Reston Association’s Board of Directors on Thursday approved a $16.9 million budget for 2016-17, which sets the member assessment rate at $657 for next year.
The $657 annual assessment is a 2-percent increase from 2015. The amount was held in check from rising closer to $700 when the board voted several weeks ago to use a surplus of $1 million to minimize the assessment fee increase.
The 2015 member assessments were $642. Overall, rates have risen $67 since 2013. See the assessment rates since 2000 on this previous Reston Now article.
The 2017 assessment rate will be determined later next year when additional budget adjustments are made. However, an additional $1 million won’t be available, so the assessments could rise closer to the $718 cap, RA treasurer Dannielle LaRosa said at a budget meeting two weeks ago.
Members can pay in one payment or in six installments. There is also a reduced rate for members whose properties are valued at $132,000 or less.
“For the first time ever, the board took the opportunity to utilize a portion of the association’s operating cash surplus to fund some of the 2016 capital projects,” RA President Ellen Graves said. “The transfer of $1 million of excess operating cash in 2016 now makes it possible for RA to move forward with all proposed capital projects with association members funding a smaller portion in 2016 than would otherwise have been possible if the operating cash surplus were not available.”
Graves outlined some of the association’s goals for 2016:
Increased monitoring and advocacy of land-use matters with a focus on new residential development projects enhanced multimodal transportation infrastructure, a comprehensive plan for pedestrian/pathway lighting, and the establishment of design guidelines for new mixed use/urban projects in Reston.
Utilizing the services of a grant-writing firm to identify funding opportunities for capital projects and recreational programming.
Investment in new technology to provide members with a greatly improved online experience for pool and tennis pass purchases, RA Camp and program registrations, financial processes and electronic document access.
Expanded mowing, trimming, weeding and curb cleaning of roadways under VDOT control in Reston. The association will be seeking reimbursement from VDOT for these services.
Maintenance and improvements to RA pools, pavilions, lakes and ponds, ball fields and tennis facilities.
The board also voted to direct Chief Executive Officer Cate Fulkerson to provide the board with a report on any proposed amendments or modifications to the 2017 Operating & Capital Budgets no later July 2016 and the direct the Chief Financial Officer to provide the board with an end-of-year 2015 cash analysis in February 2016 and a mid-year cash analysis to the board in July 2016.
RA plans more than $5 million in capital repair and replacements in 2016 and 2017, including a remodel of the Pony Barn Recreation Area; replacement of several baseball backstops; buying two buses for camp transportation; and an overhaul of the Central Services facility.
The RA Board discussed looking into a fee structure change for upcoming years to reflect property values and household income. Doing so would require a change to the Reston deed, said RA attorney Ken Chadwick.
“The higher the assessment gets the more we have to look at whether it makes sense that a 700 square-foot condo has to pay the same as a 5,000 square-foot lakefront property,” said Lake Anne/Tall Oaks Director Eve Thompson. “We just have to remain sensitive to the reality of living in a fiscally diverse environment.”
Reston Association’s Board of Directors is in the midst of budget planning for 2016 and 2017 and is eying spending more than $5 million over the two years on a long list of improvements, including a revamp of the Pony Barn recreation area and the Central Services area.
The association is looking at a $2.4 million Capital Repair and Replacement Budget for next year (boosted by $98,000 from Comstock’s $650,000 developer contribution from the Tetra purchase and the addition of BLVD apartments). The proposed budget will be $2.8 in 2017, with a $48,000 influx of Comstock money.
What’s RA planning on doing with the money? Repairing aging facilities, of course, but also acquiring some new additions.
There will be a public hearing on RA’s proposed 2016-17 budget Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at RA offices, 12001 Sunrise Valley Dr. The RA Board — which says assessments will likely be $657 in 2016 — will vote on the biennial budget and member assessment rates by the end of the year.
Here are some of the planned spending areas:
Trails: $176,130 (2016) and $181,414 (2017) for asphalt overlays on RA trails.
Ball fields: $87,080 (2016) and $99,096 (2017) for ball field renovation and repair, including: Renovation and a new backstop at two Hook Road fields; renovation and a new backstop at Lake Newport fields; and a new backstop at Brown’s Chapel fields.
