One of ARCH’s
foundational principles is to build a network of homeowner associations
that will easily interact with one another to share resources and ideas,
thus creating a practical resource to homeowner association leaders in
meeting their day-to-day management and problem solving challenges.
The founding vision is to
provide this Member support in three critical areas:
-
Governance and
Administration
-
Neighborhood
Initiatives
-
Procurement
The great majority of
Reston’s homeowner groups face certain
common governance and administrative requirements and challenges. In
addition, from time to time, homeowner groups are confronted with issues
or initiatives that may affect the quality of life, safety, or property
values of their individual neighborhood. The primary purpose of the
Member Support Committee (MSC) is to assist General Members in these two
critical areas. More specifically:
Governance and Administration Group: This includes such
areas as drafting or updating association documents (e.g. Bylaws),
administering internal association rules and regulations (e.g.
parking, pets), running association meetings, understanding and
complying with the applicable external regulations (e.g. Federal,
Virginia, Reston Association), and interacting with the RA Covenants
Committee or Design Review Board.
Neighborhood Initiatives Group: This area covers those
issues where an individual General Member is confronted with an issue
that requires interaction with government agencies or officials on
matters affecting the quality of life, safety or property values of
their individual neighborhoods. The goal is to equip the General
Member to be able to deal with such situations more effectively.
Procurement Support Initiatives: Our
Members generally have similar needs for certain key products and
services: trash collection; paving; snow removal; roofing;
painting/staining; street lighting; and (in some cases) professional
management companies. This initiative seeks to leverage our
Members’ experiences in these important areas. ARCH has
developed a referral database of vendors and suppliers that will
hopefully save our Members time and money in procuring key goods and
services;
In providing support to the
General Members, the Committee endeavors to avoid "re-creating the
wheel" by drawing on the practical lessons learned by General
Members as well as the best practices of other groups providing
information on association management such as the Community Association
Institute, Fairfax County, or the Reston Association.
