approaching port removal deadlines

[Mike Brown]

How far in advance of a port's scheduled removal date do I need to submit 
patches for it? If it expires and is removed before the patches are evaluated 
and accepted, do I need to resubmit the whole thing under the procedures for 
submitting a new port?

(I have updates pending to py-4suite but just managed to accidentally delete
my new Makefile and have to start over.. plus we're getting ready for another
release, so I might want to hold off just a couple more weeks).