Lakeport Cluster Annual Meeting (to Be Held via Zoom) Tuesday, October 6, at 7:00 p.m.

Items requiring a vote at the Annual Meeting:

 

1. Approval of minutes 

2. Election of new Board members

IMPORTANT: A link to the Zoom meeting will be sent via email. If you do not receive emails from “Lakeport Cluster news@lakeportcluster.org” (for example, the email sent on August 26 at 6:04 a.m. with the Subject “Upcoming Board and Annual Meetings”), please send an email to Board@lakeportcluster.org so we have your email address. 

Key documents:

• Notice of Annual Meeting 

• Proxy form and instructions 

• Statements from candidates for the Board (please read in advance because owners will vote on Board members):

Barbara Clifford (for two-year term)

Andy Nagley (for two-year term)

• Petition for Candidacy Form (for others interested in running for the Board) 

• Minutes from the 2025 Annual Meeting – please read in advance because owners will vote to approve 

• Agenda for 2026 Meeting (to be added later)

• Procedures and Tips for Using Zoom for the Annual Meeting

Summer 2026 Issue of Ripples

 

Lakeport News

From the Editor/President – Stephen Sapp 

Notice of Lakeport Annual Meeting

Standards Committee – Jerry Beiter

Social Committee – Irene Nagley 

Landscape Committee – Mary Sapp

Maintenance Committee – Elizabeth Pan, guest columnist

Book Club – Barbara Khan

Thanks to Our Volunteers

Lakeport Governance/Management

Helpful Information

Reminders 

Home Maintenance Checklist for Summer/Fall

From the Editor/President

By Stephen Sapp

The major item I want to highlight in this issue is our upcoming Annual Meeting, which will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, October 6, at 7:00 p.m. This is an extremely important event for our community, providing you the opportunity to elect two members to the Board, hear updates on various aspects of Lakeport’s life together—including the current state of our finances—and ask the Board any questions you may have. You can read details about the meeting by clicking on the link to the Ripples article titled “Notice of Lakeport Cluster Homeowner Association Annual Meeting,” which will take you to the Annual Meeting website at https://www.lakeportcluster.org/2026/08/annual-meeting-oct-6-2026.html. We will be sending you communications, including the Zoom link for the meeting, between now and the meeting to prepare you to participate and to remind you how to submit your proxy (please do so even if you plan to attend the meeting). If you have any questions about the meeting, don’t hesitate to email board@lakeportcluster.org.

Summer brings lots of blooms that we enjoy seeing. But it also means algae blooms can occur on our lakes when warm water and nutrients combine to create conditions favorable for algae growth. Most algae species are harmless. However, some species may produce harmful compounds or toxins. You should avoid discolored water or scums that are green or blueish-green because they are more likely to contain toxins. Please report algae blooms to Reston Association by emailing the Watershed Department with location, time, date, and photos of a suspected bloom. If you suspect you experienced health-related effects following exposure to a bloom, contact the Virginia Harmful Algal Bloom Hotline at 888-238-6154.

I want to thank Jonathan Hammer for assuming the chair of the Maintenance Committee that has been vacant since Paul Renard moved to Oregon to help with his grandchildren, and Elizabeth Pan for being a guest columnist in this issue and offering to be the contact point for residents’ suggestions for maintenance hacks. I especially want to offer a huge expression of appreciation to Jerry Beiter, who is leaving the Board at the end of September after two exceptionally effective years as chair of our Standards Committee, during which time he oversaw a number of revisions of Lakeport’s standards and helped many of our residents navigate the often unclear maze of standards between those of Reston Association and Lakeport Cluster.

Speaking of committee chairs, we have an opening for someone to oversee the Neighborhood Watch Committee. Although an important aspect of our community’s well-being, this position does not require a great deal of time and effort. Let me know if this is something you would consider doing (or at least talking about doing!).

Finally, I want to repeat two requests I make every issue:

• Please set up Direct Debit through our management company SCS for your quarterly assessment payments, the next of which is due October 1. The main advantage is that you never have to worry about being late and incurring late fees or paying the wrong amount by mistake, but you also save the hassle and expense of mailing a check (or being charged a fee by SCS for using a credit card online). Alternatively, you can set up quarterly payments through your bank’s electronic bill payment system (although you will need to change the amount sent if the assessment rate changes). I have heard from several people that they don’t want to use automated payments because they like to know exactly how much their bills are, but unlike electricity or water, for example, you already will know exactly how much your quarterly assessment will be because Item 3 (HOA Fee Payment) in the Residents tab of the Lakeport website has links to the charges for assessment, fees, administrative charges as well as information on options for paying your quarterly HOA cluster fee). So please consider this time- and cost-saving way to pay your assessments (it will also mean Board members don’t have to send reminders to owners who haven’t paid so they don’t get charged a late fee).

