• Meadows Messenger

    JANUARY-MARCH 2001      VOLUME XIV, NO. 1
    Published by the Fairlington Meadows Council of Co-Owners in Historic Fairlington

    Dear Neighbors,

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!

    Time flies  . . . . by the time you receive this issue, it will be mid-February.  The Board and Buildings and Grounds Committee (see related article) are already hard at work on new projects for this year.

    The Board has approved a number of contracts for 2001 and is currently working on two resolutions which will be coming your way by separate mailing.  These resolutions involve satellite dishes and contractors.

    The next round of parking lot reconstruction design and construction drawings by Seal Engineering will begin soon.  Affected courts will be notified in advance for a pre-construction meeting just as conducted for other reconstructed courts in the past two years.

    As always, the Board invites you to attend our monthly meetings (usually the third Tuesday of the month, at 7:30).

    Best regards,
    Ronald A. Quinn, President

    COMMUNITY CALENDAR

    Feb. 13: Fairlington Citizens Assoc. Meeting, Fairlington Community Center, Rm. 6, 7:30 p.m.

    Feb. 20: Meadows Board Meeting, Fairlington Community Center, 7:30 p.m.

    Mar. 7:   Buildings and Grounds Meeting at Linnea Barry’s, 3460 A-2 S. Stafford St., 7:30 p.m.

    Mar. 13: Fairlington Citizens Assoc. Meeting, Fairlington Community Center, Rm. 6, 7:30 p.m.

    Mar. 20: Meadows Board Meeting, Fairlington Community Center, 7:30 p.m.

    MEADOWS DIRECTORY

    Messenger Volunteer “Staff”:

    • Carrie Quinn, Editor
    • Rose Stack, Distribution Manager
    • Pamela Hudson, Webmaster
    • Article Contributors:
    • Chuck Edwards
    • Judi Garth
    • Janet Filer
    • Kym Hill
    • Rose Stack
    Send Letters, Articles, or Recipes for Consideration to the Editor:

    3395 S. Stafford St. B-1Items submitted are printed at the Editor’s discretion. Letters must besigned.

    Board of Directors:

    President:                   Ronald Quinn
    1st Vice President:     Tim Tereska
    2nd Vice President:    John Stack
    Treasurer:                  Clay Lovett
    Secretary:                  Dave Laufer

    Send Board of Directors Mail to:

    Fairlington Meadows Board of Directors
    c/o Community Management Corp.
    (see below)

    Property Manager:

    Jim Cowell, Division Director
    Community Management Corp.
    12701 Fair Lakes Circle, #400
    P.O. Box 10821
    Chantilly, VA 20153
    631-7200 Phone or 631-9786 Fax
    or email Jim at JCowell@cmc-management.com

    Towing Requests:

    Call A-1 Towing of Northern Virginia
    979-2110

    Request for Board Meeting Minutes:

    Contact Jim Cowell (see above) or see Community Bulletin Board at Pool House

    BOARD MEMBERS INTRODUCED

    It¹s been a while since the Board members were “introduced” in the Messenger and since then, new members have joined and new neighbors moved in. Here’s a quick “biography” on each . . . . . .

    Ron Quinn

    President Ron Quinn is serving his third term as President (previously serving one year as Secretary). He, his wife Carrie, and fat cat Mister have lived in the Meadows since 1989 and have a 10 year old architecture practice. Actually, Mister¹s lived here longer, knows more neighbors, and unfortunately doesn¹t spend any time on the drawing boards (except to snooze).

    Ron is from Hampton, a Virginia Tech grad, and a former board member of the Fairlington Citizens Association.

    Tim Tereska

    First Vice President Tim Tereska, his wife Shelly, and their cat Cassius Clay, have lived in the Meadows for four years. They discovered Fairlington while riding the bus to work and decided that this is where they wanted to live. What makes Fairlington so appealing the sense of community, architectural styles, proximity to D.C. and the pool (of course) appealed to them as well.

    Tim hails from Newport News and Shelly from Charlotte. They met in the Air Force where Tim now works in crisis intelligence.

    Tim is a former member of the Buildings and Grounds and Fairlington HistoricDesignation Committees.

