Minutes of the Lake Barcroft Association - Board of Directors (8/14/2013)

The meeting of the Lake Barcroft Association (LBA) was called to order at 7:30 PM by President Sally Determan at 6425 Lakeview Drive, Falls Church, Virginia.  Those present were LBA Directors Sally Determan, Warren Russell, Jim Kilbourne, Lee Price, Pat Payne, Betsy Washington, Eva Kosztarab, Diane Smalley, Shane Oleson, Frank Phillippi, Diane Davidson, Anne Cullather and Rick Aldrich.  Maintenance co-chair George Waters and lake residents Kevin Howe and David Feld were also present.

The minutes of August 14, 2013 were approved as presented. 

OLD BUSINESS

CALENDAR REVIEW:  The Board calendar was reviewed.

PAVILION:  Warren gave a brief update and stated that a draft description with pros and cons has been circulated to the committee for their review. He will be sending it to the Board over the next few weeks.  Sally added that the final draft would appear in the November newsletter followed by a meeting on December 5 at the Mason District building to discuss.  She said she will inform those at the October 8 Civic Affairs meeting that discussion of the pavilion should wait for the meeting dedicated to the topic in December.  Diane Davidson noted that her biggest concern was addressed by the change of the pavilion's location but she thought that costs to construct and maintain a pavilion should be spelled out in more detail than the current draft. 

CIVIC AFFAIRS MEETING:  Sally discussed the agenda for the October 8 meeting and announced a number of speakers expected to attend.  

OTHER ITEMS: Sally mentioned briefly upcoming items that will need to be addressed at the October Board meeting including beach gates and an ARC appeal. She also noted that sewer line work will be taking place shortly on Beachway and Waterway. The Beach 4 parking lot will be used by the county to store their trucks and materials.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE UPDATE: Warren reported that the committee met recently.  Eight candidates have agreed to run for the six positions at this time.  Incumbants are Jim, Shane, Pat & Betsy.  Deepak Bhattasali, Kim Mills, Bill Lecos and Anya Monsour have also agreed to run.

WOMEN'S COMMUNITY GARDEN: Sally said that she would be meeting soon with Chuck de Seve to discuss developments at the garden. Several people raised concerns about the path, the fence, and the approach to the bridge. The Board discussed several other non-garden issues in the cooperative relationship between the LBA and the WID and Sally stated that she would follow up with Charles de Sevre, WID Trustee Chair, on those points.

PROPOSED ADDENDUM TO BOAT STORAGE RULES:  Pat briefly discussed the issue of boat storage and suggested the following revisions:

Proposed language to be added in “Storage” section: 

  • Boat rack spaces that are permanently vacant may be taken by registered boats as they become available on a “first come, first serve” basis.
  • Residents should be mindful that temporarily vacant boat rack spaces (i.e., vacant space on racks where boats have been vacated for active use) should not be taken up by other boats.
  • To confirm that a space is occupied but the boat is in current use residents should leave their chains attached to the vacant space on the rack.
  • If a boat is "in use" but a chain is locked on the rack space (to indicate that the space is temporarily vacated because a boat is being used) and another boat is improperly placed in the temporarily vacated space it will be removed upon request to the Lake Manager or the Water Safety/Beach Maintenance Chair.
  • No boat shall be placed on top of another boat, or any part of another boat, without the permission of the owner of the boat already on the rack.  Boats that are improperly placed on the racks (i.e., chained to another owner’s boat, stacking of boats on another owner’s boat, etc.) will be removed as necessary.
  • Resident complaints regarding improperly placed boats should be directed to the Lake Manager or the Water Safety/Beach Maintenance Chair. 

A motion was made by Warren and seconded by Frank to approve proposed changes.  All voted in favor.

NEW BUSINESS

MASON DISTRICT COUNCIL MEETING UPDATE:  David Feld discussed residential studio units (RSUs) that are being considered in Fairfax County.  Sally asked the Board whether the Board had sufficient interest to pursue the issue and ensuing discussion showed that interest.  David said the Fairfax County zoning meeting is scheduled for November 20.  Shane feels a committee needs to be formed to review this thoroughly.  Betsy questioned storm water management as this would effect Lake Barcroft. Lee suggested that the conditions on RSU approvals recommended by the Mason District Council of Community Organizations appear likely to permit very few RSUs. The Board supported Sally's recommendation that she appoint an ad hoc committee of Lake Barcroft residents to look into the issue more thoroughly and report back to the Board.

AMENDMENT TO LBA ASSESSMENT COLLECTION PROCEDURES:  Eva discussed the fact that current LBA procedures did not comply with the new state HOA law on dues: no penalty may apply before 60 days after the due date and the penalty may not exceed 5 percent of the dues. She proposed new rules to move up the due date for dues to Jan 1, to set the date for imposing a late fee at March 2, and set the fine at 5 percent of dues. She added that the LBA website would need to be updated to reflect changes.  