• Also please check the Directory and add/update your information if necessary. If former residents are listed, email webmaster@lakeportcluster.org to request their names be removed. If you have renters, ask them to submit the form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfFILfWGBoWIgWlBPSQmIKj4kIX0kPA7XsRjnsaOsNXuvVSkw/viewform?dods&gxids=7628. 

Let us know what you think of this Summer issue of Ripples. If you want to submit an item for our Fall issue, please email me at ssapp@miami.edu. Photos of life in Lakeport are always welcome as well!

Notice of Lakeport Cluster Homeowners Association’s 2026 Annual Meeting

Lakeport Cluster’s Annual Meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, and will be conducted using Zoom. 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. 

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

The Lakeport Annual Meeting website at https://www.lakeportcluster.org/2026/08/annual-meeting-oct-6-2026.html will contain the following material, and SCS will also mail the first two items by mid-September:

1. this meeting notice

2. a proxy form with instructions (see more information below)

3. candidate statements already submitted by owners who are running for the Board

4. a blank Petition for Candidacy form for anyone else who wishes to run

5. the minutes from the 2025 Annual Meeting 

6. the agenda for the 2026 Annual Meeting (to be added later) 

7. procedures and tips for using Zoom at the Annual Meeting

Before the meeting, please complete and submit the proxy form to vote on Board candidates. Your proxy form can be submitted either via email or by dropping it into one of three ballot boxes in Lakeport (details are on the form). 

IMPORTANT: We are asking you to submit the completed Proxy Form whether you plan to attend the Annual Meeting or not 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, and 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 can actively cast your votes at the meeting, where voting is done anonymously using Zoom’s polling feature. 

If you are interested in serving on the Board, please fill out the Candidate Statement Form and submit it by September 13 to be included in the mailed and online versions of the proxy form as well as on the Zoom ballot. Candidates who have already submitted their statements are listed on the Proxy, and their Candidate Statements will be available at the web site listed above. Please read these 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 all eligible owners complete and return the proxy indicating their vote for Board members, even if they plan to attend the October 6 Annual Meeting. 

Standards Committee: Notification of Violations and Updates to Lakeport Cluster Standards

By Jerry Beiter, Chair

Notification of Violations 

Annual inspections were completed in late April 2026 and notices were mailed in early May 2026. Residents of Lakeport Cluster who received violation notices are reminded that they have 30 days to address the issue(s) specified in the notice. Those who are unable to address the issue(s) within this period are expected to notify the Board if additional time is needed to complete repairs. If you received a notice and have not notified SCS that you have dealt with the issue(s), or if you require additional time, please contact the Board at Board@lakeportcluster.org.   

Updates to Lakeport Cluster Standards

There are two changes to the Lakeport Standards being addressed by the Board. The first one is to permit sliding doors on the front side of 1951, 1953, 1955, 1957, and 1959 Lakeport Way. Sliding doors were part of the original design for these five homes but are not addressed in our current door standard.

The second change is to allow for a color update to HardiePlank siding. Currently, the Standards specify HardiePlank, Select Cedar Mill, lap siding, with a 6” exposure, in Monterey Taupe (color). Due to market availability and stocking practices in Northern Virginia, HardiePlank now offers Select Cedar Mill, lap siding, with 6” exposure in California Taupe – which is exactly the same color as Monterey Taupe. This change clarifies that they are the same color and that either can be used.

  

Social Committee

 By Irene Nagley 

The Fall “I Love Lakeport Day” Dock Party will be held Saturday, September 26, starting at 5:30 (Sunday, September 27, will serve as the rain day). As the photos below from last spring’s dock party show, residents enjoy visiting with each other at these community gatherings and getting to know new neighbors they hadn’t met before. So mark your calendar now and plan to attend.

A sign-up sheet for pot-luck dishes (sides, dessert, soft drinks) and a folding table if you can bring one, will be posted soon. As in the past, hamburgers, hot dogs, condiments, utensils, cups, and paper goods will be provided. 

Thanks to Heidi and Jeff Warrington for agreeing to host Lakeport’s Fall TGIF. It will be held at 1913 Lakeport Way on Friday, October 16, starting at 7:00 p.m.

