Fall 2023 Issue of Ripples
From the Editor – Stephen Sapp
Lakeport News
President’s Message – Stephen Sapp
Landscape Committee – Mary Sapp
Report on Lakeport Garage Sale
Book Club – Barbara Khan
Helpful Information
Fall Home Maintenance Checklist
Lakeport Governance/Management
By Stephen Sapp
As the weather turns cooler, the humidity drops, and the smell of woodsmoke permeates the air, let’s all get outside and enjoy this beautiful place where we live, remembering the words of Albert Camus, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower”!
If you have comments about this Fall issue of Ripples and/or would like to submit an item for our Winter issue, please email me at ssapp@miami.edu.
By Stephen Sapp
Speaking of Treasurer, in addition to having the benefit of working with three experienced Board members—Vice Presidents Rich Kolko and Rich Rosenberg and Secretary Jeannette Malin-Berdel—I also welcome fellow newcomer Tod Vollrath, who will be handling Lakeport’s finances, including the first and arguably most important responsibility of the Board in the fall: setting the budget for the upcoming year.
Working from a draft left us by Chuck Foster and with the assistance of Ali Long, our Portfolio Manager from SCS, Tod presented the 2024 budget to the Board at its November meeting. After due deliberation, the Board unanimously approved the budget, and I am very pleased to let you know that there will be no increase in the quarterly assessment, which will remain at $350, even in the face of recent inflation. Thanks to Tod, and also to the many Lakeport volunteers who give so much time and energy to do many things that we would otherwise have to pay contractors to do.
One more note on the assessment: If you have not set up Direct Deposit, I urge you to do so (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). Some people have told me that they don’t like to use direct deposit because they want to know how much their bills are, but unlike, say, electricity or water, you do know exactly how much your quarterly assessment will be and when it will be deducted from your account! So please consider this time- and cost-saving way to pay your assessments.
I look forward to serving Lakeport in this new role and continuing to make us the wonderful place to live, work, and play that we know it to be. Please feel free to communicate any questions, concerns, or suggestions you have to board@lakeportcluster.org.
By Mary Sapp, Chair
New Landscaping
This past summer, Meadows Farms planted a red-twig dogwood, three American callicarpa beautyberries, three caramel heucheras, six sylvan lace tiarellas, and six Pennsylvania sedges in a raised bed created in Triangle Park, as well as three hummingbird clethras and five Christmas ferns in the other new raised bed. This new landscaping is to replace grass that, despite hydroseeding, has never thrived there due to the shade.
Meadows Farms also installed three iteas behind a rock wall built last summer between 1930 and 1932 Lakeport Way to beautify that area and block the view from the sidewalk of the transformer.
We enhanced screening between Lakeport and Lakespray homes with the addition of three American hollies near the Safeway access road and a new red maple near them. In addition, a sweet bay magnolia tree and three inkberry bushes were planted at the end of Lakespray Way. Two junipers were also added to fill in gaps near the dock.
Volunteer Projects
As part of the Fall I Love Lakeport Day, 18 volunteers cut down around ten trees and trimmed others, transplanted a number of plants, and did a great deal of weeding (in the rain garden, next to the RA path to the pool, and next to the RA path near Triangle Park). In addition, the Landscape Committee has done supplemental weeding, treated poison ivy, fertilized hollies, and moved brush to block access from the Sunrise Valley sidewalk into the wooded area next to Lakespray. In addition, a number of volunteers have watered new plants to make sure they become established and survive the drought we are currently experiencing.
See the “Thanks to Volunteers” article for the names of your neighbors whose volunteer efforts save thousands of dollars and keep your assessment fees lower.
Costumed revelers gathered at the dock before heading off for trick-or-treat.
Adults also got into the Halloween spirit.
By Elizabeth Pan
Elizabeth Pan had the idea to host a yard sale with the proceeds of her sale going to the victims of the recent Maui fires in Hawaii. She recruited Robin Kolko to help with planning and logistics. People donated items to be sold in her driveway. Signs went up around the neighborhood, and on Saturday, September 30, people showed up early to go through all the interesting items. There were kitchen gadgets, games, books, dishes, a few bicycles, and a scooter. But best of all, designer clothes and shoes! The weather cooperated – not too hot or cold!
Everyone went home happy and the victims in Maui received a donation of more than $1200 (the leftover sale items were donated to local charities). At the end of the day, the Lakeport yard sale fulfilled all the goal of the sale.
Elizabeth and Robin want to thank everyone for participating in the sale, donating goods, or even just accommodating the extra traffic through the neighborhood. If you want to learn more about how you can help the fire victims, check out @peoplefundforMaui.
We hope those hosting their own yard sale had as much fun and success!
By Barbara Khan, Coordinator
Want to join some of your neighbors and talk about a good book? Lakeport has an informal book club that is always open to new members.
We usually meet monthly on the third Monday from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., rotating among members’ homes or, in comfortable weather, outside in Triangle Park so that we can take advantage of our beautiful Lakeport setting.
Note that in December the meeting will be on the second Monday.
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Monday, December 11
5:00 p.m.
Marcy Foster’s home, 1999 Lakeport Way
If you want to join the book club or have questions, contact Barbara Khan at bskhan@att.net.
