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Residents Handbook
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the Handbook [464kb PDF]
AMENITIES, SERVICES AND GETTING INVOLVED
Condominium amenities include tennis courts, swimming pools, a tot lot, and a community center. To maintain these amenities and the buildings and grounds, the Association contracts with service providers and employs its own staff. Volunteer committees of owners and residents recommend policies to the Board on the use of amenities and services. Volunteers also plan special events. Information about these amenities, services and special events is regularly published in the North Fairlington News and on the Website. It also is available in the management office and may be posted on bulletin boards at the community center, tennis courts, and pools.
AMENITIES
COMMUNITY CENTER
The community center, at 3005 South Abingdon Street, is used for official meetings and social events. Residents of North (and South) Fairlington may rent the community center for private, noncommercial functions. Management maintains the community center calendar and rate schedule. Residents must sign a contract and leave a security deposit.
SWIMMING POOLS
There are six pools, one in each ward. The pools are staffed and maintained by a contracted pool management company. Residents must present their Fairlington identification card to enter the pools, and they may bring up to five guests. Rules are distributed in the spring in the North Fairlington News and posted on the Website.
TENNIS COURTS
There are five lighted courts behind the community center and eight unlighted satellite courts scattered throughout the grounds. Residents must display their Fairlington ID card. Guests must be accompanied by a resident. Rules are distributed in the spring in the North Fairlington News and posted on the Website.
TOT LOT
The tot lot (playground) is located behind the management office. Parents or guardians must accompany children to the tot lot. The Association assumes no risk for its use. Please notify management if you see hazards.
SERVICES
LANDSCAPE AND LAWN MAINTENANCE
The Association has landscaping contractors to maintain our common grounds. They mow, edge, and fertilize our turf and removes leaves in the fall. They also prune shrubbery and maintain the common planting beds. From time to time the Board approves landscape enhancements, erosion repairs, and drainage improvements.
PATROL SERVICE
A contract patrol service monitors the property overnight and enforces parking and other regulations. The service telephone number is listed in the North Fairlington News and on the Website. The patrol officer can respond to residents' calls about non-emergency community disturbances, parking violations and reports of improper use of the swimming pools, tennis courts or community center. The patrol service is not the police; in an emergency, please call 911.
SNOW REMOVAL
The Association provides limited snow removal from parking areas, sidewalks and walkways. Contractors and onsite staff begin work as soon as is reasonably possible after certain snow accumulations. Residents are responsible for their balconies and patios. Management encourages residents to refrain from putting trash out during snowstorms.
TREES ON COMMON AREAS
Trees are a vital part of our landscape. Trees on the common area belong to the Association. Trees between the public streets and sidewalks and on traffic islands belong to the municipalities. Please notify management if you see dead, declining, or hazardous trees anywhere on the property. The Association normally replaces dead trees in the fall.
TRASH AND RECYCLING
Regular household trash is picked up Monday through Saturday except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. All trash should be in secured trash bags and put out between 6 and 9 a.m. Residents are requested to place their trash on the street curb, particularly if you live in a multi-unit building, as a courtesy to neighbors.
Recycling pickup is Wednesdays (except the three holidays). The contractor places recycling bins around the grounds on Tuesday afternoon. Recycle materials—mixed (colored and clear) glass, aluminum/metal cans, and plastic should be placed in the bins before 9 a.m. Wednesday. Newspapers and recyclable paper should either be bagged or tied. Cardboard boxes should be broken down. These items should be placed next to the bins.
Large trash, or bulk trash, may be put out between 3 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. Thursday for Thursday morning pickup, except on the three noted holidays. Bulk trash is that generated through the normal occupancy of the unit and the occasional replacement of an appliance or a limited amount of construction debris (a kitchen sink or bathroom cabinet) generated by the resident as a result of normal maintenance.
Renovation debris is the responsibility of the owner and may not be left curbside. Renovation debris includes appliances, fixtures, carpet, building materials and similar items removed from a unit, backyard, patio or deck.