Lakes: $319,300 for repairs and replacement of the Lake Anne dock. Partial payment for the Lake Anne Dam ($480,583); a Lake Anne Outlet Riser ($266,602); a Lake Anne Outlet Barrel ($24,175) and $313,600 for Lake Newport dredging.
Central Services: $1.6 million over the two years for renovations at the Central Services facility.
Pony Barn: $175,000 each year for renovations at the Pony Barn. This project began with RA setting aside $30,000 to add lighting and a new floor in the aging picnic pavilion. Community and citizen committee recommendations, however, morphed the approved project into one with new play equipment, better accessibility for those with disabilities and kiosks with historical info, among other amenities.
Fleet: $223,304 in 2016 for vehicle maintenance and additions; $108,000 to purchase two camp buses. RA currently leases vans in summer for camper transportation.
Miscellaneous: $15,000 for improved path lighting in 2016 and $95,352 for an improved telephone call management system.
See the entire proposal draft on RA’s website.
Graphic: Pony Barn improvement rendering/Credit: RA
Who is ready for a little bicycling before feasting?
Reston Association is organizing its annual Thanksgiving Day Bike Ride. Want to take part? Here is what you need to know.
Ride starts Thursday, Nov. 26 (Thanksgiving Day) at 9 a.m.
The main ride meets up at at South Lakes Village Center, 11120 South Lakes Drive at 8:30 a.m. RA also encourages you to organize your own group of riders leaving from your neighborhood.
All rides converge at Starbucks at Reston Town Center.
Contact [email protected] or call 703-966-6182 for more information and to connect with a ride coordinator in your neighborhood.
Machinery is out on Lake Anne as dredging is taking place there for the next several weeks.
Contractor Lake Services says the dredging should be completed by early December.
Reston Association says it is dredging the coves to clear accumulated sediment and leaf debris to improve boat and shoreline access as well as provide additional water storage areas and deeper areas for fish.
Friday’s decision by a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge to vacate last spring’s Board of Zoning Appeals decision means a setback for potential developers — and a small victory for open space proponents.
That does not mean the 166-acre public golf course will automatically remain open space forever. However, the decision does make it more difficult for developers to come in with a new plan.
Plus, Friday’s development may wind up in higher court eventually.
Judge Michael Devine on Friday granted the motion for summary judgment filed by lawyers for Rescue Reston, Reston Association and other parties concerned about Reston’s open space. He also vacated the Board of Zoning Appeals decision from earlier in 2015.
This means that golf course owners RN Golf Management would have to file a formal plan with Fairfax County in order to pursue redevelopment of the course.
The motion was filed last spring after the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals ruled, after a complicated and lengthy BZA hearing and the ruling that RN Golf would not need a comprehensive plan amendment to plan residential development on acreage.
Devine said RN Golf had based its case on a letter from the county zoning administrator, which the court in effect found was merely an advisory opinion and was not appealable.
The issue dates back to 2012, when RN Golf asked Fairfax County if the course at Sunrise Valley and Colts Neck Road could be considered residential. Fairfax County Planning and Zoning said no, it’s open and recreational space. After several postponements, RN Golf filed an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
John McBride, RA’s land counsel, said the ruling is significant because any redevelopment of the course must now be preceded by the filing of specific plans with the county, which will then be compared with the “Development Plans” approved in 1971. The 1971 plans were the main focus of the five-hour BZA hearing in January.
“These plans are in the county zoning files and clearly limit use of the land to a golf course, open space and driving range,” RA says. “Any change to these approved plans will require amendment approval by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. The golf course owner had sought to avoid this requirement for a plan amendment by seeking by-right use status for a number of residential and other uses.”
So that means that RN Golf, which has never shown plans for what it would like to develop at the course, will now have more hoops to jump through should it want to build a residential neighborhood.
“The association is pleased with the circuit court’s ruling,” said RA CEO Cate Fulkerson. “Now, if pursued by the owner of the golf course, any proposed redevelopment of the golf course property or any portion thereof will have to go through the proper county and community review process.”
