Minutes of the
Second Gate Post Estates Homeowners' Association
Annual Meeting
April 22, 2004
A quorum was established at the Sully District Building Community Room, the meeting began at 7:35 p.m. Board Members present were Dan Cruz, Claire Morson, Debbie Foster, Patricia Ferguson, Tom Korch, Ed Faudree and Dwight Williams. Over 29 GPEII residents signed in and nine proxies were mailed.
Financial Report: A copy of the Financial Report is available to any resident who requests a copy from Claire Morson, Treasurer.
Dan Cruz, President, started the meeting with a welcome and introduced Tim Hugo, our District State Representative. Tim Hugo shared his accomplishments and ongoing projects to include:
· A bill introduced and passed to make drag racing a felony.
· Part of a task group that recommended that all credits earned from NOVA be transferable to upper level Virginia Colleges.
· Tim Hugo would like to drop some transportation type bills early in the legislature to insure that VDOT is aware of our community delimma with the Tri-County Parkway and Battlefield Bypass. Tim Hugo did indicate that he is not opposed to these highways, but is opposed to their destroying our neighborhoods.
· Mr. Hugo also shared the fact that Fairfax County funds over 40% of the budget for Virginia. He is battling tax increases at this time because he feels that NVA will end up paying most taxes. Currently, Fairfax County receives .19 cents for every dollar paid.
· Also requested and granted was Mr. Hugo's desire for an increase in K-12 grade school spending.
Mr. Hugo did spend some time answering questions from the community. Questions varied in topics such as car tax, programs that may be cut, what assistance can our community provide in getting decisions made, issues of gang violence, and other general topics.
Dan Cruz assured the audience that the GPEII website would have a link to Tim Hugo's office for further answers and information. Tim Hugo shared his new office number of 703-569-1201.
Presidents Report:
Dan Cruz reflected on the past year at Gate Post Estates and highlighted many events that had occurred as the year unfolded.
· The transition of the neighborhood with not only new homeowners but ongoing maintenance of existing homes.
· Penny Douskalis took over the task of composing the newsletter. Dan relayed the importance of sharing news worthy information to Penny for publishing in the newsletter.
· Tom Korch was thanked for maintaining the GPEII website and all its updates.
· GPEII now has a committee for the neighborhood picnic. Dee Korch was thanked for her stepping up to chair this committee last summer.
· Tragedies
· The volunteering spirit of our community as we dealt with the inconveniences of a hurricane and lack of power.
· The ARB was revitalized, Dwight Williams and his board was thanked for bringing this program back to life.
· Ed Faudree was congratulated for a job well done as he steps down from the Board.
Dan also updated the community on the Tri-County Parkway. He summarized a map on display for GPEII's better understanding of the routes. Shared the recent event at Bull Run Park which was covered by Fox 5 in regards to our raising the issue of destruction of the Blue Bells if the TCP were to be built through the Park. The proposal from Loudoun County to name the not yet approved TCP to be called The Martin Luther King Parkway was also mentioned and how with research and letters from community residence we found out that it was never endorsed by the MLK Foundation.
Architectural Review Board:
Dwight Williams, Board Chair, spoke on behalf of the ARB and submitted new ARB Guidelines Changes and ARB Issues Procedure, copies are attached.
In essence, Dwight summed up that 95% of the homes are kept in accordance to the ARB and 5% have issues. Dwight informed the residents of the procedures and the significance of an informal letter being sent to the resident making them aware of non-compliance. The main issues noticed are wood rot, lack of/or uncontrolled landscaping and commercial vehicles.
Dwight stressed the point of the approval process, the ARB meets every second Tuesday of the month. The next walk through the neighborhood will be the weekend of April 25, 2004.
New Business:
Ed Faudree, VP Internal, was congratulated and presented a clock as a departing gift upon his retirement from the GPEII Board. Dan thanked Ed for his good advice and counsel throught the years.
Bob Booth, was nominated to take Ed's position as VP Internal, the nomination was seconded and accepted by the Board and residents in attendance. Bob hopes to serve our community as well as Ed and is very proud of our neighborhood.
Debbie Foster was awarded with the first Shining Star Award for all of her hard work in our community. Her efforts include VP External on the GPEII Board, chair of the outreach committee for the Concerned Citizens of Centreville group that continues to battle the TCP issue, Tree Commissioner appointed by Michael Frey and other efforts that Debbie is involved to make Centreville a great place to live.
Open Floor:
The residents of GPEII had a few announcements and questions for the Board and Community:
· An announcement was made looking for volunteers for the Friends of Bull Run Park, Debbie Foster is the contact.
· Another announcement was made to exercise caution when placing check payments in the mailboxes. Checks have been stolen and cashed from resident mailboxes.
· A request for amenities that would encourage families to move into the neighborhood. Amenities such as a playground, tennish courts and so forth. Dan's response was to gather a group to petition and present the request to the Board.
· How could an existing pipestem be repaved since it was not part of the initial repavement project. Dan requested that a task force be organized to reapply for permits to pave those pipestems that were not repaired on the initial project.
· A resident wondered whether the neighborhood watch still existed. Dan's response that the Sully police force took over the watch on bicycle and more aggresive apprehension of suspicious activity. This force eliminated many of the problems and will be reinstated if new challenges occur.
The date for the next monthly meeting of the GPE will be May 12, 2004 at the home of Claire Morson.
The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Submitted by:_______________________________ Date:___________________________________
Patricia Ferguson, Secretary
Accepted by: _______________________________Date:___________________________________
Dan Cruz, President