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Our Community’s reputation has vastly improved over the past 10 years. Property values have increased at double the rate of nearby communities. The City has invested in Lake Forest and LFPOA has worked hard to build a good relationship with our City leaders. Yet you may have seen certain reckless, orchestrated disruptions by some intended to injure the Lake Forest community and harm our relationship with our City leaders. Misleading information being promoted on ad hoc social media sites and to City leaders has been divisive to our common good. The orchestrated disruptions and false information being sent out by a small group is damaging Lake Forest. These attacks are generally false and negatively impact our property values. The members of LFPOA deserve better. Your Board and LFPOA management intend to get the truth out. The POA is going to regularly send out accurate information in this fight to protect our property values. Please read on so you will know the facts; then you can decide for yourself. FINANCIAL HISTORY and DUES RATES: Prior to 2010 and prior to ICON Management’s tenure, the POA had incurred over $500,000 of debt. Our organization was nearly bankrupt. Of note from 1983 until 2003 the dues rate remained the same rate at $30.00 per month for 20 years. Our dues rate did not keep up with increases for the cost-of-living, which contributed to limited amenity upkeep and maintenance for our existing amenity package, which ultimately fell into steep decline. Home values were hurting. BP Oil Spill Grant - initiated by ICON - resulted with an award amount that cleared all past POA debts as well as established our first ever reserve account fund with over $200,000. Since 2014, our POA has NOT incurred any new debt. Currently, the POA has NO DEBT. For 2022, the dues rate was rolled back $10 from $70 per month rate to the 2018 Dues Rate, and our Dues Rate is presently $60 per month. Since 2014, as part of annual budget review process, targeted dues increases were approved for our POA to bring the dues rate more in line with present needs when balanced against expected and projected LFPOA revenues. Revenues from golf, event rentals, and from our food and beverage venues, combined with monthly dues from members, are used to provide funding for our staffing, management, and maintenance costs. The POA funds also serve as a “common fund” used for enforcement of the LF Covenants. The enforcement of Covenant restrictions, as well as proper maintenance of common amenities, directly affects our quality of life, which directly affects our home values. We think quality of life and home values are important. Our amenity package includes (3) pools, (3) common ground parks with playground equipment, 18-hole golf course, (4) entrances, stables, 19th hole (remnant building left over from old clubhouse), waterfront restaurant venue formerly known as the Yacht Club and Marina. Our Lake Forest staffing levels are comprised of nearly 50 personnel. In 2014, a BUILDING FUND was established to set aside a monthly amount for Capital Projects and significant maintenance projects. Since 2014, two pools with associated common grounds and playground equipment were significantly renovated (Montclair and Ridgewood). One pool (Swim and Racket) received less extensive renovation - with playground equipment added. From late 2020 to early 2021, the waterfront venue was renovated in compliance with floodplain requirements. All these projects were competitively bid and managed by professional services. Since 2015, STRATEGIC MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIPS have been entered into with the City of Daphne. These relationships have benefited our City and the Lake Forest Community. These agreements were at no cost to our members and resulted in over $25 Million Dollars of infrastructure and other improvements for our boat ramp, waterfront boat channel, Lake 9 DISC Golf Course and drainage improvements for D’Olive and Tiawasee Creeks, just to name a few. Effective communication with City officials has resulted in sidewalks, road paving, improved street signage, and other capital improvements. FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY: As we are not a public entity, such as a city or county, our finances are not required to be posted publicly. However, our POA financial records are posted routinely on our member website for members to view. Financial reporting is typically provided by the Board Treasurer or by Management during our monthly meetings. Members may also set an appointment with our Management Team to review areas of concern. While ICON provides appropriate budget oversight by utilizing a mid-year as well as annual financial reviews, our Association goes even further with independent outside professional examinations. Here are the FACTS: FINANCIAL THIRD-PARTY INDEPENDENT “REVIEW” PRACTICES SINCE 2010:
FINANCIAL THIRD-PARTY INDEPENDENT FINDINGS 2018, 2019 AND 2020:
FINANCIAL THIRD-PARTY INDEPENDENT AUDIT FOR 2022:
With all the progress over the last ten years, it is important to remind LFPOA members about how far we have come. Despite the unwarranted attacks, Lake Forest continues to improve. With your help, Lake Forest will reach its full potential to be one of the best places to live due to our Location, Affordability and Quality of Life. Be sure to visit www.lakeforestdaphne.com where you can read the online version of the “Lake Forester”. Your POA will continue to provide TRUTH so you can respond to the attacks as well. LFPOA BOARD OF DIRECTORS and ICON MANAGEMENT  Welcome to The Back Deck Bar and Grille! We are working hard to provide you with a savory menu that compliments our beautiful view. Our new menu is going great and getting amazing feedback from our guests. Equally as exciting, our theme nights are getting busier every week with burger night having the best draw thus far. Buckets of beer and flat bread are a close second. It’s all here on the new menu and a hard choice when deliberating what to order. Bottom line...You can’t go wrong…. it's all delicious! A favorite to mention is Date Night. You get to take your loved one out for a romantic view of a waterside sunset, fantastic entrees coupled with wine and finishing your experience with one of our melt in your mouth desserts.