Rescue Reston President Connie Hartke says her group, formed in response to the original filing in 2012, will continue to be vigilant against development.
“While we have won this round, the fight is not over and RN Golf still has other options available to it including appealing today’s ruling or attempting to amend the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan,” Hartke said on Friday. “We must remain prepared to continue the fight so long as RN Golf remains committed to its attempts to destroy our community’s valuable open space.
The Reston Association Board of Directors has found an surplus $1 million to keep assessments from rising more than $15 in 2016. But what will happen in 2017?
That is the question RA Board Treasurer Dannielle LaRosa (North Point) posed to the board in a budget meeting on Monday.
Two weeks ago, LaRosa presented to the board a plan to move the cash from its operating fund reserves — which built up partially as a result of assessments being overfunded for several years.
The board liked the plan, and voted to use option two of three presented to them — to offer assessments at $657 next year, a 2-percent ($15) increase from this year’s $642 and far under the $718 assessment cap.
On Monday, LaRosa wanted to make certain the board understood that the additional $1 million won’t be there at this time next year, and without some serious examination of future spending or an influx of revenue, assessments could rise by more than $40 in 2017 — flirting with the $700 mark.
“I honestly could not sleep without letting you know this is what we are approving,” said LaRosa.
LaRosa outlined some of the association’s biggest cost drivers. She pointed out that since 2011, RA has given 4 percent increases in salary and compensation. Professional and legal fees have increased about $240,000 in the last two years.
“We are putting off some hard choices that we are going to have to face in 2016-17,” said LaRosa.
Board members said there are some areas in which Reston should not curtail spending. Among them: keeping good employees and maintaining Reston’s assets.
“We have come to a good place with regards to 2016,” said At-Large member Ken Knueven. “I am confident we are addressing the issues a 50-year-old community has to address. Things have to be maintained. Old [RA] boards were doing a little ‘let the next board worry about it.’ This board has to step up, be frank tell the public we are going to do something about it.”
“Across-the-board cuts are meaningless to me,” he added. “Let’s start focusing on other side of equation — revenue.”
At-Large Director Ray Wedell said the large influx of new members expected with new residential construction means the RA membership could grow exponentially in coming years.
“That means an influx of dollars,” he said. “We should be raising revenue quite a bit. That in itself should do wonders in keeping assessments down.”
Take a look at the second draft of the 2016 budget on RA’s website.
There will be an additional budget meeting and public hearing Nov. 19 at RA headquarters. The board will vote on the final budget and assessment amount in late November or early December.
Reston Association’s Board of Directors is planning to move cash from its operating fund reserves in order to offset a large increase in member assessments for 2016.
Under RA guidelines, the assessment, $642 in 2015, could have jumped as high as $706 for 2016. It will now likely be $657, a $15 (2 percent) increase. The board will vote on the final budget and assessment amount in November. A public hearing on the budget will be held at RA Headquarters on Nov. 2.
At Thursday’s regular monthly board meeting, the board was was presented with three budget-related options for slowing the annual assessment fee.
The options all involve using about half of the association’s operating cash reserves for reducing the expected increase in the annual fee.
The second draft of the budget, presented to the board Thursday night, uses between $900,000 to $1.1 million of accumulated operating cash to pay down next year’s annual assessment.
- Option 1: $652 assessment ($1.1 million towards assessment reduction)
- Option 2: $657 assessment ($1 million towards assessment reduction)
- Option 3: $662 assessment ($900,000 towards assessment reduction)
The association’s Fiscal Committee recommended the board allocate $1 million (option 2) of anticipated 2015 cash surplus to the Repair, Replacement and Reserve Fund to be used toward the proposed 2016 capital projects.
Reston Association CEO Cate Fulkerson said the operating cash reserves have the surplus because of about $1 million in RA expenses in 2015 that likely won’t happen in 2016. Among them:
- $490,200 in salary adjustments, including wages due to employee promotions as well as a 12-percent rise in benefit costs, some of which has been passed on to employees, Fulkerson said.
