President’s Letter

By Mike Moran | Email

We just completed our yearly election of the new board and I truly appreciate everyone that voted either in person or via mail. Our 3 new board members are a mix of returning and new members. I want to offer special thanks to Lynn Douglas –for running again, and continuing with the tireless and thankless job as our treasurer. We welcome back Margaret Graff previously served on the board and we welcome newcomer David Jobes. Below is your 2019 Fox Point Homeowners Association Board for 2019:

Here is your 2019 Board of Directors/Officers/ Committee Assignments:

President: Mike Moran

Vice-President & Social: Stephanie Paine

Treasurer: Lynn Douglas

Secretary: Steven Shanfeld

Architecture: Geoff Ommen

Civic Affairs: Margaret Graff

Common Grounds: Jay Roberts

Lake: David Jobes

Pool: Horace Seely-Brown

Tennis: Christine Mickey

Safety & Welfare: Jeff Barnum

I also want to take a moment to thank a few folks who have given their time to Fox Point. We say goodbye to outgoing members Eric Vandenberg & Marc Muhs (who retired earlier in 2018) and thank them for their service on the board. Additionally, I’d like to thank the 3 outgoing Fox Point Dolphins chairs – Tammy Kerr, Doreen Muhs and Kim Richmond –these 3 ladies have served our neighborhood for many years and helped make the swim team an awesome program for our young people.

One of the new items you will find on our website is a formal complaint form for our neighborhood (LINK TO FORM). Fox Point is governed by the Illinois Common Interest Community Association Act (CICAA) and as such we are required to have a formal policy and form in place for homeowner use. Homeowner usage of this form is optional. Questions, comments, concerns, and complaints can continue to be communicated to the board via phone, email or in person at any board meeting. I appreciate the efforts of Jeff & Jill Barnum for doing the necessary work to get us in compliance with the new regulations.

I invite everyone to continue to follow your association and the new agenda items for 2019. The largest initiative for this coming year will be the pool house renovation plan that has been in discussion for the past 18 months. We should have a formal plan in the next few months followed by town hall meeting for all neighbors.

I appreciate the honor of being re-elected at the President for one more year. I hope to make it a productive year for Fox Point and for the Association.

FPHA BOARD PSA: LAKE LOUISE WINTER RECREATION

Just a friendly reminder about using Lake Louise this time of year– Ice Skating, walking etc on the lake is fun this time of year. BUT please be especially mindful and watchful of children playing on the ice– and if you see melting spots that means you should get off the ice.

* Winter recreation on the lake is at a resident’s own risk.

Social

By Stephanie Paine| Vice President | Email

Our annual social calendar kicked off on January 12 with the Progressive Dinner. As luck would have it, we received a healthy dumping of snow on the day of the event, but we didn’t let that ruin the fun! Thanks to Melissa Mickey, Melinda McElroy, Allison Meier, Nikki Dimucci for coordinating this event – the logistics for this one are quite challenging! This event wouldn’t happen without our wonderful neighbors opening up their homes – a special thanks to the Barnum’s and the Powal’s for hosting the whole crowd for appetizers & dessert!

Annual Card Party – Save the date for April 12, 2019 at Makray. Plans are underway for the annual Fox Point Card Party! Melissa Mickey and Christie Hewlett are finalizing the details for the event at Makray. More information including sign up date and cost will be coming soon.

Summer Campout at the Boat Docks – Save the date for August 17, 2019! The Fleming, Dimucci and Paris family selected a date for the annual campout – Saturday, August 17. School starts on a Tuesday this year so your kids will have a few days to catch up on sleep after the campout.

Treasurer’s Report

By Lynn Douglas | Email

2019 Annual Assessment

Your Board of Directors adopted the 2019 Budget, as proposed and published in December 2018. This includes an increase of $25 to the Annual Assessment to $1025.

Also approved is an optional pay -for- use fee of $50 for those who intend to store their watercraft at the FPHA boat rack at the boat launching area in 2019.

Our CPA, Picker & Associates will mail invoices to all owners of record before February, month end. The Assessment is for the 2019 calendar year and will be due no later than March 31, 2019. If your mailing address has changed or if you do not receive an invoice by February month-end, please contact Linda Smith at Picker & Associates at 847-541-4000 for a duplicate copy.

2018 Financial Statement

Fox Point continues to maintain a solid financial condition with continuously improving infrastructure and insurance coverage.

