA’s Board of Directors voted in late May to move $430,000 from its operating fund to cover the Lake House overrun.

RA CEO Cate Fulkerson has found several budget variances and cost-savings measures to cover the $430,000, Reston Now has previously reported.

Reston Association will soon begin stream restoration projects on two eroded stream areas in Hickory Cluster and near Wiehle Avenue.

The work will begin in September and should be finished by the summer of 2017, Reston Association officials said in a release.

The cost of the projects will be about $4 million, but the costs will not be paid with RA funds. The money will come from the Northern Virginia Stream Restoration Bank (NVSRB), which collects money from developers who must mitigate unavoidable stream impacts on their projects.

Reston’s stream restoration project was approved in 2006, began in 2008 and continued through 2011 before funding became more limited. Read More

This is an op-ed by Reston resident Terry Maynard. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

Reston Association (RA) is in the midst of soliciting proposals to conduct what it calls an “independent” review of its handling of the Tetra (Lake House) purchase and renovation overrun, a process that promises more of the same poor processes and politicized results Restonians have seen for 18 months.

Most importantly, there’s the matter of RA characterizing this review as “independent.”  It is anything but that.

To be truly “independent,” the RA Board needs to step away completely from this process. Let the three community members named to the selection committee set the criteria for the review, let them then make the actual selection of the review firm and have them receive and approve the final report.

Further, and equally important, the RA staff should have no participation in the review other than to answer questions, provide information (including internal e-mails and discussion notes), and explain processes.    Read More

North Point-area residents packed a Reston Association meeting room Thursday to point out a long list of issues they have with plans to redevelop St. Johns Wood apartments.

Project developer Bozzuto has made several changes to its redevelopment plan for the 14-acre garden apartment complex over the last two years. The newest one calls for turning 250 units in nine garden-style buildings into 467 units and 46 townhouses.

That’s scaled down from the starting point for 625 units in 2014 and then 511 units and 51 townhouses in an amended plan earlier this year.

It’s still too much for a quiet, suburban-style residential neighborhood, residents said Thursday. They said the plan looked like “Inova Fairfax Hospital,” or a “VCU college dorm with a facade like the Mosaic District.”

“This is way too large,” said area resident Gary Fogel. “It is twice what is there now. If you told me 100 more units, that makes sense. But doubling it? That’s insane.”

Bozzuto reps say the complex at Reston Parkway, North Village Road and Center Harbor Road was identified for high density as far back as when Reston was first planned in 1964. The idea was to have critical mass around Reston’s village centers, said Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins.

“Basically, it has been underdeveloped,” Hudgins told the crowd. “The only place you will see density [growth] is near the village centers.”

However, the Reston Master Plan update in 2014 brought down the density allowances farther from the Metro. That’s why Bozzuto reworked St. Johns Wood, which is more than a mile from the future Reston Town Center station, from 46 dwelling units  per acre to 39 units per acre and now 36 units per acre.

The developer also has changed the facades of the townhouse to have cleaner lines and has scaled the buildings from six stories to five to rise no higher than the current tree line.

That’s still to much change for the character of the neighborhood, says Susanne Andersson-Tosado, who has organized a petition protesting the plan. Read More

The sixth annual Reston Kids Triathlon is taking place this Sunday, and Reston residents should be aware of blocked lanes on roads — as well as young athletes’ safety — if they are near the course.

The event is organized by Reston Association and the YMCA Fairfax County Reston. Proceeds benefit both nonprofit organizations. Volunteers are still needed for the event.

The event begins at 8 a.m. at Ridge Heights Pool, 11400 Ridge Heights Rd. Parking will not be available at the pool as the parking lot is being used for the bike transition area.

After the swim, the bike course will affect nearby streets:

The 6-8 year olds will ride down Ridge Heights Road from the Ridge Heights Pool to Seahawk Drive and then back to the pool.

Older kids will leave Ridge Heights Pool and head east to South Lakes Drive, west to Soapstone Drive to right on Ridge Heights Road in a two-mile loop (9-11 year olds will do one loop; 12-14 year olds will do two loops).

Roads will not be closed, but lanes will be blocked for race safety.

The run portion will take place on paths around Langston Hughes Middle School, South Lakes High School and Terraset Elementary School. Visit the race web page to see exact details by age group.

Registration for the event is full.

Photo: 2015 Reston Kids Triathlon/Courtesy Reston Association

Reston Association’s Pony Barn Working Group has spent about two years brainstorming ideas to transform the small recreational area off of Triple Crown Road.

Money has been allocated by RA, an engineering firm has been working on concepts and the site plan was estimated to have been submitted to Fairfax County this summer.

That is, until the working group recently got the call to stop.

In late June, RA CEO Cate Fulkerson told representatives of the Pony Barn group, as well as principals working on renovations for RA’s Central Services Facility to stop work until an independent review of the Lake House project could be conducted.

RA purchased the Lake House for $2.6 million in July of 2015 with plans to renovate and repurpose the former Reston Visitors Center into a building for community use. The renovations are complete — but came in at $430,000 over estimates. RA has formed a citizens group to hire an auditing firm to determine exactly what went wrong. That review, which will cost the association more money, is expected to be done this fall.

But that is not sitting well with the Pony Barn volunteers, who says stopping their own project “sends the wrong message.”

