As Maureen and I are approaching the final few days on the Lakewood Property Owners Association Board of Directors, we are both very satisfied with the accomplishments we have made in our tenure since 2013. After being homeowners for 10 years and attending nearly every annual homeowners meeting during that time, we felt that Lakewood needed to be taken to the “next level” and we were finally compelled to get involved. Our journey started in 2013 when we both became interim Directors and by 2014 I (Kelly) became an elected Director and Maureen took over the position of Secretary and Communications Director in an effort to provide better communication and absolute transparency to our homeowners. At this point in history, there was very much a need to communicate more efficiently and effectively while providing transparency. We both took this responsibility very seriously, replying to each and every email and communication we received in always less than 24 hours and generally almost immediately. Maureen created our Board meeting agendas, organized and lead those meetings and recorded meeting minutes. It was not long after Maureen stepped into that role that she started formulating and designing what is now this awesome website….Lakewood’s “go to place for up to date information.” In the design process, she wanted to include as much information about Lakewood, it’s homeowners, Adams County and the surrounding areas as possible so that our homeowners could have an access point for information whether it was the latest information about our neighborhood and lakefront, the ability to find a contractor or realtor in our business directory or check weather or dump hours on our resources page. She did a GREAT job thinking of everything! Along with being our “resident webmaster,” she also used her advertising background and expertise to spearhead an advertising campaign to sell both display ads and business directory listings that generated an average of $1,250.00 additional revenue for Lakewood each year! With that effort she also designed display ads for both Whitemarsh Realty and Northern Bay. With her efforts to provide transparency to all of Lakewood during her time as an officer, Secretary Maureen has posted all Board and Annual Meeting minutes for everyone to keep up with what is being discussed in these meetings. Another feature of our website that she included is the ‘archives’ section where she scanned in newsletters dating back to the early days of Lakewood. Some great nostalgia and you can see just how far we have evolved since those days. It wasn’t long after she launched the website that she designed our super cool Lakewood logo! Next was the creation of 2 different style t-shirts that she and I came up with and we quickly sold out of….an easy way to generate more income. In recent months she has been working directly with Husch Blackwell, our property owners attorney, so they could make some suggestions concerning our original and very antiquated Bylaws, Covenants & Restrictions.
I remained as a Director until December 2015 when I took on the role of Treasurer. Upon stepping into that position, I learned of the very large sum of outstanding dues owed to Lakewood POA. Upon learning this information I contacted the Adams County Clerk of Courts who provided me with a 7 page report of homeowners with outstanding liens dating back to 1996 and totaling upwards of $ 22,000.00. Unfortunately several of those liens ($6,463.85 to be exact) were not able to be collected on as they had sold and were no longer in Lakewood. I provided Secretary Maureen with the lien list and she worked with area title companies to collect from homeowners with liens at the time of closing. I on the other hand continued to work on collecting from homeowners throughout the year. To date, I have collected on more than $8,000 and released 40 liens in that time…..as of today there are only 4 homeowners with outstanding liens totaling $5,200.00 and those are currently be handled by a collection agency and should be rectified soon. Each year at this time I have prepared a yearly budget and have diligently adhered to these proposed budgets. In doing so I have cumulatively ended those years with an excess of $13,205.24 during my reign as Treasurer. In 2017 & 2018 I budgeted $100.00 each year called “contest money”…a fun way to get community involvement through trivia contests, a chance to win a prize at our meeting or picnic and a way to reward homeowners who promptly pay their dues. In 2017, I spearheaded the “lakefront facelift”. I proposed the new color scheme and worked with our hired painter to oversee the project. It was a bright, new and much needed improvement to our lakefront area. Upon joining the Board I brought back our Summer picnic after a couple year hiatus. I utilized my Chef background to come up with a formula to make our picnics fun and affordable, as well as a platform for generating income through 50/50 chances and prize raffles. By Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 Maureen and I organized our first two Outdoor Movies Under the Stars at the pavilion. I also spent much time working with Adams County officials and their Health Department to help move the property at 1954 S. Cypress Drive along prior to it being auctioned off.
