The 28 Jan 2015 Holmes Run Valley Citizen’s Association (HRVCA) meeting at Beech Tree Elementary School was called to order by Jim Mason at 7:30 PM.

Thirty-five members and Theresa Tova, President of the Broyhill Park Civic Association, attended the meeting.   The meeting agenda and a document summarizing two community issues were provided as handouts.

Election of Board for 2015: Nominees for Board positions were presented to the membership, and the floor was opened for additional nominees. There were no nominations from the floor and the following were elected by acclamation:

  • Clyde Miller, President
  • Mike Cook, Vice President
  • Jacke Zeiher, Board Member
  • Virgil Bodeen, Board Member
  • Jim Mason, Board Member

Purpose of the Association: A brief discussion of the purpose of the association focused on assuring the quality of life in our neighborhoods, including keeping the membership informed of matters affecting the community, making the views of the community known to county officials, and maintaining and improving our environment. For example, developers and the county are promoting a number of redevelopment efforts nearby, including at Seven Corners, Bailey’s Crossroads, and what used to be Loehmann’s Plaza. These projects potentially will increase traffic through our community and crowding in our schools. They will affect as well local shopping opportunities and services available to us. The association is a means for the community collectively to monitor and influence these redevelopment activities.

Seven Corners Redevelopment: Mason District Supervisor Gross and the county are planning a large-scale redevelopment of Seven Corners. The long-range plan envisions that two of the current shopping centers and some residences will be replaced with 5800 to 6000 apartments in buildings 7 to 12 stories high. The document handed out in the meeting summarized the plan; the agenda provided the link to the on-line plan document in footnote (3). The membership discussed the plan and voted by a margin of 27 to 1 to oppose it. Principal concerns expressed related to traffic, potential for more overcrowding in our schools, the extreme density of the proposed redevelopment, and loss of community-serving shopping opportunities. The position of the membership will be communicated to Supervisor Gross.

Location for a New Elementary School: The county is planning to begin building a new elementary school within the next year or two to relieve overcrowding and, hopefully, to retire some of the modular units (trailers) that surround our schools. There are two principal choices for a new school site. The five-acre Willston School site on Willston Drive opposite Seven Corners is in a residential neighborhood and would provide green space for outdoor activities. The 2+ acre site favored by Supervisor Gross on Columbia Pike in the Bailey’s Crossroads commercial district opposite Trader Joe’s would provide outdoor recreation space only on the roof of the parking garage. Supervisor Gross intends to build a new $125M county office building on the Willston site. After discussion, the membership voted 24 to 0 in favor of constructing the school on the Willston site. This position also will be communicated to Supervisor Gross.

The Mason District Council has posted an on-line petition whereby individuals can express their opinions regarding the use of the Willston School site and will host a forum on the state of our schools on February 10. Access to the petition and information on the forum are available by clicking on Current Events in the upper right hand corner of this page.

Association Google Group and Blog: Jacke Zeiher (jzeiher11@gmail.com) has set up a Google group for the association. The group provides a convenient means for us to exchange e-mails, including attachments. Anyone in the group can send an e-mail to the group, and everyone receives every e-mail sent to the group. People not in the group neither receive the e-mails nor can they send e-mails to the group. Every e-mail includes a link at the bottom whereby one can unsubscribe and instantly quit the group. There’s no danger of getting stuck in the group if you want out. Association members are asked to please join the group. We intend that it will be our principal means of communication. To join, send Jacke an e-mail with your request. The group e-mail address is HRVCA@googlegroups.com.

The association maintains a blog at www.holmesrun.org authored by Clyde Miller. It is an effort to provide information (occasionally opinions) on topics and issues of general community interest. It does not accept comments due to the time and effort required to manage them.

Annandale Blog and NextDoor.com: The Annandale Blog (http://annandaleva.blogspot.com) is the very best source of community information. Subscribe and you will receive a weekly e-mail with a list of local news articles that you can access with a click of the mouse. Highly recommended.

NextDoor.com describes itself as a community social network whereon you can exchange messages with neighbors. Most of the messages relate to household activities such as finding baby sitters and repairmen. We don’t plan to depend upon it for association business, but many neighbors find it useful. Go to www.nextdoor.com and give it a try.

Next Meeting: The next meeting is planned for spring, April or May. If, in the meantime, a member feels the need for a meeting, please let the rest of us know via the Google group.

Clyde Miller,   cmiller1017@verizon.net