Fair Oaks Estates Homeowners Association

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

October 15, 2009

The Board meeting was held at the offices of Sequoia Management at 13998 Parkeast Circle, Chantilly, Virginia. The meeting was called to order at 7:35 pm. In attendance were R. Crowe, J. Fenton, S. Hautbois, D. Knoche, R. Oborn, B. O’Connor, and A. Tolman.

Secretary’s Report

The minutes from the September meeting were reviewed and one correction was made to a reference to an Atlantic Realty meeting for the independent living development under Old Business. The meeting was for Global Light Mission Church’s independent living development, not Atlantic Realty’s. A motion was made by Mr. Crowe and seconded by Mr. Oborn to approve the minutes as amended, and the motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report

The check for our taxes was inadvertently not included with our return, and has since been mailed off. The treasurer prepared a proposed budget for 2010, which the Board discussed under New Business.

Open Spaces

There are three dead trees that are of concern. One is on Alexander Cornell and appears to be on the homeowner’s property. The other two are in common areas, one off of Ruben Simpson and the other off of Ox Hill. The Board will get an estimate from Humberto to have the latter two trees removed. A motion was made by Ron and seconded by Rick to have Humberto remove the trees if his estimate does not exceed $600. The motion passed.

Open Spaces recommends having the two sprinkling systems at the entrances winterized. A motion was made by Ron and seconded by Rick to authorize $200 to have this done, and the motion passed.

Sequoia met with a representative from Game Time about the Washington Brice tot lot. The representative recommended moving the entire tot lot in that area to flatter ground, further away from the basketball court. We could qualify for a 50% discount on the equipment but would have to order by November to get this discount. Also, the costs of relocating the tot lot could be extensive. It was suggested that when we do repair the tot lot on Washington Brice, we check about getting additional equipment (i.e., spring horses) for the small tot lot between Ox Hill and Lt Nichols at a discounted rate. It was also noted that Fairfax County is currently giving grants for neighborhood enhancement projects.

The solar light at the Alder Woods entrance is out and Mr. Boggs is troubleshooting it.

A snow removal contract with Humberto will be signed shortly.

ARB

The Fairfax County zoning board found 4 violations on Mr. Plaseied’s property, one of which (a multiple occupancy violation) must be corrected in ten days or appealed. The other three violations (rooming house, multiple dwelling, and outdoor storage) must be fixed or appealed in 30 days. Since receiving these violations notices, Mr. Plaseied has been seeding the lawn, removing the commercial vehicles, and has put For Sale signs up.

A question was raised whether the right-of-way the Association gave to Mr. Plaseied as part of our agreement with him would convey to new owners. Sequoia was going to look at the agreement to see if it had any provisions for conveyances to new owners.

The ARB received one application last month, to remove one dead tree and two live trees which were right next to each other and were slowly killing each other. The application was approved.

Old Business

The traffic calming study is still in progress.

The reserve study will be finalized after some minor corrections are made to street names in the study.

There has still been no word from Fair Ridge Independent Living regarding their chain-link fence which is sorely in need of repair. Sequoia was going to inquire with Supervisor Frey’s office about it.

New Business

The annual meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18^th. Sign-ins will start at 7:00pm, and the meeting will start at 7:30pm. The Board will meet at 6:30 to discuss any budget issues prior to the start of the meeting.

The proxy for the amendments to the governing documents was in the last Acorn. The 8^th grade volunteers went door-to-door, but many of the people who answered were unclear on what they were being asked to sign. The Board still needs 170 votes to amend the articles of incorporation and the declarations.

Given that the amendment which would increase the size of the Board is in the articles, amending the articles will be emphasized in the cover letter accompanying the amendments and proxies which will be sent out to the homeowners.

A suggestion was made to put up an Association mailbox somewhere within the community where dues and proxy votes can be dropped off.

It was also noted that in future years, Sequoia will hopefully be able to do on-line voting for elections to the Board of Directors.

Since there was no quorum at last year’s annual meeting, Mr. Tolman will need to be voted onto the Board, in addition to the election to fill Mr. Oborn’s vacancy.

The Board discussed the Treasurer’s proposed 2010 budget. While the maximum assessable dues will be raised to $289.00, the Board hopes to keep the charged dues at the same amount as the past several years -- $250.00.

Open Spaces will have some significant increases in certain areas next year, which could result in a deficit of $10,500. The Board planned on communicating with one another via e-mail to discuss the proposed increases in the Open Spaces budget to see if reductions could be made to keep dues at the same amount.

The FORA President has approached the Board about merging FORA into FOEHA. This would require further amendments to the FOEHA governing documents, and could possibly result in an increase in the homeowner’s dues for the entire Association. Sequoia could take over management of the pool as well. It will be an item for discussion at the annual meeting.

The proposal of going to a community trash service will also be discussed at the annual meeting.

The regular meeting adjourned at 9:26 pm, and went into executive session.

The regular meeting was reconvened at 9:29 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m.