While Maureen has acted as the keeper of our website and she will continue to do so….I have written all blogs since we introduced and launched our website in September of 2014 and this is now my final blog. In an effort to get homeowner involvement, have fellow homeowners and neighbors get to know each other and share some good experiences whether it’s with local contractors, restaurants or businesses, Maureen started a private Facebook group page for Lakewood homeowners. She started this Facebook page prior to joining the Board and it has proven to be a great “immediate” way to communicate with homeowners, especially when it comes to Highway HH road closures :). While as Board members, we utilized this page as a platform to remind homeowners about dues, beach passes, picnics, etc. but we have always directed people to email talktous@lakewoodpoa.org with questions, comments, complaints and concerns as this is not and never has been a Board affiliated page….just an informational and friendly space started by a homeowner for other homeowners. That being said, Maureen and Kelly will still be administrators of our Lakewood Facebook page….so please email anything Board related to our talktous email address moving forward.
As a team, Maureen and I worked on many projects together over the past few years….much of which has been “behind the scenes” kind of stuff. Some of the highlights began with matching data from tax records to our mailing list to update and amend incorrect addresses and misspelled names. We spent many hours going over this with a fine tooth comb and pecked away at collecting phone numbers and email addresses to complete our lists. In doing that we also updated our plat map to include all Lakewood lot numbers so we could include this on our ‘membership’ tab of our website for all to view. Together we also wrote policy and procedure for our lakefront to help maintain and keep our common area nice and beautiful for years to come. Board standards were next on the list….this outlined the expectations for being on the Lakewood Board of Directors….a job description, if you will. These standards are posted on the ‘Board of Directors’ tab of our website for all current and future Board of Directors, as well as homeowners to know what the expectations are for representing fellow Lakewoodians. We also composed a “Monthly Board What to Do & When” list that outlines what needs to be done each month to run our association. We felt this was very important to make this and all future Board transitions run as smoothly and easily as possible. We have both worked very closely with our neighbors to the south, honing an invaluable relationship with Northern Bay. Maureen worked one on one with the landscape crew to work out a fantastic contract for our beach and lawn care needs that includes extra little touches like grating our driveway and tree trimming that other lawn care services have not provided. Also worked in the deal was periodic sand combing of the beach and volleyball areas. All of these “extras” as well as the fantastic job these guys have done with the grass and beach clean up have been noticed and appreciated by our homeowners. My dealings with Northern Bay were related to working out the best deal possible in regards to cost of our annual meetings….over the years I have worked with them they have been not only generous but very accommodating with donation of gift cards, Fish Frys and a round of golf complete with a golf cart…..all so we could raffle off to generate income to put towards our electric gate. The past two years they have also allowed us to bring in our own food and beverage for our annual meeting….something that is unheard of in the industry and certainly a cost savings on our budget.
In Fall of 2016, Maureen and I started a “Beautification Committee” comprised of volunteer homeowners. This committee met a few times over the course of a few months to outline concerns relating to beautification and a desire to protect our property values. After that we came up with a game plan to notify homeowners that were in violation and notifications were then sent out. Since starting this committee we have seen visible improvement in our community.
Shortly after joining the Board of Directors was when what is known as the “gate fund” was started. At that time it was opened with $261.00. This project was intended to happen by raising the money vs. raising dues, a “special assessment” or delving into our savings account. Maureen and I worked very hard selling advertising and Lakewood t-shirts, rectifying 23 years of worth of thousands of dollars worth of liens (this was not not only a mission to collect money owed to Lakewood, but also to clear/release liens so that all homeowners are in “good standing” to be able to access our lakefront through our new electric gate!) and also through the help of fellow past and present Board of Directors helping sell both 50/50 and raffle tickets. In my time as Treasurer, I was able to grow that “gate fund” to a whopping $30,000 in just 4 1/2 short years, making the electric gate a reality!
These are some of the highlights of what Maureen and I were able to accomplish during our time as Board members. We are extremely happy with our accomplishments and are proud to have helped move Lakewood into the new millennium. We hope you are too :). As we gear up for our retirement, we wish the 2019 Board of Directors and all future Boards much success and hope all continue to make Lakewood the BEST it can be!