Hazardous wastes, including paints, motor oil, household chemicals and other toxics, are unacceptable for curbside disposal. Arlington residents may call the county Water Pollution Control Plant at 703-228-6820 for information on disposal of toxic materials. (Disposal at the plant, off South Glebe Road, is available Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) The county holds recycling days twice a year, generally in April and October, for other household goods, including televisions, computers, and bicycles.
Alexandria residents may call the Alexandria Sanitation Authority at 703-549-3383. Many service stations take used motor oil. As our storm drains connect to Four Mile Run, it is environmentally destructive — and illegal — to pour used motor oil into our storm drains.
Trash Violations. Management may impose a $50 assessment on any unit owner who violates the trash removal regulations or whose family members, tenants or guests violate the rules.
WATERING
The Association encourages all residents to water the plants near the buildings where you live to help protect our investment in common-area greenery. (The Association pays for all residents' water.) The office holds a supply of hoses and sprinklers for residents to sign out for the growing season. Generally shrubs and trees may need deep watering two or three times a week during hot, dry spells.
WORK ORDERS
Residents may call management to request a work order for common area or building repair or for landscaping problems in the common area. You may request the work order number at the time you make such requests.
A completed copy of the work order and response card is left at the door of the resident. Please read the response card, check the appropriate boxes indicating your level of satisfaction, and return it as requested. Your response is a tool management uses to ensure that the employees perform professionally.
GETTING INVOLVED
The owners and residents make Fairlington Villages happen. Assessments pay for a management staff and maintenance, but the Association relies on volunteers to create a community. Without your involvement, there is no Board of Directors, no community activities, and no self-government of a multi-million-dollar budget.
The Board invites all residents, both owners and tenants, to participate in Association activities. The president may create (and dissolve) committees to help run the condominium's affairs. The committees facilitate decision-making by researching specific issues, providing a broader base of opinion, and recommending policies and actions to the Board. Residents interested in volunteering for a committee may contact management, a Board member, or the committee chair. Contact names and telephone numbers are listed in the North Fairlington News and on the Website.
In addition to the Association's standing committees, described below, ad hoc committees are created from time to time to advise the Board on special projects or concerns. Recent temporary panels have studied risk management, rules enforcement, long-range planning, financial reserves, elections, electronic access, trash, and hallway renovation. Ad hoc committees usually include a Board member and interested residents.
BUILDINGS & GROUNDS
This committee was created to assist the Board in overseeing and maintaining the quality and integrity of our physical assets. Committee members join Board members and management in semi-annual walk-throughs of the common property in spring and fall. It advises the Board on maintenance and improvement, recommends budget items, undertakes projects at the request of the Board, and helps select landscape contractors.
COMMUNICATIONS
This committee is charged with enhancing communication between the Board and owners and residents. Committee members edit the monthly newsletter, the North Fairlington News, which is mailed to all units and nonresident owners, and maintain the Website. They update this manual and other publications. Residents with editorial, public relations or Webmaster experience are particularly encouraged to join.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
This committee promotes community spirit through various events: yard sales, pool parties, and theme parties such as the Fourth of July Parade and Holiday Party. Other gatherings, such as a book group and a Sunday Game Night, take place in the community center. Residents are encouraged to bring their ideas and energy to the group, which the Board recognizes (and whose activities it funds) as an important aspect of community social life.
PARKING, SECURITY & TRAFFIC
This committee advises the Board on matters of cars and condominium security. Members may conduct forums and educational programs on traffic safety and crime prevention. They recommend parking policies for the Association's lots. The committee reviews requests from residents for handicapped and motorcycle parking and reimbursement of towing charges. (For information about parking, see chapter 5.)
POOL
This committee advises the Board on the operation and maintenance of the swimming pools: hours, rules, selection and evaluation of the service contractor, and performance of the lifeguards.
TENNIS
This committee recommends rules for use of the tennis courts. It maintains men's and women's "ladders" and sponsors tournaments, parties and wintertime gatherings. The committee also retains a tennis pro to teach lessons to residents. All are welcome, especially to the monthly tennis parties.
VARIANCE
This committee reviews owner variance applications and advises the Board on their disposition. It also develops blanket variance policies as the Board may direct. Thus residents with legal, architectural or engineering experience, as well as an interest in protecting our investment, are particularly welcome.
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