- $148,000 in curb maintenance
- $147,500 in land use legal fees
- $105,000 in maintenance supplies and tools
- $84,000 in IT costs
- $27,000 for a new part-time volunteer assistant
- $1,400 in miscellaneous costs
Fulkerson said the Tetra purchase will not impact assessments until 2018.
Board members and RA staff said on Thursday they believe the reserve and capital accounts are adequately funded, which would allow the association to put a portion of the surplus money towards lowering assessment fees next year while also maintaining enough cash for future emergencies.
The money-saving idea was first presented to the board by North Point Director Dannielle LaRosa, the board treasurer, earlier this month.
“At the end of the year, I really would like the association to report back and say cash-wise, how much were we ahead,” LaRosa said on Thursday. “Some years it goes up and some years it goes down. I would like that to be built into something the CFO reports back to us.” Read More
Now that Metro has come to Reston, the biggest challenge is getting pedestrians, cyclists and drivers easily connected with public transportation.
That was the theme of a legislative forum sponsored by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce at Reston Station on Wednesday.
Officials at the state, county and Reston level gave their thoughts on moving Reston forward as it becomes a transit-oriented community.
However, issues, even temporary ones such as a crash, affect the region overall, said Marty Nohe, chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.
“There is no such thing as a Reston or Fairfax transportation problem,” he said. “At 5:15 p.m., a small fender bender in Prince William County can cause delays in Arlington. … Congestion relief is a top priority.”
Nohe said the NVTA has gotten nearly a half-billion dollars in new projects approved for Northern Virginia in the last three years.
At the county level, some of the most critical future projects include new crossings for the Dulles Toll Road; widening the Fairfax County Parkway; and implementing bus service to link this part of the county with the Springfield area, said Tom Biesiadny, director of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.
Biesiadny also said the following are of high importance: bicycle and pedestrian improvements, walkways and sidewalks on such roads as Fox Mill, Glade, North Shore, Soapstone, Sunrise Valley and Sunset Hills; and a bike/pedestrian overpass at the W&OD Trail at Wiehle and Sunset Hills.
He said the latter is currently moving forward with a design plan. Meanwhile, there will be an update on the Soapstone crossing of the Dulles Toll Road at a community meeting Monday evening at South Lakes High School.
“The Reston Comprehensive Plan, approved in 2014, includes significant enhancements in transportation,” he said. “That includes four toll road crossing areas and mixed-use development [around the Metro stations] and a grid of streets around the stations.”
Reston Association CEO Cate Fulkerson says RA is placing a high priority on “what we need to do to address connectivity” for pedestrians and cyclists using RA paths and roads.
Comstock Partners spokeswoman Maggie Parker said developers need to work together with government and RA to reach those goals.
“We need to pay attention to development, enhance the urban grid and not put impediments into that process,” she said.
Fulkerson agrees teamwork is necessary as transportation develops.
“An impediment would be not having all the people at the table when talking elements that need to go in.”
Reston Association is considering entering into a multi-year agreement with Fairfax County that will authorize RA to remove snow from county-owned trails in Reston.
Snow removal on the 1.5 miles of county trails will cost Reston Association $15,000 a year, RA CEO Cate Fulkerson says in a Board of Directors item that will be discussed at Thursday’s board meeting. RA would receive no money from the county for plowing the county’s trails.
RA is already responsible for plowing its own 55 miles of paths. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is responsible for snowplowing major roads, but does not shovel sidewalks on those roads.
RA’s 2015 budget allows for spending more than $800,000 on pathway maintenance and anticipates a 3 percent increase for 2016 and ’17.
RA and the county have been talking about teaming up on snow removal since early 2014. In February of 2014, the RA board authorized staff and legal counsel to move forward in their discussions with Fairfax County to develop and enter into an agreement for RA to plow certain portions of trails.
Without such an agreement, RA could not plow or shovel those trails without significant legal liability, RA’s legal counsel has previously said.
RA officials said at that time that plowing county-owned trails would help pedestrian connectivity in Reston, particularly near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. The proposal does not cover sidewalks.
Under the proposed agreement, RA would be responsible for routine maintenance will include general debris removal, minor asphalt patching, pruning/edge mowing, leaf removal as necessary, and snow plowing. The county will be responsible for major repairs and capital replacement.