The Back Deck has so much to offer from the newly renovated dining experience to the natural and artistic view. As with most new restaurants we are not exempt to kinks. We are working through them and are pleased with the results. Our new Toast point of sale system is up and running making for faster and more efficient service. Staying humble throughout our new beginnings is key and we will do our level best to continue our efforts leading us into an ever growing and choice place to dine on the Eastern Shore. The best news is that total sales in September were up over $9,000 from the previous month of August and we are just getting started. With two weeks to go in the month of October, The Back Deck is already on track to surpass total sales from September!! It’s so rewarding when people work together as a team for a win and we are winning! With the temperatures getting cooler and the sunsets getting more magnificent, now is the time to find yourself sitting on the deck taking it all in. We cannot wait to see you, serve you, and be a part of your new experience on The Back Deck. The Back Deck follows the same guidelines as all other public restaurants in Daphne. No smoking on the patio area.  We would like to thank all the members who have supported the Yacht Club soft opening over the last few weeks. We could not have made it this far without our wonderful and supportive home owners who have given us a chance to train our staff, see what works and what kinks we need to work out.
So far to date we have been open for 10 days and served over 1,000 people. Unfortunately due to an employee COVID case we had to close this past Tuesday for service. We hope to re-open fully sanitized on June 29th through July 2nd for members only. During this time we ask that you show your member ID to receive the 30% discount on food items. We are looking forward to the Grand Opening on July 4th from Noon to 4.00 pm. We are very excited to have local band favorite Sugarcane Jane playing on the deck. The radio station 92 Zew will have a live feed from the Yacht Club for the duration of the event. Activities for children will be a bounce house, waterslide and Kona truck free ice cream station. Oh yeah, and did we mention free burgers and a souvenir Lake Forest logoed pint glass give away to the first 250 people. Draft beers will be for sale along with a full bar. Come join us and enjoy the fun.  Known to many, the Lake Forest Yacht Club renovations are reaching their pinnacle. In fact, as of now, it’s just around the corner; we’re looking at a Grand Opening to the public on July 4th! With a brand new menu and a nearly unrecognizable exterior, the four-year project in the planning isn’t just on a sheet of paper or a PowerPoint anymore. It’s there, and you can see it. There’s no going back. So if your guard is still up about it, let it down! Before you know it, you could be strolling in there to experience an atmosphere befitting of a Yacht Club. You shouldn’t expect anything less, either. The blood and sweat that has gone into ensuring that Lake Forest homeowners, members and guests alike have an exceptional focal point on the Eastern Shore is soon to pay off. With 365 potential sunsets in a year, you’ll surely be craving to watch the majority of them at the Yacht Club. You can picture it, too: enjoying a fresh meal, cooked to perfection, as the orange sun warms your face. Perhaps with a cold beer, too! You won’t just be watching a sunset there, either. You’ll be experiencing it -- and that’s what the new Yacht Club will give you: an experience. This is the perfect wakeup call, if you will. In our busy lives, packed to the brim with 5 o’clock traffic and phone screens, we’re often unknowingly starving for something to remind us that we live next to a beautiful bay. Baldwin County is growing, so there’s no doubt that you’ll be wanting a taste of sweet, seagoing solitude right down the road from your abode. If you need an escape from the big hurry that the world has gotten itself in, you can come to the Yacht Club expecting a consistently friendly and welcome atmosphere.   