HCA REVISED GOV DOCS v2 ISSUES + VOTE ... AGAIN: NO

At the September 21, 2022 Regular Meeting, HCA Directors asked attending Members how much time they wanted to review revised Articles/Bylaws v2.  The apparently acceptable response:  30 days minimum.  And they promised redlined change-tracking versions to more clearly identify what text was removed, kept, or added.

The good news:  v2 redlines helped.  As did some requested changes.  Thank you.  

The bad news:  The proposed v2 Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws with a cover letter dated September 22, and postmarked September 27, were received by Members no earlier than September 28.  HCA then announced in a letter dated October 4, postmarked October 4, and received no earlier than October 5, a corresponding October 24 Town Hall meeting.  That gave Members only 19 days from the October 5 earliest actual meeting notice receipt to review and understand massive changes to key, yet typically unfamiliar, governing documents on October 24.  

More bad news: "... amending some of the bylaws of the community. ... "  or even " ... updating the Bylaws ... " to current law, or adding consistency, are not what is really happening here.  HCA removed major governing document sections, added completely new sections, and kept little from known and trusted documents and processes dating back to as early as 1960s HCA creation.  

The following links are to scanned copies of the proposed Articles/Bylaws v2 governing documents, and correspondingly section-keyed review comments added by a long-time resident with years of HCA governing issues and documents working knowledge and experience:

PROPOSED NEW ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION v2                                   (1)  As Proposed by HCA                                                                             (2)  Review Comments

PROPOSED NEW BYLAWS v2                                                                   (1)  As Proposed by HCA                                                                             (2)  Review Comments

You can find the referenced 1964 Articles of Incorporation, 1993 Bylaws, and Special and General Resolutions on the Governing Documents page of this website.

Sadly, many proposed revisions increase Board ability to make major impact cluster decisions without transparent Member notice or approval, ostensibly because most if not all Directors don't have enough time to do all the many things they should be doing to run the cluster.  On the other hand, if you don't have enough time to be a Director, then perhaps you can always step aside and let someone else who has the time, knowledge, and experience be a Director instead.

Examples of serious issues with the new Articles v2 proposed revisions include: removal of violation due process hearing details, adding Common Area unequal and non-uniform use, adding catastrophe repair deadline of six months, allowing non-adult and non-owner household members to be Directors.

And the new Bylaws v2 proposed revisions unfortunately include:  ignoring all 18 Special and General Resolutions, no Good Standing and violations due process details, adding Common Area unequal and non-uniform use, unlimited use of interaction-restricting virtual video meetings, annual meetings any month the Board wants, unlimited proxy vote manipulation, removal of Common Area modification approval by affected Members, allowing Director removal by as few as 10 votes, continued Director appointment without Member opportunity announcement, unlimited Director nomination and election manipulation, lack of Executive Session requirements, continued recent lack of annual financial audit report Member public availability, substituting non-professional business judgment for bid minimums, allowing Special Assessments of any amount with no Member approval, billing Members for Board repairs to their private property, and lack of existing detailed annual dues policy, including possible collection on an other than monthly basis.

That is WAY too much problematic and unresolved stuff.

So because HCA appears to be proposing a quick all-or-nothing vote, and until ALL open issues are resolved, VOTE NO on v2.

HCA DIRECTOR ELECTION MANIPULATED ... AGAIN

Updated May 28, 2022

You would think that after a national spotlight on government election integrity during the past few years even the Hickory Cluster Board of Directors would try hard to avoid real or perceived election irregularities.  And to provide a consistent and fair, if not legal, Director election process as an example of capable cluster management.

Sadly, that did not happen in 2021, and it is about to not happen again in 2022.  Instead, it appears the Board is continuing to manipulate the annual meeting candidate nomination and election process, and is trying to enshrine more of the same manipulation in proposed new versions of HCA bylaws, to ensure election of those candidates the Board likes vs. those it does not. 

