Alerts and Reminders

Drive Slowly: Now that spring is here, children will be out playing on sidewalks and in the streets. Please remember to drive slowly and keep your eyes out for children (and other pedestrians) in the street.

Party Walls: Although sometimes counterintuitive, the RA Deeds make the repair of any architectural element that falls on the property line between two houses (e.g., wall, trim, fence) a joint responsibility. If you get an inspection letter that mentions “shared responsibility and expense” and are confused about why this would be case, please see the cluster's party wall standards for information. 

Density Study on Hold: In early March the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to defer consideration of the Planned Residential Community district proposal indefinitely. Further decisions are on hold until internal discussions have been completed and more input has been obtained from community members. See more details at the Reston Now blog

Transportation Committee Seeking Members: Interested in the impact of transportation on Reston? Would you like to have a say about the future of those impacts – from pedestrians and bikes to buses and trains, and all vehicles in between? Become a volunteer member of the Multimodal Transportation Advisory Committee (MTAC) to the Reston Association Board of Directors. Applications can be submitted online, and you can e-mail Sandy Behrs at RA (Behrs@reston.org) for more information.

Group Projects: If you will be undertaking a major repair (e.g., new roof, new windows, siding replacement with HardiePlank, or resurfacing/sealing your driveway) and would be interested in investigating the possibility of a group rate from a contractor for multiple houses at the same time, let the Board know and we’ll share names of others doing similar work. For instance, two Lakeport owners received a discount for having their roofs done at the same time, and two others are currently having HardiePlank installed at a discounted rate. In addition, we know of three owners who are investigating having work done on their driveways.

Do You Have Carpenter Bees (Lakeport Does!)? If you think you’ve seen lots of large bumblebees buzzing around your deck, chances are you have carpenter bees instead. Though they can be good pollinators of open-faced flowers (they tend to be too big to get down into other blossoms), they also can be very destructive of untreated wood, boring tunnels that can cause structural weakness.

This article from a pest-control company in New England offers some helpful tips to avoid problems with carpenter bees.

Garbage Collection: Keep your eyes open for announcements about changes to garbage pickup. Unfortunately, the shortage of workers has caused American Disposal Services to cancel or reschedule pick-ups.

Help Keep Our Community Clean and Beautiful: Please contribute to the appearance of our community by picking up trash anywhere you see it while you’re out walking and enjoying springtime in Lakeport. Also, if you notice overflowing trash from the new trash can in Triangle Park or the one at South Lakes Village, please take a photo and forward it to the Board so we can pass it on to Reston Association or South Lakes Village management company.

In addition, if you see a dog walker who fails to pick up the dog’s waste, please remind the person that doggie bags are available at two stations on the walking path in Lakeport. 

Help Improve Lighting in Lakeport: A well-lit community is one of the most basic measures we can take to ensure the safety of our residents and the security of our property. One way to further the goal of safe lighting is for residents to leave their lights on at night, especially those in end units with short pole lights, which according to long-time Lakeport residents used to be standard practice. This is of course voluntary, but doing this small thing would be a gracious contribution to the overall safety and attractiveness of our community. 

You Must Replace Any Tree You Remove. If you recently removed a tree (dead or alive) on your property, remember that RA requires that you replace it with another tree. Reston Association has several resources for finding a replacement tree: See the list of recommended small trees at the Reston Association website. In addition, you might want to review their Tree Rules and Recommendations brochure and Trees and Shrubs Guidelines  

Reporting Suspicious Activity. If you see suspicious activity, don’t confront anybody but instead call the Fairfax County Police non-emergency number, 703-691-2131 (use this number also to report vandalism or another crime that has already occurred). The police request that even if you just have a “gut feeling” something is wrong you notify them with as many details as possible. It is helpful if you can also take photos unobtrusively. Police will be dispatched (or you may be able to provide a report over the phone). Also notify Lakeport’s Neighborhood Watch coordinator Chuck Foster at chuckfost@aol.com. Please pay special attention to suspicious activity or sounds near the Lakeport dock, in the woods, or at night.

Never Again Be Late Paying Your Quarterly Assessment: Please consider paying your quarterly assessments by automatic debit through your bank instead of sending a check or paying online (which incurs an extra fee). If you decide to switch to automatic debit, it means that you never have to worry about incurring late fees because you might forget to make the payment (currently $25 a month for every 30 days the payment is late). In addition to sparing yourself the worry and hassle of making the payments manually, you save the Board time spent reminding people who haven’t paid shortly before the end of the month as well as extra costs to the Association for processing and mailing quarterly statements. You can cancel the arrangement at any time if for some reason autopay doesn’t work out for you. Should you wish to take advantage of this convenient way to pay your Lakeport assessment fees, please follow the instructions for filling out and mailing the form here.

Update Your Contact Information: Please go to the Lakeport Directory and check the contact information listed there for you. Email news@lakeportcluster.org if you need the password. If a correction is needed, send it to both news@lakeportcluster.org and aguerra@scs-management.com. If your home has renters, please also ask them to send their contact information to these two emails. Remember also that if you need to contact a neighbor or just forget someone’s name, you can always check this directory. 

Questions for the Management Company: If you have a question about inspections, we suggest you start with the Board (board@lakeportlcluster.org) because we are apt to be more aware of your property (and it saves a $10 charge for each phone call or email related to inspections). For questions about quarterly assessments or other questions for Select Community Services (SCS), contact our portfolio manager for Lakeport, Alvaro Guerra: aguerra@scs-management.com, 703-631-2003.