Happy New Year! We trust that you all have had a great start to 2024!
The end of 2023 and beginning of 2024 has been busy at Pinecrest. In accordance with the guidance of our Reserve Study (2021), the board authorized an update to the existing clubhouse (entryway, bathrooms, and lifeguard office). This effort was completed in January and a few pictures of the newly renovated spaces are included below. In addition to the clubhouse, portions of the electrical, sound, and security systems are also being upgraded this offseason. All of these efforts are being funded out of the club’s financial reserve which is funded and maintained for these types of upgrades.
RECENT CHANGES/PROPOSALS
After careful consideration, the Board of Directors unanimously voted to increase the value of our existing memberships from $1,600 to $2,000 and the buy back value from $1,400 to $1,800. This change moves the cost of sales to/from the club to be more in line with current private sales.
After looking over the survey results and discussing ways to increase revenue, the board voted to potentially increase the number of total club memberships. Since this is a change to our bylaws, the increase will be teed up and voted on by the membership at our annual meeting. We continue to discuss strategic ways to increase revenue while maintaining the affordability of our club membership.
ANNUAL MEETING
We will be hosting our annual meeting on Thursday, 21 March from 7 – 9 PM at the Rachel Carson Middle School cafeteria. All members are invited to join us as we review the 2023 season and discuss plans for 2024.
WANT TO JOIN THE BOARD?
The board is looking for individuals with fresh ideas to maintain and improve the Pinecrest Swim and Tennis Club experience for members of all ages. Every year three board positions are up for election. The board consists of a fun group of individuals that represent all the demographics of our pool to ensure the pool experience is positive and safe for everyone and we are reaching out to you to keep it that way.
If you are interested in becoming a board member, or know someone who might, please contact us at info@pinecrest20171.com so we may explain what is expected as a member of the board. Please submit your interest via email no later than March 1st. We appreciate any help in making the experience memorable for all members.
SURVEY RESULTS
Lastly, as you may recall, in October we asked the membership to provide us feedback on potential capital improvements to Pinecrest Swim and Tennis Club. The results of the survey can be found under the about tab on our website or by clicking here.
We look forward to seeing you at our annual meeting are looking forward to a great 2024 season!
Pinecrest Swim and Tennis Club
Annual Member Newsletter – March 2023
You are hereby notified of the 2023 Annual Meeting
Floris Elementary School Cafeteria
Wednesday, March 29th 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
- Roll call and counting of proxies
- Reading and approval of the 2022 Annual Meeting Minutes
- 2023 Board of Directors (BoD) report
- Adoption of 2023 budget and dues
- Election of Officers for vacant terms
- Old and new business
All members must vote online. We must have 100 votes accounted for to conduct business. Without a quorum, business cannot be conducted, the annual meeting will have to be rescheduled and the pool opening will be delayed. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to vote. The proxy form in on our MemberSplash site, it will only accept one entry per membership. If you are unable to vote online, you may request a paper ballot by emailing info@pinecrest20171.com. The paper proxy will be sent with instructions to scan and e-mail back. The Bookkeeper will enter the proxy data using your membership number.
From the President — John Vlattas
Greetings to all. Once again it is that time of year and we are ready to kick off another summer season. Our club is in its final preparations to open on Memorial Day weekend and execute a great summer swim and racquet sports season. Note the change from tennis to racquet sports that reflects the phenomenal popularity and success that we experienced last year with the introduction of pickleball.
Last year, we exited the shadow of COVID and had a fantastic pool season. We emerged financially robust and with strong community demand for our pool memberships. We made major investments to rebuild our pool’s infrastructure with pool resurfacing, repaving the parking lot, and replacing our pool furniture. This year we will continue that effort by replacing our pool’s filtration and vacuum systems.
As I mentioned already, we introduced pickleball with great enthusiasm and worked hard to balance it with our tennis program. Looking forward (space and finances) we are exploring options at building dedicated courts.
We will have our annual meeting on Wednesday, March 29th in the cafeteria at Floris Elementary at 7PM. We have three board positions open this year and several Pinecrest members have already stepped forward to run. Their short biographies are attached. Please take the time to vote. For all those that are still interested in running for a board position, there is still time and do not hesitate to reach out.
We look forward to another great season. We wish our Swim, Dive, and Tennis teams the best of luck. With our reserve study completed last year and the club on firm financial footing, we look to our next major capital improvements. Pease join us in two weeks. I look forward to your participation, comments, and feedback.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly: President@pinecrest20171.com
Pool Operations— Matt Alessandrino
All security lights (motion sensor) on the pool house (back and front) have been replaced/ upgraded to LED.
The pools filtration system has been completely replaced.
A robotic pool vacuum will be installed as part of this new filtration system.
The pools chlorination systems have been replaced.
The 120-gallon hot water heater has been replaced.
All outdoor GFI outlets have been replaced and updated.
Additional electrical items have been replaced and updated (slide pump switch and photo-electric sensors on pool pole lights).