The Yacht Club is unique in this respect and then some. Not only is it here to joyfully fulfill Lake Forest’s duty to its homeowners, but being that it’s outside of the neighborhood itself, it has the potential to feed the growing community of Daphne in a way not seen for many years. This is big. It’s going to become the flagship not only of Lake Forest, but of Daphne at large. We all love the aesthetic of Fairhope, but it's high time that we cultivate our own little pocket of Eastern Shore-ness in Daphne. That time has arrived. Don’t be surprised if the Yacht Club becomes the premier waterfront dining and outdoor entertainment restaurant in South Alabama! Come and eat here with your family after Church. Take your partner on a date here. Dare to propose to your partner here, even; and if that goes over well, plan a wedding event here! If it doesn’t go over well, that’s OK -- there’s a cozy bar waiting for you. In the future, we’re looking at: shade sails for the rear deck, fire pits, interior lounge furniture, dock repairs, marina dredging, and other incorporated additions/renovations. Naturally, this development has incredible potential, and it’s just getting started. Still not excited? At the Grand Opening, we’re looking at having a band playing on the property, free Yacht Club Burgers, raffle prize giveaways with Yacht Club gear, with tents and all. The themes don’t stop there, either. Just to list a few, we have in the plans to host: build-your-own burger night, prime rib night, beer and pizza night, 70s night, wine specials, and just about any other theme you can think of. If you enjoy unbeatable sunsets, a bayfront view, fantastic food, a novel-sized menu, fantastic service, and affordable pricing, the Yacht Club is where you want to be. Graham Canton  FY 2020
Roads: The Daphne 20 year road paving plan has completed year 3. Roads are chosen for paving based on classification of type and condition. Lake Forest got the following roads addressed as part of 2020 expenditures (which were slightly delayed due to debris impact from Hurricane Sally). These roads were resurfaced: Calverdale Circle, Greenwood Dr, Creekside Dr, Donette Loop, Worchester Dr, Aragon Circle, Pineview Circle, Donna Circle, Kingswood Drive, Lindsey Circle, Avon Circle, Bucu Circle, Cherryhill Drive, Lakeview Loop, Mirikesh Drive, & Lakeshore Drive (in progress). We will need to continue to follow this program to make sure LF roads continue to receive a portion of the master road paving plan funds. Street Signage: In 2020 the POA with the help of the Public Works Department completed 3 phases (4, 5 & 6) of our decorative street sign installations. From Golf Terrace to Bayview Entrance, from the triangle intersection to Lawson Rd (southern leg) & Lake Forest Blvd, Country Club Drive & D'Olive Drive. We can continue this project with the city to complete all interior roads within LF over the next 2 years as well as pick up any strays that were missed. This is a budgeted item within the grounds budget. Estimate 2 more years to complete. Traffic Calming & Guard Rails: We continue to work with the city to keep our roads safe. To date we have had a slowdown device with signage installed around 444 Ridgewood. Patrick Collins attended the traffic calming meeting with the city in FEB. We continue to work with the city to install the requested slow down devices and guardrails. FY 2021 Jubilee Shopping Center Parking Lot Payments - At a recent city council meeting the finance chair reported that the long 25 year payments being made on the city owned parking lot will end in the next 6 months. That means $33K a month will no longer be required to be made, which could help fund other city wide projects, such as sidewalks. New Fire Chief - Chief Tacon, first female for the city to hold this position, she is out of Mobile Fire and Rescue New Public Works Director, is now Ronnie Huskey who is returning to work for the city of Daphne to lead the department Master City Recreational Long Range Plan - Has recently passed the council. Many items connect into and around Lake Forest for trails and sidewalks are included in the plan. David Dueitt is a member of this committee and has worked very hard with all other committee members to bring lots of great projects to the city in the coming years. Thank you David. We appreciate the efforts of our new Mayor Robin LeJeune as well as our City Council representatives for their continued planning and budgeting to build a better Daphne. Victoria J. Phelps City Liaison for LFPOA  The weather cooperated for our February meeting and 16 members and one visitor joined together to hear our speaker, Mr. Cecil Christenberry. Mr. Christenberry, along with his family, owns Fairhope's OLDE TYME FEED & GARDEN SUPPLY. We were treated to a very informative talk on multiple topics ranging from lawn care to shrubs and trees and how to deal with weeds and pests. We learned what to add to our lawns and when, what to add to our soil around shrubs and trees, what to spray on our citrus, and how to attack pests that try to steal our crops! As a result, many of us have ‘shopping lists’ for our spring gardening. Questions were asked and answered which gave us a lot more confidence to approach spring planting.