We closed 2018 with $35,000 in our Operating Account, adequate to cover operating expenses during the first quarter of 2019, before the 2019 Annual Assessment becomes due. We had a Balance of $738,000 in Capital Reserves.

Our 2018 Operating Expenses were slightly under budget and we invested $113,000 less than expected into Capital Projects.

We invested $148,000 into a complete replacement of the 50 -year old Tennis Courts and fencing. We deferred the $50,000 investment to replace the Boat Racks to 2019 and the $50,000 investment into Phosloc treatment of the lake was determined to not be necessary at this time.

2019 Intentions

We anticipate an incremental $211,000 contribution to Capital Reserves in 2019. Potential capital investments for 2019 include:

• $25,000 for continued landscaping rejuvenation
• $25,000 for a new roof on the Pool House.
• $30,000 for decorative metal fence repairs
• $40,000 for tuck-pointing walls and pool house
• $50,000 for new boat racks
• $100,000 for replacement of all waste lines and sub floors in the Pool House, once the season ends, after Labor Day.

Potential Investments for 2020 include:

• $200,000 to dredge the pond
• $200,000 for Pool House Renovation

The 2018 Financial Statement can be found here

Secretary

By Steven Shanfeld | Email

I hope everyone is having a great start to their 2019. As we head into the New Year, we are looking at ways to innovate how we as neighbors connect with one another.

The Fox Point directory has always been a main resource for connecting with other neighbors, but we have since added things tools as Nextdoor and the new improved FoxPoint.org website. For now, we will continue with a printed copy of the directory — but will be looking into new methods to possibly replace or enhance it. As in the past, I will be updating the directory for the 2019/2020 edition. A notice will be sent out in the next few weeks asking for updates (Names, Phone Numbers, etc.), however, this year we will be taking it a step further by adding more than 1 phone number per house hold. As of right now the plan is to include a notice within your annual dues letter coming from Picker & Associates, which like last year will be returned to me for the updates.

Lastly, we it was discussed at the January meeting that it might be useful to try to get an update on our neighborhood demographics in terms of homeowner ages, number of kids etc. Thus we are exploring including a survey of sorts with the dues notice (either paper or electronic). We are still working through options but will hopefully have it all figured out by the time the annual dues letter goes out.

I look forward to another great year here in Fox Point.

Architecture

By Geoff Ommen 

Hello neighbors, I have been assigned to the position of Architecture Chair for 2019.  Over the past several years, I have held multiple positions on the Fox Point board including:  Civic Affairs, Secretary, President, and Lake Chair.  It is my pleasure to continue to keep serving our community.

The Architecture Chair is responsible for helping homeowners get their exterior modifications approved by the community.  If you’re remodeling your bathroom, the HOA doesn’t have a vote.  If you’re building a patio or a portico, the HOA has a say.  Anything that is NEW AND EXTERNAL that other people will see should get HOA approval.

For more information on the architecture approval process, please visit foxpoint.org and go to the architecture guidelines page under the governance tab.  If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me at 847-271-2622 or my email address above.  I am more than happy to help.

Civic Affairs

By Margaret Graff | Email

Greetings FP Neighbors and friends! I’m pleased to be serving on the board again – this time in the area of Civic Affairs.

My duties include oversight of the Fox Point Newsletter and spearheading updates to foxpoint.org.  As an offshoot of this, it is my goal to evaluate and enhance other communications channels to ensure that we are effectively communicating amongst Fox Point neighbors– and positioning Fox Point as the stellar community that it is within the Barrington community and to potential residents!

I also plan to use this role to inform and keep you updated on civic activities that affect each of us as homeowners in Barrington area and beyond.

(Specifically, the April election is extremely relevant for us all- between the Village Trustee election, Barrington School Board Election and the District 220/Blueprint 220 Referendum)

Please let me know if you have thoughts or ideas!

Common Grounds

By Jay Roberts | Email

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you all are staying warm. Our snowplow crew has been very busy over the past few weeks. I’m hoping to stay on top of the sidewalks and school path as best I can so that everyone is safe.

I’m excited with the projects that I have on tap for this coming year! We will continue with the cul-de-sac project and complete three more areas. I also plan to take a hard look at the monument walls and the decorative fencing that sits on top of those. We will need to put a long-term plan in place to make sure those return to top shape. Most of that will involve some major tuck-pointing. There are 8-10 dead and/or dying Austrian Pines that surround our tennis courts and run along Lake Cook road. I’ve talked to several vendors about removing those and then what we can do from a design standpoint to replace. With the tennis courts being brand new and the visibility of those trees, we need that area to be a better showcase for the neighborhood.