Last year was a preview of this year's plan.  You may not have noticed the details then or now, but here's apparently how the 2022 Hickory Cluster Annual Meeting election manipulation works:

1.  SUPPORT NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING

On a private social media group co-administered by a Director, who also sought re-election after the 2022 initial nomination period closed, support another candidate by allowing them ... someone who has commonly-understood histories of undermining the HCA Board and causing the Cluster added expense during the Block 3 parking garage crisis by triggering its condemnation earlier than the Board planned, and of filing Fairfax County zoning and building code complaints against neighbors ... to publish negative and derogatory half-truths about a third candidate specifically to undermine them, even though that social media private group's "rules" say such posts are not allowed.

2.  ANNOUNCE A PHONY NOMINATION DEADLINE

In a first mailing postmarked April 29, announce a pre-meeting nomination form submission hard deadline of 3:00 p.m. May 12 with no other options for nomination later.  And "forget" to include the nomination form in the mailing, but post the nomination form on the official HCA website with no other direct notice that it is there.  That gives the Board advance knowledge of candidates, only two of which applied on time in compliance with clearly stated May 12 deadline, and an ostensible reason to change the deadline mid-stream.

3.  ANNOUNCE THE SAME PHONY DEADLINE ... AGAIN

In a second mailing postmarked May 9, send out the "missing" nomination form with the original 3:00 p.m. May 12 nomination submission hard deadline stated again, and again with no other options for nomination later.  

4.  RECRUIT MORE CANDIDATES

Review the candidates that complied by the twice-stated May 12 deadline.  If you like the candidates, accept them and send out the meeting packets with only those candidates listed.  If you don't like them, set a new nomination deadline to recruit and allow additional candidates.

5.  ALLOW OTHER CANDIDATES TO NOMINATE LATE

Notify other possible candidates, including Directors who originally decided not to run, or others who publicly stated they missed the original deadline, that they are special and do not have to comply with the original clearly-stated nomination May 12 deadline.

6.  ANNOUNCE A NEW NOMINATION DEADLINE OBSCURELY

On the obscure official HCA website, announce there, but not directly via written notice or in any other way to all Members, that the original nomination hard deadline has been magically changed to May 16.

7.  ALLOW EVEN MORE LATE NOMINATIONS AT THE ANNUAL MEETING ITSELF

In a third mailing meeting packet postmarked May 19, now announce that additional nominations during the Annual Meeting itself ... that were NOT allowed according to the first and second mailing announcements ... can be made.

8.  RESTRICT PROXY VOTING ONLY BY THE HCA SECRETARY

In the same third mailing meeting packet, manipulate the proxy form so that proxies can now be assigned ONLY to the HCA Secretary and NOT to other Members as has been the case in HCA for decades.  Assignment to other Members is NOT restricted by the current HCA Bylaws.  And then continue to allow the HCA Secretary to vote uninstructed proxies ... those without designated candidate voting preferences ... without transparency for the candidates of their choice.

9.  ANNOUNCE TWO PROXY SUBMISSION DEADLINE TIMES

The third mailing meeting packet cover letter clearly states a 2:00 p.m. Friday, May 27 proxy submittal deadline to TWC.  BUT ... the proxy form itself amazingly states a 12:00 noon deadline the same day.  This is nuts.  And could result in disqualified proxies.

10.  REMOVE A CANDIDATE'S STATEMENT SECOND PAGE

The May 9 mailing and official website-posted nomination form clearly stated that candidates " ... may submit your statement on a separate sheet of paper and attach it to this form (up to 2 pages).  The Cluster will distribute your statement to the membership with the official Notice of Annual Meeting. ... ."  And April 29 and May 9 mailing cover letters stated " ... Your Statement of Interest provided will be presented to the members exactly as it is provided to us. ... "  One candidate submitted a TWO page statement as allowed.  But the Board failed to include the second page ... a reference copy of the 2019 HCA proxy form that shows serious discrepancies among the 2019, 2021, and 2022 proxy forms ... to Members in the May 19 third mailing meeting packet as promised.

11.  HOLD THE ELECTION ON A MAJOR HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Many Members and their families will probably be out of town for the typically long Memorial Day weekend, Friday-Monday, May 27-30.  They understandably have better things to do than attend a homeowners meeting.  So that means more votes will be by proxy rather than in person, and therefore controlled by the Board to again potentially determine the election winners.  Previous Boards have specifically NOT held the Annual Meeting and election on a holiday weekend to maximize Member attendance and in-person voting.  Yes, Zoom may increase attendance, but it is just not the same.  Really ... who wants to do that on a holiday at the beach or wherever?