Landscape Committee

By Mary Sapp, Chair 

Lakeport has two Beautify Lakeport Workdays each year. The next one will be Saturday, October 10, 9:00-11:00, starting in Triangle Park. Please email msapp@miami.edu to volunteer. Last spring’s was very successful. Twenty-two volunteers (see who they were in the “Thanks to Volunteers” article and see photos below) participated and accomplished the following: 

• Worked on rebuilding two ends of the swale 

• Removed weeds next to the RA path to the pool, at the rain garden, and across from the dock

• Removed invasive plants on Lakespray Way, next to the RA path to the pool, and in Triangle Park

• Removed 2 dead plants between 1930 and 1932 Lakeport Way

• Trimmed dead branches from bushes and yuccas 

• Removed trash from lake and swept dock  

• Repaired the Little Library 

• Cleaned mailboxes 

Now that the summer heat is (mostly) over, we can turn to installing new plants in several areas. The Landscape Committee is planning several projects for the fall: 

• Removal of several dead/dying hollies in the verge (“area between a path/sidewalk and parking”) by the RA path next to the Safeway brick wall between 1985 and 1989 Lakeport Way and replacement with drought-resistant liriope spicata and narrow boulders in locations that won’t interfere with car doors, plus a few accent plants in the middle between the crepe myrtles.

• Plant more drought-resistant sedum Autumn Joy (some of these plants are already surviving there) and sedum Angelina (some are in the planter at the entrance) next to the iron railing behind 1959 Lakeport Way. 

• Redo the planter in Triangle Park (original plants have not done well and recent vandalism of the soaker hose hasn’t helped). We are waiting to hear what the proposed solution will be. Credits for warrantied plants that died will be applied. 

• Several other projects are also under consideration.

Marjorie Myers (11108 Lakespray Way) has graciously arranged to purchase, install, and water two drought-resistant Eastern Red Cedars across from her home beside an unofficial “path” in the woods next to Lakespray Way. 

Recently Riverbend Landscaping & Tree Service and The Arborist removed a dying hazard hemlock and six dead hazard trees, removed the dead leader of the maple next to 1959 Lakeport Way, and trimmed branches encroaching on two homes, plus dead branches at the entrance, the bottom of the Lakespray hill, and across the upper part of Lakespray. The stump from a dead tree removed by the Lakespray mailbox will be ground out and another tree will be planted in that area.

Several projects were completed near the dock. To help keep geese from the grass, Complete Landscaping, our landscape maintenance contractor, removed an invasive Chinese fountain grass that had overgrown a small rose bush and daffodils and transplanted three Agastache from the pollinator garden there (just to the left of the roses next to the dock—see first photo below). Complete also planted four new native fragrant sumac shrubs (they will turn brilliant shades of orange, red, and purple in the fall) just to the left of the pollinator garden (second photo below). To make room for the sumacs, Complete also transplanted three spireas just below the three transplanted Agastaches (also in the first photo below).    

In addition Complete installed some sod next to the dock and beside a bollard in front of 1963, and volunteers watered it regularly to get it established. A soaker hose system was set up to help with watering the pollinator garden.

Complete installed barriers at the south end of the verge by the Safeway brick wall and next to the Kids Garden and transplanted around 20 liriope plants that had spread into the Kids Garden (this will reduce the cost of the verge project mentioned above). Next month Complete Landscaping will replace seven warrantied callicarpa bushes in the two entrance beds and one itea next to the RA path to the pool that died.

Maintenance Committee

 By Elizabeth Pan, Guest Columnist

For years, replacing a rooftop or confined-space HVAC unit in Lakeport Cluster has been a logistical headache—and a costly one at that. Many homeowners have faced the daunting prospect (and steep expense) of hiring a crane to lift oversized equipment over our roofs.

Fortunately, the heating and cooling industry has caught up with the realities of modern community living. Manufacturers are now producing high-efficiency heating and air conditioning equipment in significantly smaller, more compact footprints without sacrificing performance or cooling capacity.

This technological shift is a major win for our neighborhood. For units that previously required heavy machinery just to clear the roofline, we now have a viable alternative: modern, downsized equipment that can be carefully carried directly through the home. This drastically reduces installation costs, minimizes landscaping and property disruption, and eliminates the need to block off common areas or coordinate street permits for heavy cranes.

In May of this year, I was told by my AC technician that my 19-year-old unit, located on my deck over the lake, needs to be replaced this summer.  I decided to bite the bullet and do the research to see if I could find a better solution than using a crane and waiting for my AC to die in the middle of a heat wave. If you are in the same boat I was in, please feel free to contact me for details: xibic@msn.com 

Here are pictures of my new AC!

