Pimmit Hills Citizens Association Meeting Minutes
March 5, 2013
The meeting opened at 7:32. The meeting was chaired by Sarah Rock, three year director in the absence of Carol Martz, Vice President, and the recent resignation of Mark Kinnane as President. Other officers present were Brad Sanders, Treasurer, and Connie Cordovilla, interim Secretary.
The PHCA had a guest speaker- Robert J. Landon, Assistant Administrator, Fairfax County Adult High Schools, who recounted the history of the Pimmit Hills Center. It has housed an elementary school, an adult education center, an adult high school and a senior citizens center. At the current time, it houses seven different programs:
- A pre-school for special education students (autism, learning disabled, behavioral and developmental problems- 20 students and 6 teachers;
- Adult Community Education which is advertised through the flyers received at our homes- includes language, computer, etc.- this program has a rolling enrollment system with five registration per year
- ESL programs in the evening
- Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco programs for offending youth, two days a week
- CECIC – 2.35 sessions and take classes on line- half day
- Senior Center
- Adult High Schools
The Alternative Learning Center was closed last year and the County now has two - one at Mountain view and one at Bryant. Since the relocation of the alternative school, behavioral problems have not been noted in the neighborhood.
The county also offers a National External Diploma Program that awards a traditional high school diploma to any adult who can successfully demonstrate life-skill competencies that have been determined to be what every high school student should know or be able to do.
There is a Volunteer Learning Program which has 260 volunteers county-wide. These volunteers give their time either on their lunch hour or after work to either teach subject-related fields to classes or to help individual students in subject area expertise. You can find more information at http://www.fcps.edu/WoodsonAHS/vlp.html or call Mr. Landon at (703) 506-2251.
Mr. Landon did explain that the reason that the door closest to the meeting room for PHCA is locked in the evening is that school security demands that entrances be secured after 3:00 pm with only one entrance to an area and that is the far door. Mr. Landon thanks the PHCA for its rapt attention and said that members should call him at any time that they have a questions about he school programs, etc.
The minutes of the previous meeting were read by the attendees. Mary Ann Hankin asked that the clarification be made about he Easter egg hunt that the children under the age of 12 were allowed to participate. Lily Whitesell moved that the amended minutes be approved. Lisa Gibbs seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Julius Hankin asked that we add the upcoming events of the library to the minutes/website so that people see them in a timely fashion.
Treasure Brad Sanders reported that the checking account balance was $10,806 and the payment of $1200 had been made to Cindy Kwitchoff for her previous hosting of the PHCA Website. Work is continuing on the website.
The secretary asked if the Board Liability Insurance had been purchased and was told that it was in December. When asked the annual premium, the treasurer stated he believed it to be about $900 per year. When asked the amount of liability coverage, he did not know and offered to look it up on the declarations page of the policy.
Sarah Rock gave the Director’s Report. She noted that the Fairfax County Budget is about to be proposed and public comment is being solicited by Supervisor Foust in a series of town hall meetings- the closest one to PHCA is the one in the McLean Community Center on March 12. – Other opportunities to comment on the county budget will be available at the Fairfax Government center April 9-11. The recommended property tax increase is about 2%.
Sarah provided a handout on the March Library programs and also on the forum for the Friends groups across the library system that will be held on March 30. Unfortunately it is the same time as the Easter Egg Hunt for PHCA.
In the absence of Elizabeth Hall, chair of the Environment Committee, Sarah reported that the Earth Day Clean Up is still scheduled for April 20th and asked for volunteers to help Elizabeth
Under new business, Julius Hankin raised the point that we need to actively market the PHCA to new residents. We need to invite them to come to meetings and get them involved in community activities. It was suggested that we follow up with a real estate agent to see if we can figure out who the new residents are and greeting them. A committee to greet new residents might be a good idea.
Julius also suggested that original mission statement of the PHCA be reviewed and PHCA consider making a revision to make it more inclusive of the changes that have occurred in the growth of the community. It would emphasize the community values that PHCA embraces, what PHCA hopes to accomplish as an organization, and where PHCA envisions the development of the community moving.
A short discussion ensued about the fact that some properties are in bad condition and the covenants that the PHCA established are not enforceable. Relief from theses problems lies in contacting the county zoning office or the Dranesville Supervisor office.
A motion to adjourn at 8:29 was passed unanimously.