The county-owned trails would include:
- The entire frontage of the real property located at Tax Map No. 11-2((8))(1B) (Reston Parkway at Route 7)
- The western side of Wiehle Avenue from Center Harbor Road to the southern intersection with Longwood Grove Drive
- The western side of Wiehle Avenue from Baron Cameron Avenue to North Shore Drive
- The western side of Wiehle Avenue from North Shore Drive to Inlet Court
- The western side of Wiehle Avenue from the Lake Anne dam embankment to Isaac Newton Square South
- The western side of Reston Parkway from Dulles Access Toll Road to Sunrise Valley Drive
- The northern side of Sunrise Valley Drive from Wiehle Avenue to Soapstone Drive
- The entire frontage of the real property located at Tax Map No. 27-1((16))(3) parcel 1 along Sunrise Valley Drive immediately adjacent to Campus Commons Drive
- The northern side of Sunrise Valley Drive from Alexander Bell Drive to the western intersection with Preston White Drive
- The northern side of Sunrise Valley Drive from approximately 80 feet west of the northern side of Sunrise Valley Drive from approximately 80 feet west of Hunter Mill Road to Alexander Bell Drive.
The agreement says Reston will only care for the county trails if there are available funds within its current maintenance budget and the availability of adequate funds to apply to such routine maintenance shall be determined at Reston’s sole discretion. In the event such funds are not currently available, Reston must tell the county.
The agreement says the the trails will be plowed upon the accumulation of two inches of snow and plowed clear after the snow storm has ended; trail shoulders should be mowed monthly in growing season; and potholes should be reported to the county. RA will not be responsible for making major repairs to county trails.
Photo: RA trail plows/file photo
The 14-member Tetra Working Group met last week to talk about what the future should hold for the building purchased by Reston Association over the summer.
RA closed in July on its $2.65-million purchase of the former Reston Visitors Center. RA members narrowly approved the purchase in a referendum last spring. The referendum capped a busy few months of community discussion, debate and opposition to the purchase.
RA purchased the building in order to preserve green space, stave off potential commercial development and add a community event space.
The acquisition gives the association 98 acres of contiguous space at Brown’s Chapel Park and Lake Newport Tennis. During community meetings, RA said it expects to use the space for events and rentals, after-camp care, a conference center, among other suggestions. Preliminary plans also call for a park on the shore of Lake Newport.
RA also forecasts earning revenue of more than $100,000 annually in rentals for events and groups.
RA recently organized a Tetra Working Group made up of community members to come up with specific uses for the building. Here’s an update of what the group discussed at its first meeting, according to an RA statement:
By December 2015, identify short and long-term indoor community use programming opportunities for the building.
By February 2016, propose concept plans that increase outdoor community use opportunities with the goals of: a) preserving and enhancing the existing green space; b) exploring the feasibility of reducing impervious surfaces in the parking lot that contribute storm-water runoff to Lake Anne.
During the meeting, group members were asked by Intec Group, the architectural firm selected to renovate the interior building space, to respond to the following comments/questions:
- Describe what RA is to you and what you value about the association.
- How do you want RA’s identity/brand/reputation reflected within the space?
- How should this space reflect what you believe are RA’s values?
- Think about other public spaces you have been in and what kind of programming you see that could fit in this space.
During its next meeting (Oct. 28), Intec will present to the working group concept drawings based on the capacity of the space and input provided by the working group.
Also, as part of the settlement agreement when the association purchased the property, $275,000 was put into an escrow account by the seller (Tetra Partners, now called Lauer commercial) for exterior maintenance on the building.
Repairs to the brick wall, siding, painting, and door and window replacement will begin before the end October.
In early November, the skylight and cedar shake roof will be replaced, RA says. In preparation for these repairs, the association’s arborist team used a lift to cover the skylight with a tarp to protect the building’s interior from rainwater leaks.
RA’s landscaping and arborist teams have also removed dead trees and invasive plants on the property in August.
