The Chantilly Highlander

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The Chantilly Highlander

Y

our Community Newsletter Serving Chantilly Highlands

Visit us on the web at www.chha.org

April 2015

Board & Community Notices 1

CHHA Monthly Board Meeting Minutes 2

Classified Ads 10

Board & Committee Contacts 11

ACC Exterior Alteration Request form 7-8

In This Issue:

April 2015

—Mark your calendars

Wed, 4/1—CHHA Board mtg @ 7:30 PM

Tues, 4/7—CH Swim team registration

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Sun, 4/12—Newsletter deadline

Wed, 4/29—ACC mtg @ 7:30 PM

Always call 811 at least THREE (3) working days before you dig in Virginia.

CHHA Board Meeting

Wed, Apr 4 @ 7:30 pm at our Community Center

ALL residents encouraged to attend! April 2015

Sun Mon Tues _WedThurs

29 30 31 1 2

HOA Dues Payment & Update Forms

NOT postmarked by March 31

will be assessed a

$25 late fee in addition to

the outstanding dues amount.

Community Yard Sale

In MAY

(Date TBD and will be announced

in the May newsletter)

Clean out your closets and prepare for the annual community yard sale! As we go to print for this newsletter we have not yet determined the date, but it

will be held in May, and once we decide the date it will be announced in the May newsletter and on our Nextdoor site. We will be advertising the yard sale in local weekly newspapers in Fairfax County and posting on the CHHA website. In addition, signs will be posted to draw attention. Look for more details soon!

Chantilly Highlands

Dolphins Swim Team

We are a neighborhood summer swim team offering high quality professional coaching and technique instruction for swimmers age 4-18. The goal of our team is to provide every member an

opportunity to improve swimming skills and achieve success at his or her level of ability.

All swimmers must be current residents of Chantilly Highlands and in good standing with the CHHA.

Registration for 2015

opens on April 7

and closes June 19

Late fees will apply on May 1

Find more information at

www.chdolphins.net

REMINDER…

Please keep your trash cans out of public view on non-collection days. Do not leave them at the curb or in your driveway.

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Chantilly Highlands Homes Association Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Minutes are tentative and will be reviewed and approved at the Homes Association Meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, April 1, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.

Call to Order - 7:30 p.m.

Introduction of Homeowners and Board Members

Board Members Present: Mary Williams, Erica

Giovani-ni, Josh Sanchez, Kevin Romance, Mike Adams, Niel Schulenburg, Jim Mertz, Dave Zimmerman,

Homeowners Present: Peggy David and two sons, Kathryn

Elokdah

CHHA Office Manager: Wendy Osborn

Community Events Committee Chair and Homeowner:

Erica Giovanini

Approval of Previous Minutes. There was a motion to

ap-prove the February minutes, as published online and in the newsletter. The motion was seconded and approved.

Action Item. Kathryn Elokdah has not received approval for

CHHA BOD participation from her employer’s Ethics Board. An application has been submitted and is pending. The pro-cess can take up to eight weeks. In the interim, Josh Sanchez volunteered to act as secretary for the CHHA BOD. Kevin Romance, CHHA treasurer will submit the necessary paper-work to the banks managing the CHHA funds for the deferral of the secretary position.

Committee reports

Community Events-Committee summary was presented by

Erica Giovanni. The Spring Fling/Egg Hunt Event is planned at the community center for March 22, 2015 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm and will occur rain or shine. It will include an Egg Hunt and visit by a volunteer dressed in a Bunny costume. Resi-dents who desire to participate are encouraged to obtain addi-tional information on the Next Door Website. Face painting and light snacks will be provided.

ACC-Summary was presented. “Walk through letters

com-municating to homeowners observed infractions of the CHHA’s published rules and regulations” were distributed to homeowners. Some replies were received. One Exterior Al-teration Request application was received and approved this past month. The members of ACC and Lori Manik (CHHA resale package staff member and committee chairperson) met and discussed coordination of efforts.