    John Stack

    Second Vice President and new Board member John Stack is a 25 year Fairlington resident. He brings to the Board his professional experience as Senior Manager and Program Director in the Defense Systems Division of Litton PRC in McLean. He previously worked at IBM in a variety of technical and management positions in the Washington area. It was at IBM that he learned “there are no problems, only solutions.” He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh. (He is the neighborhood cyber expert. )

    Although he is a late-bloomer Board-wise, he has been on the Recreation/Tennis committee for many years and has been somewhat active in Court 13 issues — the Court Chairperson might say “too active.” Friends say he has a high degree of common sense, will use simple logic to “enforce” rules, and before meetings get underway he may bring up anything from aliens to zip files…. He said he¹s glad to fill the “big shoes” of past Board members and is eagerly looking forward to serving with the present members.

    Clay Lovett

    Treasurer Clay Lovett and his wife Ann are long-time residents of the Meadows. Clay has served on the Board for eleven years in various capacities.

    Dave Laufer

    Secretary and new Board member Dave Laufer has lived in Fairlington since 1984. He lived in the Glen for a year before residing in the Green for 10. He’s lived in the Meadows for the past three years with his cat, Stella, and enjoys spending time at the pool with neighbors.

    Dave works for an information technology consulting firm and is a former member of the Buildings and Grounds Committee.

    COUNTY APPOINTS TWO RESIDENTS TO REVIEW COMMITTEE

    The Arlington County Board has appointed Meadows residents Janet Filer and Ed Hilz to the Shirlington Site Plan Review Committee. Other Fairlington residents, Hugh Baumgardner and Nancy Hunt (both from the North village) were also appointed along with representatives from adjacent communities or groups. This newly established group will participate in the review of the final site plan projects for the mixed-use Village of Shirlington Phased Development Site Plan (PDSP).

    The implementation of the individual site plans will occur in phases and will require community review over an extended period of time. The Committee will address all of the design and location aspects of each building located on the various sites. Federal Realty plans on filing with Arlington County the site plans for the 12-story residential building and adjacent retail shops in February. The County Board is scheduled to consider the filings in May.

    QUAKER LANE: UPDATE ON PARKING

    You may have noticed an increased number of unattended utility and boat trailers, campers, cars for sale, wrecked cars, commercial trucks, etc. parked along the Arlington side of Quaker Lane. At the Fairlington Citizens Association’s December meeting, this situation and options for handling it were discussed with County officials.

    The Arlington County side of Quaker Lane is zoned residential under the Zoning Ordinance. The overnight or all-day parking of vehicles and trailers violates the intended use of Quaker Lane. In addition, cars are being repaired on the street, “for sale” cars are being left, and commercial vehicles are being parked there. Parking any commercial vehicle within or along any public street next to an area which has been classified as residential is prohibited. In addition, the Arlington County Code provides that whenever any vehicle or trailer on a street is unattended and constitutes a danger or hazard to pedestrian or is left unattended for more than (10) days, it may be removed by the police.

    As a first step, the County has placed signs along our side of Quaker Lane (the other side is actually in Alexandria) which prohibit commercial vehicle parking. The County will then evaluate the effect of this signage and revisit the issue in March.

    ODDS & ENDS

    PAINTING: Rather than automatically renew Capital Painting’s contract for 2001, the Board has voted to obtain several pricing quotes from local painting contractors for this year¹s painting cycle.

    B-BUILDING CLEANING CONTRACT: DEC, Inc. will continue cleaning our B-building lobby interiors. There was no increase in their 2001 contract fee, and the Board approved the contract unanimously in its’ December meeting.

    ROOF REPAIRS: Jack and Steve continue to make slate roof repairs and are currently working in Court 7.

    SNOW REMOVAL: Our landscape contractor, STM, will provide snow removal services for our 15 parking lots this winter. Despite the weather reports, snow and ice removal has been fairly limited so far.

    BRICK STOOP AND SIDEWALK REPAIRS: Replacement of some concrete sidewalks and repointing/resetting of brick at several stoops has been completed by Portugal Construction along South Stafford and South 34th Streets.

    FIRE TRUCK: Our Abingdon Street Fire Station #7 recently obtained a new fire truck to serve our community. A dedication ceremony was held in December to celebrate this new asset.

    COLUMNS: Twenty-two pairs of wood columns, caps, and bases were installed at porches which had the old 4″ x 4″ posts. Some remedial work on the bases (which are factory defective) is now necessary for proper venting. This work will be handled by Smoot Lumber at their cost.

    KICKPLATES: Brass kickplates and doorstops have been installed by Steve and Jack at all B-Building front doors.

    INSURANCE FOR 2001: General liability, automotive liability, and fidelity bond insurance policies have been renewed with the PMA Group. Excess liability insurance will be provided by Ohio Casualty Insurance Company. Manufacturers Alliance Insurance will provide our workers compensation and employers liability insurance.

