Newsletter — August 2026

Please find the August 2026 edition of the Mason Hill Citizens Association Newsletter below. Wishing everyone a happy end of summer and safe start of the new school year. Hopefully many of you had great summer vacations!

Update on the MHCA Website Migration

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MHCA, under the direction of Michael Blonsky, has completed the process of migrating the MHCA website to a new domain and using custom developed software Michael built for our community with more features, more interactivity and significantly reduces our annual cost for the community website. The new website's URL is already live @ https://mhca.us

The migration occurred in three phases:

1. Build and test the features in the new website — DONE
2. Enroll Mason Hill residents in the new website — In July, residents were sent an email invite to enroll in the new website and can begin using it and providing us feedback — DONE
3. Improve and sustain the new website — this includes the decommission of the old website (the old website address will forward to the new website) and the continuous improvement of the new website to give it the functionality to make it useful for all — DONE/Ongoing

Start of the 2026-2027 School Year

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It's that time of the year again! Fairfax County public schools start on Monday, August 24^th. Please take caution when driving through our neighborhood in the mornings and mid-afternoon as school kids will be walking on our sidewalks and school busses will be picking up and dropping off their precious cargo at the bus stops in our neighborhood.

The calendar for the 2026-2027 school year is at https://www.fcps.edu/calendars

2026 MHCA Dues

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Annual dues payments of $50 per household provide MHCA with the revenue necessary to accomplish the following:

1. Maintain the grass and landscaping at the front entrance to our neighborhood
2. Conduct neighborhood social events
3. Perform the desired capital upgrades the Mason Hill residents vote for
4. Pay for the expenses needed to operate continual activities in support of the community - such as the MHCA website, Welcome Wagon, fees to state/local organizations, etc.
5. Maintain reserve funding in the event of a contingency

Dues payment status - as of August 2026, there are 67 of 112 homes that paid 2026 MHCA dues. Please make your 2026 dues payment by using one of the three following options:

1. Mail $50 check made out to MHCA to Nadine Wren at 2009 Windmill Lane, Alexandria, VA 22307
2. Drop off your payment at 2009 Windmill Lane — for drop off use the small black mailbox just below the primary mailbox.
3. Venmo - contact Shawn Lucas via email to arrange for payment. Please note that one of the features we are working on for the new website is for online payment of dues via Venmo. More to follow on this.

MHCA Financial Report

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Budget — the annual budget is currently $5,000 per year (subject to revision at the start of fiscal year based on dues received and projected expenses).

Expenses — MHCA expenses include:

• Front entrance mowing on Mason Hill Drive, Rippon Road, and the area on both sides of the stone wall along Fort Hunt Road.
• Front entrance clean-up and planting and mulching each spring and fall with volunteers helping with that effort.
• Mason Hill website hosting costs
• Annual dues for membership in the MVCCA and Fairfax Federation
• Mason Hill Welcome Wagon
• Community Social events

Balance — As of August 1, 2026, the MHCA Wells Fargo Bank account balance is $26,474.32.

At the 2026 Annual Meeting it was approved that we move $10,000.00 from the MHCA checking account and put it in a high-yield savings account for it to serve as our reserve account.

Action — MHCA Board continues to pursue reincorporation as a Virginia non-stock corporation and, once incorporated, establishing a high-yield savings account with SoFi to give MHCA the benefits of holding our reserve funds in an interest-bearing account while maintaining necessary liquidity.

Update on the Front Entrance Mason Hill Sign Replacement

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The special committee, consisting of Stevan Jackson, Lee Robertson, Alona Ayer-Ziegler, and Ashley Gunn, is currently negotiating proposals from two sign vendors. The committee provided an update to the MHCA Board on July 31^st. The key points from this meeting are:

1. The front entrance sign has clearly reached its end of life and refurbishing the existing sign is not a feasible option.
2. The goal is to provide the community with 2 to 3 options for consideration, ranging from a replacement consistent with the existing sign, to an upgraded and more visible design.
3. A not-to-exceed budget of $6,500 was set for the committee to use in their planning and negotiating with vendors.
4. The committee will look at a range of options from: a) the complete outsourcing of the materials and installation to the selected vendor to; b) a hybrid solution of vendor provided materials with community provided installation to reduce costs.
5. Based on budget realities, the committee is refining feasible designs and associated cost estimates. They will provide their findings to the MHCA Board for consideration and next steps at the end of August.

The MHCA Board now understands the one-time cost will exceed the $600 threshold requiring approval by a majority of the households (per MHCA Bylaws). More to follow on when and how the community will vote on which front entrance sign design we choose.

Mount Vernon Public Safety and Transportation Updates

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Thanks to Sherri Berthrong for providing this update. The noteworthy discussion from the last meeting, that may affect some Mason Hill residents, is:

1. The relocation of the School Zone flashing light for Walt Whitman Middle School to a location where it's visible to all motorists, ensuring they understand they're in a School Zone and to reduce their speed.
2. Residents also raised concerns about the Holland Road/Sherwood Hall Lane intersection, which has seen increased congestion and near-misses as hospital traffic grows. Community members reiterated support for converting the intersection to right-in/right-out only, similar to the successful configuration at Fort Hunt Road and Rollins Drive. Inova agreed that updated traffic counts and accident data are needed, given that the last major study was conducted more than a decade ago. The hospital expressed willingness to support a new traffic analysis and coordinate with the county's ongoing Government Center Visioning Study. A revised resolution addressing hospital-area traffic concerns will be drafted by mid-August and circulated for review ahead of the next August 31 committee meeting.
3. Supervisor Storck also noted that there is now a law that REQUIRES all children ages 14 and under to wear a safety helmet when riding a bicycle, scooter, or electric bike.

MHCA Social Committee Updates

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The social committee continues to plan neighborhood events for the remainder of the calendar year. More to follow soon on:

• Community event this fall — the social committee is exploring the feasibility of a community get together later this autumn, when the weather is nice and the leaves are colorful.
• Halloween — while there are no plans for a community Halloween party this year, we will support trick-or-treating on Halloween evening by designating houses that are open to handing out treats to our neighborhood ghouls and goblins.

Movie night is still on for August 8^th — come out and socialize with your neighbors while watching a movie!

Please RSVP to Erica Brimhall if you haven’t already!

MHCA Golf Outing

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Those interested in participating in a community golf outing this fall please email Shawn Lucas (abn_arty@yahoo.com) to express your interest. This event will likely be on a suitable weekend day in October or early November (before it gets too cold). More to follow as we determine if there is interest in getting out on the links.

ALX South Block Party

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The United Community is letting residents in the Mount Vernon district know about a block party they are hosting on Saturday, August 22^nd. Details are in this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alx-south-block-party-tickets-1990882740871

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MVCCA Record — The July 2026 issue of the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens Associations Record is now available at https://www.mvcca.org/record/record_current.pdf

Of interest in this issue is the discussion in the Planning and Zoning Committee on the zoning policies regarding Accessory Living Units (ALU). Fairfax County is exempt from upcoming State legislation regarding ALUs but is looking at revising its zoning regulations given recent interest.