Marcus Lake Communities Homeowners …

1 Board of Directors President-Tad Ellenberger Vice-President Jo Ann Stiner Treasurer-Prince Morris Secretary-Marie Abney Member at Large-Charlotte Benboe Welcome To The Community of Marcus Lake Volume 1, Issue 1 January 24, 2008 Highlights From The Board of Directors The Board of Directors would like to take this opportunity to thank all com-mittees and neighbors for their commitment, hard work, and success in mak-ing The Community of Marcus Lake a beautiful place to live. We hope eve-ryone had a Merry Christmas and is having a Happy New year so far. There are two positions open on the board of directors that needs to be filled. The role of the Board of Directors is to act as representative agents for the members of The Community of Marcus Lake. We need representa-tives from the cottages.

2 The board has the task of making decisions in all aspects that have a direct effect in maintaining and improving the commu-nity. Presently we are still working on having the lake and surrounding property conveyed to the association . This was suppose to be done in the beginning of the development of the association . In about two weeks environmental scientists will be coming here to the community to delineate what is and is not wet lands, and give us a report, and guidelines of what can be done with the land. For members that live along the lake we ask that you please allow them to pass between your houses to the lake if needed. This would make their job easier. They are going to put small marker flags around the lake. Some people are confused about the role of Etheridge Property Manage-ment.

3 The role of Etheridge Properties is to manage the property of the Communities of Marcus Lake taking care of the day to day business, finances and enforcement of the covenants of the association . The management com-pany is hired by the association , and the board of directors work with the management company and over sees the work they do for our community. Come to the annual community meeting to see what is happening. Decisions that are being made will effect all of us. There will be refreshments, and a raffle. See you there. Architectural Review Board The Architectural Review Board has the difficult task of approving or dis-proving the building of structures, fences, wall, driveways, mailboxes gates, light posts, landscaping, boat docks, or any improvement of any nature made in the Communities of Marcus lake in the Cottages and Estates subdi-vision.

4 Our job is to inform our neighbors of what can be done, and how it can be approved to save money, time, and keep up the value of homes in the neighborhood. Our covenants are not that strict and mostly follow county code, which if not followed may affect the sale of your house and cost you money. If you would like to have a direct say in what our neighborhood will look like then Architectural Review Board could use you, as we need two members. Come to the annual meeting and sign up. Landscape Committee-Victor Smith Chairperson The Landscape Committee was formed in March 2007. The first meeting was held on March 15, 2007. Our mission statement embraces three main goals: (1) to over-see the maintenance and beautification of all common areas, (2) promote community pride via the maintenance of individual lawns - lots and (3) engage activities which will help maintain and or increase property values in our community.

5 Outcomes for the year 2007 included the first Annual Cleanup Day which was headed by Charlie Lett. Volunteers from the neighborhoods split into three teams who walked the neighborhoods picking up trash from common areas and vacant lots. Tad Ellenberger and other volunteers cleaned the lake and areas around the lake. This effort was assisted by Clean and Green who provided bags and picked up filled bags. The committee extends its sincere gratitude to all volunteers for helping keep our neighborhoods clean. In addition to Cleanup Day the committee conducted a Lawn Beautification Contest and a Christmas Lighting Contest. See Landscape page 2 Marcus Lake Communities Homeowners association Newsletter Congratulations Lawn Contest Award 2007 Cottages 1st Place 4058 Embers Landing 2nd Place 5026 Antoine Pl 3rd Place 4048 Embers Landing Estates 1st Place 7228 Rampart Way 2nd Place 7158 Rampart Way 3rd Place 7124 Rampart Way Christmas Lighting 2007 Awards 1st Place 6052 Toulouse Drive 2nd Place 7120 Rampart Way 3rd Place 4000 Embers Landing Honorable Mentions 7124 Rampart Way 4048 Embers Landing 4 Jazz Place 7153 Rampart Way 3001 Tujaques Place There were many outstanding lighting displays.

6 If you were not recognized this year, 2008 may be your year. The Landscape Committee, in conjunc-tion with the Board of Directors and Etheridge Property Management is in the process of developing plans to improve the lot on the corner of Ram-part and Bienville. Landscape Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 2 Marcus Lake Neighborhood Watch Committee John and Dorn Walker Chairperson The Marcus Lake Homeowners association s Neighborhood Watch com-mittee held its first meeting on June 15, 2007. Four concerned residents were in attendance. Our committee now consist of approximately 23 inter-ested residents along with many other residents who have signed up to assist with our annual Community Day Event. What is our Neighborhood Watch ? The very first Neighborhood Watch was formed in 1970 when a group of neighbors, differing from each other in many ways, assembled together with a central concern of making their neighborhood a safer place to live.

7 Today, many formal Neighborhood Watch programs exist throughout the nation. They work with local law enforcement officers to detect and prevent crimes in their neighborhood. With limited law enforcement resources, citizens can be the law enforcement s eyes and ears in their neighbor-hood at all times. Similar to other Neighborhood Watch programs, our Neighborhood Watch consists of Marcus Lake residents who are Commit-ted to: 1. Create deterrents to crime; 2. Foster unity and conscientiousness among our community; 3. Develop relationships and collaboration with local law enforcement officials ( for patrol and immediate contact); 4. Create a law enforcement direct point of contact for Marcus Lake; and 5. Request Marcus Lake community wide quarterly crime statistics.

8 ** We are NOT a group of vigilantes or lawless people taking the law into our own hands. ** We DO NOT take the place of police in enforcing the law. ** We DO provide valuable information to our local law enforcement agency which investigates suspicious activities, apprehend criminals and prevent crime. Why a Neighborhood Watch ? Although our neighborhood s overall crime statistics show lower occur-rences of crime then other surrounding areas, our residents banded to-gether in a proactive stance to ensure that our neighborhood continues to be a beautiful low crime area and set a positive standard in West Pensa-cola. One of our goals is to assign 34 Block Captains who will observe activi-ties within their assigned areas and provide neighbors with a listing of emergency contact information.

9 It is our desire to have Block Captains See Neighborhood page 3 Check Out Up-Coming Events Second Annual Community Day Saturday, April 19 2008 Call 457-3487 for information Community Clean-Up Day Saturday. May 17, 2008 Call 221-9287 for Information Community Garage Sale Date to be Announced Call 454-0062 for Information build conscientious relationships with the residents, in their assigned blocks; encourage all residents to be conscientious about crime; act as one of the first responders for emergen-cies; conduct informal awareness and watch block; and re-port suspicious activity to Marcus Lake community law en-forcement contact or other emergency contacts. To function effectively, the Neighborhood Watch plans to assign twelve (12) Block Captains in the Estates, twelve (12) in the Cottages and ten (10) in the Villages.

10 We currently have ten (10) Block Captains in the Estates, two (2) in the Cottages and two (2) in the Villages. (See Block Captains list below) We need your involvement so that we can assign more Block Captains If you are interested in becoming a part of our Neighborhood Watch , simply inform one of our Block Captains or attend one of our scheduled meetings. We wel-come any and every Marcus Lake resident. Come on out and become involved. We have the commitment of Deputy Shedrick Johnson (436-9620) to act as our (non emergency) in house emergency contact as well as Crime Stoppers (433-7867) Deputy Johnson is excited about our Neighborhood Watch efforts and pa-trols the entire Marcus Lake neighborhood when he is off duty. We encourage the commitment and participation of other resident deputies in our neighborhood.