Category: Weather

Posted on

PWCA Information for Members and Residents (December 2024, Message #1) 

Good morning.  With the holidays quickly approaching, please find below pertinent updates for your review…..

PERMANENT LINKS:

PWCA Website: https://parkwestcommunity.org/
PWCA Meeting Packets: https://parkwestcommunity.org/association-meeting/
ACC Documents: https://parkwestcommunity.org/architectural-control-committee/
Parking Documents: https://parkwestcommunity.org/parking/
Newsletters: https://parkwestcommunity.org/newsletters/
Quarterly Assessment Timeline: https://parkwestcommunity.org/living-in-pwca/
Trash and Recycling Information: https://parkwestcommunity.org/our-environment/

SEASONAL LINKS:

Director Application for Candidacy: https://parkwestcommunity.org/board-of-directors-chairs-and-managers/

2024 J&J Individual Home Maintenance Program:  https://parkwestcommunity.org/our-environment/

2024-2025 Snow Removal Policy: https://parkwestcommunity.org/living-in-pwca/ 

INFORMATION ITEMS:

1.  HOLIDAY TEMPORARY PARKING REQUESTS – PROVIDE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  If you have not requested parking passes for any events you are hosting through the New Year, please do so as soon as possible as our requested deadline for the requests was 15 December.  We would like to provide our volunteers who create those passes for you the time to spend with their families and several of them are departing the local area during the holiday weeks so you will not have them as assets. Please see the website for a current list of parking officials – link provided in the permanent links above. As you missed the deadline, your request may take longer to generate the passes due to volunteer support limitations.

2.  BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING; TUESDAY; DECEMBER 17, 2024; 7:00 PM; VIRTUAL.  The monthly board meeting will be conducted via the RingCentral virtual meeting framework.  For the virtual meeting information, see the website under ‘Meetings’, select the year (2024), then the meeting (2024-12-17).  Document #01-1 contains the information to join the meeting.

3.  YARD DEBRIS COLLECTION, FINAL 2024 COLLECTION OCCURS DECEMBER 18, 2024.  The final yard debris pickup for 2024 will occur THIS WEDNESDAY, December 18th.  Yard Debris collection will resume on March 5, 2025.

4.  HOLIDAY TRASH, RECYCLING, AND CHRISTMAS TREE PICKUP SCHEDULE.  The normal Wednesday and Friday pickups will be delayed one day for the Christmas and New Year’s weeks.  See below for specific dates.

CHRISTMAS WEEK:
Tuesday, December 24, 2024:  Trash Pickup #1
Thursday, December 26, 2024:  Recycling Pickup
Saturday, December 28, 2024:  Trash Pickup #2

NEW YEAR’S WEEK:
Tuesday, December 31, 2024:  Trash Pickup #1
Thursday, January 2, 2025:  Recycling Pickup and Christmas Tree Collection #1
Saturday, January 4, 2025:  Trash Pickup #2

Christmas trees will be collected on THURSDAY during the first week of January and on WEDNESDAY (January 8, 2025) during the second week of January.  All trees must be placed on the curb with all tinsel/decorations removed and trees should not be placed in plastics bags.  See the website for additional information.

5.  2024 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION, SYNOPSIS.  The Annual Meeting was held on November 19th at St. Mary of Sorrows Church (the Parish Center) in a parallel in-person/virtual format.  My thanks to those who physically attended the meeting.  The Members voted to reduce our overall number of Directors from 9 to 7.  Art Gile was elected for another three-year term of office while the second Director position for this term of office is currently open.  Kevin Murphy was appointed as the 2024-2025 Nominating Committee Chair.  See the website for the meeting slide deck and other supporting documentation.  The draft Annual Meeting minutes will be posted to the website after being provisionally approved by the Directors at the December Board of Directors meeting.

6.  2025 ANNUAL ASSESSMENT NOTICE AND ASSESSMENT TIMELINE.  As presented at the Annual Meeting, the Annual Assessment for 2025 will increase to $475.00 per quarter due on the first day of each quarterly assessment period. The 2025 Assessment Notice and the Quarterly Assessment Timeline have been mailed/emailed to you and may also be found on the website – link provided above in the Links section.

