Mr. Newcomb, the President, was absent.  The meeting was conducted by the Vice President.

Preliminary Business:

The Board approved the minutes of the February 19th meeting and authorized their publication on the Cluster Web site.

Agenda Approval – Members present made no additions.

Old Business

1.  Treasurer’s Report

1.1        Bank Report -- Treasurer has deposited the Cluster Reserve Fund in a CD at United Bank.  The CD may be accessed as necessary to provide funds for Cluster projects. Amount transferred is shown on the February Cluster Financial report.

1.2 Dues Status – Treasurer reported all dues are current except for one property that is now two quarters in arrears. 

1.3   Financial Report – February operating results are attached to these minutes.

2.  Facilities and Grounds

2.1. Budget –The $5,800 increment of the street lighting contract has been signed to start the work to replace underground wiring (and thus lighting) to the 2010-2036 and 2029-2035 areas of Lakewinds Drive. Work will avoid the area obstructed by tree roots.  The Board authorized further work at an estimated cost of $4640 to replace underground wiring in the 2005-2023 area of Lakewinds Drive because the lights are not working.  The first increment replaces accessible underground cable to the light poles.  The second increment includes replacement of cables and investigation of a possible malfunction in the power switch box for the lights. This investigation might cost in the range of $200.

2.2. Large tree removal on the Lakewinds Drive island area is finished, at a cost of $2380. The Contractor removed the tree and swept the street.

2.3 Sign replacement:  New No Parking signs have been installed  at a cost of $3,328.

2.4 Near-Term Future Projects: 

2.4.1: Survey concrete sidewalks and make a maintenance plan based on results.

2.4.2:  Survey light posts, assess corrosion and plan for necessary repairs.

2.4.3:  Front door design standards and other Cluster design specifications are being violated.  Survey the Cluster, assess violations, determine several contractors able to make the changes and distribute that information to individual owners upon their request. 

New Business

3.  Groundskeeping Matters

3.1 Cluster Appearance – The Board noted that many owners are disregarding cluster design standards when they maintain their houses.  It was moved to conduct an annual walk-through inspection of the Cluster buildings, to insure adherence to design standards.  A Reston Association Design Review person will be invited to participate.  The inspection should be done in the spring.  Motion passed. 

3.2 Encroachment on Cluster Land:  A resident submitted a draft RA Complaint Form giving details of the encroachment on Cluster common land behind 2017 Lakewinds Drive.  The complaint included pictures of the unauthorized land use and a diagram showing where private land ends and cluster land begins.  The Board moved to authorize the complaint and send it to the RA Covenants Committee.  Motion passed.

3.3 No Parking Zone at the Head of Lakewinds Drive: A Board member asked the Grounds Chairman to extend the No Parking Zone at the right side of the intersection (nearest to Lakewinds-I Cluster) by eight feet, to improve visibility of oncoming traffic when large vehicles are parked in the first space.  He reported experiencing some near-miss situations because of the obstructed sight line.  The Grounds Chairman will include this item in the next street maintenance job.

Board Members – Open Forum

1. ARCH Visit: Mr. Frank Pfeilmeier and Mr. Jerry Volloy of the Alliance of Reston Clusters and Homeowners (ARCH) addressed the Board, to explain the purposes of ARCH and the activities it performs.  ARCH is a volunteer organization, now 4 years old; its members include 30 clusters and condominium associations and several individual home owners. Its purposes are to promote a better understanding of the ways to maintain the Reston community and to provide a clearinghouse for ideas.  This clearinghouse includes a list of goods and services suppliers who have done quality work for clusters and have their endorsement. The other major activity is the Issues Committee, which considers and reports on items of interest affecting its members. ARCH maintains a Web site at www.restonarch.org where it publishes all its materials.  Membership dues are $35 for the first year and $25 for each year thereafter.  The Board thanked Messrs. Pfeilmeier and Volloy for their visit and moved to pay the $35 initial dues to become a member.  Motion passed.

2.  Expiring Member Terms: The Secretary has examined the minutes of past Annual Meetings and determines that the terms of Board members Hanlon and Newcomb are expiring.  The Annual Meeting will elect two new officers to the Board.

3. Trucks and Trailers Stored on Ridge Heights Road:  Several residents and Board members have complained about the large box and boat trailers that periodically stay for long intervals in parking places along Ridge Heights Road. These vehicles are an eyesore in the neighborhood. They have been parked for as long as three months in several locations, and are moved only every ten days to avoid being ticketed as abandoned. They probably belong to people in the neighborhood, but not to Cluster residents. Since Ridge Heights Road is a Fairfax County property, Reston Association has no jurisdiction over them.  The Vice President suggested that the County could designate Ridge Heights Road as a “special parking district,” with rules banning its use as a storage lot.  She will research this approach.  The Secretary mentioned this problem to a friend who is an RA Board member. He was told that several communities in the County have already taken this step and that there is interest in doing the same thing throughout Reston.  The most fruitful approach would be to solicit expressions of interest from everyone in the neighborhood and send these messages to our County Supervisor, Ms. Catherine Hudgins, who will see that the district is created through an act of the Fairfax County Board.  The Cluster Board will consider this matter again at the next meeting.

4. Annual Meeting:  The Annual Cluster Meeting will take place at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, May 6, at the Langston Hughes Intermediate School Cafeteria. All Cluster Homeowners have one vote, both residents and absentees. All Cluster residents are invited to attend.

Next Board Meeting – The next Lakewinds-II Cluster Board meeting will take place April 8, 7:30 PM, at the Vice President’s house, 2003 Lakewinds Drive.

Meeting adjourned at 9:25 PM.

Respectfully submitted,