“Our members are very disillusioned,” Triple Crown resident and Pony Barn group member Renette Oklekwicz told the board at the RA Board meeting last week. “I have heard some say ‘I don’t trust RA. Are there any surprises here? They are never going to let us finish this project.’ ”

The Pony Barn project itself morphed from a $30,000 upgrade (for a new roof and flooring for the picnic pavilion) to a $350,000 overhaul, though RA approved $350,000 last year — before any major work started.  Read More

After months of discussing the title defect issue at meetings and in executive session, the MOU will move ahead after receiving four yes votes and two abstentions at Thursday’s board meeting.

Reston Town Center North is the 50-acre parcel of land owned by Fairfax County and Inova from Baron Cameron Avenue to New Dominion Drive. A land swap was approved by the county last fall in order to reorganize the parcel into blocks for development.

Future plans are likely to include a new Embry Rucker Community Shelter;  a new Reston Regional Library; a new building for community health, social and mental health services; a 90,000-square-foot indoor recreation center; and more housing and retail. A multi-acre park is planned for the center of the parcel.

From RA:

A large portion of the acreage within the redevelopment project area remains subject to the Reston Deed covenants, meaning this land is subject to RA Design Review Board review and new residents would be Reston Association members.

The association is seeking to prevent a “net loss” of open space within the project area. RA staff and counsel have been working with Fairfax County and INOVA Health Care Services for the past year to ensure the project does not infringe on the association’s objectives.

The MOU states that if a minimum of 10 acres of open space is not provided by RTCN by the end of the development process, then a “contribution of $64,340 per acre for each acre that the total area of open space is less than 10 acres shall be made to the Friends of Reston for Community Projects, Inc., to be used only for increasing the amount of or improving the quality of open space and natural areas in Reston.”

Several RA members spoke out at Thursday’s meeting both in opposition to to what one citizen called a “terrible agreement.” They were also upset that there was no opportunity for community discussion on the matter. Read More

Reston Association’s Board of Directors said last night it supports recommendations that the Baron Cameron Dog Park should, essentially, clean up its act.

The board voted to send a letter to the Fairfax County Park Authority, which operates Baron Cameron Park, asking for a meeting to discuss issues at the park and the working group’s suggested solutions.

RA members who live near the park, mostly in the Longwood Grove neighborhood, asked for RA’s help earlier this year in what has been an ongoing battle.

While noise complaints have been an issue for years, the working group — which included dog park users as well as Longwood Grove residents — also explained complaints about trash, behavior and the park’s appearance.

“I live in Longwood Grove, but a long way from the dog park,” said At-Large Director Michael Sanio. “I have seen my neighbors struggling with trying to have a voice with the county. What I learned from the working group is that not only were the neighbors unhappy, the dog park users were too.” Read More

Reston Soccer wants to team with Reston Association in order to vastly upgrade two soccer fields.

The organization says it is not asking RA for is cash; Reston Soccer reps say they will raise all the money for the renovations, as well as pay RA rent to use the fields.

In a presentation to RA’s Board on Thursday, Reston Soccer President Robert Anguizola said the organization’s wish list includes transforming Lake Newport Soccer’s two grass fields into artificial turf fields made of plant-derived infill; LED lighting on both fields; and a clubhouse building with bathrooms.

The project’s very preliminary estimate to replace the fields and install lighting would be $2.4 million, Anguizola said, adding that a better estimate would come when engineering work begins.

The RA Board will return in its September meeting with a proposal to ask the community in a member if it wants the fields. The referendum would most likely take place next spring.

“I know RA is not in the mood, or some would say does not have capability, to fund anything new,” said Anguizola. “We are not asking you to fund anything. We want to model this after the Walker Nature Education Center [which was built by grants and community fundraising].”

“In a referendum, we would ask  ‘Does community want this amenity? Yes or No. If the answer is yes, then we would go fundraise. What we would ask, if we donate the money, then we want promise we can use it. You would end up having surplus time [to rent it for] other uses and sports.”

RA might end up having to pay to maintain the fields, but those costs would be paid for by field rental fees. Anguizola says Reston Soccer currently pays RA about $7,000 annually (on a per-player basis for players who do not live in Reston).

Lake Newport is the most suitable place in Reston on which to build the turf fields, Anguizola added. Virginia laws prohibit a public-private partnership on a Fairfax County Park Authority field (such as at Lake Fairfax Park or at Baron Cameron Park) with special requests for usage. Also, Lake Newport is the only RA field complex with two fields, as well as space for other potential amenities such as the clubhouse or a tot lot.

Read More

Reston Association CEO Cate Fulkerson has found additional variances in the association’s budget to cover more than $430,000 of cost overruns that occurred in renovating the Lake House, according to RA documents.

After renovation costs were found to be nearly triple what the association had forecast, RA moved $430,000 from its operating fund to cover the deficit.

In June, Fulkerson said she found variances to cover about $355,000 of the money — including foregoing $15,000 of her own salary raise and potential bonus. The RA Board directed Fulkerson to come back to the July 28 meeting with more ways to save money.

New projections are that RA will save an additional $76,000 in seasonal hires, with about $30,000 of that savings happening from July to December of 2016.

Other cost savings are coming from not refilling an accounts receivable position ($114,000); forgoing hiring a land use assistant ($66,000); other hiring restructuring (about $100,000), among other changes.

See full savings projections on the graphic attached to this post.

RA purchased the Lake House, then known as the Tetra building, for $2.65 million in July 2015. The 33-year-old building on the shores of Lake Newport, which served as the Reston Visitors Center for about 20 years, added to RA’s contiguous open space and fended off the chance of commercial development.

But as renovations got underway, costs soon began mounting. RA’s Board of Directors voted in late May to move $430,000 from its operating fund to cover the Lake House overrun. Read More