From the Boardroom

Terry White, Board President

Happy March! I think we are all looking forward to Spring around the corner. As you look around your property, please be sure to check with staff before making any large changes to your home or landscaping. As HOA members we all have an obligation to be sure what we plan is in accordance with our Architectural Guidelines.

Now, back to history! I ended the article last month with the enormous amount of rain that brought us to full pool in 1977. If you look at the place where Woods Chapel Road becomes Gregory Boulevard you can see old Woods Chapel as it goes “under” the lake at the entrance to Sequoia by the West Lake marina and emerges at west side of the lake. Our lakes might have had a different configuration. Instead of having one dam near the blue water tower owned by Lee’s Summit, which is what the developers had in mind, two dams were required with a channel between them to ensure good hydrology design. When property was being purchased for the development, two owners did not want to sell. One of those is where the Landings is now and the other was a property below what is now the two dams. Since there were now two lakes, instead of one large one, the East Lake was to be used for water sports and skiing and the West Lake designated a “slow/ no wake” lake. In 1988, with the development of the East Lake, both lakes were designated “slow/no wake.”

In 1978 Farm and Home started the development of the Lakewood Oaks golf course and the homes around the front nine holes. A separate HOA was formed and called the East Lake Association. In 1985, at the request of the LPOA, Farm and Home agreed to merge the East Lake Association with the Lakewood Property Owners Association.

As part of the Financial Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act, Farm and Home Savings was required to sell all undeveloped land in Lakewood and divest itself of the golf club. The club was sold to the golf members. The land around the “back nine” of the golf course was sold to developers, as well as what we now know as the Shores, the Forest, East Lake Village, Southpoint, the Enclave, and Lakewood Point Villas. The Chapel Ridge area was the last addition to Lakewood.

Board Meetings

Lakewood Property Owners Association Board of Directors’ Meeting

Actions taken February 9, 2023

Approved

• Accept 2022 Unaudited Year End Financials

• Declare Vacant Boat Slips

• Renewal of LPOA Cleaning Contract

• Pleasure Dock Relocation Request (2)

• Ventrac Mower Purchase Request

• Pleasure Dock Purchase

• 2023 Mowing Contract

Tabled

• Landings Covenant Amendment

• Clubhouse Repair - Auto Owners Update

• Alternative to Boat Slip Lottery — Policy 5

• Termination of LPOA Covid Policy

When I-470 was designed, a Lakewood Boulevard interchange was not planned. There was only a bridge for Lakewood Boulevard to go under the interstate. That is how it was when I moved here. Farm and Home paid the Missouri Department of Transportation to install a halfdiamond interchange with ramps to the north. MODOT added the lanes to the south a couple years later.

In the early years, what is now known as Lakewood Boulevard was 63rd Street. Farm and Home petitioned the City of Lee’s Summit to change the name prior to I-470 being built so the exit signage would read Lakewood Boulevard. In addition, what is now Dick Howser Drive was Channel Drive. Dick Howser was the manager of the Royals during the 1985 World Series and later died from brain cancer. Prior to Dick’s death, Dick and Nancy Howser were Lakewood residents. Bob Jones, Lakewood resident and Mayor of Lee’s Summit, asked the city to change the name to honor his friend.

I am sure many of you may have your own stories and memories of the history of Lakewood. Next month we will look at how far we have come.