Richland-Kentland Citizens’ Association

P.O. Box 2932

Sterling, VA 20167

www.richlandacres.org


(If you have a change to your e-mail address or your home telephone, please provide the change to the association secretary, Diane Stopa at diane.stopa@tetratech.com)


President Lyn Montgomery Wanagel called the annual meeting of the Richland-Kentland Citizens’ Association to order on December 12, 2016, at 7:00 p.m. at the Ted Britt Chevrolet Dealership.


Board members present: L. Wanagel, M. Schutt, J. Doolin, M. Espenschied, E. Shabon

Board members absent: D. Stopa, G. Wynkoop, A. Gibby


Also attending: J. Schiphorst, M. and S. Leizear, B. Parker, P. Jimenez


President Montgomery Wanagel opened the meeting by stating the meeting adheres to the Roberts’ Rules of Parliamentary Procedure for conducting business.


Officers’ Reports (Secretary and Treasurer):


A motion was made by Espenschied and seconded by Schutt to approve the secretary’s report from the January, 2016, meeting. The motion passed.

Doolin presented the treasurer’s report.


Checking Account: Balance as of 12/19/15: $0.00 Expenses: #1136 $0.00, Parker food expenses; #1137 $0.00, State Corp Commission; #1138 Wanagel $0.00, signage for Common; #1139 Stopa $0.00; #1140 Wanagel $0.00, Toys for Tots; #1141 $0.00, Sterling Volunteer Fire Department; #1142 Seville $0.00, mowing (returned); #1143 Whiteman $0.00, mowing (outstanding). Total Expenses: $0.00 . Balance as of 12/11/2016: $0.00 .91


Savings Account (Money Market): Balance as of 12/11/16; $0.00; $ 0.00 fee for safety deposit box rental. Interest earned: $0.00 . Balance as of 12/11/16: $ 0.00


Total Balance: $ 0.00

A motion was made by Espenschied to approve the treasurer’s report and was seconded by Schutt. The motion passed.


Committee Reports for 2016:


Land Use/Maintenance:


Lyn Wanagel (in the absence of Wyncoop) mentioned that the association held a springtime neighborhood cleanup in April and that approximately twelve volunteers came to the clean up. Eight bags of trash were collected and left at the Jennings Farm Pond for pick up by VDOT. She thanked all the concerned neighbors who volunteered their Saturday morning to pick up litter from the Richland Acres roadside. In addition, Wanagel asked all citizens to take along a plastic bag when walking to assist with the on-going litter problem. It was suggested that the neighborhood conduct a clean up during the fall season before the leaves come down to alleviate the summer litter. Wanagel will submit a bill for $40 for drinks and pastries for the cleanup effort.


“No Trespassing” signs were purchased and installed for the Jennings Farm Pond area. The “No Trespassing” signs include the abbreviation for RKCA. The Pond and the Common area are private property owned and for use by Richland Acres citizens. Wyncoop will be asked to look around these areas to ascertain if additional signage is needed to prevent trespassers from outside the neighborhood.


Wanagel mentioned that Mr. Saville was no longer able to mow the common areas and that Mr. Whiteman has recently moved to New York. A concerned citizen, Jamal Dajani, has been diligently mowing around the Jennings Farm Pond. Wanagel sent an email to the community in August asking for volunteers to assist the neighborhood by taking on the volunteer effort to maintain these two common areas. Jimenez volunteered to mow the common area. A discussion was held on the amount of money to set aside for 2017 maintenance. It was agreed that the amount would be $200 for 2017.


Public Safety:


M. Espenschied reported on the traffic calming measures for the neighborhood. A task force of Richland volunteers was organized and met with FCDOT in the Fairfax Government Center twice during 2016. She mentioned the speed hump on Thomas Avenue was recently installed by Fairfax (FCDOT) to assist with the speeding problem. There is continuing dialog with Fairfax County regarding the traffic volume. Further discussion will be held under New Business. No budgetary requests for 2017.


Neighborhood Watch:


Gibby was not in attendance at the annual meeting. However, Gibby did submit a report via Wanagel. Gibby reported that the Loudoun County Sheriff's Department has stated it seems that crime is picking up. He said the Sheriff's Department recommends the following actions by residents:


Residents can go to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Department site and get emails regarding crime activity.





As a concerned neighbor, if you see a traffic incident (speeding, running through stop signs, etc.), you can also call the Traffic Hotline at 703-771-5798 and a deputy will be dispatched to our neighborhood to observe.


No budgetary requests from Neighborhood Watch/Security for 2017.


Hospitality, Recreation, Contributions:


The chairperson stepped down from the position last year. Wanagel reported that volunteers met for the spring cleanup in April to clean the pond area and our neighborhood roads. She also mentioned that Santa Claus (courtesy of the Sterling Volunteer Fire Department) will visit the neighborhood on December 17, 2016, at approximately 8 p.m. RKCA will participate in the annual Toys For Tots campaign sponsored by the Sterling Volunteer Fire Department. Budget requirements for 2017 for hospitality, recreation: $0.00 . Budget for 2017 for contributions and minor asundries: $0.00 .


Website:


Schutt mentioned that the website was up-to-date. No budgetary requests for 2017.