One secret that Mr. Christenberry shared is that now is a good time to spray Neem oil on our citrus and other fruit-producing trees to kill damaging chewing insects . Spray first thing in the morning or before dusk to help protect our pollinators. Supporting locally owned family businesses is the way to return the most money to our Eastern Shore, it's nice to know that Olde Tyme Feed and Garden Supply will have the natural and other products that gardeners need. Since we had such a good turnout, there was a lot of conversation and we enjoyed visiting with each other. Our newest members and visitor won the majority of our door prizes at this meeting….what fun! Our next meeting will be held Thursday, March 4 at 10:00 am at Daphne Central Park as long as it is dry. As we are still socially distancing, please wear a mask and bring a chair. We look forward to seeing more of our current members as the weather warms and we welcome new friends to join us.  Lake Forest is proud to officially announce the 2020 renovation of The Yacht Club. This beautiful gem will soon shine for bay side sunsets, delicious dining, entertainment and gatherings. We are beyond happy to be fully underway and making great progress. In the first 2 weeks or renovation the cedar shingles were all torn down, sheathing repairs were done, both front entrances removed and doorways reframed and hardy board started to go up.
Please visit https://www.lakeforestdaphne.com/yacht-club-renovation.html for weekly progress and updates. We are posting progress pictures 5 times a week and posting 2 progress videos a week. Stay informed about your Yacht Club!! Also keep in mind that this is an active construction site and no one is allowed on the property for the obvious safety reasons. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. While the renovations at The Yacht Club are in process, don't forget about our great dining options that Chef Clint and his staff are serving up at The 19th Hole. Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and Chef Clint will be carefully selecting a holiday menu for you to dine in or carry out. Stay tuned and informed with our EBlast and on our Facebook Page for the complete menu announcements. Residents of Lake Forest, welcome to a new month in the neighborhood. As of now, the summer has been hectic in the sense that the Coronavirus pandemic is still raging. On a positive note, however, people are beginning to dig in, and are figuring out their “lockdown leisures.”