The building may also get a name change. Comstock earned 10 years of naming rights for the site as part of a developer contribution deal. Comstock gave RA $650,000 as part of a development deal concerning BLVD apartments at Reston Station.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission on Thursday recommended for approval the 40,000-square-foot addition that will ease overcrowding at South Lakes High School.
The addition now moves on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for final approval at the Supervisors’ Oct. 20 meeting.
However, several residents of housing clusters directly across the street and downhill from the high school have concerns about how additional construction and square footage at the school will affect stormwater management. Residents say runoff his causing erosion, affecting the hillside behind their homes as well as Lake Audubon.
Reston 2020’s Terry Maynard wrote a recent letter to Hunter Mill School Board rep Pat Hynes outlining his concerns about stormwater standards at the addition site.
According to the Fairfax County Planning staff report on the addition, FCPS has received approval of a general permit through the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which allows for the applicant’s proposal to be
grandfathered under the old stormwater management requirements prior to the Board’s adoption of the new stormwater ordinance in 2014.
Maynard lives on Wakerobin, located across the street and downhill from the school. Stormwater erosion from SLHS and Langston Hughes Middle School collects in basin to the east of the high school, then flows downhill towards Lake Audubon, Maynard said in his letter to Hynes.
Residents of Wakerobin and Cedar Cove met this week with representatives from Fairfax County and Reston Association to talk about the issue and plans to remedy it.
Said Maynard:
“Most of the stormwater from both SLHS and Langston Hughes Intermediate School collects in a basin to the east of the high school and then flows through a stormwater tunnel under South Lakes Drive. The resulting stream then plunges about 30′ in its 1,000′ flow to Lake Audubon.”
“During storms, the creek experiences massive erosion and the generation of huge quantities of silt that is spewed into Lake Audubon as the force of the flow cuts the stream wider and deeper. The decades-long problem has exposed both the County sewer in several places as well as several residents’ lateral connections.”
He said he is disappointed in the county’s plans to meet outdated stormwater regulations.
“So, in a Reston community that focuses on sustainability and environmental excellence, FCPS is proposing to meet old, much less stringent stormwater management requirements than is the current standard, presumably so it can save a few dollars,” wrote Maynard. “The proposed addition of some open joint parking surfaces (one of which is on the wrong side of the high school) and filterra structures is grossly inadequate to meet the additional flow caused by the addition, much less the current unacceptable stormwater management conditions.”
Maynard said each new addition to LHMS and SLHS over the years has made stormwater management worse for the neighborhoods. He said this summer’s sewer pipe leak in the area was a result of continued stress on the pipes on the erosion area.
Dave Thomas, representing Cedar Cove Cluster, has also expressed his concerns to RA and the county.
Graphic: Proposed addition for SLHS/Fairfax County
Lake Audubon is looking a little green.
A Reston Now reader asked about the lake condition, so we inquired with Reston Association’s Senior Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Resources, and Nikki Bellazza, RA’s Watershed Manager.
The green is blue-green algae, says Butler.
“It will disappear once two things happen, which may or may not be simultaneous — when the water temps cool or their nutrient source (recently buffeted by the rain) runs out,” said Butler.
Bellazza said samples have been taken.
Blue-green algae (or cyanobacteria) are single-celled organisms that naturally exist in fresh or salt waters. They use sunlight to make their food. When there are a lot of nutrients available in the water, the bacteria can grow rapidly or “bloom” to form a visible film or scum on the surface of the water, says this information page from the Virginia Department of Health.
The algae can cause illness if ingested.
The issue is not from the summer sewage pipe break, which leaked briefly leaked sewage into Lake Audubon and kept people off the lake, officials said. It is also not the same flotsam that has recently been identified at Lake Newport.
A combination of water lily treatment, shallow water and excessive lake fertility due in part to fertilizer runoff have led to an invasion of matted aquatic plants at Lake Newport.
Reston Association says the lake has been experiencing a dramatic growth of bladderwort, a submerged aquatic plant that floats to the surface forming dense mats.
“Bladderwort is unique in that it captures its food in tiny bladders, similar to the venus fly trap,” RA said in a release. “There are no health-related issues associated with the existence of this plant on the lake.”