Starting this spring we will be working with a brand new landscaping crew, Ringers Landscape Services. The company has been around for a long time and offers a wide range of services. When I met with them they were very impressive with their presentation and proposal for Fox Point. I think it will be a great fit and I’m looking forward to working with them.

Again, stay warm and I hope to see everyone around the neighborhood soon!

Lake

By David Jobes | Email

Thanks to everyone who voted for me to serve on the Board. For those who do not know me, my wife Denise and our two college aged children have lived in Fox Point since 2011. We have created many friendships and take full use of the phenomenal amenities in our neighborhood, and at this time of year you may find me on the lake ice fishing, you will know it is me by the blaze orange jacket!

Over the last several years I have met with the lake committee to review various options to enhance the quality of this great asset of our community, and now I am excited to be on the board specifically working on the lake issues. I encourage all of you to take advantage of this resource and of course provide me any thoughts or concerns you may have.

I want to thank all of my predecessors who have taken care to make sure the lake prospers and especially want to shout out the current committee members of Geoff Ommen, Jeff Dahnke and Henri Kokke.

Pool

By Horace  Seely-Brown | Email

Fellow Neighbors and Friends! I am pleased to return for my third year on the board and once again, serving as Pool Chair. We had a great year in 2018 and look forward to an even better 2019. While the temps may be low and the ground covered with snow, we are busy starting to plan for another successful summer season in just a few short months.

One of our big initiatives for 2019 will be finalizing a renovation plan for the pool house. For those of you that have visited over the past few years, you certainly know the amount of TLC required. In 2018, we hired an architect to layout a renovation plan and a vision to bring the pool house into the 20^th Century.

As part of this process, we had the drain lines in the pool house scoped and as expected, we have found them to be past their expected lifetime and the primary reason we see backups periodically in the bathrooms. We believe this update pushes the project past simply TLC updates and look forward to sharing this vision, as we get closer to the pool season. Please be a bit patient with us as we finalize this plan and know we will try our best to over-communicate our progress and timeline!

As for our pool management company, the Board recently approved a new 3-year contract with Pool Watch, Inc. The new contract had a minor increase in expense due to rising chemical treatments and insurance costs, but this was expected given our last contact was implemented in 2015.

In 2018, we started a new swim lesson program for those younger neighbors not quite ready for swim team. I think all would agree this was a great success and we are excited to bring this program back for 2019. We are reviewing an expansion of this program and will keep you all posted as to the specifics.

With regard to swim and water polo teams, I know the committees are working hard on preparations for their up coming seasons and will be communicating shortly their lists of important dates.

Lastly, our pool hours will remain the same as 2018. These will be posted on foxpoint.org as well as at the pool house in the next month or two. In short however, we open at 12:30 on weekdays and 11am on weekends, closing at 8pm during the week and 9pm on weekends.

I look forward to another successful swim season ahead and as always, if you have any comments/questions/grand ideas, please let me know!

Safety and Welfare Report

By Jeff Barnum | Email

Reduce Your Speed!

Fox Point continues to have a few speeders zipping through the neighborhood, along with distracted drivers usually using their cell phones, so I thought it would be wise to share a few statistics regarding speeding and distracted driving.

Approximately 32 percent of all fatal crashes are speed-related. The National Safety Council says that across the country more than 13,000 people a year die in car crashes caused by speeding.

In 2016, Illinois had 1078 traffic fatalities, 419 of them were speeding related, according to NHTSA.

Also, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): Drivers who use hand-held communication devices are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves or others, and texting while driving makes it 23 times more likely that a driver will get into a crash.

In 2010, 3,092 people died in the U.S. in crashes involving a distracted driver and about 416,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver. In fact, 18 percent of all crashes causing bodily harm in 2010 involved a distracted driver. In 2016 that number increased to 3,450 lives were lost due to distracted driving.

Young drivers, in particular, have a high likelihood of being involved in a distracted driving accident. Eleven percent of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes in 2010 were reported as distracted at the time of the crash.

Please drive no faster than 25mph throughout our neighborhood and those texts can wait! The safety and lives of our neighbors depend on safe driving!

Tennis

By Christine Mickey | Email

The Fox Point tennis courts are closed and locked for the winter. Thanks to First Serve Management Company for taking down the nets and windscreens. The courts will be back up and running this spring when the weather remains consistently warm.

The tennis committee is looking for Fox Pointers to plan this summer’s tennis social parties. If you would like to volunteer please contact me!