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Laurel Hill Letter
A bi-monthly publication for the Laurel Hill Community ● Written by Residents for Residents
Volume 5, Issue 4Volume 5 , 8380 Laurel Crest Dr, Lorton, VA 22079838 September/October 20082
The Laurel Hill Letter is brought Laurel Hill Tritons - Bringing Laurel Hill Together
to you by many hardworking indi-
viduals who live right here in Christine Morin
LAUREL HILL
Board of Directors
President
Peter Dickinson
703-690-8323
peteaba@ccox.net
Vice President
Pete Meincke
703-646-5288
meinckep@yahoo.com
Secretary
Craig Griffith
703-500-6300
craig@griffithagency.net
Treasurer
Greg Lyle-703-690-5226 When Tom and Denise Thanks to the Gemma’s intensifies once the kids start
Gemma moved to Laurel leadership and commit- swimming. The Tritons sum-
gklyle@aol.com ment, the Laurel Hill
Hill in 2004, they had mer began in May with a
been part of swim leagues Community has been part kick-off at the community cen-
in their other neighbor- of the Northern Virginia ter and sign-ups. During
List of Advertisers hoods for years and un- Swim League and has swim season, Tom is usually
derstood the huge com- moved up from Division very busy every night of the
A&R Contracting………………......13 17 to Division 15 this
munity benefits of a swim week with swim team activi-
CertaPro Painter………………......11 team. Swim teams bring year. The Tritons were ties, including roster changes
communities together created with a practice and orientation with the op-
Clean As A Whistle Services…..…4 team in 2005 of 20 kids,
throughout the summer posing team, going to league
Dr. Gene Sweetnam……………..…9 and they provide an en- grew to 60 in 2006 (first meetings, and coordinating
riching social atmosphere year in NVSL), 90 in volunteers for the upcoming
Fairfax Station Chiropractic…...…7
for neighborhood kids and 2007, and 140 this sum- meet. On Friday Nights dur-
parents that last year mer! ing the swim season, the
Music Together…………………...…8
round. The swim team Leading the Laurel Hill swim team hosts TGI Fridays
New York Carpet……………...…..10
provides the largest com- Tritons is an enormous with grilled dinners and a pep
ProTech…………………………...…12 munity function in Laurel undertaking that takes rally to get the kids ready for
Hill with several hundred hundreds of year-round their Saturday meet.
ReMax—Jeri Sellman………….…17 residents participating volunteer hours, begin-
VacuumZone………………….…….11 with the team, TGI Fri- ning in February and
days, and other events.
Walk In Medical Care……………...5
Zampiello Paint Contractors…...…2
PAGE 2 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
Laurel Hill Tritons - Bringing Laurel Hill gratulations to Denise! Annita Cox and Karen Schultz -
Together (continued from page 1) Scorekeepers and ribbon makers
The swim team has an
intensive 9-week season Frani Peterson, and Denise Baird -
On Saturdays, Tom begins the
(June and July) with over 15 major Clerk of course (shuttling kids to the
morning by 6:00 am to prepare for
events/ swim meets held at our com- right races)
the meets. This includes getting
munity pool and at other pools
swim lanes ready, bringing out all Chris Bidwell and Steve Shappell -
throughout Northern Vir-
the banners, marking saved park- Announcer
ginia. Every swim meet takes a
ing spaces for team reps, setting up
minimum of 46 parent volunteers to Greg Baird and David Moser - Head
the sound system, turning on the
run the event and over 300 people of the timers
coffee, and several other tasks.
are usually present at most Triton
This year, Denise became a swim meets. The parent volunteers Colleen D'Anna, Patti Stratton, Vic
"Certified Referee," this summer who spent Leung - Marshalls (police of pool)
which qualifies her every Saturday and
to wear the Certi- other weekdays volun- League trained swim officials: Below
fied Referee teering include: officials required annual training classes
Patch. In order to and certification to become experts in
Carl DeSpiegelaere - swim strokes and league rules.
obtain this patch, in
computer data coordi-
addition to being Joey Booher, Gary Cox, Gordon and
nator ribbons and meet
recommended by Tania Slaton, Nick Dizon, Denise
preparation
Division 15, she Gemma, Chris D'Anna (Stroke and
had to be evaluated Tracy Frye, Karen Turn Judges) Chris D'Anna
by a member of the DeSpiegelaere, (Starter) Denise Gemma - Referee( in
NVSL Observation Committee to Stephanie Cox --concessions heads charge of the meet)
ensure every aspect of the meet she (trips to Costco and Bjs, prep, grill-
was refereeing fully complied with ing, sales, etc.) Thank you to Tom and Denise
all of the NVSL's many rules. Con- Gemma and their family for devoting
so much of their time and energy to
get the Tritons up and running and
for leading the swim team over the
last few years. Each year gets better
and better!