12.  ALLOW CANDIDATES TO BE ABSENT FROM THE ELECTION MEETING

Legal counsel advice to previous Boards maintained that Director candidates MUST be physically present at annual meeting elections to effectively and transparently understand and accept election results.  However, for the first time in more than a decade, at least one candidate was on vacation during the time of the Annual Meeting.  And at least one candidate's statement of interest appears to have been written by someone other than the candidate themselves.

13.  ALLOW ABSENT MEMBER VOTES VIA UNKNOWN ONLINE POLLING TOOL

This adds increased complexity to, and questions about, the election process and results audit trail.  What tool is being used?  Who is managing it?  Are all attendees validated as real Members in general, and in good standing specifically?  Does the system produce complete paper records of attendees and their votes for official records and possible review by all Members?  Are the system and results subject to manipulation during or after use?  And a 2013 legal opinion to HCA stated that email voting, a similar electronic process, was not permitted.

NOTE:  More, including respective reference documents, will be posted soon.  Please check back again.

This is not just a simple mistake or two.   It is more than that.  The Board is apparently trying hard to get the Director election results it wants.  Or it just doesn't know what it is doing.  Either way, it is unfair to everyone involved, if not possibly illegal, and indicates either more bad faith or less competency than is reasonable.  

So the question is:  Are enough HCA Members willing to let this happen now and in the future?  

Next time YOU could be the person NOT preferred by the Board.   

Regardless, those two candidates who filed May 12 on time according to the Boards twice-stated deadline requirements should be directly elected to two open positions because they would not have been subject to a clusterwide vote for them.  The other three candidates who filed late May 15-16 should compete only for the one remaining open position.  

And ... Board manipulation of HCA Director elections, for whatever reason, must stop now.

HCA REVISED BYLAWS + ARTICLES NEED MORE WORK

Updated May 22, 2022

When it became apparent that the Board had changed the meeting purpose from a discussion-and-vote session to a question-and-answer session, a Block 3 HCA Director stated that the Board did not see the meeting announcement letter before TWC sent it out to Members, and that they posted the change on the official HCA website, which of course no one saw.  An irritated Block 3 Member commented, and other attendees agreed, that the Board should have notified Members directly about the change.  Attendees included six Directors and about six other Members.

A common response to Member questions about document text changes, whether partially-documented new version additions or typically undocumented old version deletions, was that the Board wanted "flexibility," ostensibly to unilaterally do anything, anytime, anywhere, and for any reason.  More soon about the rest of the meeting ...

Updated May 18, 2022

The HCA Board of Directors and their new attorney have been working on governing documents revisions for a year or more with no HCA Member public collaboration as part of that process.  Then Members received a Town Hall discussion and voting meeting announcement and proposed document copies on about May 4, postmarked May 2, and dated April 29.

In response, the Board expects at least 60 Members to discuss and approve a package of significant changes in two major governing documents within only two hours on May 18, 2022 ... after only 14 days of review and consideration ... that would then be used to govern at the 2022 HCA Annual Meeting of Members and beyond.

The initial purpose for these new versions was ostensibly to reconcile and align existing governing documents, including Deed, Articles of Incorporation, and Bylaws, with each other and with current relevant Virginia law.  However, the revised Bylaws contain numerous OTHER changes, many of which were NOT called out with the 2022 text, let alone with the 1993 text, several key 1993 sections were eliminated outright, and some changes have no previous HCA document or practice precedent.

Here are the linked source documents with specific sections of note yellow-highlighted, and related review comments summarized on additional pages:

HCA ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION WITH REVIEW COMMENTS                            1964 Version currently in effect                                                                1993 Proposed Amendments to 1964 Articles ... apprvl undocumented        2022 Version proposed by HCA Board

HCA CORPORATE BYLAWS WITH REVIEW COMMENTS                                        1993 Version currently in effect                                                                2022 Version proposed by HCA Board

Current bottom line:  Because of the large number of problematic sections in the 2022 Proposed Bylaws, and because of key 1993 sections eliminated in the 2022 version, this reviewer recommends a NO vote, or NOT voting at all, UNTIL each problematic item is thoroughly discussed, revised if necessary, and reviewed again for final approval, however long it takes for enduring quality rather than convenient speed.

