Covid vaccinations now open to everyone over 16. To find available vaccine and how to register, go to VaccineFinder.org, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that shows users a map of available appointments pulled from public health providers, hospitals, medical practices, pharmacies, and more. See the separate article in this issue (State Expands Vaccination Eligibility) for more details.
Inspections this year: The Board has decided to have SCS rather than RA do inspections this year, although any owners who have not resolved their violations by the deadline or requested and been granted extensions will be referred to RA, which will do its own inspection and follow-up (which can include imposing a fine or referral to an attorney if not resolved). Now that the weather is better, you should walk around the exterior of your home to check for any needed repairs and arrange to have them taken care of before the inspection. See the separate articles Spring Maintenance Checklist and Get Ready for Upcoming Home Inspections 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 had HardiePlank installed at a discounted rate. In addition, several owners had discounts on work done on their driveways by the same contractor.
Improve Lighting in Lakeport: Even though it is staying light later and becoming light earlier, please leave your outdoor lights on at night. 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 end 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.
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, 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 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 of the Exterior of Your Home: Be sure to review the Preventive Maintenance Checklist for Spring in this issue for smaller maintenance projects that could save you major expenses and headaches in the future. And remember that RA has entered into an arrangement 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.
You Must Replace Any Tree You Remove: If you recently removed a tree (dead or alive) on your property, remember that Reston Association requires that you replace it with another tree. RA has several resources for finding a replacement tree: See the lists of recommended small trees at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a1epMYHN4gx8EB7l_K68ewk8bZnXnh1-/view
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 aren’t sure whose responsibility it is to pay for the repair or replacement of a shared wall or trim, please see https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxSpjzCTaI6Jd0xnbEZEcEhLT3NiWjRKODNlZDBtTWdRdTBJ/view for information relating to party walls.
Reston Association Covenants Portal: RA recently launched a Covenants Portal that has a record of all communications from RA relating to resale inspections and DRB approvals for your home. It also allows you to see the status of current DRB requests. To create an account, go to https://hoa.smartwebs.com/Jicv2 and enter “Lakeport” as your association. If you have any questions or encounter a bug in the new system, contact Meagan Micozzi (mMicozzi@reston.org) or Vern James (vern@reston.org).
Glass Recycling: Glass pickup, free for all Lakeport residents, will be the first Wednesday of each month, but if you’re ever unsure of the date, you can go to http://www.lakeportcluster.org/ and check the calendar under the photo of the Community of the Year banner on the left. Just leave your glass by the curb in a plastic bin by 7:00 a.m. Bins will be emptied and left (cardboard boxes or plastic or paper bags cannot be used). Your glass will be taken to the glass recycling center in Lorton so that it doesn’t end up in the landfill with your garbage (glass is no longer allowed in the regular recycle bins).
Regular Trash and Recycling Collection: If your trash or recycling is not picked up by 2:00 p.m. on a scheduled collection day, please call ADS at 703-388-0500 (if you forget the number, it also imprinted on the outside of your trash bin).
Drive Slowly: With the warmer weather, neighborhood kids are outside even more now, playing on sidewalks and in the streets. Please remember to drive slowly and keep your eyes out for children (and other pedestrians), especially given that the ongoing need to maintain a six-foot separation means that people cannot pass on the sidewalk and may well be farther out in the street than expected.
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). Also, if you notice overflowing trash from the can in Triangle Park or the one at the entrance to 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.
Dog Waste: 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 RA walking path in Lakeport and another on Lakespray Way.
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!).
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 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 forgot to make the payment (currently $25 plus the charge from SCS for sending the letter). Alternatively, you can pay the entire assessment at the beginning of the year ($1380 for 2021). Either way, you save the Board time spent reminding people who haven’t paid shortly before the late fee would be incurred, as well as extra costs to the Association for processing and mailing quarterly statements (last year we paid around $600 to have statements sent to owners who had not prepaid or set up direct debit). You can cancel the arrangement at any time. To take advantage of this convenient way to pay your Lakeport assessment fees, follow the instructions for filling out and mailing the form at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U_9xgrDVzZlOBoUG04XT2vlxmWa99C6q/view.
Questions for the Management Company: If you have a question about quarterly assessments or other questions for Select Community Services (SCS), contact Lakeport’s portfolio manager Ali Long at along@scs-management.com.
Update Your Contact Information: Please go to the Lakeport Directory (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XEGACnYzsLrWd5euSPBJuBzCx3obg9EX/view) and check the contact information listed there for you. If a correction is needed, either send an email to webmaster@lakeportcluster.org and copy along@scs-management.com or 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 forget someone’s name, you can always check this directory.
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