I am here to tell you, however, that if you’ve gotten into the lockdown rut, there is still time to set yourself free! There is no better time than now to set yourself on a course for total and unequivocal self-improvement. After doing some research, I’ve found a few ways to keep bettering yourself during these trying times. It essentially boils down to eating better foods, staying active, and avoiding those entertaining-yet-distracting electronics. And by electronics, I don’t mean toasters and alarms — I mean cellphones, laptops, and televisions. Firstly, the food and drinks. During the pandemic, you have no excuse not to begin eating better! Before the pandemic, maybe so, but now it is imperative that you eat foods and drink drinks that contribute to the integrity of your immune system. For example, enjoy foods and drinks that are high in Vitamin C! Studies have shown that regular, high-doses of Vitamin C can help boost the effectiveness of your immune system. Here are some deliciously healthy foods in the Vitamin C Category: oranges, broccoli, guavas, yellow bell peppers, strawberries, fish, nuts, and blueberries. Some of these foods can be blended together to create a delicious smoothie to cool down after being in the summer heat, such as oranges, blueberries and strawberries. I do not recommend blending fish and peanuts together. With that being said, now is the time to avoid fast food (including store-bought processed food), sugary drinks, and desserts. Maybe now is the time for you or your family to start eating more home-cooked meals! Secondly, Lake Forest residents of any age should be getting plenty of exercise every day! Even just 15 minutes of activity every day is better than none at all. Maintaining a healthy heart is important, especially if you were to become sick. Lake Forest has extensive hills and sidewalks that you are free to walk on at your discretion. Those hills are calf-killers! (No cows were harmed during the writing of this article.) As a resident of Lake Forest, you also have access to our tennis courts, swimming pools, and the golf course -- all of which can offer you a potentially great workout. Thirdly, it is important that we all do our absolute best to have a consistent sleep schedule. In a world where humanity is consistently over-stimulated by social media, text messages and emails, it can become a habit to check your phone right before bed — or even to use your phone in the bed. However the studies are clear: exposure to blue light, the type of light which is emitted from your cell phone, directly before attempting to fall asleep, can significantly affect how easy it is for you to fall asleep. Moreover, even upon falling asleep, exposure to blue light directly before sleeping can affect the quality of your sleep. So instead of using your thumb to scroll through social media before bed, try using it to flip the page of a book! Try putting your phone away at least an hour before bed. Lastly, we should remember to take care of the soul. Religious or not, meditation is very important for all human beings. It keeps us centered, and helps us to remember our place in the world. I hope that you will consider these health and wellness tips. I have no doubt that if you heed this information, you will soon ahead have a clearer mind and a healthier body. There is no time like the now! Stay safe, stay healthy, and God love you.  We’re entering what should be one of the most joyful times of the year. As you likely know well, the Fourth of July is approaching quickly. There is no doubt, in our current situation families are fatigued, ready to pack the car for vacation and visit with family and friends. This time of the year is often one where people travel far and wide to reunite with loved ones, celebrate America’s endless spirit of independence, and enjoy Holiday food combinations.
I myself share in this fatigue that I cannot be with all of my friends and loved ones in the way which is typical. I also see that we may have taken these usual holiday gatherings for granted, but we need to be careful so as to not let the living spirit of American independence become reliant on good food (not to be confused with healthy food), fireworks, tailgates and lawn chairs, as fun as those things can be. For the past few decades, the American people have been stuck in a repetitive, albeit exciting rut, where the contemplation of what it has cost for us to be able to enjoy our freedoms often runs second to those other exciting activities. I think that this year, where family meetings often consist of Zoom and Facetime calls, we can afford to read more about what exactly it means to be free. There is no better time than now to remind ourselves that regardless of what goes on in the world, we remain independent to a degree that many of our ancestors fought, suffered and died for, and thus none of our liberties should be taken for granted. Let us remember the great sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, that 405,000 Americans made to protect our freedom in World War II. Let us also remember the 116,516 American soldiers who died in World War I, and the countless other conflicts in which we lost friends and loved ones for the sake of freedom. On July 4, we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which turned out to be much more than simply putting pen to paper. It ultimately cut the States’ ties to the English Monarch, George III, thus setting the stage for a hard-fought battle that would give us the many freedoms that we still have to this day. It takes a very strong and well-formed mindset of patriotism to be able to celebrate our nation’s independence in an exciting and all-encompassing way for 244 years in a row. As an aside, I think that there is no better example of the “free lifestyle” than being able to drive your own car freely to a pool, a golf course, a restaurant, or a yacht club. If you enjoy those aspects of living in Lake Forest, you can thank the men and women who made sure that you can roam about freely; while you as a resident can use these amenities, they came at a great cost -- one which we should never forget. Freedom is not free. That being said, we should do our absolute best to ensure that the heavy sacrifices do not go to waste. Enjoy your access to what Lake Forest has to offer you, and don’t forget what it took for that to be made available. We should make use of what has been gifted to us, what has been handed down to us from generation to generation: freedom. So wherever you may be reading this, or however much you might miss the festivities, or however far from family you might be, let us wish our great nation a very happy, free, and independent 244th birthday.  