RELAC A/C 2022 SVC STARTUP @ FRI MAY 13

Updated May 11, 2022

Due to cooler than expected weather, RELAC moved their operations start date to Friday, May 13 from Wednesday, May 11, and has begun initially circulating unchilled water to remove entrapped air bubbles from the general service lines.  Individual homeowners must also circulate the water through their home systems to remove the air.

According to RELAC President Mark Waddell today, and assuming no two consecutive 80F+ days in the next week, RELAC will be ready to start the 2022 cooling season on Wednesday, May 11 rather than the May 22 Virginia State Corporation Commission tariff minimum requirement date.  Unmetered flat rate customers will not be charged for the extra days of service, and metered customers will pay for the actual number of gallons measured and used.

The 2022 start date is almost two weeks ahead of the tariff date, but not as early as the April 29, 2018 start date.  Regardless, RELAC management and staff have been hard at work inspecting and adjusting their equipment within Hickory Cluster and elsewhere during the past few weeks.  The RELAC cooling season will end on or about the October 9, 2022 tariff date, but the team has extended it in the recent past for unusually warm Fall weather.  For more information, visit the RELAC page on this website.

RA COVENANTS ADVISOR TO HCA DEPARTS @ FRI MAR 4

Updated May 16, 2022

RA and HCA will lose the substantial knowledge and experience of RA Covenants Advisor Vern James when he leaves to take on new and greater responsibilities nearer his home as the Ashburn Village Community Association, Inc. Resident Services Manager, effective Friday, March 4.  Unknown to most of us during his RA tenure, Vern was also an accomplished writer with nine novels and more than 50 short stories published over a period of 26 years.  

RA is currently in the process of seeking a replacement.  Until that person is on board and trained, the temporary Covenants Advisor for Hickory Cluster is Catherine Castrence, nicknamed "Cat", ccastrence@reston.org.

Vern joined RA in September 2013 and simultaneously supported up to 30 Reston clusters, including Hickory Cluster, for almost nine years.  He became an expert in RA Covenants, Codes, and Restrictions, RA Maintenance & Use Standards, RA DRB Design Guidelines, and HCA Cluster Standards.  He tirelessly helped HCA Members maintain and improve their Goodman Houses, the majority of whom value compliance with protective rules that enhance daily quality of life, Goodman architectural integrity, and resulting property value growth.  And he did this in a friendly manner, even in the face of a heavy workload and unfortunate opposition from a small number of residents who believe RA protective rules, to which they agreed when they purchased their Reston homes, do not apply to them.  Vern was an effective professional, a friend of Hickory Cluster, and a valuable Reston asset.  He will be missed.

BLOCK 2 GOODMAN HOUSE PRICE RECORD @ FEB 3

Updated February 25, 2022

The Payton Residence, an almost fully renovated Hickory Cluster Block 2 Model A2B Goodman House with a near-perfect rear southern exposure to central HCA Common Area, sold for a record $745,200 price yesterday following the July 2021 departure of a beloved long-time medical professional homeowner and her late husband, a highly-regarded journalist, bureau chief, and executive editor.  They met as college students, married, and lived together in Belgium, Israel, Italy, France, and most recently Reston.  Both were serious modern architecture, rock music, foreign film, and Porsche 911 fans.  

A realtor who rarely resells Hickory Cluster Goodman Houses initially sold the home as an off-MLS private sale to an investor buyer in September 2021 for $480,000.  After homeowner out-of-state relatives managing her affairs decided the home was a deferred maintenance "money pit," and to cash out the estate asset as quickly as possible, the realtor they chose did so by representing BOTH the homeowner seller AND investor buyer as what is termed a "dual agent." But as a prominent Hickory Cluster realtor expert diplomatically understated, the dual agent realtor did the homeowner seller a "disservice" by not allowing typical full and open price competition.  Even the realtor's own brockerage company advises that, according to a recent MLS study validated by two Ph.D. economists, "The median sales price for homes sold on-MLS was 16.98% higher than homes sold off-MLS."  In other words, the homeowner seller and her estate lost an estimated $81,504 through an off-MLS sale with no competition among an otherwise huge market of highly-motivated buyers who also could have renovated the home and lived in it.  