7.  OCTOBER 2024 COMMUNITY RULES.  The Board approved updated Community Rules at the October 2024 BoD meeting.  The updated Rules may be found on the website under the ‘Rules and Regulations’ sub-page.  New residents to our community receive a copy when they are getting their initial set of parking permits.  If you would like to have a hard copy of the Rules and are not a new resident, please email Parking@ParkWestCommunity.org and Communications@ParkWestCommunity.org to coordinate a time to receive a copy.  Limited hard copies will also be available at the Annual Meeting in November.

8.  PARK WEST PAGES, NOVEMBER 2024 EDITION.  The latest edition of the Park West Pages has been released – please see the website for the document.  The President and the Hospitality Committee each have hard copies of the edition if you’d like a printed copy.  Limited hard copies will also be available at the Annual Meeting.

9.  FLAG STONE PATH CONSTRUCTION, THE ALLEY SHARED BETWEEN 4853 THROUGH 4869 CARRIAGEPARK ROAD AND 4705 THROUGH 4719 GAINSBOROUGH DRIVE.  The second phase of the project has been approved.  The weather has indeed complicated the schedule, we are still planning to undertake the work in the near future. 

10.  FALL 2024 TREE WORK.  Work is complete. 

11.  COMMUNITY SECURITY.  If out-of-the-ordinary events occur and you are concerned for your safety or security please notify the Police non-emergency number (703) 691-2131 to report the occurrence.  While we advertise a Neighborhood Watch on our signs there has been a lack of interest in the past to actually set one up.  If you are interested in participating please let me know.  If we have sufficient interest we will restart the process with the County but not before we see sufficient volunteers to make the effort worthwhile.  As always, please consider leaving your porch lights on throughout the night, remember to lock your vehicle doors, and notify the non-emergency number should you experience some kind of security event in the future. 

12.  COLD WEATHER PREPARATION.  Please review the November newsletter for an article on this important subject.  Each year there are challenges faced by homeowners – consider taking the identified steps to take to be prepared for winter and limit potential damage to your home. The PWCA snow policy is posted on the website and is linked above in the Seasonal Links section; please read and understand it before any snow emergency might be declared for the Community.  If/when snow or ice storms occur all residents are requested to shovel and de-ice the sidewalks in front of your home. Help your neighbors and your community by assisting others if needed, clearing around fire hydrants, and clearing the mail boxes.

13.  INDIVIDUAL GROUNDS CARE OFFER FROM J&J LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT, APPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  Our grounds care contractor is again offering residences in our community the ability to have your private yards maintained.  The care options include turf care, lawn care, and leaf removal.  Please refer to the link listed above in the Seasonal Links section, just scroll down the page to the applicable information, or contact myself if you cannot access the information.

14.  OWNER ACCOUNT PORTAL.  This is a recurring topic for many of our owners.  Each owner has the ability to access their account through a portal Summit Management offers.  To access the portal, please go to our website and select the ‘Living in PWCA’ tab.  Scroll down the page to the button ‘Vantaca Owner Login’.  If you have not already done so, Vantaca will prompt you to create a login.  Once you login you’ll be able to access your owner information to include the status of your account.  This also provides an avenue to pay any balances due on the account.

15.  OPEN DIRECTOR POSITIONS.  Request your consideration to place your name forward to fill our open Director positions.  We are looking for people who are invested in making a better community for all who reside here.  If you are interested please complete and submit an Application for Candidacy that may be found on our website and is listed above in the links.  The Nominating Committee will reach out to you after you complete that step.  If you have questions I’m also available to speak with you about more specifics.

Regards,

Mark

Posted on

Snow Event #2, 19 January 2024 – Update #1 

Good evening.

SEASONAL LINKS:

2023 – 2024 Snow Removal Policy: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-WlBuDMPBWN4DgriGScfuYrx6cTXmS3T/view?usp=drive_link

Patriot Disposal Services Website: https://www.patriotdisposalservices.com/

Our current situation:

1.  Based on my non-official measurements around the community but mainly based on the lifeguard stands and diving board base – we appear to have had around 6 inches of snow during this storm.

2.  We have had the plow through.  The salt trucks are currently working their way through the various clients and we are on the rotation.

3.  BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU WALK OR DRIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY TONIGHT.  Black ice is throughout the community in any areas that have not had ice melt treatments applied to them. If it looks wet and shiny it’s probably a skating rink waiting for you to slide across….   That’s for people walking or vehicles trying to drive across the surface….  Watch your steps when you are walking and drive carefully if you are traveling by vehicle.  