PAGE 3 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
Laurel Hill Tritons Swim Team Completes
Another Successful Season!
In just the third year in sportsmanship and holding fun basic swim strokes. At Satur-
the Northern Virginia Swim community events such as the day and Monday meets, they
League weekly TGIF swam in special Lollipop races
(NVSL), the Barbeques at for the obvious treat. They
Laurel Hill Tri- the pool. had great fun and are the fu-
tons finished in ture of our team.
second place in The Tritons also
their division participated in Next time you are at
after being the Springfield the pool, look for the NVSL
moved up two Burke Develop- championship trophies and the
divisions after mental “B” Triton record board, which dis-
the undefeated Meet League. plays our community record
2007 season. These events holders and invites our swim-
It was a very exciting are non-competitive swim mers to attain new goals. We
season with a nail-biter finish meets held on Monday eve- are looking forward to welcom-
to an exciting meet held nings throughout the summer ing our new neighbors and
against Brandywine Pool that to give all swimmers on the members to the team next year
ended with Laurel Hill win- team a chance as we move upward in the
ning by one point determined to compete. NVSL division
in the last of 50 events. Sam We encourage We are looking forward structure. If you
Holton touched the wall first our swimmers have any questions
for the unbeaten mixed-age to swim events to welcoming our new throughout the year
girls relay team of Maura they would not about the team
neighbors and members please contact Tom
D’Anna, Danielle Gemma, Ash- normally swim
leigh Stratton, and Samantha on Saturdays. to the team next year. Gemma,
Holton to secure the win. This season the tgemma@cox.net for
team welcomed more information.
The Tritons also were 25 Little Tritons. The 4-7 year
champions of the Division Re- olds had special practices three
lay Carnival that pitted the times a week and learned the
team against 5 other communi-
ties’ best relay teams.
The NVSL comprises
104 community teams and has
been supporting over 15,000
young No. VA swimmers for
over 50 years. Swimming is a
great way to meet new friends,
get some great exercise and
learn to compete in a friendly,
supportive environment.
The Tritons displayed
this attitude with great
PAGE 4
PAGE 4 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
Moments
From
The
Triton’s
2008
Season
Caption describing picture or graphic.
PAGE 5 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
PAGE 6 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
HELP PROTECT YOUR
COMMUNITY
Do you have 6 hours to spare this year? That’s all the time it
takes to participate in the Laurel Hill Neighborhood Watch
Program. Before you can patrol you must take a one hour
training session provided by the Fairfax County Police Depart-
ment. If you have not taken the required training, please plan
to attend this meeting.
Wednesday, September 17th, 7:00 pm at the
Laurel Hill Community Center, 8380 Laurel Crest Dr.
Refreshments served.
Currently we are scheduling residents to patrol 4 times per
year. This is a total time commitment of only 6 hours per year.
Please get involved and help to keep Laurel Hill a safe place to
live.
Please contact Diane Hampel at bandhampel@gmail.com or
703-690-7429 if you have questions. See you there!!
PAGE 7 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
Laurel Hill Book Club
Every other month, a member of Laurel Hill Our current book
picks a book of their choice for the Laurel Hill club selection is
Book Club and hosts the meeting. We have “The Friday Night
been having a great time reading and discuss- Knitting Club” by
ing a different variety of selections. The books Kate Jacobs. We
have been ranging from comedy to serious, will meet on Mon-
classics to modern day and fantasy to non- day, September
fiction. We then meet at the host’s home to 15th.
discuss our thoughts about the book.
The next book club meeting will be in November
It is a great opportunity to read a book that and the selection will be “The Garden of Evil” by
you would not necessarily pick out for yourself David Hewson. A suspense murder mystery taken
and also a chance to meet some new friends. place in a deserted artist’s studio in the heart of
We are always looking for new members to Rome. Look out for time and location on your email
participate. Whether you love to read every- from the Laurel Hill Yahoo Group.
thing or would prefer to pick and choose from
our selections that interest you, everyone is Please contact Laura Griffith @ lauragrif-
welcome. fith@hotmail.com if you have any questions or would
like to sign up to host a book club meeting.