But wait, there's more:  As part of the initial deal, the very same realtor arranged to represent the investor as seller during the on-MLS, three-day, six-offer, $745,200 second transaction in February 2022.  She ostensibly earned both a 6% September 2021 commission (homeowner seller 3.5% + investor buyer 2.5%), but also the 3.5% February 2022 investor seller commission.  So who benefited most from this apparent conflict of interest?  With full on-MLS price competition for their follow-on resale, the realtor and investor got the real deals.  The homeowner, with no MLS price competition for the initial resale, did not.

Increased resale prices also mean increased annual assessed property values and property taxes for everyone else.  For one nearby Block 2 Model A2B Goodman House, the 2022 Notice of Real Estate Assessment Change dated February 22, 2022 reports an increase of 15.11% from 2021, no doubt in part due to this February 3 resale.  Corresponding property tax amounts tentatively increased $878.88 from $5,815.44 to $6,694.32, subject to final county tax rate decisions and possible homeowner appeal.  See the real estate sales page of this website for comprehensive Hickory Cluster resale data covering all 2013-22 resales.  

The house was the subject of almost continuous work from September 2021 through January 2022, and the all-too-frequent blocking of a fire hydrant and resident cars by contractor trucks for hours at a time despite clearly marked fire lanes and a clearly visible fire hydrant.  Hickory Cluster fire lane signs do not say "except for contractors."

The investor team repaired substantial drywall water damage and other deferred maintenance, and remodeled bathrooms and kitchen with trendy, contemporary flat-pack DIY cabinets, fixtures, and hardware, all sadly not Mid-Century Modern in design or color.  The ground floor kitchen was reconfigured to be a more open and space-efficient with a useful pantry barn door, but in a simplistic, boring, white-on-white color scheme contrasted by stainless steel appliances and black fixtures and hardware.  Lack of a breakfast bar as part of the new kitchen cabinet divider waterfall counter top was a missed, but still possible, opportunity.  In the process, priceless original 1960s Fresnel lens ceiling and other light fixtures, original butterfly bathroom fixtures, and original kitchen appliance and cabinet components were lost forever rather than offered for reuse to other homeowners. 

Contractors refinished and repaired original Hope steel-frame awning and casement windows and original aluminum frame sliding glass doors, but they also absurdly painted the originally removable awning window screen units to the fixed window frames.  Both types of operable windows and the sliding glass doors will require eventual replacement with more modern alternatives to prevent typical excessive air infiltration and heat loss.  The contractors also added a trendy rear patio high-smoke fire ring sure to be popular with nearby neighbors.  New mixed warm white and cold blue ceiling lights will need overall color consistency, typically on the warm side.  Replacement of the old front main entry door house number plaque with a new and original-design-consistent plaque was a good thing, however, painting the replacement front entry white-anodized window aluminum door and window frames foolishly made previously paint-free elements now regular maintenance items requiring paint to match.

Hardwood floors throughout were significantly repaired and refinished, as was the rear patio brick surface.  The investor removed and replaced original ground floor wood parquet tiles attached by black mastic asbestos adhesive with dark tiles that can provide passive solar heating, but laid diagonally rather than orthogonally as did International Style Goodman.  This was a huge mistake.  Goodman used wood for at least one good reason:  concrete slab floors are and feel VERY cold during Winter months, and wood provided much less heat loss than denser vinyl or tile.  So now to compensate, the new homeowner must buy large and expensive rugs, which of course defeat passive solar heating by shielding the tiles from direct sunlight.  Or, as other homeowners did before not after floor material replacement, the investor could have installed a radiant floor heating system between the slab and new tile.  Or, he could have simply refinished the wood tiles as have many other Goodman House homeowners.  And then there's the issue of possible asbestos fiber contamination if not properly managed during tile removal.