Land Management-Committee summary was presented by

chairperson Josh Sanchez. The current issues under work include the repair of the “Chantilly Highlands” entrance sign and the dead trees on the CHHA common areas. CH residents are encouraged to communicate awareness of any dead trees on the CHHA common area with the LM Committee. Jim Mertz volunteered to assist with the sign repair.

Neighborhood Watch Committee. Mary asked those present

for any familiarity with a program called “Certified Crime Prevention Community.” Mary will provide a link to the

Neighborhood Watch liaison/lead to further investigate this program.

Civic Affairs-Committee summary was presented by Dave

Zimmerman. Dave has had contact with the former board liaison for Civic Affairs, Jeff Parnes, and Greg Zilberfarb, Website Committee chairperson, to discuss and coordinate his new role as CA chairperson. Dave will be added to the email distribution list to directly receive pertinent information on CA issues. A large volume of information had been re-layed shortly before the start of this meeting by Jeff Parnes. There are relevant issues to the CH community and a con-densed version of the information will be available for the April 2015 CHHA meeting.

Playground Renovation-Committee summary was presented

by Kathryn Elokdah. The deposit check was received and cashed by the awarded vendor, All Recreation, Inc. The de-livery and installation date for the playground renovations is approximately mid-April 2015. The CHHA administrative assistant Wendy Osborn and PR Committee to coordinate the installation as several improvement projects are scheduled for Spring 2015 at the CHHA Community Center.

Community Facilities-Committee summary was presented by

Mary Williams for chairperson Brian Orsi. Several CF capital projects are actively underway at this time. They include:

 Fence replacement around the tennis courts. Extended fence work may require some additional funds for level-ing ground in the rear, park area, a few pieces of addi-tional fence, and accommodate the existing sprinkler system pipes to fit the adjusted fencing. At this time, it is unclear if additional funding is being requested for these additional items beyond the funds already allocat-ed. The BOD requested additional information from Brian Orsi, including written bids from vendors as indi-cated.

 A pool walk through in late March 2015 with NV Pools Inc. has been scheduled.

 Swim Test Achievement Recognition System. The cur-rent system awards a circular shaped patch to each child successfully passing a swim test administered by the CHHA Community Pool lifeguards. A switch to a rubber wristband was suggested. The swim team is interested in sponsoring the purchase if they are purple and have the team logo, a dolphin. The advantages and disadvantages of this switch were discussed. The BOD voted to sup-port the switch.

 Tennis court benches. The courts will be resurfaced this spring and some community residents have requested the purchase of benches. The advantages and disadvantages

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of this purchase including the placement (inside the fence v. outside) and the securement (ground v. chained to the fence) were discussed. In general, the BOD is sup-portive of the purchase for placement inside the fencing with the securement of them to the ground.

 Trophy case in swim house. The Swim Team would like to pay for a small trophy case to be installed in the main pool house. In general the BOD is supportive of the re-quest. If the case is installed overhead then Plexiglas is requested to be used rather than glass to mitigate risk. Brian Orsi to follow up on this issue and present final recommendations for cabinet specifics and location to the BOD prior to moving forward.

Board/Officer Reports

Treasurer’s report – Kevin Romance reported the CHHA

annual dues invoices were mailed to residents. Corrections for errors are being addressed and payments are being re-ceived. Signatory changes were discussed and a plan to con-tinue with three BOD members available for check signature was supported until the new BOD secretary, Kathryn Elokdah received formal approval to accept the position. Cur-rent check processing guidelines were discussed. The CHHA financial record auditor appointment is scheduled for 3/7/15 and Kevin Romance is to attend. Required documents have been gathered.

Secretary’s report – No status changes at this time.

President’s report – No report, other than the resident topics

covered later in the agenda.

Vice President’s report – No status changes at this time. Communication’s report – Greg Zilberfarb, webmaster, was

scheduled to present a demonstration at the BOD meeting on April 1st. The demonstration is to show the BOD how the private side of the website will look. However, Greg has travel commitments scheduled, and would not be able to at-tend. Mary asked Mike Adams to see if Greg would be able to meet with her on this topic and she would then provide the demonstration to the BOD.

