Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Approved Minutes from January RCA Meeting

RCA Board of Directors Meeting
January 27, 2014
Hunter Mill Governmental Center

Attending:
Colin Mills, President
John Hanley, VP
Terry Maynard, Secretary
Joe Leighton, Treasurer
Sridhar Ganesan
Tammi Petrine
Dick Rogers
Gary Lee Thomas
Gary Walker

Absent:
Connie Hartke
George Kain

Visitors:
Justin Leto, Nova Labs
Annmarie Swope
Steve Canner

1.     Agenda:
Joe moved Agenda be approved; Gary T seconded.  Agenda unanimously approved.

2.    Meeting Minutes:
Joe moved the minutes of Nov. meeting be approved; John H seconded.  Minutes unanimously approved.

3.    Treasurer’s Report:
Sridhar moved the treasurer’s report be approved; Gary W. seconded.  Motion approved unanimously.  Joe moved that the P.O. Box not be renewed.  John H. seconded motion.  Discussion ensued re: where ballots could be mailed if we had no RCA mailbox.  Suggestion was made that mail could be sent to treasurer’s address except election materials which would be sent to election committee chair, the latter which would be publicized by election committee.  Terry moved to add a friendly amendment to this effect and Tammi seconded motion.  Motion with amendment passed unanimously. 

4.    Nova Labs Presentation:
Gary Lee Thomas introduced Justin Leto of Nova Labs who gave following rundown of his org.

  •     Nova labs is a 2 year old not-for-profit org which will be transitioning to new space in near future as current site is being developed.
  •     NL is a maker-space which began with 12 founders in 1600 sq. ft.; it now has 1200 supporters in 3200 sq. ft. and looks to grow larger.
  •     Dues paying members number 100 at this time.
  •     NL activities include 3D printers, drone making, smart phones, lasers, robots, hardware development.
  •      NL strives to give back to community through Gems girls’ program, Pinewood Derby contestants use of wood shop, Take Apart Day, Drone workshop, Build your own 3-D printer, and sharing knowledge with everyone.  It works with Women in Engineering, wildlife conservation and business incubation.
  •     The first NL maker fair will take place on 3/16/14 at SLHS and Langston Hughes campus.
  •      NL goal: to find a world class space in Reston with outdoor access and more space for members who wish to share co-working space for innovative collaboration.
  •     A 10,000 sq. ft. space has been located just east of Plaza America which has adequate parking.  The space requires $500,000 in build-out for individual mini-business spaces as well as communal workshop space for electrical, wood, welding shops, lunchroom and classrooms.
  •     Once facility is up and running, a revenue stream has been devised but NL is looking for help with interim funding.
  •      Suggestions were made for NL to contact NV Tech Council, FCPS Pat Hynes, The Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce and grant writers.

5.    RCA Citizen of the Year:
Terry Maynard discussed his nomination of Kathy Kaplan for 2014’s COY.  COY committee selected her from among an unusually strong field of candidates.  Tammi moved to approve her selection based on her actions which saved our county-wide library system; Terry seconded; motion was unanimously approved.  Colin will contact RCC for available dates for ceremony and notify KK as well as publicize event to public.  John H will help with refreshment procurement and Tammi will assist in finalizing set up/tear down details.

6.    Reston Master Plan Report:
           Terry reported that FFX Co. P & Z further weakened the Task Force approved version of the master plan.
  •        Now institutional, hotels and educational uses are exempted from density calcs.
  •        There is NO DRB for anyone.
  •         The BOS hearing is set for 1-28-14 at 4:30 PM at the Fairfax County Government Center.
  •     RA has issued a rebuttal and included RCA in its comments on some points.
  •     Contingent of RCA/2020 members will be testifying at BOS hearing including Colin = RCA; Terry = Reston 2020; Connie = Rescue Reston; Tammi = Fairway Cluster.


7.    RCC Rec. Center:
Terry attended the 2 day RCC off-site meetings earlier in January at Frying Pan Park in Herndon.  The rec center was not specifically discussed per se but 2 projects were mentioned: the rec center and a performing arts center, both characterized by TM as “details without a concept.”  RCA discussion ensued as to idea of RCA sponsoring a public meeting/forum after the FCPA BCP master plan community meeting in March to present details of what effect a self-funded rec center would have on STD #5 community.

8.    RCA Election Review:
Dick Rogers and Sridhar chaired this discussion which included:
  •         Timing of elections – perhaps they should be moved up late May/early June to avoid people being out of town on summer vacations.
  •     Suggested amendments to by-laws to incorporate specific changes to election section.
  •     Changing president’s term to 2 years vs. current 1 year.


           These ideas will be further discussed at next meeting.

9.    Residential Studio Units:
Colin and John H attended an informative workshop on this very complex issue.  They will continue their examination of issue which is now in flux with zoning commissioners.  Due to debate/research, no decision on this is expected before April at the earliest.

10. RCA Tech Update:
Gary Walker reported that our outreach efforts continue to remain constant but we need to grow our audience/mailing list.  He suggested using the fora of the Farmer’s Market and Newcomer Meetings to do so.  RCA blogspot hits spike with newsletter publishing dates and community interest of controversial events.  We are also on Facebook and Twitter.

11. RCA Board Member Recruitment:
Terry moved that board vacancies be advertised to public and seats filled at Feb. meeting with terms running until next election, at which seats would be available for full terms.  Sridhar seconded; motion passed unanimously.  Terry and Colin will inform public through newsletter, blog and newspaper articles.  Guest Annmarie Swope expressed interest in serving on board and gave brief introduction of her skills and goals.  Her candidacy will be determined at next meeting in Feb.

12. Other Business:
Colin announced he has decided to run for the RA board of directors.  If elected, John Hanley as VP would take over as president until RCA elections later this spring/summer.

13. Next Meeting:
Date: Feb. 27th at 7:30 at Governmental Center.

14. Adjournment:
Terry moved to adjourn at 9:45PM; Joe seconded.  Motion passed unanimously.
    

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