    PRESERVATION: Fairlington and its historic status was the subject of an article in the November/December issue of “Historic Preservation” published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

    NO SALT ON THE NEW CONCRETE, PLEASE!

    NOTE TO ALL RESIDENTS IN COURTS RECONSTRUCTED IN 1999 AND 2000:

    DO NOT PUT CALCIUM CHLORIDE OR SALT OR ANY OTHER CHEMICALS WHICH MAY AFFECT THE NEW CONCRETE SIDEWALKS THIS WINTER TO MELT ICE/SNOW. THIS WILL CAUSE THE CONCRETE TO DETERIORATE AND VOID OUR WARRANTY.

    B & G ORGANIZES FOR NEW SPRING PROJECTS

    By Chuck Edwards and David Manning, Buildings and Grounds Co-Chairs

    Committee Organization: At the January meeting, the Committee decided to recommend Chuck Edwards and David Manning as co-chairs. David is a Board Member of the Fairlington Historical Society and has been an active member of the Buildings and Grounds Committee for several years. David brings to the Committee greatly valued expertise on the history of Fairlington and its architecture. He will be able to guide us through future projects and will be an important link with the Historical Society.

    At its’ January meeting, Board president Ron Quinn appointed Chuck and David as Committee Co-Chairs, following the Committee’s earlier recommendation.

    Spring Planting and Trimming Requests: Although it’s still winter, the Buildings and Grounds Committee is making plans for a spring planting. We have already received several requests. A group of Committee members will begin work on this project in late February or early March.

    NOTE: If any resident would like for us to consider new planting, replacement of material, or trimming of existing shrubbery, please contact the Committee by writing Chuck Edwards at 3460 A-1 South Stafford.

    Community Arborist: The Board of Directors accepted the Committee’s recommendation to renew our contract with arborist Jerry Dieruf. Jerry has worked with us for several years, reviewing contracts for tree and grounds work, checking work done by contractors, advising the Board during major work such as parking lot reconstructions, recommending community projects, and working with Arlington County to maintain street trees and replace those that have been removed.

    Jerry will once again be seen walking the community during the warm months, checking for any problems that need our attention.

    Lighting: Victor Slabinski, along with Carrie Quinn, Kym Hill and Linda Peterson, continue exploring the possibility of new lighting for the village. Victor presented his findings to the Committee in January. He has discovered that it is difficult to find fixtures that meet our lighting needs and also fit in with our Colonial Revival architecture.

    The subcommittee hopes to be able to make recommendations to the Board sometime this spring. They will also suggest the kinds of fixtures that residents may use when replacing the outside lights at front and back doors.

    Turf Restoration: Since the parking lot reconstruction work lasted so late into the fall, most of the newly reconstructed courts did not get turf restoration in the disturbed grass areas. Our landscaper advised that we wait until spring to begin this work as the grass would have a better chance of taking hold.  Annual rye grass was laid down in the hope of some of it taking root until the grounds renovations could be completed.

    STM has provided a proposal for this work, but the Board may ask that additional bids be obtained as well.

    The restoration work will include removal of large rocks, installing top soil, fine grading, and covering with seed and straw.

    New Members: The Committee welcomes any resident with an interest in our buildings and grounds to join us even if it’s only for a meeting now and then.

    See the Community Calendar for upcoming meeting dates and locations.

    FOOD  BYTES

    Contributed by
    Janet Filer

    Instead of making Valentines from red construction paper and white lace doilies, send your special greetings with Valentine cookies you bake yourself.

    Red Sugar Cookies

    1/2 cup butter, softened
    1/2 cup sugar
    1/2 cup powdered sugar
    1 egg
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
    2 1/4 cups flour
    1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    red decorator sugar crystals

    Cream butter; gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg, beating well. Beat in oil. Combine flour, cream of tartar and baking soda; add to creamed mixture, beating well. Stir in vanilla. Chill dough two hours.

    Shape dough into 1″ balls; dip in red crystals. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten with fork.

    Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Yield: 5 1/2 dozen

    Cherry-Almond Drops

    2 1/4 cups flour
    3/4 teaspoon salt
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1 cup butter, softened
    1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
    1 teaspoon almond extract
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    2 eggs
    2 cups blanched almonds, chopped
    1/2 cup maraschino cherries, chopped

    Combine flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside. Combine butter and sugar in large bowl; cream until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients, mixing well. Stir in almonds and cherries. Drop batter by heaping teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets.

    Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Yield: 7 1/2 dozen.