Jeremy Baker running for the HOA board

Hello all.

By now, most if not all of you have received the monthly community newsletter. You will find on pages 7 and 9 the two candidates that are running for the one open board position.

My name is Jeremy Baker, and I am one of the candidates. I have received several phone calls this afternoon with questions about my stance on various positions, so I thought that this thread might be an ideal way to get my responses out en masse. I will access the thread several times a day between now and the annual meeting.

To start, I have a strong background in horticulture, landscaping, and professional tree care. I feel that my knowledge and skills in this arena will help us move forward as a community. I already have a working relationship with our primary contact at HLS and will be able to serve as a direct connection between the community and HLS in regards to our landscape.

As noted on my profile sheet, my main areas of focus on the board will be maintaining the safety of our community and keeping our community landscape beautiful while looking to the future of our neighborhood.

A direct question was raised to me concerning the HCA proposed hospital in our neighborhood. Many of you are interested in my stance so that you can make an informed decision as you vote. I can see valid arguments on both fronts in regards to the proposed hospital. An influx of millions of tax dollars into our community would certainly help ease the current burden that our county budget bears. It also would be nice to have a short ambulance ride to an ER, many lives could be saved-if it's a family member or close friend the value would be incalculable. I do find myself concerned however with the increased traffic that would come into our neighborhood. The thought of helicopters coming in and out is not a pleasant one either. And I'm not interested in losing any further property value. We all need to maintain our equity as best as possible.

Please feel free to ask any questions in response to this thread, or PM me if you desire. I want to ensure that everyone receives the answers they would like to have prior to voting.

*Don't forget that proxies need to be submitted in order to establish a quorum (The letter from Wes states that they are due by May 9 at 5pm, the proxy form states May 12. Go with the 9th to ensure we have everything in place for the meeting.).

 

There is no helipad in the proposed hospital.
Broadlands Blvd is a major road designed to handle millions of square feet of commercial property. The traffic is coming, hospital or not.

 

Thanks Cliff. I was operating under some mis-information I had heard regarding the heli-pad, but received clarification last night.

 

There's lots of misinformation floating around about the hospital. Some of it is quite amazing!
Although there is no helipad in the initial application, it could be requested at some future date. The current local hospitals average 1-2 helicopters/week.

 

HCA will do whatever they want to, They will get this Hospital in our NEIGHBORHOOD, from Bullying us to filing a suit against the County. As soon as they get approval, they will change things to get what they want. A Hospital should not be in a residenial area, but in a true Commericial zone. I.e. Loudoun County Parkway and the Greenway.

Just walk around the area at 8am and watch the traffic for the school building, its dangerous!

 

regarding landscaping- how about problematic community property that abuts an owner's property line? for example- marshy, un-mowable (unlesss we have drought conditions) land between a house and the trees lining a path... how will you help the home owner stuck in this predicament....

all hypothetical of course.

 

redon1...not really hypothetical at all. You have described a situation similar to what we have in our back yard where the common property was partially mowed, actually neglected, and now the overgrowth has caused a grading issue. So the rainwater flows into the groomed area forming fairly large puddles/ponds further eroding the top soil. I expect it to eventually reach our property.

Yes, I would be interested to know how an issue like this might be addressed.

 

i'm LOOKING at my hypothetical as i speak.. glad to know I am not alone and selfishly just trying to solve my OWN problem!

hubby tried to mow and sunk into muck to his ankle even though our property up to that point was totally dry... Jeremy...?

 

Our back yard backs to a walking path and between the walking path and the back of our yard, whenever it rains - there's a huge amount of water that flows behind everyone's houses and it creeps up into the yards. We have a fenced in yard and my husband built up dirt to keep the water out, but it is bad and we don't know what can be done about it. He often has said maybe planting willow trees behind our fence on the common area because they like a lot of water, but don't know if that's allowed....

 

The common area around a private lot is definately an interesting concern. I live in an end unit Townhome and have done extensive Landscaping on my property. I applied to plant small bushes or flowers along the outside of my fence and was denied... so instead of nice plants my neighbors and I have only partially mowed, non-edged, weed filled, 70% grass 30% bare "lawn" to look at. I hope that the board cantidates start to look better at these sorts of requests too.

 

that describes our lot perfectly. and if we CAN get approval on planting- i would love advice on what kind of plants would thrive with such wet soil.

 

You and me both!

 

Here is a list I created "commerical names" & latin/hordicultural names also provided - I am working on becoming a 'master gardener'

I hope the HOA approves our request to allow us to clean up the ratty looking common left by Van Metre it is VERY wet as well.

Enjoy! Forgot to add - ink berry hollies do very well in wet areas and are evergreen.

PERENNIALS FOR WET SITUATIONS​

*Arundo Donax (Giant Reed) Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milkweed)
Boltonia asteroides (White Boltonia)
*Caltha palustris (Marsh Marigold)
Eupatorium purpureum (Joe-pye-weed)
Helenium autumnale (Sneezeweed)
Hibiscus Moscheutos (Swamp Rose-Mallow)
*Iris pseudacorus (Yellowflag)
Iris versicolor (Blueflag)
Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)
Lysimachia clethroides (Clethra Loosestrife)
Lythrum Salicaria (Spiked Loosestrife)
Miscanthus sinensis (Eulalia)
Monarda didyma (Bee-balm)
Myosotis palustris (True Forget-me-not)
Onoclea sensibilis (Sensitive Fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (Cinnamon Fern)
*Osmunda regalis (Royal Fern)
Sarracenia purpurea (Pitcherplant)
Saxifraga pennsylvanica (Penn. or Swamp Saxifrage)

 

Well, each scenario will certainly be different and unless I see an area it's hard for me to make a judgement call as to the possible outcomes. If it's classified as a Tree Save, Wetlands, or protected area it becomes difficult if not impossible to modify it. I will strive to make all of our outdoor spaces more user-friendly where needed, and will work with the other members of the board toward that end.

 

Additionally, to all expressing concerns around the common area buffers and plantings:

I believe that the current board is very sympathetic to allowing us all to improve the aesthetics of our living spaces. Each case has to be handled as a one-off to evaluate outcomes, impacts, implications, etc. My goal would be to develop a list of acceptable flowers, shrubs, and trees that can be planted in 'wet' areas/other areas so that when an application is submitted, if approved it can be returned with a list of the required species and quantities needed.

 

We have the same issue. Our backyard is just a mudpuddle all year round, even when there is a drought we still have mud in places. We have talked to the county, to the HOA, there doesn't seem to be any help for the problem. It isnt' just behind our house, it goes behind our property along the property line to other property lines along the swell. Behind us is also a wooded area, that was cleared of a lot of underbrush by the property owners, which may have added to the issue, I'm not sure. All I know is that we have a swell that is making our backyard practically unusable, and nothing that we can do about it apparently.

Right now we are considering to just do some landscaping to fix the problem and highlight it instead of trying to fix it, put river rocks in the swell and a bridge over it and make it look like a little wetland area, not sure how that would work, and if it would cause new issues with water flow. Our yard is very well landscaped and taken care of, and this is something that bothers us a lot.

Marianne

 

Jeremy - I am wondering where you stand on home-based businesses (such as day-care) and what role our HOA should take?

 

Thats Funny I agree with you, because the resident in Question is Baker as well.

 

Wow - now that is a very interesting turn of events

With such a provocative topic on the forums - it seemed reasonable to ask the candidate(s) their position" on this topic.

So I am I to understand (based on your post) that the "unlicensed" daycare (at the time of question) is owned/operated by a homeowner who is currently running for the open position on our HOA?