Annual Meeting and Amendments to Bylaws

Lakeport’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 28, 2021, and will be conducted using Zoom, as allowed by Lakeport’s Bylaws. The official start time is 7:00 p.m., but we will begin admitting owners to the meeting at 6:30 p.m., and it will be helpful if you join early and visit with your neighbors before the meeting officially begins to avoid a bottleneck right before we start. SCS will mail a packet in early September with the meeting notice and a proxy form. 

IMPORTANT: The Annual Meeting packet that SCS will send will include a ballot for two proposed amendments to the Lakeport Bylaws:

1. The first is to allow the Board to meet virtually (e.g., via Zoom) even if no formal state of emergency has been declared. When the original Bylaws amendment was adopted last year, the Virginia legislature allowed virtual Board meetings only during a state of emergency, but it has since removed that restriction. We would like to change the Lakeport Bylaws to match and are asking that a majority of owners vote in favor so the Board can avoid having to meet in person during the current Covid surge. 
2. The second amendment is simply an editorial change to make the spelling of “email” consistent by changing four instances of “e-mail” to “email.”

Because our Bylaws require that amendments be adopted only “by the signed assent of a majority of all members” (emphasis added), we will not vote at the Annual Meeting on these amendments because it will be conducted via Zoom. Therefore we need more than 42 owners (whether attending the meeting or not) to return ballots for the amendments by signing, dating, and submitting the ballot either via email (you can just take a photo if you don’t have a scanner) or by dropping the paper ballot in one of the three collection boxes that will be available in Lakeport. Note that not submitting your ballot has the same impact as voting “No” on each amendment. While you’re at it, please submit your proxy at the same time so we can be ensured of having a quorum for the Annual Meeting. 

The main action item of this year’s Annual Meeting is for owners to elect three members to the Association’s Board of Directors for terms of two years. In addition, the Board will provide a report on finances and updates on projects completed, in progress, and under consideration.

The packet from SCS will contain the official notice of the Annual Meeting, the proxy for voting for Board members, and the ballot to vote on the two amendments described above. You should have already received an email with the Zoom link to attend the meeting (and of course you will get the link in follow-ups). The Lakeport Annual Meeting website at http://www.lakeportcluster.org/2021/08/lakeport-annual-meeting-to-be-held.html contains the following material (the first three are included in the mailed packet):

1. Meeting notice.
2. A proxy form to allow you to vote for Board members even if you can’t attend the Annual Meeting.
3. A ballot for the two Bylaws amendments (not for action at the Annual Meeting but also included with the annual meeting packet mailed by SCS and which can be submitted in the same way as proxies). 
4. A candidate statement form for those who wish to run for the Board. 
5. Statements already submitted by three candidates who have decided to run (Chuck Foster, Pamela Graulich, and Jennifer Walter).
6. Minutes from the 2020 Annual Meeting.
7. Agenda for the 2021 Annual Meeting (to be added later). 
8. Summary of the procedures for the virtual meeting and tips for using Zoom.

For those attending the Annual Meeting, votes will be cast anonymously using Zoom’s polling feature. Alternatively, any eligible voter (Lakeport homeowner) who does not attend the meeting may designate how they want to vote by filling out the Proxy Form (with instructions on the back), which is included in the packet from SCS and also online. Please fill out and submit the Proxy Form whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting because your proxy counts toward a quorum, which is needed to start the meeting. You can use the Proxy Form to designate how you want to vote for Board candidates. If you do not attend the meeting, your Proxy votes will be counted. If you do attend the meeting, your proxy votes will be discarded, and you will actively cast your votes at the meeting. Voting is done anonymously using Zoom’s polling feature. 

If you have not used Zoom before or would like more information about what to expect in a Lakeport Zoom meeting, please email msapp@miami.edu. 

If you are interested in serving on the Board, please fill out the Candidate Statement Form (if you submit it by September 1, it can be included on the proxy form mailed by SCS as well as the Zoom ballot). Three owners who have already submitted their candidate statements for the Board (Chuck Foster, Pamela Graulich, and Jen Walter) are listed on the Proxy and their candidate statements are available at the web site listed above. Please read their Candidate Statements before the Annual Meeting. Also, please review the minutes from last year’s meeting, which will need to be approved at this meeting, and the agenda once it is available. 

We encourage owners to attend the Annual Meeting, and we ask that every eligible owner complete and return the ballot for amendments and the proxy indicating their vote for Board members, even if they plan to attend the September 28 Annual Meeting.