From the Editor/President

By Stephen Sapp

Well, fall has come . . . and gone . . . and come again . . . and . . . ! According to forecasts, our variable weather may well continue for some time as we move toward the Winter Solstice and shortest day of the year in a month. Although cold weather is expected soon, the meteorologists warn snow lovers not to get their hopes too high this winter, but if we do have a significant snowfall, please be careful driving and walking in Lakeport (and elsewhere). Also, remember that owners are asked to clear snow from the sidewalk in front of their homes and to dispose of leaves and debris from their back and front yards and driveways using compostable paper bags collected on Thursdays (not on common property, including the streets).

Let us know what you think of this Fall issue of Ripples. If would like to submit an item for our Winter issue, please email me at ssapp@miami.edu.

Switching now to my role as Lakeport’s Board President, I want to direct your attention to several items elsewhere in this issue. The Treasurer’s Report contains important information about our 2025 cluster budget (which includes a small increase in the quarterly assessment) and a link to our updated Reserve Study. If you didn’t attend Lakeport’s Annual Meeting on October 1, you may wish to view the PowerPoint deck available online. At that meeting we elected two new Board members, Jerry Beiter (now Standards Committee Chair) and Andy Nagley (Secretary). We welcome them to the Board and express our gratitude to the late Rich Rosenberg and to Jeannette Malin-Berdel for their past service in those roles.

Finally, I want to repeat several requests:

• Before making any repairs to your home, be sure to consult Lakeport’s Cluster standards and RA’s Cluster-Property Guidelines before starting any work. See also the article titled “An Important Notice.” 
• Please remember that common parking spaces are meant to be shared rather than treated as regular personal spaces. You should routinely use your own garage/carport and driveway for your vehicles and leave common spaces for guests and service vehicles. 
• Do not remove, add, or modify plants in common areas without the permission of Lakeport’s Landscape Committee.
• As I do every issue, I will urge you once again to set up Direct Deposit for your quarterly assessment payments, the next of which is due January 1, See Reminders elsewhere in this issue for how to do this. The main advantage is that you never have to worry about being late and incurring extra fees, but you also save the hassle and expense of mailing a check (or being charged a fee for using a credit card online). I have heard from several people that they don’t like to use automated payments because they want to know how much their bills are, but unlike electricity or water, for example, you already will know exactly how much your quarterly assessment will be, and rates are posted in the online “Table of Charges per Handbook” in the Documents tab of the Lakeport website! So please consider this time- and cost-saving way to pay your assessments.