PAGE 8 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MINUTES
MAY 21, 2008
A motion was made and seconded that the
President Peter Dickinson presided over the Board adjourn to Executive Session to discuss delin-
May 21, 2008, meeting of the Laurel Hill Community quencies, collections, violations and legal correspon-
Association (LHCA) Board of Directors. He called the dence. The motion passed unanimously (4 Yes – 0 No
meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. in the Laurel Hill Com- – 0 Abstain).
munity Center. Board members present were: Vice-
President Pete Meincke, Secretary Craig Griffith and The Board adjourned to Executive Session at
Treasurer Greg Lyle. Also present, representing Car- 8:50 p.m.
dinal Management, were Terry McGuire and Donna The Board returned from Executive Session at
Carlson. President Dickinson determined that a quo- 9:15 p.m.
rum was present in compliance with the By-Laws of
the above named corporation. A motion was made to send 43 accounts to
legal counsel for collection. The motion was seconded,
Ms. Ryan submitted the minutes from the and passed unanimously (4 Yes – 0 No – 0 Abstain).
Board of Directors’ Meeting on April 16, 2008, which
had been circulated to all Board members. A motion A motion was made and seconded to adjourn
was made to approve the minutes as amended. The the Board of Directors’ Meeting. The motion passed
motion was seconded, and passed unanimously (4 Yes unanimously (4 Yes – 0 No – 0 Abstain). The meeting
– 0 No – 0 Abstain). was adjourned at 9:26 p.m.
A motion was made to appoint Tony Martin to JUNE 18, 2008
the Architectural Review Board (ARB) for a three
year term to expire in May 2011. The motion was President Peter Dickinson presided over the
seconded, and passed unanimously (4 Yes – 0 No – 0 June 18, 2008, meeting of the Laurel Hill Community
Abstain). Association (LHCA) Board of Directors. He called the
meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. in the Laurel Hill Com-
A motion was made to appoint Tatiana Pom- munity Center. Board members present were: Vice-
mer to the ARB for a three year term to expire in May President Pete Meincke and Treasurer Greg Lyle.
2011. The motion was seconded, and passed unani- Also present, representing Cardinal Management,
mously (4 Yes – 0 No – 0 Abstain). were Terry McGuire and Donna Carlson. President
Dickinson determined that a quorum was present in
A motion was made to hire All Saints Security
compliance with the By-Laws of the above named cor-
to provide an unarmed guard. The motion was sec-
poration.
onded, and passed unanimously (4 Yes – 0 No – 0 Ab-
stain). Ms. Ryan submitted the minutes from the
Board of Directors’ Meeting on May 21, 2008, which
A motion was made to add lights to the Com-
had been circulated to all Board members. A motion
munity Center in conjunction with the security sys-
tem installation at a cost not to exceed $5,500. The was made to approve the minutes as amended.
motion was seconded, and passed unanimously (4 Yes
– 0 No – 0 Abstain). The motion
was seconded, and passed unanimously
(3 Yes – 0 No – 0 Abstain).
Tulip Shah submitted his resig-
nation from the Board on June 14,
2008.
A motion was made to approve
Shenandoah Landscape Services’ sub-
mitted proposal for irrigation
maintenance at a total cost of
$6,833.75. The motion was seconded,
and passed unanimously (3 Yes – 0 No
– 0 Abstain).
PAGE 9 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
Board Of Directors’ Minutes
(continued from page 8)
PLEASE REMEMBER
A motion was made to approve Shenandoah TO REMOVE THE
Landscape Services’ submitted proposal for removal
and installation of shrubs in front of the Laurel Hill STAKES AND WIRES
entrance feature at Sweet Pecan Drive at a cost of
$1470. The motion was seconded, and passed unani-
FROM YOUR TREES.
mously (3 Yes – 0 No – 0 Abstain). THIS WILL PREVENT
A motion was made to approve the proposal
from Clean As A Whistle Services to scrape, prime and
THE TREES FROM
paint the gazebo at a cost of $1,000. The motion was DYING.
seconded, and passed unanimously (3 Yes – 0 No – 0
Abstain).
A motion was made and sec-
onded that the Board adjourn to Execu-
tive Session for a hearing and to discuss
delinquencies, collections, violations and
legal correspondence. The motion passed
unanimously (3 Yes – 0 No – 0 Abstain).
The Board adjourned to Executive Ses-
sion at 8:00 p.m.
The Board returned from Execu-
tive Session at 8:58 p.m.
A motion was made and seconded to ad-
journ the Board of Directors’ Meeting.
The motion passed unanimously (3 Yes –
0 No – 0 Abstain). The meeting was ad-
journed at 9:06 p.m.
