From the Editor/President

By Stephen Sapp

Earlier this month, one of this country’s most famous rodents (sorry, friends, but Phil the groundhog is a rodent!) saw his shadow. According to an old German tradition adopted by the Pennsylvania Dutch, this means that we will have six more weeks of winter. After the past several weeks, that was a message few of us rejoiced to hear! In fact, Roger Morris, Lakeport’s Project Manager for Complete Landscaping who also oversees our snow removal service, said of our recent stretch of winter weather, with sleet on top of the snow and then the prolonged period of excessive cold, “This is the worst storm I have worked in during my 30-plus years of snow work.”

Having spent four decades in South Florida before moving to Lakeport in April 2015, I obviously have very limited experience of such weather (though Mary and I will be happy to discuss the relative impact on a community’s life of Category 5 hurricanes vs. big snowstorms!). The past couple of weeks, however, have led me to some reflections about the nature of community that strike me as fairly universal, whatever the climate.

In particular, such natural challenges tend to bring out the best in people, perhaps stemming from a sense that “we’re all in this together, and it’s not our fault so we’d better help others just as we would like to be helped.” This leads to a willingness to lend a hand to one another that—though not necessarily lacking at other times—seems to be brought to the fore in these situations. Lakeport residents shoveled neighbors’ driveways (and I even helped Edwin, the snowplow driver, get his truck through our blocked entrance), bought groceries for people who had trouble getting out, checked on friends and neighbors to make sure they were all right, and cared for one another in various other ways.

Storms like we recently experienced also present situations in which residents have other opportunities to demonstrate their community spirit. For example, during snow storms, it helps if you move your vehicles from common spaces into your driveway to allow the snowplow more space to maneuver and a place to deposit snow, and it also provides wider cleared lanes for your neighbors after the snow. By the way, a bonus of parking in your driveway is that the area under the car does not have to be shoveled and you—and helpful neighbors—won’t have to dig out your car from common spaces. Also, because we are a townhome community, most Lakeport residents do not have sizable (or any) private yards. So when shoveling your driveway, please be mindful of this fact and don’t deposit your snow on neighbors’ property.

This reminds me of two other issues that—although not related directly to the storm but still part of being a good neighbor—the Board hears about regularly: 

• Remember that Fairfax County law and Lakeport community guidelines require that pets be leashed at all times. Also, try to keep your dog from “doing its business” on other people’s property or on any plants (urine does kill them). And of course, pick up after your pets. Let’s not turn our pets into pests!

• All residents need to be aware of an important provision in the Lakeport Handbook concerning shared parking spaces: “A quality-of-life violation can be the result of a resident treating a common-area parking space as an extension of the resident’s private driveway.” Please contribute to the community atmosphere that we cherish here in Lakeport by being a good citizen and honoring the need to keep common-area parking spaces available for the purpose for which they are intended, namely, parking for visitors and guests on a short-term basis. Also please move cars from these spaces when snowplows are expected.

Once again, I want to conclude with two requests I make every issue. Note that this is a particularly good time to consider the first request because the address for mailing a check to SCS has changed. It is now c/o SCS, PO Box 1240, New York NY 10008-1240 (see details in separate article on “Change of Address for Quarterly Assessment Checks Mailed to SCS”).  

• Please set up Direct Debit through our management company SCS for your quarterly assessment payments, the next of which is due April 1 (remember that the amount is now $365 per quarter, $5.00 more than in 2025). 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 whenever 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.

• 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.

We would like to know what you think of this Winter issue of Ripples. Send comments, questions, and/or suggestions to me at ssapp@miami.edu, and if you want to submit an item for consideration for inclusion in our Spring issue, please do so. Photos of life in Lakeport are always welcome as well!