Reston Association board members have slowly been working through an update of its governing documents, which provide the legal structure and operation of the community and operate much like a town charter.
Three weeks ago, the board began working from a draft as a basis for moving through the process.
In the session Thursday, March 31, the board reviewed the working draft and made some progress on member voting and assessments.
In the first policy matter considered, the board agreed that the arrangement for member voting, which currently gives property owners more voting influence than renters, should not be changed. Unintentionally, the draft made voting equal among property owners and renters.
“That was a total lack of understanding on my part on how voting in Reston happens,” said Bob Diamond of ReedSmith LLP, the attorney hired to take the existing document and develop a working draft with user-friendly language. “It was not my intent to change the weight of votes,” he said.
“My preference is similar weighting to the voting structure we’ve got now,” said Douglas Bushée, the board of director representing the North Point district.
AFTER A ROUND of discussion, the board echoed Bushée’s response and agreed to preserve the current member voting arrangements.
The board then moved its discussion to the assessment cap, which currently allows the board very little flexibility. The current assessment is $425, and the cap is set at $445, which allows the board only a $20 increase to deal with future uncertainties.
“Right now, we’re at 98 percent of the cap and so there was unanimous support with the board that something has to be done,” said Richard Beyer, president of the RA board.
For this reason, the board discussed this issue for more than an hour but has yet to talk about alternatives.
The board had planned to discuss at depth an issue that involved members who are now required by the governing documents to use the RELAC air-conditioning system. Since time was running out at the meeting, the board agreed to take this issue up in greater detail at a future meeting.