DRAFT - January 2026 Meeting

Draft - HCA Meeting Minutes January 8, 2026

Meeting attendees: 15

Meeting Location: Huntington Community Center

Officers:                                                                                 

·       President - Dorothy Edwards

·       Vice President - Mark Rogers

·       Secretary - Michelle Arsenault

·       Treasurer - Casey Scott

Meeting called to order @19:03 (7:03 pm).

·       Review of Minutes from November 2025 - minutes can be found on the HCA website

     https://www.huntingtononline.org/meeting-minutes-1. The November meeting notes were approved      unanimously. Jamie’s name was misspelled and will be corrected.

·       Treasurer’s Report (Casey Scott).

o   https://www.huntingtononline.org/join-hca.  Please consider joining the HCA if you are not presently a member.

o   Currently we have $1440.43. There are six expired memberships. Soon, most members will be on the auto-subscription plan. Major expenses include the website and committee memberships.

·       Committee and Other Reports

MVCCA (Mount Vernon Council of Citizens’ Associations, Inc.). If you are interested in volunteering, please go to the MVCCA website www.mvcca.org for more information. Committees are always looking for volunteers! 

o   Environment and Recreation (E & R) - Mark Rogers.

§  E & R met yesterday. The focus was on invasive species. Linwood Gorham, Fairfax County Park Authority Board Member - Mount Vernon, s[MA1] poke mostly about a park past the stone bridge. The County budget is limited, and invasives are hard to control, so they are looking for volunteers to help pull various invasives like English Ivy. After invasives are pulled manually, the county can apply herbicides. If Huntington Community members are interested, we can create a committee to manage a small group to get involved. There is a meeting February 11 at 12:30 pm at the Mount Vernon Rec. Center to talk about identification of invasives. Mark will reach out to the presenter and ask about additional resources. * The county does not want residents removing invasives from PUBLIC park land without contacting the Park Authority and getting guidance and permission.  The county does encourage residents to remove invasives from the residents’ private property.

§  PFAS and runoff. Most of the jurisdictions in this area pick up solid waste (sludge) and transport it to agricultural lands. Fairfax County actually incinerates its sewage, which destroys about 95% of PFAS. Additionally, methane from the landfill powers the process, so its win-win. 

§  Data centers. Fairfax County is not as active at regulating data centers as other counties. Energy burdens are an issue. There is a county-wide open discussion.  

§  There is a report [MA2] available online on the state of the county.

§  Jamie is a Board member of ReLeaf and offered to coordinate if people are interested in invasive species removal. She also mentioned inviting a VA state forestry representative to a future meeting. Darin volunteered to assist with invasive removal. Dorothy, Mark, Tyler, and Anya will coordinate.

§  Mark added that the county dissuades people from removing invasives on their own, or using herbicides, and requests that folks are trained first.

§  Darin asked about the grassy side of levee, and if we are able to plant native species. It’s run by the county and folks were unsure if we are able to make improvements. There are limitations on what we can plant. Water authority used to manage it, and now it might be the Park Authority. The land gets inspected periodically, and its primary purpose is flood control, so it’s not likely we can plant.

o   Planning and Zoning (P & Z) - Ray Novitske. Missed last meeting. One item on agenda.

o   Public Safety and Transportation Committee (PS & T) - Jason Zaragoza provided his update to Dorothy.

§  December update - Safety at the intersection of Belle Haven and Belle View. There were suggestions to prohibit left turns or install a light. There was a pro-automobile and anti-pedestrian sentiment, and pedestrians are not priority. Safety on Richmond Highway in general is an issue, and there are only two safe places to cross. The county is looking at the possibility of sidewalks along Fort Hunt Road. A representative from Hollin Hills asked for help with info about advocating for sidewalks on sections of Fort Hunt Rd where there currently are none. The issue was brought up to Supervisor Storck at the General Council meeting and he agreed it's a problem and promised to look into it more. 

o   Education Committee - Anya Austria, Tyler Austria.

§  At the last meeting the topics meandered. Huntington won’t see any changes in school boundaries.

§  The Committee talked about friction with the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Association (Mclean/Vienna area). There is a rumor that someone might resign from that organization so there might be an opportunity for someone from Huntington to join. Several members added feedback and talked about capacity. Mark suggested that Tyler email the Chair of the Education Committee to get items added to the agenda.  Jamie added that Cameron Elementary School is a Title 1 school, which is considered lower income.

o   Budget and Finance Committee - Ryan 

§  The county is asking all agencies to identify 5% cuts. The 5% overall cuts are being used to pay negotiated contracts for county employees (union).

§  The meals tax is in effect. Alan asked about the tax, and if there is a way to measure how much is paid by people outside county vs inside? Would the predicted amount be enough to offset the reduction?

§  Property taxes have dropped a tiny amount.

§  FCPS (Fairfax County Public Schools) have an unequal deal with Fort Belvoir, in that we (Huntington) contribute to the DOD to support their schools.

§  The Committee also talked about school funding, which was adjusted for inflation, but not enough. 5% assessed real estate value forecast. [MA3]  In April, someone from the school board will give a presentation on the budget. 

o   Stormwater Subcommittee (Alan Ruof). N/A.

·       Presidents Report - Dorothy Edwards

o   There was not much related to Huntington at the last Council meeting.  Mount Vernon is holding an open house and town hall February 7, 2026. The Federation (group of all community associations, of which Mount Vernon is one) removed its president. No information about why.

·       HCA Community Member Time (if you would like to discuss a specific topic, please email Dorothy Edwards, HCA president prior to the meeting at president@huntingtononline.org.

o   Orchard pruning at the top of Blaine Circle. This Saturday, January 10, 2026. 2:00 pm. Please join.

o   Alternative funding sources we may be eligible for, for safety enhancements on Huntington. Dorothy is working on gleaning more information, instead of waiting for VDOT.

o   Feb 13 family friendly valentine crafting event. At Huntington Community Center. Dorothy will take the finished valentines to Sunrise Senior Center on Duke Street.

o   Mount Vernon Town Hall February 7, 8:30 - 12:30 at Mount Vernon High School & Live Virtually on Channel 16

o   Special election Jan 20, 2026. Early voting at Fairfax County Government Center, and Franconia Government Center. The election is for a delegate to replace Mark Sickles, who left to work for Abigail Spanberger.

o   Website update. Tyler is developing the new Huntington website and will preview it at the February HCA meeting in Zoom.

·       The meeting was adjourned at 19:56 

 [MA1]Mark - I didn’t quite catch her last name.

 [MA2]Do we have a link?

 [MA3]Random sentence without context!