Annual Meeting and Board of Directors Election
he
annual meeting of the Fairlington Commons Council of Co-Owners will be held
Tuesday, October 13th in Room 134 of the Fairlington Community
Center located at 3308 S. Stafford Street, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The
purpose of the meeting will be to elect board members and to discuss topics of
interest.
Two
seats on the Board of Directors, currently held by Christine Sivigny and Bernie
Weaver, are up for election. Both Christine and Bernie have indicated
that they do not plan to run for re-election. We will need to elect two members of the
Council of Co-Owners to serve on the Board of Directors.
Anyone interested in serving on
the Board should notify Secretary Bernie Weaver or President John Sinks by
email, telephone, or by a note in the pool mailbox at 3367 S. Wakefield Street no later than
Friday, September 18, 2009 to be listed on the proxy ballot.
Board
Members are elected by Co-Owner votes submitted by proxy or at the
meeting. Following the election, the Board reconstitutes itself,
selecting officers from within as mandated by our By-Laws. You must be a Co-Owner to serve on the Board.
For
additional information about responsibilities and time commitments, please
contact a Board member with your questions.
Formal meeting notification and proxy ballots will be mailed to all
Co-Owners in the near future.
For
planning purposes – our Budget Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 2,
2009, also in Room 134 at the Community Center.
Pool News
he
pool will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. through Labor Day Monday,
September 7th. The pool will
close at 6:00 p.m. Labor Day Monday. The
pool will also be open Tuesday, September 8th through Friday
September 11th from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday,
September 12th and 13th from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The last day of swimming for the 2009 pool
season will be Sunday, September 13th.
End
of Summer Pool Party – Saturday, September 12th beginning at 6:00 p.m. As in past years, we will provide the
hotdogs, hamburgers, soft drinks, and condiments, and ask each family attending
to bring a dish to share. The rain date
is the afternoon of Sunday, September 13th beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Doggie
Dip – our
Pool “goes to the dogs” on Sunday, September 13th from 6:00 to 7:30
p.m. after which it is closed for the season.
If we have to move our End of Summer Party to this date because of rain,
we will start the Doggie Dip a bit later.
Underpinning
ver
the past several weeks, work has been ongoing to underpin one of our units
located at 3336B South Wakefield
Street.
That work is now complete. Work
will soon commence on a second unit, located at 3318B South Wakefield Street. Both of these units are located on the lower
path between South Wakefield
Street and the woods above I-395 and have
exhibited signs of shifting within the last year.
The
necessity to underpin can derive from several causes. In the two previous instances, the concrete
footers had been poured over loose fill dirt when the units were originally
constructed in the 1940s. With time and
dry soil conditions, the loose fill had compacted, resulting in the foundations
of the two buildings settling. This is
the most prevalent cause for underpinning of units in Fairlington Commons. Several adjoining Condominium associations
have also found it necessary to underpin units, either due to settling or
movement caused by the expansion and contraction of the underlying clay as it
became wet or dried out in the summer heat.
While some cracking of paint and
plaster is to be expected in structures from the 1940s, the need to underpin is
usually indicated by more significant cracking and separation in interior walls
and in exterior brickwork and or by windows and doors that are no longer plumb
or square. In any instance, reports of
potential settling are carefully evaluated prior to action being taken, most often
by visual inspection, exploratory digging, or through the use of
instrumentation.
While
this may sound complicated, the actual underpinning process is quite simple;
the foundation is excavated to the footer, steel pins of 20 to 30 feet length
are screwed into the ground adjacent the footer, and the footer is then jacked
up and secured to the pins by a large steel clamps to return the building to
its proper elevation and to preclude further movement. Once underpinning is complete, any
landscaping or sidewalks removed in the process are replaced and the area is
restored to its original condition.
Doggonit!
ogs bark. It is in their nature. But a dog that barks constantly, night after
night, generating multiple complaints to Animal Control, the Police, and to the
Board of Directors, as one did this summer, is in very real danger of removal
from the Commons. Our By-Laws, Article
VI, Section 6, Paragraph (i) state in part that, “If a dog or other animal
becomes obnoxious to other co-owners by barking or otherwise, the co-owner
thereof must cause the problem to be corrected or if it is not corrected, by
co-owner, upon written notice by the Board of Directors, will be required to
dispose of the animal.”
And
then there is something else that dogs “doo” that was cause for concern in a
recent note from a Co-Owner to the Board:
“... Someone is
letting their dog regularly poop in the grassy area next to the woods beside
3304 - 3306 Wakefield
without picking it up. It's getting
quite disgusting. Neighbors who live
further down the path have also complained but since we don't know who it is we
cannot address it directly.”
Not only is this a violation of the By-Laws of
Fairlington Commons (Article VI, Section 4. Use of General Common Elements), it
is also a violation of the Arlington County Code, Chapter 2, Article II, §2-5, paragraph (b)
which states “The owner of a dog shall be responsible for the removal of the
dog’s excretion from any property other than the dog owner’s property and
between the edges or curbs of public streets.”