MINUTES from page 2 Office Manager (OM) Report

 Resale Package process/ directory updates. The BOD was notified there is no current process to obtain biographical information (name address/lot number, etc.) from new resi-dents of Chantilly Highlands beyond “self identification” if the new resident contacts a Board or Staff member of CHHA. The other mechanism in current use is to gather information from the HOA fee payments each year and subsequently update the residential listing database. It was recommended and approved to add a new brief question-naire in the “Resale Package” asking new residents to send basic information to the CHHA. The information will be used to update the residential listing in a timelier manner.

 Community Center Trash service. The CHHA has a cur-rent contract with a trash removal company, which appears to be near expiring. CHHA does not have a copy of the contract and one has been requested. The BOD received a status report with a recommendation to change companies for greater cost savings. The BODs is supportive of lower-ing cost and requested the OM and board member, Brian Orsi, to gather additional information and relay it to the BOD as soon as possible for timely action/decision mak-ing.

 HOA POC update process. OM recommended annual noti-fication to contracted service providers of new board offic-ers on an annual basis.

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 Pool Rule Approval. 2015 pool rules are out to the board. A vote on the pool rules will be added to the April agenda.

 Decision on posting WIFI password. Signage was created and the BOD discussed posting options. The OM will post signage in a visible place within the community center.

 Community Center Office Cleanup and furnishings. The office cleanup is ongoing. The OM is gathering infor-mation on recommendations for a laptop purchase. The new printer has been installed in the office.

 Meetings with contractors pertinent to approved capital projects are ongoing.

 Stationary was purchased for the printing of CHHA corre-spondence.

Resident Topics

 A formal complaint was filed with the CHHA BOD, re-garding a non-compliant sign in the neighborhood. Mary Williams took the action to communicate the CHHA gov-ernance document rules related to this issue and ensure compliance.

 Accessory Unit Dwelling: The CHHA BOD has received

a request via email to construct an Accessory Unit Dwell-ing. The CHHA submitted this request to the CHHA con-tracted law firm and received recommendations. The BOD discussed the attorney’s recommendations, the county’s

MINUTES from page 3 requirements/laws and the CHHA Declarations as they related to the issue. The BOD generated a response and Mary Williams will request additional information from the resident who submitted the request. In general, the BOD was supportive of the construction of AUDs within the rules/laws of the county.

 Request for pool rules. The CHHA BOD received and responded to a request for a copy of the “pool rules” from a resident. The Pool Rules are posted on the website: www.chha.org.

Executive Session of the BOD. The position of Office

Man-ager/ Project Manager was reviewed and discussed. The BOD voted to continue the position for 2015.

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Real Estate Outlook 2015

By Ken Weinstein

We’re finally thawing out from a brutal winter. From a real estate perspective, however, things didn’t really seem that cold. With mortgage rates dropping to near all-time lows, significant-ly lower gas prices, and thoughts of an improving economy, the winter market was quite active.

According to Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) statistics reports, the 2014 real estate market was “was swimming along at a record clip until June of 2014”, after which it “came to a grinding halt…” As rates began to consist-ently drop, the market began beating prior year sales and medi-an prices increased. Some NVAR reports medi-and statistics cmedi-an be found at https://nvar.com/market-statistics/housing-market-statistics/market-statistics/housing-market-statistics.

As you might expect, weather does play a factor in the real es-tate market. While Feb was particularly cold, running 10 de-grees below our normal monthly average, the median home sales price increased compared to 2014.

Below are the closed home sales for the last 6 months and the See OUTLOOK on page 6

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#1 Realtor in Chantilly Highlands*

#1 Samson Realtor out of 900+ Samson Realtors

Over $46 million in sales in 2013

Bernie Kagan

Vice President and Realtor

NVAR Lifetime Top Producer

[email protected]

703-216-0985

#1 Chantilly Highlands Realtor

View All Local Listings, Virtual Tours and Testimonials @

www.