 

Book Club

 By Barbara Khan, Coordinator 

Lakeport has an informal book club that is always open to new members. No degrees in literature are required and no grades are given. Just read the book selected by the group and show up for a lively, lighthearted discussion. We meet on the third Monday of each month from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., rotating among members’ homes. If you want to participate, contact Barbara Khan (bskhan@att.net).

These are some of the latest books that we have read and discussed.

• Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi

• The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides

• Daughters of Shandong, by Eve J. Chung

• Whistler, by Ann Patchett

Thanks to Our Volunteers

Please be sure to thank your neighbors who volunteer their time and energy to make Lakeport a better place for all of us to live while also saving our Cluster considerable money. If you want to volunteer, let the Board or a committee chair know—it’s a great way to meet your neighbors and contribute to your community.

Maintenance

• Jonathan Hammer – chairing the Maintenance Committee

• Jeff Warrington – chairing the Task Force to improve the performance of the drainage swale behind 1944-1952 Lakeport Way

Landscape

• Mary Sapp (chair), Kristen Bobik, Steven Browning, John Janowski, Robin Kolko, Marjorie Myers, and Rosemary Welch – serving on the Landscape Committee

• Spring Workday

• Steven Browning, Susan Kilcup, and Tim, Robert, and Gregory Taylor – weeding RA Path  

• Kristen Bobik, Karen Knight, and Jeff Ward – removing invasives in Triangle Park and near Lakespray utility box   

• Marjorie Myers and Rich Markus – removing invasives near Lakespray turnaround 

• Barbara Clifford and Wally Dicks – weeding, removing trash from lake, and sweeping dock 

• Matt Callan and Diane Zoukis – weeding at rain garden and removing 2 dead plants between 1930 and 1932 

• Jerry Beiter, Andy Nagley, James Pan, and Stephen Sapp – rebuilding the swale 

• Robin Kolko – trimming dead branches from bushes

• Don and Andy Nagley – repairing the Little Library 

• Rosemary Welch – sweeping the dock 

• Terrill Evon – cleaning mailboxes 

• Mary Sapp – organizing 

• Rosemary Welch and Robin Kolko – watering plants in Triangle Park (and Andrew Garrison – supplying water)

• Marjorie Myers – watering plants at the end of Lakespray

• Andy Nagley, Jonathan Hammer, and Jerry Beiter (using Joe and Kathy Powers’ water) – watering pollinator garden and nearby plants

• Mary and Stephen Sapp – watering plants at the entrance

• Jerry Beiter – establishing new fragrant sumac and transplanted Agastache and spireas

• Andy Nagley and Jonathan Hammer (using Jonathan’s water) – establishing sod by the dock

• Clarence DeLaine – establishing sod by 1963 

Social

• Irene Nagley – chairing Social Committee 

• Carol Leos – welcoming new residents

Standards

• Jerry Beiter – chairing the Standards Committee and rewriting standards

Others 

• Barbara Khan – coordinating the Lakeport Book Club 

• Tom Barnett – maintaining Lakeport’s online directory and listserv for announcements and posting Ripples

• Stephen Sapp – editing Ripples

Lakeport Governance/Management

 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Stephen Sapp – President 

Jerry Beiter – Vice President

Jeff Warrington – Vice President

Andy Nagley – Secretary 

Tod Vollrath – Treasurer

Contact the Board via email: Board@lakeportcluster.org

What Residents and Board Can Expect

• Board's Goals

• Directors' Task List

• Code of Ethics

• Rights and Responsibilities of Owners and Boards

 

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Architectural Standards Committee - Jerry Beiter

• Standards Committee Charter

Landscape Committee – Mary Sapp

• Landscape Charter

Maintenance Committee – Jonathan Hammer

• Maintenance Charter

Neighborhood Watch Committee – TBD

• Neighborhood Watch Charter

Social Committee – Irene Nagley 

• Social Committee Charter

OTHER VOLUNTEERS
Webmaster and Listserv Administrator – Tom Barnett
Editor of Ripples, Lakeport’s newsletter – Stephen Sapp
Book Club Coordinator – Barbara Khan
Fill doggie-bag stations – Kevin Burke and Steven Browning
Keep community dock clean – Jenny and Randy McClintock 

SELECT COMMUNITY SERVICES 
Portfolio Manager: Alexandra "Ali" Long
Email: along@scs-management.com
Direct: (703) 230-8725
Fax: (703) 266-2804
PO Box 221350
Chantilly, VA  20153  
Hours: Monday-Thursday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Friday 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
Website: https://app.townsq.io/login

RESTON ASSOCIATION 
Danielle Myers 
Covenants Advisor
phone: 703-435-6559
dwilliams@reston.org
https://www.reston.org/