4.  Please review the Snow Removal Policy – a couple of points I’d like to make
 – When plows are operating they are working under specific instructions, please do not try to get them to accomplish other tasks.  Contact myself or the Streets and Sidewalks Chair if you have any questions.
  – Plows maintain a distance of 30 inches from all parking spaces / vehicles.  The remainder of the distance is up to us.
  – Request you consider removing the snow and ice from the common sidewalks to the front, and in some cases, the rear of your townhomes.  Also request you clear around nearby mailboxes and fire hydrants.  These actions help us sustain a safe environment for those moving through our community or for any emergency response that may be necessary.

A great amount of work accomplished today by a multitude of volunteers within out community – thank you for your efforts!  

Regards,

Mark

Posted on

Snow Event #2, 19 January 2024 – Trash Pickup Discontinued for Today 

Good morning to all.

SEASONAL LINKS:

2023 – 2024 Snow Removal Policy: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-WlBuDMPBWN4DgriGScfuYrx6cTXmS3T/view?usp=drive_link

Patriot Disposal Services Website: https://www.patriotdisposalservices.com/

With the greater-than-anticipated amount of snow falling I wanted y’all to receive information specific to this storm.

1.  We are currently sitting somewhere above 2 inches of snow fallen.

2.  Patriot has discontinued all service for today.  There will be no makeup day.  Our next trash pickup is scheduled for Tuesday, 23 January 2024.  This is, as always, weather dependent.  If you have the ability to secure your trash that’s out at the collection points please do so by bringing the container/bags back to your home.  as always, you can go to the contractor website for current status of services.

3.  The final salt operation from Snow Event #1 was still on our streets for this event so performed well during the initial portion of the current storm. We will plan for at least one plow session for this storm along with at least one salt application.

4.  Please review the Snow Removal Policy – a couple of points I’d like to make
 – When plows are operating they are working under specific instructions, please do not try to get them to accomplish other tasks.  Contact myself or the Streets and Sidewalks Chair if you have any questions.
  – Plows maintain a distance of 30 inches from all parking spaces / vehicles.  The remainder of the distance is up to us.
  – Request you consider removing the snow and ice from the common sidewalks to the front, and in some cases, the rear of your townhomes.  Also request you clear around nearby mailboxes and fire hydrants.  These actions help us sustain a safe environment for those moving through our community or for any emergency response that may be necessary.

Again, appreciate all of y’alls efforts from the storm earlier this week – one more to go before we get to a warmup next week…..

Regards,

Mark

Posted on

PWCA Information for Members and Residents (January 2024, Message #2) 

Good evening!  Please see below for several items for your review.

PERMANENT LINKS:
PWCA Website: https://parkwestcommunity.org/
PWCA Meeting Packets: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UQIfzyb72xFD9Y7_mshcRNVRE5wv8m5h?usp=share_link

ACC Documents:  https://parkwestcommunity.org/architectural-control-committee/

Parking Documents: https://parkwestcommunity.org/parking/

Newsletters: https://parkwestcommunity.org/newsletters/

Quarterly Assessment Timeline: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LpwaIZ5NVobKPDzCmuTnOy20KcwpxXXg?usp=share_link

Trash and Recycling Information:  https://parkwestcommunity.org/our-environment/

SEASONAL LINKS:

Director Application for Candidacy: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cnn33EERkBdAG-qMTEiiV4PWyHv3BnxJ/view

2023 – 2024 Snow Removal Policy: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gtAkDqOQlg3InT0bmEnm6rrHYRaQrdnr/view?usp=sharing 

2024 Annual Assessment Notice and Timeline:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QxBqENaj8L2i8worak-rQyBrnLPSp6GB?usp=drive_link 

INFORMATION ITEMS:

1.  MLK DAY OF SERVICE; COMMUNITY AND RABBIT BRANCH PARK CLEANUP; REVIEW.  Thank you to the people wo showed up for our community cleanup.  While the weather wasn’t great we did get four from our community and about 20 from the overall Kings Park West community participating.  Really appreciate you giving some of your Monday to help our community!

2.  SNOW EVENT #1; REVIEW.  Another thank you to all who cleaned their sidewalks and shoveled the parking area edges.  With the continued cold weather that’s a really fantastic action that will pay dividends for multiple days.  For this event we had one plow session and three salting activities.  I do not anticipate doing anything else for our streets in response to this storm. 