Even though the matted plants are unsightly, they are actually ecologically beneficial.
Bladderwort is a beneficial habitat for fish and aquatic insects, turtles and frogs, says RA. And now that it is October, bladderwort, like all aquatic plants, is expected to die back within the next 30 days when the water temperatures start to get colder.
RA says bladderwort likes to grow in shallow water and that Lake Newport. Meanwhile, Lake Newport has been filling in with sediment over the last 10-13 years and is scheduled to be dredged in 2017.
Says RA:
“RA has treated Lake Newport to control the white water lily. In doing so, it opened the lake bottom sediments up to additional light. There is excess fertility of the lake with the added nutrients from the decaying lilies and runoff of fertilizer and lawn chemicals. The bladderwort reproduces quickly and is coating the entire visible lake bottom.
RA staff removed some of the bladderwort by hand on Sept. 16-17., but much of the plant still remains.”
RA says it will not be further treating the invasion this late in the season.
“Even if RA treated it this fall, the plant would still come back next spring,” said Nicki Bellezza, RA’s Watershed Manager.
Also, the association will be going to a more natural control agent next year: stocking the lake with plant-eating grass carp in the spring to feast on the new plants.
Photo: Bladderwort removal at Lake Newport/Courtesy Reston Association
Reston Association North Point Director Dannielle LaRosa is suggesting the Board of Directors to take a look at an operating fund surplus to see if it can be used to offset a member assessment increase for 2016 and 2017.
Member assessments for 2015 were $642. The board is currently holding a series of meetings to determine budget priorities for 2016 and 2017. The final budget will be voted on by the board — and the annual assessment amount set — in November.
According to the first draft of the biennial budget, the board is looking at a $675 assessment (a 5-percent increase) for 2016 and a $692 amount (3 percent over 2016) for 2017.
LaRosa made a presentation to the board on at its budget planning session on Thursday that looked at using available cash to possibly offset the rise in assessments.
LaRosa, the board’s treasurer, said she worked the numbers to “see if RA can limit our assessment increase.” She said she is looking only at operating cash flow, and not money already earmarked for various projects.
La Rosa pointed out that the cash balance in the associations’s operating fund was $2.9 million in 2010 and grew to $5.7 million at the end 0f 2014. The reserve balance was about $4 million the last several years, then shot up to $5.2 million in 2014.
“The cash available is about $2-3 million each year for the last few years,” said LaRosa. “If you took that money away, nothing is really going to change within the organization. But you can’t take the balance down to zero. That is kind of like flying without a safety net.”
RA CEO Cate Fulkerson says the increase in funds in the last few years are due to board resolutions that said there needed to be more money put in reserve and operating funds.
“We didn’t spend all we said we would, and we put more in,” said Fulkerson “We didn’t complete some of the work.”
LaRosa estimates that at the end of 2015, there will be $1.4 million available that could be used to offset a rise in assessments.
“Right now, as of today, the total cash we have is $13 million,” she said. “$6.2 million is for reserves and we can’t touch it. $4.4 million leftover estimate. That leaves us with with $2.5 million roughly in our accounts. $1.4 million has not been earmarked for use.”
“We still need to be very prudent. …. let’s look at how much assessment will go up; let’s look at how we can offset that.”
The board directed the fiscal committee to review LaRosa’s findings and report back by the Oct. 22 board of director’s meeting.
To see LaRosa’s full presentation, watch the budget session on You Tube. The presentation begins at the 1:50 mark.
Reston Association’s family friendly Halloween House and Trick-or-Treat Trail returns Oct. 23 and 24 — but get ready to purchase tickets tomorrow.
Tickets go on sale for this popular event at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1. They almost always sell out the first day.
At the annual event, Nature House is turned into Halloween House, and a cast of (non-scary) costumed characters lines the nearby Trick or Treat Trail. There are also live animals, jack-o-lanterns and carnival style games.
Trick-or-treat bags are included in the price of admission. Cider, popcorn, cotton candy and light bands will be on sale. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
For more information, call 703-476-9689 and press 5.
There will be three sessions. Click on your preferred date to purchase tickets ($10 per person for attendees over age 18 months).
