From the Editor/President

By Stephen Sapp

As I write this article for the summer issue of Ripples, it is feeling more like fall than summer! We have been blessed lately with a number of days of magnificent weather that have felt more like October than late August/early September. I hope you have been able to take advantage of them by getting outside and enjoying the natural beauty that makes Lakeport such a wonderful community in which to live. Too often it seems we take for granted the many blessings we ought to recognize as gifts and be grateful for them!

The major item I want to highlight in this issue is our upcoming Annual Meeting, which will be held via Zoom on Thursday, September 25, at 7:00 p.m. This is an extremely important event for our community, providing you the opportunity to elect new 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/2025/07/annual-meeting-sep-25-2025.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.

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: Rates are posted in the online “HOA Fee Payment: Charges for assessment, fees, administrative charges” in the Residents tab of the Lakeport website (under “HOA Fee Payment,” which has more information on options for paying your assessment). 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!