We do not know if
the guilty party is a resident of the Commons, or just someone passing
through. And, we appreciate that a large
majority of dog owners within Fairlington Commons are courteous of their
neighbors (human and canine). However,
we recommend that if you see somebody not picking up after their dog, please
remind them of the need to adhere to both the Arlington County Code as well as
the By-Laws of Fairlington Commons. You
can also report them to the Arlington County Police Department, as well as the
Board and/or Commons Service Coordinator.
To the Co-Owner who asked we
send a note to everyone asking for their immediate cooperation - consider the
note sent! Dog owners, please be
considerate of your neighbors and pick up after your pets!
Great American Bake Sale
Sets Record!
eld
Saturday, July 4th in conjunction with the Fairlington Villages/FCA
4h of July Parade, this year’s “Great American Bake Sale” raised an
all-time record of $1,210 for “Share Our Strength," a non-profit
organization dedicated toward ending childhood hunger in America. This was the seventh consecutive year that
The Commons has sponsored “The Great American Bake Sale,” and the credit for
its success goes to Commons resident and event coordinator Cathy Malin.
This
year’s event exceeded the amount raised by any previous sale, a success
credited by Cathy to the fantastic weather, superb efforts by all who donated
baked goods, and the generosity of the many patrons who made purchases and
donations. Thanks also go to the Panera Bread Company, Diversions Cards and Gifts, Great
Harvest Bread Company, One Two Kangaroo, One Good Tern, Reunions, Pro Feed,
Unwined, Fairlington Pizza, Robcyns, Ho Chinese Carryout, and to Safeway,
Giant, and Harris Teeter for donations of Gift Cards and to Trader Joe’s for
donation of a Gift Bag.
Staying Informed
s a reminder - many
Fairlington Commons documents are available on the Web at:
http://www.fairlington.org/commonsindex.htm
Included on the web site are
current and past issues of this newsletter, notices of upcoming meetings
(dates, start times, agendas), meeting minutes, our By-Laws, Capital
Replacement Study, instructions for obtaining Condominium Disclosure Documents,
our Parking Policy, Parking Pass application form, and other documents.
Blue Tape
uring the 2009 painting
season, the contractor placed blue tape on any woodwork that required repair or
replacement. Due to delays in
accomplishing those repairs and the unsightly nature of the tape, some
residents elected to remove the tape before repairs could be accomplished.
If you are one of those
residents who removed the tape, please contact Commons Service Coordinator Eric
Pamer at 703-379-0027 or by email at the address provided at the bottom of the
page with your unit number and the location that had been previously marked by
the tape so that the necessary repairs can be accomplished.
Parking Enforcement Changes Coming
ue to an increasing number of
complaints from Co-Owners regarding violations of our parking policy, an
increase in the number of cars parked in our parking lots, and the commensurate
increase in the amount of time necessary to respond to each complaint, the
Board of Directors is considering significant changes in parking enforcement.
Our parking policy is very
simple. With a few minor exceptions, any
vehicle parked in one of our parking lots must display a Fairlington Commons
hangtag on the rearview mirror or be subject to towing at the owner’s
expense.
Previously, vehicles without hangtags have been towed only after
several reminder notices have been issued, and then only after Board
authorization. Due to the number of
violations, the Board is considering authorizing the towing company to actively
patrol our parking lots and to remove any vehicle parked without a
hangtag. Also under consideration is
allowing residents to call the towing company to request that a violator be
towed when they observe parking violations.
A review of our parking lot
signs indicates that they meet the current Arlington County Code, which changed
in May, with the exception that we will have to add the Arlington County Police
telephone number. Once this is
accomplished, our signs will again meet County Code.
With regard to hangtags - no more
than two hangtags will be issued to a single unit. If you have previously been issued two
hangtags and have lost one or both, replacements may be obtained at a cost of
$25 each. The Commons has a complete list of every hangtag issued. Any vehicle displaying a hangtag that has
been reported lost will be immediately towed.
If you have a hangtag that
has become unserviceable (it can no longer be hung on the rearview mirror),
you may trade that hangtag for a new one at no cost. Requests for replacement hangtags should be
directed to Board member Bernie Weaver.
You will be required to surrender your old hangtag concurrent with
receiving the new one. Our parking
policy is posted at on the web at:
http://www.fairlington.org/CommonsParkingPolicy.pdf.
Applications for parking passes can be found
at:
http://www.fairlington.org/CommonsParkingPassApplication.pdf
Tree Service
ecently
several trees died in the Commons, requiring removal. The Commons solicited proposals from six tree
service companies. We requested prices
for more work than we plan to have done at the present time, including tree
pruning, in order to get a good gauge of prices.
Five
companies responded to the request. The
reference checks were all favorable and all companies employ a certified
arborist. Therefore, the Board’s
decision was based on cost. The Board
decided to split the work between AAA Tree Service, which offered the best
price for the removal of “large to very large trees”, and G&V Tree Service,
which offered the best price for the removal of “medium” trees. The proposed estimates for the planned work
proved well within the budget for trees and shrubs.