This version has been abbrevi-
ated from its original text submitted by
Karen Marie Ryan, Recording Secretary.
Full copies are available in the Manage-
ment Office.
Office Hours
Monday…………………………..12-8
Tuesday-Friday…………………10-6
Saturday & Sunday……...CLOSED
Phone/Fax
703-493-8961 / 703-493-8962
Email
d.carlson@cmgmt.com
l.stewart@cmgmt.com
PAGE 10 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
Hi
members willing to take on this thankless job
It’s Me Again, for all of us. I mention that they don’t get
paid? Like the old movie “Support Your Local
Your Neighbor Sheriff”, we need to “Support Your Local
HOA’’.
Thanks for Listening
Your Neighbor,
Bill Brown
P.S.
Thanks for the yard work
Thanks for clearing the minefields of dog waste
Thanks for flying our flag
Thanks for being my neighbor
When I was out last week for my daily walk I was
stopped by two of our residents. Both of the residents
were concerned (mad) about the lack of interest in the
HOA about several of their concerns. I asked them if they
went to the HOA meeting to voice their concerns, and the
answer was no. I suggested that this was the best way to
resolve any issues that they might have. The first seg-
ment of the HOA meeting was set-aside just for residents
that needed to address the HOA. Their replay was that
the HOA should know to take care of these problems
without their going to a meeting. Their attitude was that
the HOA was their employee. I explained to them that
the HOA was not their employees, but volunteers, with-
out pay. That all of the HOA members have full time em-
ployment in highly responsible positions that take more
than 40 hours per week, plus a home life. Their day-to-
day work, home life, plus the added workload and respon-
sibility of the never-ending issues of the HOA are not only
time consuming but stressful. The time that they spend
in HOA meetings, community meetings, and outside of
the community meetings concerning civil issues such as
our schools, requires 20 to 30 hours per month. Remem-
ber that they don’t get paid. In parting, I suggested that
these two residents were at best naive and misinformed
about the duties and responsibilities of the HOA (I am
now too polite to suggest that they were a little bit igno-
rant and thankless. You can see that I have mellowed in
my USMC retirement.)
I think, when we have neighbors that don’t under-
stand the partnership that we have
with our elected members of the HOA we need to educate
them to all the work that the HOA does in our behalf. If
we have an issue we need to present it to the HOA in a
professional and civil manner. We need the few members
of our community that are willing to spend 20 to 40 hours
of their time each month to keep our community going.
We are lucky that we have committed community
PAGE 11 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
COMMUNITY CENTER ENCHANCEMENTS
In August the LHCA Board of Direc-
tors approved a revision to the Community
Center Facilities Rules & Regulations. Spe-
cific changes apply to the use of the Great
Room, the Boardroom and the Picnic Area.
The most significant change was the
installation of new lighting and a security
system that covers both the Pool and the
Club House. In addition to access control
this system includes both AUDIO &
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE.
A copy of the revised rules (August
2008) is available at the Community Center
and online at : www.laurel-hill.org
PAGE 12 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
Want to Have a Better spreader and going over the entire lawn. You can fill in bare spots
with extra seed. Use 2 to 3 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet of
Looking Lawn Next lawn area. Make sure to purchase high quality grass seed, and one
Year? that is suited for the sun/shade conditions you have in your yard.
Now is the Time to Act!! WATER, WATER, WATER. Do not let the seed dry out! The
new seed should be watered lightly each day until the seed germi-
By Diane Hampel nates. The grass can be mowed once the seedlings are 3 to 4” tall. I
The cooler cannot stress enough the importance of getting your
weather condi- soil tested in order to determine the amount of fertil-
tions we usually izer and nutrients that you should add. If you have
have in fall make a vegetable or flower garden in your yard these areas
it the best time of should be tested as well. You can pick up soil test
year to work on kits at many of the Fairfax County Farmer’s Mar-
improving the kets and all libraries. After you mail the kit to the
grass in your soil lab at Virginia Tech you will receive the results
yard. Follow these easy steps to in a few weeks. I would be happy to
see results next spring: review the results with you.
Evaluate your lawn. If you have Feel free to contact me if you have
more than 50% weeds or weedy questions about maintaining your
grasses in your lawn you may lawn, testing your soil, or other gar-
want to choose to renovate the dening questions.
entire lawn. Feel free to contact You can reach me at 703-690-7429
me for more information about or bandhampel@gmail.com
this process.