New diving board will be installed. One of our older boards will be sent off for resurfacing and saved in storage for rotation into our board inventory.
AED has been purchased and will be installed in guard house. NV guards and operators will be trained on this devise before opening day.
The entire pool (large pool) is being recoated with new top white coating plaster. NV identified cracks in the coating done last year and worked with the coating supplier to have the entire pool redone at no cost to Pinecrest.
Membership Chair — Joe Skowronski
Great news for 2023 – all memberships are sold and we are back to our pre-pandemic waitlist with over 60 families waiting to buy a Pinecrest membership! If you are interested in selling your membership back to the club or choose to sell it to a private party, please contact membership@pinecrest20171.com. When you come to the pool this summer you will notice all the improvements: a new filtration system, new water heater in the bath house, and new outdoor LED lighting throughout the property.
Social – Jenn Zschunke
We had a great social summer in 2022 with lots of fun events and are looking forward to a fun and sun-filled season this year! Planning for family and adult social events, including movie nights, yoga & brunch mornings, family fun days with DJ and treats, trivia nights and more, will begin shortly. Do you have any fun ideas for a social event? We’re all ears! Email us social@pinecrest20171.com– we’re also always looking for volunteers for our Unofficial Social Committee as well! Looking forward to a great year!
Swim & Dive – Richard Knight
Planning for the 2023 season is well underway. If anyone has been to the website lately, you’ll notice we’ve been hard at work updating with lots more to come so check back regularly. Lots of details are still being finalized so be sure to stay check the swim and dive website often.
Swim team will be announcing our division next Sunday, March 19th after the NVSL seeding meeting. We’re looking forward to another exciting and competitive division! Coach Kevin Mallon will be back and will have Assistant Coach Ashlyn Deiderich at his side. Interviews for technique positions will be happening soon.
Dive team will be competing in Division 6 for the 2023 season. The schedule has been announced and dates are on the website. We’re looking forward to bouncing on a brand new board this summer! See you all on the pool deck this summer!
Tennis— Vu Nguyen
As we gear up for anther exciting season of tennis and pickleball, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the new improvements made to our courts.
First, we have completed the installation of the new energy-efficient LED lights that will help reduce our energy consumption and improve the overall brightness of the courts. We’ve also updated all light switches, replaced the electrical junction boxes, outdoor outlets, and pole plates to ensure that our lighting system is operating safely and efficiently. In addition, we are excited to announce that new court-side benches will be installed this Spring. These benches will provide a comfortable and convenient place for players to rest between games.
We also wanted to mention the recent addition of pickleball courts, which has been a huge hit with our members. We saw a record turnout of players during our first few months of play, and we expect that this new addition will continue to be popular. As interest in pickleball continues to grow, future plans may include additional courts in other areas of the property.
Finally, we would like to congratulate our very own Pinecrest Tennis Team on their recent success. In only their third season competing in the Northern Virginia Tennis League (NVTL), they were able to win the 2022 Men’s 8B Division. This is a huge accomplishment considering they played in a highly competitive division.
We hope that you are as excited as we are about these improvements and additions to our tennis courts. As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions, and we look forward to seeing you on the courts soon!
Grounds & Maintenance — Mark Lewis
In 2022 we were able to control Pinecrest lawn care expenses with only a modest uplift given the labor market. We are continuing a regular program of aeration and overseeding to address bare spots along the front lawn. Our parking resurfacing will last for many years of summer use. Future capital improvements that have been discussed include a covered pavilion between the tennis courts and pool to provide shade and shelter during the summer months, and a fencing reconfiguration give the expanded pickle ball traffic.
We continue to work on our volleyball court bee issues. This particular bee is not aggressive and actually helps the membership by feeding on mosquitoes and other airborne pests. Still, we recognize the concerns of the membership and will continue to work towards a permanent solution.
Kevin Mallon – Communications
Please save the Pinecrest email address to your address book. This will ensure the emails do not get pushed to your spam folder. We will use email as the main source of communication throughout the season and we don’t want you to miss out on any of the fun! We are looking forward to a great summer!
Treasurer — Billy Eckhardt
The 2022 season was another solid year financially for the pool as it appears we are now well past the pandemic/budget issues we faced in 2020. For a second straight year we have been able to contribute to our reserve fund. Our reserve value after the 2022 contribution will be approximately $325,000.00. Approved expenditures from the reserve account this year will be new pool equipment, computers for the front desk, a new diving board, a new security system upgrade, sound system and new front entrance signage. These enhancements are estimated to run approximately $67,000.00.
From the Bookkeeper – Debbie Perreault
The annual dues notice will be sent via e-mail after the annual meeting. Please be sure your billing e-mail address is correct in your MemberSplash online account. Dues are due May 1st. Members must pay dues through their online member account either by credit card or check. If paying by check, please be sure to mail your payment to the correct PO Box. Our current PO Box address is PO Box 710694, Herndon, VA 20171. Late fees will apply after May 1st. If you have a question about your account please contact Debbie Perreault at pcstbookkeeper@gmail.com.