BernieKagan.com

Samson Properties ~ 14526 Lee Road, Suite 100 ~ Chantilly, VA 20151

* Source: Metropolitan Regional Information Systems

FULL Service Listings

13362 Scotsmore Way 13330 Glen Taylor Lane

4 1/2

%

Under Contract

Just Listed

comparison to the year prior. These numbers definitely indi-cate a more consistent and active winter market in our neigh-borhood than last year.

When compared to the Oak Hill market, CH has both a 7%

higher under contract rate and a 7% lower active (for sale) rate. If you have a house to sell in CH, it should have a higher de-mand and go under contract quicker than Oak Hill overall. Other good indicators of our local market came from several phone interviews with agents listing CH homes currently under contract. Open houses have continued to draw great crowds (also confirmed from other sources and Northern Va areas) and well-priced homes in good condition get contracts. There also appears to be some bottom of the market pressure to buy, which is necessary for move-up buyers to sell.

CH appears to be in a continued seller’s market as we head into the spring season, which is predicted to be good!

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Classified Advertising

Francis’s Friendly Daycare-Nearby Fox Mill Estates.

Open-ings childcare birth-12 yrs. Playful/loving, yet provide & ad-here to strict daily sched for discipline. State licensed/food pro-gram/CPR/MAT. 20+yrs exp. Ref avail. Francis 703-860-4734.

Lawn Care—Chantilly Highlands resident. References

availa-ble. $25 mow + $5 bagging. Lawn care since ‘06, dependable, no contracts. Call/text Corey 703-399-1559.

Lawn Mowing+: Mow, Fertilize, Weed control, Aerate, Seed,

Mulch, Shrub Pruning, Spring/Fall Cleanups. Reliable svc w/ prof results since 1991-Professional Property Maintenance, Inc. 703-273-9626 or www.ppmlandscapes.com.

Summer Camps for Girls! Sewing, crafts, cooking, American

Girl Doll camps in Chantilly. Also year round programs, sew-ing lessons and birthday parties! Information & registration at

www.cupcakesandlace.com or call 703-898-7407.

Tree Services - Storm damage, Trimming/pruning, Removals

& Stump grinding, Plant new trees. I.S.A. Certified Arborist. Since 1991 Professional Property Maintenance Inc.

703-273-9626 or www.ppmlandscapes.com.

Superior Landscaping, Inc. - Family/Locally owned; Excellent refs in Chantilly Highlands; Since 1985; Free Estimates; Land-scape Renovations; Paver walks/patios/walls; Spring Clean-ups; Drainage Issues; www.superiorlandscaping.net; (703)830-8800. Home Seller Alert! What Will Your Home Sell For?

Free Quick Over the Net Home Evaluation

www.ChantillyHighlandsPropertyReport.com ACC Guidelines

www.chha.org/acc%20guidelines.html

Database Update

www.chha.org/update-your-directory-listing

Exterior Alteration Request

www.chha.org/secure/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ACC-Rev1.pdf?88ff93

Facebook page

www.facebook.com/ChantillyHighlands

Nextdoor Chantilly Highlands

chantillyhighlands.nextdoor.com

CH Dolphins Swim Team

www.chdolphins.net

Metro Silver Line Info

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/connector/routes/silverline

Streetlight Outages

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/construction/streetlights/light_out.htm

VDOT's Customer Service Center at 1-800-FOR-ROAD (1-800-367-7623) or [email protected], to report road conditions

Virginia Traffic

www.511virginia.org and www.vdot.virginia.gov

KidWorks Advertising

Babysitting – Safesitter certified CHS student available for

babysitting in Chantilly Highlands and nearby. Dog walking and pet sitting available, too. Call Lauren at 703-953-8683 or 703-742-8565.

Sign up to receive important notices at

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/alerts/.

Report suspicious people or situa ons to Fairfax County Police at either their non‐emergency number at (703)691‐2131, or 9‐1‐1 if a true emergency.