The
Commons also retained the services of an independent arborist regarding a large
oak tree on 34th Street
that was struck by lightning 15 or 20 years ago. Most of the wound healed, but the tree has
been slowly rotting at the base since that time. The arborist advised us that it is impossible
to predict when a large tree is ready to fall, but the tree in question shows
no sign of falling soon. He recommended
the tree be sprayed for carpenter ants, the base sealed with foam, and the
crown thinned by pruning so there would be less resistance to wind. He also recommended that the ivy around the
base of the tree be removed and replaced with mulch so the ground holding the
roots will not be so soft. The Commons
will undertake the work at the base of the tree in the near future, but will
wait until late winter, the appropriate season, for the pruning.
As
of the writing of this newsletter, G&V has removed the one pine and one
hemlock on S. Utah Street
and a pair of cherry trees on S.
34th Street. AAA has removed the elm tree on S. 34th Street.
Disclosure Papers and Insurance Certificates
he Virginia Condominium Act
requires sellers to present a package of information to a perspective
buyer. This package of information is referred
to as Disclosure Papers. To obtain
Disclosure Papers for Fairlington Commons, please contact Murphy and Associates
at (703) 370-9100. The cost for the
Disclosure Papers is $100. Before they
are issued, a unit is inspected so we can answer the question of whether the
unit conforms to the rules of the association.
When requesting Disclosure Papers, please provide contact information so
we can schedule the inspection. Questionnaires
from lenders for refinancing, appraisers, and settlement attorneys about the
status of payments should also be directed to Murphy and Associates.
Lenders
usually require Certificates of Insurance.
These should be requested from our insurance agent, Jerry Wagner, who
can be reached at (703) 631-2882 BY THE LENDER, not by the buyer, seller, or
real estate agent.
Mouse in the House
hen
Ward’s Pest Control treated a rat-hole recently, the Co-Owner asked about an
interior mouse problem. In general, the
Commons does not assume responsibility for mice in a single unit. The exterminator observed that the mortar
around the air conditioning line had deteriorated, creating a very small
opening. That was sufficient for a mouse
to enter and leave the unit. A spot
check of several other air conditioning lines, which are co-owner
responsibility, revealed that this was not a unique case. We recommend that you check where your line
enters your unit and patch, if necessary.
Trash
f
you’ve lived in the Commons for a while, you can probably recite from memory
our Trash and Recycling Pickup schedule, but for our new residents, and as a
reminder for everyone:
- Trash is collected on
Tuesday and Friday mornings
- Recycling is collected
on Thursday mornings.
- Paint Cans are not
accepted as Trash or Recycling
To
ensure pickup, trash and recycling must be at the curb or designated pickup
point no later than 7:00 a.m. the morning of pickup. Residents
may place trash and recycling at designated pickup points no sooner than dark
the previous evening.
A
few of our residents have been placing their trash out for pickup as early as
the afternoon prior to the pickup day. Please
do not do this. The last thing that
the rest of us, visitors to our community, and prospective homebuyers want to
see is your trash littering our community.
The Commons has previously dealt informally with most violations
of our trash and recycling policies, although in a few cases Arlington County’s
Police and Health Departments have been notified.
Storm Drain Work
ver this past summer,
Arlington County Public Works crews have been actively engaged in resolving a
number of issues within the Commons related to sewers and storm drains. One of the more prevalent issues was the
storm drain at 3300 South
Wakefield Street that often produced spectacular
waterfalls rivaling Niagara Falls
during periods of heavy or prolonged rains.
Based on the following email to Commons President John Sinks from Mary
Strawn of Arlington
County, that problem may
be resolved. The text of that email
follows:
“Mr. Sinks:
I wanted to provide you with an update on the work performed in the
3300 block of S. Wakefield.
As you know, earlier this summer we cleaned out the catch basin in the
street in front of 3300 S. Wakefield and
inspected the structure to determine the direction of the flow and the
soundness of the piping. We found that the pipe leading from the catch basin
towards the sidewalk was in poor condition.
Based on this information and the fact that we had no recorded
easements for the storm sewer running between 3300 and 3301 S.
Wakefield, we decided to reroute the flow from this catch basin to
the storm water manhole in the street in front of 3300. Now, rather than sending the flow down the
hill in the pipe between 3300 and 3301, the flow enters our system in the
street. This work was completed in July.
I believe this should solve
the issue you've been having with storm water overtopping the curb and running
down the hill. If you or some of your
neighbors can keep an eye on it and let me know if you see any issues, I'd
appreciate it.
Thanks,
Mary”
Stolen Plants
pproximately
30 pachysandra recently planted adjacent the electric box in the 3300 Block of
S. Utah Street to help control erosion have been stolen. Anyone with information regarding who removed
the plants is asked to contact the Board.
A report has been filed with Arlington County Police.
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Fairlington
Commons Board of Directors
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President
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John Sinks
jsinks@comcast.net
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703- 931-2660
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Vice President
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Christine Sivigny
CSivigny@hotmail.com
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Secretary
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Bernie Weaver
WeaverBW@comcast.net
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703- 671-7024
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Treasurer
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Arvy Myers
Arvy.Myers@gmail.com
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At Large
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Jim Sharpe
grosharp@msn.com
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