A motion was made by Eva and seconded by Jim to adopt the proposed rules.  All voted in favor.

AFTER SEASON PARTIES & SWIMMING:  Pat had received a question about swimming at after season gatherings. She noted that the current policy requires those having the party to provide a lifeguard. She believed that we would not need to adopt a new policy and that we could continue to deal with this on a case by case situation.

SIZE OF PRIVATE BEACH PARTIES:  Pat brought up a recent party of a commercial type activity sponsored by an LBA resident.  The board discussion centered on whether to set a maximum for the number of people.  It was agreed to address the issue on a case by case basis. Chris would inform the Board when parties of 200 or more are proposed.

2014 COMMITTEE BUDGET ESTIMATES:  Jim requested that board members submit their proposed budgets for 2014 prior to the October meeting.  He needs to hear from people by then because the board will vote on the budget at its November meeting.

CO-OP AGREEMENT BETWEEN LBA & WID:  Rick discussed the increase in construction of seawalls and docks this year. He was pleased that the WID has agreed to examine submissions prior to ARC granting approval.  When ARC determines an application is ready, the WID will review the plans.  Once WID approves the design, the ARC will have the owner sign an agreement that they will be subject to 5 WID inspections during construction and that they would not hold the WID or LBA liable. In addition, WID agreed to inform LBA and the ARC of any new construction of seawalls or docks that had not been approved. Sally suggested that we consider also requiring that, if people do not follow what they submitted, they would be responsible for any LBA legal fees.  Some board members expressed concern that this could discourage people from going through the ARC process. Rick explained that ARC is working on new rules for the Board to review.

ARC WORK ON MANSFIELD ROAD:  Kevin Howe addressed the new development of a lakeside lot on Mansfield.  He showed pictures indicating that the seawall went beyond a foot over the water which had been the limit when he had been on the ARC.  He expressed concern of encroaching on common property, the lake.  He explained his concerns that protruding seawalls would reduce shallows for spawning fish and speed water flow from the Venturi effect. Rick noted that the initial construction was done with inferior materials which had to be removed causing damage to the slope above water.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

LEGAL:  Nothing else new at this time.

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY:  Betsy said 34 trees are being planted on residential lots and another 7 or 8 trees on common property.  

She explained that on Sept. 28 at Beach 5 there would be Eco Adventure tours on barges around the lake and a campfire program with a naturalist.  In addition to the barges already volunteered for the lake tours, Board members volunteered 2 additional barges. Shane volunteered to contact the cub scouts to assist in building a camp fire.

WATER SAFETY:  Pat said we had a successful season.  She thanked George Waters for all of his work.  She will work with Kevin Hardy to get his final end of season report to the Board.

SPECIAL EVENTS:  Diane reported on the great participation in the Labor Day games.

SECURITY:  Frank reported on a relatively safe summer with the typical level of night activity.  The issue of whether to lock gates at the beaches will be discussed in October.  He informed the Board that a resident had been recently arrested for trespassing and obstruction of justice.  Discussion took place regarding the policy of anyone, including residents, being on the beach after dark.  He reminded the Board that it had addressed the issue at the June 2012 Board meeting and had voted that residents on common property after midnight would be considered trespassers.  He explained that the Board made that decision because police officers need a specific official time for enforcing trespassing violations.

TREASURER’S REPORT:  Jim said that, based on current spending, he expected LBA would end the year in a surplus rather than the deficit that the 2013 budget had projected.  The end-of-August net income was in excess of $150,000, but Jim expected that to decline with additional expenses being incurred through the remainder of the year, including lifeguard pay, maintenance expenses, and printing of the directory.

PUBLICATIONS:  Shane discussed the upcoming directory and his expectation that it would be sent to the printers by the end of the month.  Many last minute additions would be included.  The JEB Crew team has agreed to distribute in mid October.

He also reported on the current situation on redesigning the website. He has had discussions with the contractor on the budget and deliverables. The plan to automate applications to the ARC was being revised.

ARC:  Rick reported that the committee has received 22 applications recently.  He mentioned issues of lighting, lengthy seawall changes, and other matters.

MAINTENANCE:  George reported a tree had to be removed from Beach 3.  Two trees from Parcel A were also removed.  A new tree company was used and saved LBA $1,000 compared to the bid from the previous company. The new Beach 3 boat rack designed for kayaks had been built. 20 volunteers from the community had responded to his Lakelink message. The rack cost only $217 for materials.  The WID has built ramps at the community garden footbridge to allow stroller and wheelchair accessibility.

MEMBERSHIP:  Anne gave her report that owners of 12 lots have not made their payments this year.  Jim raised the issue about a Parcel A lot that is not current with their fees this year which also include the $500 retaining wall fee and asked her to contact them.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:23 PM.

Lee Price, LBA Secretary