Neighborhood Watch

Fairfax County Government Radio

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/radio

National Weather Service

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/emergency/weather-forecast.htm

Join Nextdoor, a private social network, to receive timely and important notices as reported from within our community. Residents can email the board at [email protected] or the newsletter at [email protected] with your name and address and “Add/Invite Me to Chantilly Highlands Nextdoor” in the subject line.

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COMMITTEE INFO

Board of Directors meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 7:30 PM at the Community Center. Meetings are open, and all residents are welcome and encouraged to participate. To include a specific item on the agenda, please contact the Board President.

Architectural Control Committee (ACC) meets at 7:30 PM on the last Wednesday of every month at the Community Center. Contact any ACC member or appropriate Board member if you have ACC questions or con-cerns.

Chantilly Highlander newsletter welcomes your articles and community photos of specific events. Advertising questions and other information may be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to the Editor at P.O. Box 710238, Oak Hill, VA, 20171.

Civic Affairs Committee for comments, questions or to join the committee's mail list contact Jeff Parnes at [email protected].

Community Events Committee organizes events for Chantilly Highlands families. The committee meets as events are scheduled, and chairpersons vary throughout the year. (Erica Giovanini to chair starting in 2015.)

Community Facilities Committee (ComFac) meets as needed regarding our swimming pool, tennis courts, playground, Community Center and its grounds. To become involved and participate in the meetings, email

[email protected].

Land Management Committee handles all issues that involve the common areas of our community, primarily lawn care and snow removal, meeting as needed. Contact Mary Williams at [email protected] with questions or to help on the Land Management Committee.

Neighborhood Watch Committee is accepting members to help monitor the community. Contact the board at [email protected] to learn more and join.

CUT OUT AND HANG BY YOUR PHONE FOR HANDY REFERENCE!

Non-Resident $ 10.00 $ 20.00 $ 50.00 $ 70.00 $120.00 Resident $ 3.00 $ 15.00 $ 30.00 $ 55.00 $100.00 Advertising Rates:

KidWorks (Under 18 yrs) Classified Ad

Business Card 3½”W x 2”H Quarter Page 3½”W x 4½”H Half Page 7½”W x 4½”H

The Chantilly Highlander is a monthly publication which informs the community of upcoming events, committee meeting highlights and deci-sions, and provides a forum to communicate items of interest to your neighbors! Articles are reviewed (subject to editing), and published at the discretion of the Board of Directors. Published advertisement is accepted, however it is not considered an endorsement by the Board. Electronic submissions are encouraged via email; however, please also provide a “camera ready” printed copy for comparison if there are graphics or fonts (print styles) that must be maintained.

Email address: [email protected] (Include ‘Chantilly Highlander’ in the subject line so it is not deleted as spam) Mailing address: CHHA, c/o The Chantilly Highlander, P.O. Box

710238, Oak Hill, VA 20171

Please submit articles, advertising (with payment), and photos so they are RECEIVED by the 12th of each month for consideration in the next month’s issue: be sure to allow sufficient time for mail

pro-cessing. Submissions or payments received after the 12th will be held

for the following month’s issue. Any non-profit notices will be

includ-ed only if space allows—guaranteinclud-ed placement must be paid advertis-ing. Classified & KidWorks ad wording should be no more than 30 words to fit on 4 lines, and is subject to editing due to space constraints.

Please be mindful Board and Committee members are volunteers, with jobs and families, making sacrifices to serve our community. Try to

contact the appropriate liaison or committee chair for the best response to a concern/question.

2015 Board of Directors & Committee Liaisons

PRESIDENT—Mary Williams [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT—Jim Mertz [email protected]

SECRETARY—Kathryn Elokdah [email protected]

TREASURER—Kevin Romance [email protected]

ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL (ACC)—Niel Schulenburg

[email protected]

CIVIC AFFAIRS— Dave Zimmerman [email protected]

COMMUNITY EVENTS—Mike Adams [email protected]

COMMUNITY FACILITIES—Brian Orsi [email protected]