Along with the holiday season comes the annual budget cycle. This year again and continuing for the next 3 ? we are on an austere operation as we pay off the CIP loan and get out from under the burdensome payments. For those not familiar with the CIP loan it is a loan of more than a million-dollars that was used to finance building/rebuilding many of our amenities. The original schedule had approximately ten years remaining until payoff. The board wisely refinanced it at a lower rate and shortened the payoff to 5 years. With the recent reduction in interest the board again refinanced it keeping the same payoff date but further reducing the interest. The current loan payoff date is October 2006. When that happens it will free up money for some much needed improvements and projects.

The Finance Committee will be giving the amenities and their fee structures a very close review during the budget cycle. The larger projects currently on the slate for next year are the resurfacing of the tennis courts at the bottom of Washington Drive, repair/replacing the roof at the Harbour Inn, rebuilding one of the greens at the golf course and replacing the play set at Rudolph Park.

Recently there has been an increase in the number of homes that really need attention. Things like lack of paint, loose gutters and what appear to be derelict cars have no place in our community. If there is a ditch in front of your home please take time to keep it neat and free of weeds, leaves and litter. The Code Violation Officer is now actively covering the community and those not maintaining reasonable standards will be dealt with. No one likes to live next door to a home they wouldn't be proud to own. Please help us maintain the high standards for which we have been known.

Ongoing projects include the marina bathrooms (ready for bid), the storage lot behind the stables (under construction) and the new paddock fence for the stables.

Our police force is now certified by the State of Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services and is tied into the FBI Law Enforcement computer system. In the near future they will also be tied into the Amber Alert System for notification of missing children. Additionally, the department is in the process of setting up a voluntary child identification system to be known as Smart Kid. Watch for details in the next month.

The votes at the Annual Meeting showed that the community overwhelmingly approved of the association selling 4 lots that have been sitting idle for years. The lots are being appraised now and should go on the market sometime in the future. Their sale will be well advertised.

Elsewhere in this issue is an article by Bill Carpenter detailing the history of the potential "Second Gate". Recently, I went back to Virginia Department of Transportation and discovered the cost of such a gate, as originally proposed, would be several million dollars with no hope of assistance from the State. The only chance of a second gate would be the possibility of working with a future developer building along side our property. This is being studied and will be explored when the opportunity presents itself.