Manchester Commons Homeowners Association

Monthly Board of Directors Meeting

Minutes, September 17, 2007

The meeting was called to order. In attendance were Amy Muench, Robert Girardo,
David Burton and Dave Ness. Greg Budnik from Community Association Engineering
was also present for the discussion of the common area drainage issue.

1. Review of Previous Minutes - The minutes from the previous meeting, August 2007,
were not available for review or approval.
2. Old Business
a. New Board Letter - The “New Board of Directors” introduction letter was
mailed to the members. By using in-house and personal resources, Amy was
able to greatly reduce the production costs.
b. Water Drainage – Greg Budnik, President of Community Association
Engineering (CAE), presented a summary of the drainage issues and proposed
next steps to the board. A brief history of the drainage issue::
• Greg was asked by the MCHOA board to investigate the sinkhole &
drainage issue. He engaged in a paid contract with the board to
research and provide his findings.
• CAE met w/ county representatives to discuss possible resolutions
• A temporary solution was implemented, involving a fill of the
affected areas with dense clay.
• Fairfax County is currently evaluating their participation in a long-
term solution and considering where this drainage issue sits with
regard to other county priorities.
• Greg is hoping to hear a response from Fairfax County in October,
but even this response may be preliminary and not the final word.
He is writing a formal letter to the county asking for their written
response to be returned by October 15 (the next MCHOA Board
Meeting).
• Greg presented his recommendation for a long-term solution
regarding the MCHOA common areas, regardless of Fairfax County
involvement or assistance.
A motion was made that the board pursue three bids for implementing
Greg’s recommendation. The motion was seconded and passed
unanimously.
c. ARC Survey – Amy reported that the follow-up walkthrough showed great
progress by homeowners/residents on addressing open ARC issues. The
board will continue to work with homeowners/residents to remediate
outstanding violations. Specific open issues:
• xxxx – Robert Girardo will follow up with homeowner questions
regarding specifics with open issues.
• xxxx – Homeowner has questioned why a decorative item is
requested to be removed now, after five years? All board members
 will review the MCHOA governing documents to clarify a) the
purview of the board and b) the range of architectural considerations
covered by the governing documents.
The board agreed that more consistency needs to be applied in
determining ARC violations.
d. Visitor Parking – Amy presented an in-house flyer reminding outlining the
existing parking rules according to the MCHOA governing documents. These
flyers, not the Armstrong Management-provided generic stickers, will be
placed by board members on violators. Amy reviewed her visitor parking
monitoring results over the period between Aug. 26 and September 12.
Several violation notices were placed on the cars of repeat violators. As a
result, there was a noticeable presence of available visitor spaces! The board
will continue this practice.
e. Budget/Finances – Armstrong still has not provided a final 2008 budget
proposal, although a rough cut – based on 2-year old data and missing several
key figures – was presented for review. The board deemed this unacceptable
for review and will pursue a comprehensive, accountable 2008 proposal from
Armstrong as soon as possible. To date, the current board is less than pleased
with Armstrong’s responsiveness to requests and will address this issue with
Armstrong.
f. Block Party – Amy proposed having a community block party on Saturday,
October 6. In addition to building community within the neighborhood, this
will serve as a community-cleanup opportunity as well as inform residents on
ways they can get involved in community business and activities. The board
agreed to move forward with the party, provided that the cost of the party to
the Association is negligible (e.g. community-supplied food and supplies).
3. New Business
a. The board brought up the need to review our Capital Reserves and Annual
Assessment contribution. Given the age of our community and the time
elapsed since our last Capital Assessment review, a motion was made,
seconded and approved to pursue three bids for a contract to investigate
our current Capital Reserves and community needs.
b. The next board meeting will be Monday, October 15, from 7:00 pm – 9:00
pm. At this meeting the proposed 2008 budget will be reviewed and
presented for board approval.
c. Mary Coscarelli has resigned from the board, effective immediately. The
board will pursue a replacement board member to fill the remainder of her
term. Dave Ness will assume her position as secretary.

The meeting was adjourned.