RA RELAC A/C COVENANT 15 REVOKE VOTE DATES

RA published its September 25, 2014, Board Meeting Agenda Packet late last week.  Items of note in that packet include the Regular Meeting Agenda, a Draft Referendum Schedule shown at right, and a copy of the signature petition seeking to revoke RA Amended Deed Section VI.2(b)(15) requiring use of community air-conditioning chilled water system service currently provided by Reston RELAC LLC.  According to the Draft Referendum Schedule expected to be approved at the 6:00 p.m., Thursday, September 25 RA meeting, and following several intermediate steps, RA will mail ballots January 5, 2015, end voting January 30, and provide results February 9. 

HCA FIRE LANE CURB CLEAN + PAINT @ SEP 26 + 29

In response to recent Member concerns, HCA plans to reduce visual clutter and replace many Fire Lane signs clusterwide with single signs at each main entrance on North Shore Drive, subject to a Fairfax County special application and waiver.  As part of that application, HCA must show that it has otherwise clearly marked all Fire Lane areas with approved yellow curb paint.  A contractor will start the painting process by cleaning all Fire Lane curbs on Friday, September 26, and then paint them on Monday, September 29.  Please make sure your vehicles and other personal property do not obstruct their work.  For more information, contact Block 2 Director Jeff Ashley.

HCA FALL CLUSTER CLEAN-UP @ NOV 15-16

The HCA Board agreed at its September meeting to hold the annual Fall Cluster Clean-Up on Saturday and Sunday, November 15-16, 2014, two weeks before the Thanksgiving Holiday.  Hopefully this will be a dry and cool weekend good for wearing protective clothing without overheating. 

As always, Members and other residents can pitch in throughout Hickory Cluster by removing and stacking tree debris near footpaths, and by removing tree trunk vines.  One or more HCA Directors may also cut larger pieces of tree debris with their personal chain saws.  Blade Runners will follow up with tree debris chipping and removal, to be coordinated with other planned landscape maintenance. 

UPDATE ... NOAA National Weather Service local forecast for this weekend should be good for active outdoor work:
- Saturday, November 15 ... mostly sunny, with a high near 44
- Sunday, November 16 ... mostly cloudy, with a high near 47

Typical annual tasks, and recent Member-suggested tasks, include:
- Remove clinging vines from tree trunks and branches
- Remove fallen trees and tree branches
- Trim or remove overgrown private property trees and plants
- Stack tree and other debris near footpaths for pickup
- Remove private property from and clean up nearby Common Areas ... including items stored on front plazas and outside rear patio block walls
- Clean up or remove carriage house carport private property items
- Get to know your neighbors !

For more information, contact your respective Block 1-3 HCA Directors.

RESTON HOME TOUR FEATURES GOODMAN HOUSE

The 13th Annual Reston Home Tour 2014 fundraising event will showcase the McClung Residence, a renovated 1248 s.f., two bedroom, 1965 Type C1 Goodman House on October 18, 2014 for hundreds of attendees.  Renowned Modern Architect Charles M. Goodman, FAIA (1906-92) built only three other Type C1 Hickory Cluster townhomes with the same special split level floorplan, upper floor clerestory windows, and elevated central Common Area views.

As architectural historian Richard Guy Wilson noted in The Making of Virginia Architecture:  " ... More than any other individual, Charles M. Goodman brought modern architecture to mid-twentieth-century Virginia.  A figure of international stature, Goodman's impact can scarcely be measured ... .  His designs formed the basis of the generic Modern American house and school, widely imitated in every part of the country. ... The result was a body of architecture of great distinction that captured Americans' imagination for many years. ... "

And as architectural historian Elizabeth Jo Lample noted in Housing Washington:  " ... The appeal of living in a Goodman house is enormous to those who share his avant-garde spirit, plus his ideals for openness, engagement with nature, and liberal social values.  There remains a solid housing market today for people who appreciate the simplicity amid nature and the progressivism that a Goodman house still offers.  ... To those who are fortunate enough to obtain them, his dwellings feel like highly livable works of art, glazed conduits to the natural world.  Perhaps far more than those who inhabited them early on, the houses offer a rarified experience that, contrary to their designer's intent, renders them well removed from any vernacular realm."

For more information on Reston's Goodman Houses, visit the Hickory Cluster official website at http://hickoryclusterassociation.blogspot.com.