Members and Volunteers, thank you for all your support in 2007. With your assistance and dedication, we succeeded in achieving several significant goals. First, we had fun with our family and friends with all the successful events. Second, with the assistance of volunteers and contractors, there were a number of ground maintenance and enhancement projects completed at the beach and picnic locations. Finally, the membership provided unanimous support during the annual meeting for the capital improvement projects proposed for the next two years. None of these could have occurred without you, our members.

2008 is already proving to be an exciting year, as we challenge ourselves with implementing capital improvement goals and planning our community events. This coupled with a very active "Community Calendar" is reflecting what some of us have already realized; we do not have enough weekends! This leads to the vision we are promoting this year, taking PRIDE in our community, as we Build Memories for Today & Tomorrow.

The Berkeley Lake Homeowners Association (BLHA) is one of seven associations within the City. We are unique however as we have a voluntary membership who are responsible for being "stewards" of the lake, an eighty- eight acre body of pristine water surrounded by 600 plus homes, covering 700 acres, which forms the cornerstone of the community and the City of Berkeley Lake. The pride and sense of community we share as residents, friends, and neighbors directly relates to why so many people look upon our city and Berkeley Lake as a jewel within the Atlanta metro area. We are proud to have one of the most desirable communities in the region. To maintain our community with today's busy agendas requires individuals who believe in the same values and sense of wonder of our natural surroundings. So if you share in these values, are proud to live in Berkeley Lake, but are not a member of the BLHA, I suggest you ask yourself one question — "Why not?"

For those who could not attend the 2008 Annual Meeting, the Board of Directors presented proposals to the membership in the form of conceptual plans for pavilions at the picnic and beach locations. We have based our proposed projects on results from surveys conducted at the May 2007 quarterly meeting, where members had the opportunity to express their interest in different types of improvement projects.We published the survey results in the Reflections newsletter to advise our members of the results and to provide a further opportunity to solicit input. During the second half of last year, committee volunteers continued to refine your requests in order to prepare conceptual diagrams and preliminary construction estimates presented and discussed at the annual meeting. The presentation is available on the BLHA website http://BerkeleyLake.org under Info / Organizational Info / Meeting Minutes. We welcome your input and want to hear from our members as we firm up construction drawings, site plans and statements of work that we will use to solicit estimates, select contractor(s) and develop schedules for approved projects. Our intent is to minimize construction at the beach and picnic locations so we do not affect you and your family's enjoyment. For this purpose, we will attempt to conduct construction activities between October and April.

I would like to thank last year's Board members for their many hours of support. These individuals and many others in our city made 2007 a very memorable year for BLHA. The outgoing Board members are Scott Lee, Randy Johnson, Dag Sandbakken, Tod Senne and Ann Chambers.

Each year, we have a few new members joining the Board to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes. Please thank them for volunteering and acknowledge their contribution.

• Sue Carlson, a recent addition to our community, joins the team to fill the position of Secretary. This key role records the minutes of various topics discussed by the Board on a monthly basis.
• Todd Coker has assumed the Grounds Maintenance role with the expanded responsibility for chairing the Capital Improvements Committee. As with any committee, tackling a series of projects that includes coordinating membership input for developing plans, securing bids, and scheduling activity to meet our goals for new picnic & beach pavilions will be very challenging. Here more than ever, the role of volunteers is very important. As demonstrated in implementing last year's projects, our members' willingness to volunteer a few hours of time during a scheduled workday is imperative for success and provides individuals an opportunity to meet new neighbors and contribute to projects that enhance those areas of our community that we enjoy.
• George Kaffezakis, affords us his knowledge and experience in Lake Maintenance. His thorough awareness in the area of water quality will be very helpful for those of us who want to learn more about our lake and the surrounding environment it supports.

• Mickey "The Money" Merkel will continue to manage the financials, as Treasurer. She skillfully handles monthly accounting and reporting of our association's transactions, while maximizing BLHA investments (CDs). With the added scope of fund raising and construction projects, we are confident our assets and cash flow will remain well balanced. (By the way, she loves to deposit checks from new members, so please do your part to make her happy.)
• Lesley Pendleton has assumed the areas of Membership and Boat Registration and is looking forward to surpassing 2007 membership records. You will also see Lesley's involvement in community activities, such as "Relay for Life" and BLOSOMS. She is an inspiration to us all and always has a warm smile to greet you.
• Tom McDonald has expanded his role as Security to include Watershed Development. These roles combine Tom's watchful eyes on the safety of our members along with the safety of our lake.
• Eileen Barnes has the role of editing articles in Reflections, the quarterly publication mailed to all residents of City. In conjunction with this role, she manages the Advertising for our local patrons who support our community. Please remember to support their businesses, as it contributes to our strength as a neighborhood. If you have an interest in submitting an article or providing comments, please direct these to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . As a reminder, you can view and download a COLOR copy of Reflections on the BLHA website to share with friends and family.
• Phil Gilbert continues to manage our BLHA Merchandise inventory, which is available for viewing on the BLHA website. This year Phil will be expanding his responsibilities to chair the Events Committee. As most volunteers soon realize, this committee likes to have fun and there never seems to be a shortage of fun during the May & September events. If you are interested in becoming involved in BLHA activities, this is one sure fire committee you will want to join. Just remember to pace yourself. Phil understands this, and has found "guidance" while serving on the Chapel Board and supporting their community endeavors.
• Bill Hunkapiller "new father" will continue to support the fishing tournaments and will work closely with George on aquatic matters, with the exception of diaper changes.
• Ellen Lee has graciously accepted the position of chairing the new Fund Raising Committee. This committee will be a focal point to communicate the messages surrounding our enhancement projects and fund raising events.
• Chip McDaniel "Web Master" and "Beer Master", continues to support the membership by managing our website. Remember to bookmark http://BerkeleyLake.org, as it is a great source of community information and provides details on the 2008 BLHA events along with other useful links and membership information.
• City Councilman Walter Anderson serves as a liaison and keeps the board and BLHA members informed on City initiatives in addition to informing the City of our interests and positions on community matters.

In closing, if you have already joined the BLHA, thank you. For those who have not yet joined, please consider doing so before March 31, when late payment fees will come into effect, and make this year's membership a new all time record for PRIDE in safeguarding the lake.

I am looking forward to working with all of you to continue with our improvements and to make our community a place where you can start Building Memories for Today & Tomorrow.