3.  POTENTIAL SNOW EVENT, FRIDAY.  This continued cold weather takes us right into another potential storm in two days.  If you have not reviewed the Snow Policy for this season, I urge you to do so.  Again, really appreciate all those who care for the common sidewalks and nearby fire hydrant as needed to make moving around and safety in our community a little easier for all.   

4.  TREE AND GROUNDS CARE WORK.  Our Fall 2023 Tree Pruning activity will occur over the next couple of weeks.  Contracted leaf removal for Fall 2023 is complete.  For those who did not take advantage of the visits to move your leaves to common ground please clean your yards and deposit into bags for removal.  

5.  YARD DEBRIS COLLECTION.  Any yard debris you generate now should be placed out with regular trash.  Our contractor recommends placing yard debris into your trash containers to ensure the debris gets picked up during the next two months.  Regular Yard Debris collection will resume on March 6, 2024.

6.  BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING; TUESDAY, February 20, 2024; 7:00 PM; VIRTUAL.  The monthly board meeting will be conducted via the RingCentral virtual meeting framework. For the virtual meeting information, see the website under ‘Meetings’, select the year (2024), then the meeting (20240220). Document #01-1 contains the information to join the meeting.

7.  2024 ANNUAL ASSESSMENT NOTICE AND ASSESSMENT TIMELINE.  If you have some kind of manual payment occurring to pay your assessments – please remember to adjust your payment.  We have several accounts that have paid last year’s amount and therefore still have an account balance.  As presented at the Annual Meeting, the Annual Assessment for 2024 has increased to $440.00 per quarter due on the first day of each quarterly assessment period – the first quarter’s payment was due on January 1st. The 2024 Assessment Notice and the Quarterly Assessment Timeline have been mailed/emailed to you and may also be found on the website – link provided above in the Seasonal Links section.

8.  COLD WEATHER PREPARATION.   With the current weather this remains for one more message…  Check the November newsletter for an article on this important subject.  Each year there are challenges faced by homeowners – consider taking the identified steps to take to be prepared for winter and limit potential damage to your home. The PWCA snow policy is posted on the website and is linked above in the Seasonal Links section; please read and understand it before any snow emergency might be declared for the Community.  If/when snow or ice storms occur all residents are requested to shovel and de-ice the sidewalks in front of your home. Help your neighbors and your community by assisting others if needed, clearing around fire hydrants, and clearing the mail boxes

9.  BRADDOCK ROAD STOP SIGN AND MESSAGE BOARD, POOL PARKING LOT STOP SIGN.  We are awaiting better weather to repair the stop signs and message board.

Enjoy your evening – stay warm and be careful if you walk outside with all the black ice that’s out there now that the sun is gone.

Regards,

Mark

Posted on

Tree Removal; All Residences from 4823 through 4851 Carriagepark Road Parking Spaces Impacted, Friday, June 30, 2023, from 7:30AM until complete 

All – due to the amount of parking that is required (spaces 181 through 208) and the visual aspect of a large crane operating in the community I wanted to notify everyone about the upcoming work.  Due to the location of the tree in question the crane is the optimal way to remove the tree without impacting surrounding homes located on portions of Treasure Court, Gainsborough Drive and Carriagepark Road.

Due to the area requirements to support the crane and associated support vehicles, all parking at the lower end of the large island of lower Carriagepark Road will be impacted.  Three spaces (185 through 187) will be impacted through Thursday of next week for timber storage of portions of the tree that are unable to be removed on Friday.

All impacted residences have received letters on their doors this afternoon.  Spaces are marked and signs installed in all areas.

While I’m normally much more diplomatic on the parking aspects of tree work , this time I will be direct.

PLEASE ENSURE ALL VEHICLES ARE REMOVED ON FRIDAY MORNING.

If you live in the area, please remind your neighbors.  Renting a crane is a massive expense – literally every minute on our clock is around ten dollars so there cannot be work slowdowns or stoppages caused by our inaction.  I do not plan on knocking on doors Friday morning – we will just relocate your vehicle if it is parked in any of the spaces (181 through 208) and charge the residence identified on the permit.

Thank you in advance for your support in making this project a success…

Regards,

Mark