Also sadly, it appears the RA resale inspection and disclosure document team neglected to fully follow its own Design Guidelines, Maintenance & Use Standards, and HCA Cluster Standards during both 2021 and 2022 resales of this home.  Such negligence results in unfair treatment of other HCA homeowners who were previously cited for and invested in repairing the very same non-compliant conditions elsewhere, including:  rear mid-level non-original as-built design gutter and downspout addition, upper roof deck non-original as-built design replacement light fixture, and rear top concrete beam black mildew caused by a seriously overgrown tree next door.  In addition, rear patio staggered board fences are non-compliant designs according to current HCA General Resolution 6 Fence Standards, an RA Cluster Standard, which allows four specific options, and the standard does not allow exposed hinge hardware.  According to previous HCA legal counsel guidance, such violations persist whether cited or not, and new homeowners inherit related remediation liability.  RA and HCA standards inspection and disclosure negligence also contributes to a growing accumulation of non-compliant elements, and a death spiral in individual and community Goodman House architectural integrity.

Regardless, Hickory Cluster continues to benefit from a strong real estate seller market with low supply, high demand, and historically low mortgage rates.  Goodman Houses sell quickly, with large cash down payments, almost sight unseen, and without buyer contingencies.  The overall financial success of this project for the realtor and investor is a reflection of those current conditions.  However, further continuation of this success for all stakeholders will still depend on diligent support of unique original as-built Goodman House architectural integrity by both RA and HCA, and the resulting market appeal and value to enlightened and motivated homebuyers who will pay premium prices to own an original Reston, Mid-Century Modern, Hickory Cluster Goodman House.

COUNTY RESALE BUYER ISSUES OF NOTE

Every housing market has unique issues of note or concern to home buyers.  On the West Coast, it's earthquakes, landslides, and wildfires.  In the Midwest and South, it's tornados, hurricanes, and floods.  And some general issues cut across geographic boundaries, like construction materials, workmanship, and building permits.  Here are some buyer issues of note for remodeled or renovated Fairfax County homes, including Hickory Cluster Goodman Houses:

RADON GAS ... Radon, an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas has been identified as a major nationwide cause of lung cancer by the Federal Government.  It has also been identified as a probable risk in Fairfax County homes, including Hickory Cluster Goodman Houses, that may require pump remediation systems to reduce indoor radon infiltration and risk.  See the corresponding Fairfax County Radon webpage for maps and other information, and consult respective professionals for possible radon review, testing, analysis, and remediation.

ASBESTOS ADHESIVE ... 1960s Mid-Century Modern homes nationwide were originally built using some materials now considered to be environmentally harmful.  Lead paint, not banned until 1978, is one example.  Another is wood parquet floors typically installed with black mastic adhesive that contains asbestos fibers.  All Hickory Cluster Goodman Houses had ground floor wood parquet tiles installed during original construction.  If asbestos fibers in the mastic adhesive holding the wood tiles to the concrete slab are sufficiently disturbed and become airborne, an HVAC system, home, and indoor air could be contaminated.  Therefore, if your Goodman House ground floor wood parquet floors have been replaced with any other material, consult respective professionals for possible asbestos review, testing, analysis, and remediation.

BUILDING PERMITS ... Local jurisdictions, including Fairfax County, require building permits to ensure that home renovations are completed according to state building safety codes.  And buyers may inherit responsibility for obtaining permits or final approvals if the process is not completed by sellers before purchase transaction settlement.  Visit the Fairfax Inspections Database Online (FIDO) to identify county building permit and approval status by street address, and ensure before settlement that home renovation work was properly permitted, approved, and completed according to code.

GOOGLE DRIVE DOC LINKS REPAIRED

As previously posted, Google made security changes that impacted hundreds of files stored in our 1gb Google Drive document database and linked to almost every page and post.  This made previously public and directly accessible documents inaccessible unless (1) users entered a password, or (2) the webmaster modified the new security update for each document.  As of today, the webmaster has modified all new security updates, and all linked documents should now be directly accessible to users without passwords.  Please email the webmaster at hickoryclusterassociation@gmail.com if you experience any lingering problems, and ignore the email auto-response.  Thanks for your patience.