Location: Reston Community Center
Attendees: C.J. Basik, Hank Blakely, Sridhar Ganesan, John Hanley, Diane Lewis, Colin Mills, Terry Maynard, Tammi Petrine, Gary Lee Thomas, Dick Rogers, Gary Walker
Meeting Minutes
Agenda: The agenda was adopted as proposed.
April Meeting Minutes: The minutes were adopted as written. Resigning Board member Debra Eastham has provided copies of the minutes from her tenure to the RCA dropbox. President Mills lauded Mrs. Eastham’s excellent service as Secretary during the past 2 years.
Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Diane Lewis provided the Treasurer’s Report’ which was approved as written. The ending balance for the Operating account was $287.54 and Restricted funds totalled $1,586.13.
RCC Facility Meeting: Colin Mills stated that the meeting was well-attended, with over 50 attendees. Leila Gordon presented an overview of the project. The public discussion was lively. General sentiment was supportive of the proposal, but not at Baron Cameron. There was some discussion of financing. The meeting was a learning opportunity and an example of a successful RCA forum. Terry Maynard reported that 2020 had met about the RCC proposal and he had worked up a document, which he shared with the Board. He will rework the paper to incorporate members’ suggestions. Discussion will continue next month.
RCA Election: Board members not up for election will comprise the Election Committee. The initial work on the election materials was done last year. Some revision of the documents will be necessary. Colin Mills will serve as chair and send an email out to the members of the committee. Gary Walker needs the election announcement updated for the website by May 1st. Colin Mills will send the candidate recruitment document and form out to the group. 9 possible candidate names were compiled. Those who proposed the candidates will contact them to ask about their willingness to run for the Board.
NOVA Labs Tour: Gary Thomas reported that the NOVA Labs tour the previous Saturday took about 1 hour. They were able to see the sub-labs within NOVA Labs, which has doubled in size in the past year. They will probably need to move in 2 years. Plans are afoot to hold a “Maker Fair” in 2014. Colin Mills asked Gary Thomas to put together a proposal for RCA’s possible participation with NOVA Labs in the Maker Fair.
Letter of Thanks to Cathy Hudgins: 10 Board members approved Colin Mills’ proposal to send a “thank you” letter to the Supervisor. There was 1 abstention.
Soapstone Crossing: Dick Rogers presented his 2020 white paper which prioritizes the 5 County options for this crossing, calling for a focus on the Wiehle Station, on the impacts upon Reston’s south side, modifications to options and to the bridge width, as well as the need for agency coordination.
Education Task Force: Tammi Petrine met with Supervisor Hudgins, to discuss the need for entry level jobs in the community, getting developers on board with addressing this need and to present the education initiative.
RCA 2020: Terry Maynard mentioned the committee’s memo to Planning & Zoning on short and long-term school needs. They also sent a letter to Pat Hynes asking about the various school issues. There will be a meeting on Thursday at the County Government Center.
In the matter of traffic, he discussed the importance of specifying that no development should proceed unless the 6 “gateway” intersections [Wiehle Avenue/Sunrise Valley, Wiehle Avenue/Sunset Hills, Reston Parkway/Sunrise Valley, Reston Pkwy/Sunset Hills, Fairfax County Pkwy/Sunrise Valley, Fairfax County Pkwy/Sunset Hills] are at the level “E” standard, less than 1 minute stoppage.
Dick Rogers noted that the County has revised the bus plan, adding midday and early evening service to North & South Reston. The Pentagon and Crystal City runs will continue with reduced runs. Riders need to lobby the Department of Transportation for bus scheduling needs. Runs every 10 minutes between Reston Town Center and the station are now proposed.
Official RCA Communications: Gary Thomas asked about when to use RCA letterhead in public comments. Sridhar Ganesan suggested adding a disclaimer to personal commentary. It was agreed that guidelines are needed. This discussion was postponed due to lack of time.
Technology Update: Gary Walker proposed that RCA hire a hosting service to administer email addresses for Board members to avoid harvesting of individual email addresses from the website. It would also establish a path of continuity for the committee chair emails. Discussion was tabled and will be continued in the Technology Working Group.
Other Business: Tammi Petrine reported that there has been no contact from the McGuire family about the license plate forms.
Next Meeting: The Next Board meeting will be held on May 20, 2013. It will again take place at the RCC.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m.