Core aerate your lawn to allow air
and nutrients to enter the soil
and prevent soil compaction. I
can guarantee you that you have
compacted soils if you have not
aerated your lawn since you
moved in. You can rent a core
aerator at garden centers and
hardware stores or hire a land-
scaping company to do this for
you. The machine pulls out a
plug of grass and soil as it moves
over the lawn. If the soil is dry,
be sure to water your lawn the
day before you aerate.
Level all uneven areas and cover
bare areas with a high quality
topsoil or compost.
Add ¼ to ½” compost to the entire
lawn.
Overseed the entire lawn with
grass seed. I do this by putting
the grass seed into my fertilizer
PAGE 13 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
PAGE 14 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
September 2008
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6
Labor Day Pool Closed Pool Closed Pool Closed Pool Closed Extended pool
hours 12-6
Ice Cream
Social
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Extended pool Pool Closed Pool Closed Pool Closed Pool Closed Pool Closed Extended pool
hours 12-6 hours 12-6
PFC Mtg SCF Mtg 7:30
7:30pm
SCSS
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Extended pool ARB Mtg BOD Mtg 7pm
hours 12-6
7pm Neighborhood
Last Pool Day Watch 7pm
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30
PAGE 15 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
October 2008
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
PFC Mtg ARB Mtg 7pm BOD Mtg
7:30pm SCF Mtg 7:30 7pm
SCSS
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Halloween
Party
26 27 28 29 30 31
PAGE 16 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
Help Keep Our Streets Safe: Report Aggressive Driving!
At the last Laurel Hill Board of Direc- If you see someone driving aggres-
tors meeting, the Board Members received a sively through our neighborhood, provide the
question about the possibility of putting speed vehicle info (license plate, color, style (4-dr
control bumps along Laurel Crest and in other sedan, 2-dr, etc.)) and details of the offense
areas, to try to curtail residents and others to the FCPD thru their website. While they
from speeding through our cannot write citations or impose
streets. Unfortunately, fines based on this information,
VDOT cannot take any ac- they will send the reported vehi-
tions until the builders turn cle's owner a letter of warning.
the streets over to VDOT,
which will happen at Bond For more information,
release. please refer to Traffic Watch In-
formation page on the FCPD website:
In the meantime, there is something http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/trafficwa
YOU can do. The Fairfax County Police De- tch.htm
partment (FCPD) has an online form you can
fill out (anonymous, if you wish) to report ag- Thanks,
gressive driving. -Pete Meincke, VP LH BoD
PAGE 17 LA U R E L HI L L LE T T E R WW W. LA U R E L- HI LL. O R G
PRESORTED
STANDARD
U.S. Postage
PAID
Fairfax, VA
Permit #6531
8380 Laurel Crest Dr
Lorton, VA 22079
Board Of Directors’ Minutes
(continued from page 9) JULY 16, 2008
President Peter Dickinson presided over the 2009 budget requests from the committees
July 16, 2008, meeting of the Laurel Hill Community (including Architectural Review Board, Pool & Facili-
Association (LHCA) Board of Directors. He called the ties Committee, and the Laurel Hill Connection)
meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Laurel Hill Com- should be submitted to Cardinal Management no later
munity Center. Board members present were: Vice- than August 31.
President Pete Meincke, Secretary Craig Griffith and
Treasurer Greg Lyle. Also present, representing Car- A motion was made and seconded that the
dinal Management, were Terry McGuire and Donna Board adjourn to Executive Session to discuss delin-
Carlson. President Dickinson determined that a quo- quencies, collections, violations and legal correspon-
rum was present in compliance with the By-Laws of dence. The motion passed unanimously (4 Yes – 0 No –
the above named corporation. 0 Abstain). The Board adjourned to Executive Session
at 8:42 p.m.
A Neighborhood Watch has been activated in
the community. Video surveillance has been installed The Board returned from Executive Session at
at the community center. Residents noting suspicious 9:01p.m.
activity should call 911 or the police non-emergency A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the Board
number (703-691-2131) as appropriate to the situation. of Directors’ Meeting. The motion passed unanimously
Ms. Ryan submitted the minutes from the (4 Yes – 0 No – 0 Abstain). The meeting was adjourned
Board of Directors’ Meeting on June 18, 2008, which at 9:02 p.m.
had been circulated to all Board members. A motion This version has been abbreviated from its
was made to approve the minutes as amended. The original text submitted by Karen Marie Ryan, Re-
motion was seconded, and passed unanimously (4 Yes – cording Secretary. Full copies are available in the
0 No – 0 Abstain). Management Office.
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