Landscape Projects
Committee Work
Lakeport’s Fall Workday
Watering
Social
Dock Party
Maintenance
Standards
Other
Improve Lighting in Lakeport: As the days continue to grow shorter, it is increasingly important to turn on your outdoor lights at night, and if they are on timers, to adjust the time they come on. 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 exterior lights on at night, especially those in units with post lights, which according to long-time Lakeport residents used to be standard practice. This is of course voluntary but doing this one small thing would be a gracious contribution to the overall safety and attractiveness of our community.
Drive Slowly: Neighborhood kids continue to be outside even as the weather turns colder, playing on sidewalks and in the streets. Please remember to drive slowly and keep your eyes out for children (and other pedestrians).
Lock your cars: If you park your car outside, be sure to lock it and do not leave valuables visible, especially at night. Also remind guests to do the same.
Report 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 any other crime that has already occurred). The police request that even if you just have a “gut feeling” something is wrong, please 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 James Pan at jpamco@gmail.com. Please pay special attention to suspicious activity or sounds near the Lakeport dock, in the woods, or at night.
Maintenance Resources: Be sure to review the Preventive Maintenance Checklist for Fall in this issue for smaller maintenance projects that could save you major expenses and headaches in the future. And remember that RA has arranged with Sherwin-Williams for a discount of 30% to 40% off paints and stains (exterior and interior) and 15% off paint supplies at Sherwin-Williams store #3385, located at 495A Elden Street in Herndon (703-471-1484). If you want to take advantage of the discount, the code is 2214-8496-7. Washington Consumer Checkbook is a publication, now available online (www.checkbook.org), that offers a huge user-friendly database of reviews of many types of local service providers, along with high-quality advice about how to approach selecting and working with them.
Composting. If you are tired of smelly garbage cans and want to reduce the amount of garbage you send to the dump, consider signing up for the compost pickup service offered by Veteran Compost DC–From Combat to Compost, which will turn your food scraps into high-quality compost. The company provides a bin, which has a sealing mechanism that is effective at trapping odors inside and is picked up and replaced once a week with a clean bin (currently on Thursdays, meaning you can put everything curbside at the same time). The group rate for residents of Lakeport is $25 per month. For more information, see https://veterancompostindc.com/ or email Fritz C. Gottschalk (US Army, retired) at Fritz@veterancompost.com.
Snow Shoveling: Please be aware that residents are asked to remove snow from the sidewalks in front of their homes for safety reasons, and we encourage everyone to help their neighbors whenever possible, especially if they are unable to perform this task themselves. Also, remember to be cautious while walking (or driving) on snow/ice.
Avoid Frozen Pipes. Turn off the valves of the water lines to outdoor spigots and open the outdoor spigot to drain the line so that there is no water in the line to freeze over the winter.
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 nature in Lakeport (and elsewhere).
Geese: We continue to experience problems with goose poop on our dock. Please don’t feed the geese (not only does this attract them, it’s not healthy for them), but do feel free to shoo them off the dock (just be sure not to harm them or allow them to attack you—we just want to make their time on our dock unpleasant enough that they will choose to hang out somewhere else!). It would be appreciated if you could help sweep the dock (there’s a broom behind 1925 Lakeport Way that you are welcome to use).
Never Again Be Late Paying Your Quarterly Assessment: If you’ve been contacted by the Board for not paying your assessment as the end of the month nears (or even if you haven’t), please consider paying your quarterly assessments by direct debit through your bank instead of mailing a check or paying on TownSq (which incurs an extra fee). Doing so means that you never have to worry about incurring late fees because you forgot to make the payment (currently $25 plus the administrative charge from SCS for sending the letter). Alternatively, you can pay the entire assessment at the beginning of the year. Either approach means the Board does not have to spend time contacting you or pay SCS for mailing quarterly statements to owners who have not set up direct debit or prepaid. A third option for avoiding late fees (but you’ll still get a quarterly statement) is to use your bank’s electronic bill-pay option to set up recurring checks. For information about any of these three options and for mailing checks, go to https://www.lakeportcluster.org/p/hoa-fee-payments-lakeport-cluster-hoa.html.
Update Your Contact Information: Please go to the Lakeport Directory https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C3GQPozt0_35XwbkLbTsc4F6zpkmKmjw/view (PW=lakespray) and check the contact information listed there for you. If a correction is needed, either 1) send an email to webmaster@lakeportcluster.org and copy along@scs-management.com or 2) fill out the form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfFILfWGBoWIgWlBPSQmIKj4kIX0kPA7XsRjnsaOsNXuvVSkw/viewform. If your home has renters, please ask them to fill out the form to be listed in the directory. Remember also that if you need to contact a neighbor or just remember someone’s name you have forgotten, you can always check this directory.
This checklist is intended for homes in Lakeport Cluster, which are more than 30 years old and unique in several ways.
Important note: If you are addressing issues with the exterior of your home, please consult the Lakeport Design Standards and remember that you may have to seek approval from Reston Association’s Design Review Board.
Outdoor Checklist
Gutters that are not slanted properly toward the downspout can put a lot of weight on the gutter, leading to the second problem. If you see gutter spikes coming loose, you can just drive them back in, which may hold for a while. However, there’s a better, longer-term, inexpensive solution. Home Depot sells long gutter screws that can replace failing gutter spikes. They go through a ferrule (a sleeve that keeps the screw from compressing the gutter itself) and screw into the wood behind the gutter. These are far more secure in the long run.
Indoor Checklist