A brand new American Legion Post has been formed in Spanish Fort, Alabama. The name of the American Legion Post is GLENN D. FRAZIER Post 222. The Post name was selected to honor Colonel Glenn D. Frazier (Retired). Mr. Frazier enlisted in the U. S. Army on July 3, 1941, at the age of 16, and requested to be stationed in the Philippine Islands. His request was granted and within a few days he was on a ship headed to the Philippines where he participated in what we call now “Basic Training”. After “Basic Training”, he then attended four months of Army Ordinance Training School in Manila, until that training was interrupted by the Japanese attack on the Philippines on December 8, 1941, just hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. On April 9, 1942, when the decision to surrender to the Japanese was made, then-Corporal Glenn D. Frazier (17 years old) was one of the 60,000 to 80,000 American and Philippine forces who were captured. He and his fellow captives were forced to walk -- without rest, water or food -- for the next seven days in what came to be known as the Bataan Death March. Thousands of Americans and Filipinos died on ‘the March’. Glenn survived and spent the next three-plus years as a Japanese P.O.W. in Japan. After the close of the war, Glenn returned home to the United States with the rank of Sergeant. He continued to serve in the United States Army Reserve for the next six years and afterward continued his service to all veterans for the remainder of his lifetime. Colonel Glenn D. Frazier (Retired) passed away on September 15, 2018 at age 94. He was a true American Hero! He told his story in his book entitled “Hell’s Guest”.
GLENN D. FRAZIER Post 222 was granted its Temporary Charter in the American Legion, Department of Alabama, on March 25, 2020, by the American Legion National Headquarters located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently, we are within about two weeks of completing all of the documentation required to apply for our Permanent Charter as an American Legion Post. The Post started with 16 Legionnaire members, and it currently has 22 Legionnaire members. Once our Application is granted and our Permanent Charter as an American Legion Post is issued, we will also establish a Sons of the American (SAL) Squadron, an Auxiliary Unit and an American Legion Riders Chapter; these four units are collectively known as “the American Legion Family”. However, we are being proactive, and we are already planning for and working on the establishment of the additional parts of the American Legion Family for GLENN D. FRAZIER Post 222 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. At this time, the American Legion is the largest Veterans Service Organization in the United States of America with over 12,000 chartered Posts and approximately 2 Million active members. There is one Department for each of the 50 States, with five other Departments located in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico and The Philippines. The American Legion was founded on March 15 – 19, 1919, in Paris, France. On September 16, 1919, The American Legion was granted its federal charter by the U. S. Congress and now, 101+ years later, the American Legion has maintained its commitment to serve not only as a resource for and a voice on behalf of all veterans across America, but also as an organization dedicated to the betterment of America through community service activities outlined in and organized under the four pillars of the organization. The four pillars of the American Legion are – Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation, National Security, Americanism, and Children & Youth. These Four Pillars are as relevant today as when the organization was founded, with many programs offered under each Pillar. These Four Pillars are, and should be, an American Legion Post’s primary focus and are and will be for the GLENN D. FRAZIER Post 222. An American Legion Post which is focused on these Four Pillars shines; the Post stands out and are often recognized by the communities in which it is located as a respectable, significant, relevant and an important part of the community. This is only a secondary or collateral reward for the GLENN D. FRAZIER Post 222, after service to our fellow veterans, their families and children and youth in our community, and our communities in general of Spanish Fort, Daphne, and surrounding areas Alabama. On Saturday, July 18, 2020, at approximately 3:00 PM, we will gather with the Lake Forest POA, at the POA’s invitation to meet as many members who can come and learn more about who we are, and what we would like to achieve to assist others in our communities. We hope to see you all there. For those interested in joining us in our efforts, applications will be on hand, and for more information concerning the American Legion Family, itself, please visit the National Headquarters’ website: legion.org, or the Department of Alabama’s website: legional.org Respectfully Submitted by: Michael T. Kelly Composed by: Michael T. Kelly 33rd District, Baldwin County Commander, American Legion, Department of Alabama and Glenn D. Frazier Post 222, Spanish Fort, Alabama Member Edits made by: Jeffrey A. Gardner, 33rd District, Judge Advocate, American Legion, Department of Alabama and Glenn D. Frazier Post 222, Spanish Fort, Alabama |
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