Dear Village Neighbor / Friend,
Hefty report below, but all good stuff (or so I think)! Please forgive any errors in spaling or gramma.
1. CAWSV Meeting Tonight – starts at 7:30 PM on the front lawn/porch at my 8131 Edmonton Court home. We’ll have enough room for you to social distance yourself from others if that be what you want. Refreshments will be provided. If you can’t attend the meeting – please let me know if you have input. We can’t vote as your proxy, but I am happy to discuss your (civil) input. We’ll vote to set the dues rate for the next membership/fiscal year (10/01/22 – 9/30/23). Also we’ll provide an update to the Rolling Road project tonight.
2. Lyme Disease - Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks and can affect people of any age. Lyme disease is spread by the blacklegged tick, native to our region (Northeast USA and mid-Atlantic).
Symptoms include a fever, fatigue, body aches, and a rash (sometimes resulting in a "bull's eye" pattern). After you’ve been outside, check your clothing, body, children, and pets for ticks. Learn more here.
3. What’s Up with Our Water? – I smelled an odor but could not identify it until I saw postings in NextDoor about our tap water. I went to the Fairfax County Water Authority’s website and found that they are in the process of switching from combined chlorine to free chlorine during their annual flushing. You may see them opening fire hydrants to allow water to flush to the new disinfectant. This began 21 March and will last through 13 June. Flushing may result in temporary discoloration and the presence of sediment in your water. These conditions are not harmful and should last for a short time.
Throughout the year, chloramines, also known as combined chlorine, is added to the water as the primary disinfectant. During the spring flushing program, chlorine is added in an uncombined state, commonly referred to as free chlorine. Free chlorine is quicker acting than combined, which allows it to react with sediments suspended during flushing.
Depending on your usage and location within the distribution system, it could take up to a week for your drinking water to transition from combined to free chlorine at the beginning of the flushing program, or from free chlorine to combined chlorine at the conclusion of the flushing program.
You may notice a chlorine taste and odor (so – I wasn’t imagining it!) in your drinking water while free chlorine is utilized. You may want to keep an open container of drinking water in your refrigerator. This will enable the chlorine to dissipate to reduce the chlorine taste. Change that refrigerated water weekly.
Questions? Call the FCWA dispatch operator at 703/698-5613.
4. Community Yard Sale & Free for All – 28 May 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM. 4 June is the Rain Date, also 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM. Go to WSV Yard Sale List to add your name, address and a general category of items you want to sell or to edit your previous posting.
5. Village West Swimming Pool – from Pool President Jen Guernsey – “It's almost pool season! Village West Pool offers tons of fun in the sun and great community spirit. For more info and to join, visit www.villagewestpool.com. We are pleased to expand our offerings to members this year to include early morning lap swim, water aerobics, and yoga. Take a look at our Activities tab on the website for further info. Questions? Email villagewestpool@gmail.com.
New neighbors this past year? We'd like to welcome them with a little gift and provide them with some info about the pool and the Civic Association! Let us know the address of your new neighbor, and we'll deliver the goods - or we'll provide them to you, if you'd prefer to make the delivery yourself. Email villagewestpool@gmailcom to let us know.”
6. RVES FOOD TRUCK FRIDAYS - Stop by Rolling Valley Elementary School from 6-8pm on 5/13, 5/20 and 5/27 and enjoy an easy meal from a local food truck! Bring chairs and hang out on the lawn or grab your food to go. These events are open to the community!
- Friday, May 13 - Island Flavourites (Caribbean-inspired fare + smoothies)
- Friday, May 20 - Kona Ice (shaved ice with your choice of flavors)
- Friday, May 27 - Taco One (handcrafted street tacos)
7. West Springfield Elementary School PTA News? – 1/3 of our homes feed WSES and I surely would like to include news, announcements, or articles about the Mustang gang. Anything?
8. A Few Good Softball-Playing Men – Received from Stephen Gagliano (Barnack Drive) - We’re putting together a men’s 35 and older softball team to compete this in the summer’s league. We need a few more for a full team expecting to play on Wednesday or Thursday nights. Interested? Contact Stephen Gagliano at stephengagliano@gmail.com or 703/843-3191.
9. It’s a Done Deal – County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted (9 – 1) Tuesday this week to adopt the proposed FY23 budget with markups. Yes – they did vote to reduce our real estate (RE) tax levy by 3-cents or to $1.11 per $100 of assessed residential property values. Now if you listen to them (minus the one nay vote) – they saved me $203! Really? What they did do was raise my RE tax liability by $949 to $7508 or a 14% increase. I will not be doing my Happy Dance and can’t imagine why they are glad-handing and back-slapping each other.
They showed me a $1152 increase and then “saved” me by reducing that to a mere $949 increase. My father taught me not to complain about someone else’s plan unless I have an alternative solution. The issue is home assessments based on RE comps that sold for more than asking price. So – why can’t they use fair market value or even asking price or even the California model? That will probably be the last time you hear me suggest anything California! I do not fault anyone who sold or bought above asking price – shoot – I hope to be one of those soon enough.
Did you submit your comments pro or con to the BOS? If not, join the silent majority and open your bank accounts. What else could I do with $949?
10. Girl Scout News - Rain or Shine! The cadettes of Rolling Valley Troop 52099 will be hosting a field day for rising 2nd- 6th graders who are interested in Girl Scouts from 10 am- noon on Saturday, May 14th, in the Rolling Valley cafeteria. Games include capture the flag, a scavenger hunt, and a design challenge. RSVP requested: melissa.carl76@gmail.com.
11. New Indian Food Cafe – Mitali Mathur announces his new Indian food cafe, Chaat & More - Indian Cuisine, just a 10-minute drive from our village in Newington Center on Backlick Road. The Mathurs welcome all our neighbors to enjoy Indian food at this new café. Below please find a 10% discount coupon for in-store orders in May (phone 703/337-2312). Delivery is also available from
Doordash at the moment and coming soon on Uber Eats & direct delivery.
12. Calendar:
- 12 May Village Meeting
- 28 May Community Wide Yard Sale / Free for All
- 30 May Memorial Day (Federal Holiday)
- 4 June Rain Date – Community Yard Sale / Free for All
- 10 June Last Day of School (Early Release)
- 19 June Father’s Day (just saying..)
- 19 June Juneteenth
- 23 July Secure Document Shredding at Rolling Valley Kiss & Ride
This pollen will end soon; won’t it? Stay safe good people. Make sure your AC unit is ready to go.
John Cooley
CAWSV