Audit, Budget, and Finance:


Doolin presented the proposed budget of $ 0.00 for 2017 (attached).


Schutt made a motion to accept the new 2017 budget of $0.00 . Espenschied seconded the motion. The motion passed.


Old Business:


A discussion was brought up regarding that liability insurance is no longer being carried on the board officers/members for the past couple of years. At that time, it had been decided that the insurance was not necessary because all board members are volunteers and there is nothing to sue us for. In addition, the insurance was very expensive. In Gibby’s absence, Wanagel reported Gibby’s research on the subject:


. . . Basically, anyone can sue anyone for anything. The potential liability issue always exists. Regarding divesting ourselves of the common properties, the “useful” info from a lawyer friend was, “You can pretty much do anything, as long as you get both parties to agree to it. Of course, in Richland’s case, we can’t even find the second party. One thought that did occur to me is that we may be able to get some help from Supervisor Saines vis a vis his effort to get a community garden started in Sterling. And participating in that effort by offering up the common area along Thomas may be a way for Richland to get the County to take ownership of the common area. However, that would increase neighborhood traffic by giving folks a destination inside the neighborhood. My opinion is that the traffic increase would be negligible in comparison to the cut-through traffic. On the other hand, it could increase the number of people with a stake in reducing the cut-through traffic.


A discussion ensued regarding the inability to sell or offer the land to the county, the lack of available water, the security and traffic volume generated by allowing people from outside the community to garden the area. Overall conclusion was not to do anything with the land except keep it for use by Richland residents.


The pond is covered by liability insurance for $0.00 by the developer of the shopping center. The suggestion was made to add additional “no trespassing” signs along the property line of the Commons (Thomas Avenue) and the Jennings Farm Road Pond.


The parking of cars/trucks/food trucks on Jennings Farms was discussed. When Supervisor Delgaudio was in office, he posted no parking signs on Jennings Farms Road. Unfortunately, the street has been turned over to VDOT, the no parking signs have come down, and now anyone can park there. Wanagel mentioned she periodically takes pictures of the trash (to include discarded furniture, toilets, logs/yard debris, cooking pots, etc.) and sends them to the current Supervisor. Saines is aware of the situation and he is working diligently to alleviate the situation. As a concerned resident of Richland Acres, PLEASE EMAIL YOUR SUPERVISOR, SEND PHOTOS, OR TELEPHONE . . . the “squeeking wheel gets greased”!


New Business:


The traffic calming measures were discussed. There has been a second study for traffic volume and FCDOT determined that the speed and volume are far too high for secondary roads in our neighborhood. The Richland task force working along with FCDOT is currently in Step #6 of the study. Fairfax County is considering limiting times when traffic can turn into Richland via Algonkian to Thomas Avenue and exiting from Thomas to Algonkian/vice versa.


There has been an increase of accidents by 250% in the last 2 years at the corner of Algonkian Parkway and Thomas Avenue. There was a heated discussion about not allowing traffic to turn right onto Thomas from Algonkian between 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays with no left turns from Thomas onto Algonkian. This plan would prohibit parents, students, and commuters from speeding through Richland Acres to reach the schools adjacent to Richland or to skip the traffic lights along Route 7. The removal of the left turn out of Thomas would alleviate the dangerous, blind left turn exiting Thomas onto Algonkian.


This suggested plan by FCDOT turned into a larger discussion because there was an opposing view as to why this measure is necessary. One community member requested the Loudoun County residents of the neighborhood be petitioned prior to restricting traffic. Espenschied stated that Fairfax County does not take Loudoun votes into consideration and that only the Lake Avenue and Fairfax residents will be involved in the final balloting. People residing on Lakeland and Cedar Drives have the option of using the two entrances/exits abutting Route 7.


Montgomery Wanagel contacted the Sterling Fire Department and Santa will be visiting our neighborhood on his fire truck on Saturday, December 17 at 8 p.m.


A new resident to the neighborhood, Steve Leizear, volunteered to organize a barbeque during the ensuing 2017 year with the party to be held at the Commons. It was suggested that the barbeque be a pot luck meal with the RKCA providing the drinks. More details to follow as the time gets near.


Nominating Committee: There are vacancies on the Board for the ensuing year, 2017. Because there wasn’t the needed quorum present for an election, the following people have volunteered to serve the community:


Montgomery Wanagel will continue in her role as president

Andy Gibby as vice president

Diane Stopa as secretary

Jim Doolin as treasurer


In addition, Glen Wynkoop, Enayet Shabon, Marcia Espenschied, and Mark Schutt will continue on the Board. Wynkoop will continue as chairperson for neighborhood maintenance, Shabon on publicity, Espenschied on traffic, Gibby as vice president/neighborhood watch, and Schutt as by-laws and website.


The board meetings will continue to meet for 2017 on an as-needed basis. Therefore, in accordance with the RKCA By-laws, e-mail will go out if there is a need to call a meeting to discuss important issues confronting our neighborhood . . . no issues means no meeting for that particular month. Continue to read your e-mail for updates.


A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 9:03 p.m. and was seconded.


Submitted by B. Parker in the absence of D. Stopa