NEWBERRY STATION HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

Professional Grounds Report Follows Minutes

May 5, 2010

I. Call to Order

A. The meeting was called to order at 7:14

B. Roster

Board Attendees                     Brandon Farlander

                        Michael Miller

                                                Todd Austin

Management                                                                          Brandi Langeneck, Community Manager

Note.  Mr. Simcic has resigned.

II. Approval Of Minutes

Mr. Farlander moved to accept the minutes of the April 2010 meeting. Mr. Miller seconded the motion. Passed unanimously.

II. Annual Meeting

The Board will meet on June 2.  The annual meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 16, 2010.

III. Traffic Calming

A resident in attendance reported that the Newington Civic Association, at its April 22^nd meeting, authorized a letter to Fairfax County requesting that the County —

1.  Install “$200 Additional Fine For Speeding” signs on Newington Road.

2.  Install “Watch For Children” signs on Newington Road.

3.  Install multi-way stop signs on Newington Road adjacent to its intersection with Hamilton Court.

Mr. Miller moved to have our Association send a similar letter to the County, calling for an additional sign warning motorists of “stop sign ahead” at the crest of the hill on Newington Road.  Mr. Austin seconded the motion.  After discussion, Mr. Miller agreed to table the motion until the community has an opportunity to consider the motion at the annual meeting.

IV. Professional Grounds; Inspection of Work

(See Exhibit D attached for the Professional Grounds monthly report.)

Mr. Miller reported to the Board on his joint inspection of the property with Ms. Langeneck and Mr. Zalewski of Professional Grounds, Inc.  Mr. Zalewski noted that bare spots, which are sites of the former ash trees, will be planted in the Fall.  He also stated that the recently cleared ground between Shannons Landing and the pool will be sprayed during the course of the summer to suppress weeds and planted with grass in the Fall.  Mr. Miller requested that Professional Grounds build a mulch trail to the pool from Shannons Landing through the cleared area that is lined with a landscape fabric to keep the trail free from weeds (which has been done). 

Mr. Zalewski also contended that a French drain is the best solution to handle runoff from the hill above pool and that the cost of the drain would be no greater than the cost of regrading the swale.  Mr. Miller moved to spend $1,812 to build the French drain, provided that Professional Grounds agrees to regrade the swale at no additional cost if the drain does not work.  Mr. Austin seconded the motion; passed unanimously.

Finally, Mr. Miller requested that Professional Grounds provide a quotation for planting ground cover on the mulch beds adjacent to 6920 Trestle Ct.  Ms. Langeneck will solicit said quotation.

V. Taxi

A resident has complained that taxis are parked in the community, notwithstanding the ban on the parking of commercial vehicles in the community. Ms. Langeneck will investigate and notify the owners of the taxis that they cannot park the vehicles in the community (and should instead park them on Ona Drive – where other commercial vehicles are parked).

VI.   Update On Road Construction

M&T Bank is still working on our loan application.  Only two bids have been returned in response to the RFP; seven are still pending.

Mr. Miller proposed that we consider amending the RFP to add speed humps — and that this proposal be submitted for consideration at the annual meeting.

VII.   Street Signs

Mr. Miller will contact Gerry Hyland's Office to ask —

1.  How can we authorize and obtain Fairfax County police enforcement of

speed limit, stop, and one-way signs on our private streets?

2.  If our signs do not match VDOT specifications for size and height, would

that be a problem for enforcement?

Professional Grounds Report

EXHIBIT D

Newberry Station 2010 Log

Professional Grounds, Inc.

January‑

1/12/2010‑We removed some limbs from the December Blizzard

1/15/201 0‑We were finally able to grind all the stumps and add topsoil, seed, and straw to those areas

1/27/2010‑We returned and did the last leaf removal. Certain types of Oaks loose the last of their leaves late which is why he did the final one so late in the season.

1/29/2010‑We removed some more branches near the tot lot that had broken.

February‑Typically, we like the cut back perennials and prepare for spring during this month but the blizzards did not allow that.

2/22/2010 and 2/23/2010‑We removed an enormous amount of branches following the major blizzards. We only removed those that could be removed because many were still buried under the snow but it made sense to remove these since there were so many. We removed 6 truckloads of branches!

3/10/2010 and 3/11/2010‑We returned to the property and removed additional branches since the snow had melted and we were able to see the rest of them. There was a remarkable amount of additional storm damage. We also did the approved proposals by removing the juniper, cutting back the encroachment of woods at the pool and cleaned out the area under the pine trees. I'm not certain what we should do with this area at this point but am waiting to see if any ivy returns in the spring and would like to talk with the BOD about what may be best now that it is cleaned up. We certainly won't let the material grow back into the condition that it was but if ivy returns it may make sense to have it act as a ground cover and/or consider mulching the entire area. In any event, it looks so much better. I realize there is one large pine tree branch still in the tree but it is too high for us to cut out (we can't reach it) so I hoping it falls soon and we can remove it. If not, we may try to access it with and extension ladder and chainsaw.

The area where we removed the juniper looks so much better now we should work with the HOA to see if they want to put any plant material back in that area. In my 5 year plan I had suggested a couple of Crape Myrtles.

3/31/2010‑We commenced all the bed preparation and clean‑up in preparation for mulch.

Going forward‑Over the next few weeks we will be in full Spring mode. Mulching will be installed in the very near future. The gutter at the end of Trestle and behind the Professional grounds report Followstownhomes will be cleaned out and we will be applying pre emergent weed control for crabgrass as well as a light fertilization to help the grass recover from winter. We've also sent proposals to the BOD for summer flowers as well as street sweeping. I'd be happy to meet with anyone interested again to walk the property. Brandi and I are going to meet Friday to discuss the pool drainage problem in more detail.

4/27/2010‑Mr. Miller, Brandi and I met on site last week and discussed the French drain project by the pool in more detail and also discussed adding another drain to the left of the sidewalk prior to paving of the parking lot. We also went down to the area that was brushbogged and discussed putting in a mulch trail right now between the two communities and removing the large dead pine tree as well as the other pine tree by the pool road. In the fall, we will hopefully get BOD approval to seed that area that was brushhogged as well as mulch under the pine trees. The seeding is better accomplished in the fall which is why we are going to wait. Additionally, we will also mulch the erosion prone area next to Mr. Corbin's home since people should no longer be cutting through their rather using the trail. All of this work should commence in the near future

‑Mowing has been going good so far this spring and overall the property is looking pretty good.

Mulching has been completed and the preemergent weed control and post emergent weed control will be done in the next week or two.