President’s Letter

By Mike Moran | Email

Happy Spring to all. This is one of the best times of the year in Fox Point as the natural beauty of our neighborhood starts to wake from the long winter. The flowers start to bloom and the trees come to life setting up the perfect backdrop as neighbors start to enjoy the outdoor beauty of Fox Point. We live in a great community filled with incredible people and families!!

It is that time of year when it becomes incredibly important for each of us to remember to SLOW DOWN when driving through the neighborhood. We have more kids playing in Fox Point than we have had in almost a decade and we have more walkers and runners than in many, many years. Please be very careful when driving and try to limit your speeds to 20 MPH. Please also reach out to your fellow family members and remind them to watch their speeds as well as we all start to get out and enjoy our beautiful surroundings. Safety is our number one priority!!

As most everyone is aware, Barrington 220 has a referendum on the ballot for numerous potential capital expense projects. The Fox Point Homeowners Board held a very informative meeting for homeowners at our March Homeowners meeting on Monday March 18 th . Many Fox Pointers came to the meeting and met with representatives of Barrington 220 to learn more about the referendum and the proposed projects that might be funded pending the outcome of the referendum. If the referendum does pass, please be assured that the Fox Point Homeowners Board will continue to follow the progression of many of these projects especially the ones that have some type of impact on Fox Point.

Solar panels seem to be another hot topic of conversation as neighbors seek to expand on green initiatives. The board has approved a number of solar panel projects that were submitted to us at the past March meeting. There are a wide variety of opinions regarding solar panels and what their impact might be on the neighborhood. We have moved forward with these applications based on the regulations or laws provided to us by a couple of different governing bodies. First, The State of Illinois (since 2011) does not allow a homeowner association to restrict the installation of solar panels within a neighborhood. The City of Barrington also gives almost complete access to a homeowner that wants to install these panels on their homes. We have done extensive research on what can and cannot be done with solar panels and in the end we find each homeowner is within their right to install panels on their homes.

We are moving forward on our proposed plan to rebuild or refurbish the pool house as the 2019 swim season comes to a close. As we get the final plans completed in the coming month or so, we will be holding neighborhood meetings so everyone can see the proposed project and budget. Much of this proposed spend was posted in the 2019 capital expense budgeted for the association as we started the planning for this project last year. There has been a committee working on this project and I can tell you that they have been working very diligently in their program design & budgeting. There will be more to follow in the coming months.

Please come see us at our monthly meetings at the Village church on the third Monday of each month.

Social

By Stephanie Paine| Vice President | Email

April will be a fun month around Fox Point! Join your neighbors at the events below.

Annual Card Party – April 12, 2019 at Markey

The annual card party sold out in a matter of hours – be sure to sign up on the wait list if you’d like to attend. We often have day-of cancellations. Signup for the waitlist here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080c48a8a92fa4fa7-foxpoint17

Easter Egg Hunt – April 13, 2019 at 9:00 am

The annual Easter Egg Hunt will take place at the tennis courts and Fox Point Park. Kids 4 and under will hunt at the tennis courts, and kids 5 and up will hunt at the park & surrounding grass. Please congregate on the lawn near the pool house/parking lot and we will lead everyone down the path to the tennis courts & park 9 am. Given there is a mix of ages at the hunt, please tell your children to limit their hauls to 20 eggs so that everyone goes home with treats. Also – the ground will likely be muddy, so wear your rain/snow boots! A big thanks to Jodi Johnson for chairing the event. RSVP here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080c48a8a92fa4fa7-foxpoint16

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

Thank you to the majority of owners who paid their 2019 Annual Assessment on time. If you have not done so, please take care of your obligation, now.

Mailing instruction may be found on the invoice or here: https://foxpointorg.wpengine.com/fox-point-annual-assessments/

Architecture

By Geoff Ommen | Email

Hello neighbors,

If you recall, at our February meeting we discussed solar panel installation as it relates to the architecture process. The board decided in February that panel installation IS something that falls under the architecture review process. 4 applications for solar panels (with multiple homeowner signatures) were submitted for review during the March meeting.

There was some debate amongst the board on how to proceed. Should we approve the installations or postpone approval of them until we established additional guidelines for installation. During the discussion, Illinois legislation that was passed in 2011 was talked about (known as Public Act 096-1436). The following excerpt from this legislation sums up the boards ability to regulate solar panels:

Section 15. Associations; prohibitions. Notwithstanding Any provision of this Act or other provision of law, the Adoption of a bylaw or exercise of any power by the governing Entity of a homeowners’ association, common interest community Association, or condominium unit owners’ association which Prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting the installation of A solar energy system is expressly prohibited.

Basically an HOA CANNOT prohibit solar panel installation and CANNOT reduce the effectiveness of an installation by regulating where homeowners put their systems. A link to the full legislation is below:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=096-1436

Most common solar panels today are not aesthetically pleasing. Because they are a rarity today they may initially stick out like a sore thumb. However, because of the government incentives being offered at the state and federal level, along with the legislation protecting these installations, they will become more and more common and accepted. Since Monday’s meeting, several homeowners have contacted me to find out more information about installing the panels on their homes.

For more information on solar panels, you can follow a few of the links below:

https://www.illinoissolar.org/

https://www.energy.gov/savings/residential-renewable-energy-tax-credit

https://www.solar-estimate.org/

Please keep in mind that architectural approval forms are not for an individual homeowner to approve or disapprove of a project. They are just to acknowledge that your neighbor reached out to you to say they are going to start an exterior project in the future.

Civic Affairs

By Margaret Graff | Email

Following the March FPHA Board Meeting, we hosted an Information Session with members of the D220 Board Of Education, Sandra Bradford (FP Resident) and Penny Kazimer. The purpose of the session was to educate and inform homeowners about the April 2nd school referendum—and specifically discuss elements that would most directly affect Fox Point Homeowners.

Of particular interest Fox Point homeowners, is an aspect of the Lines/Station facilities plan improvements. An area identified in the development of District’s Blueprint 220 master plan in 2016-17 was the need to improve parking and traffic flow issues at the campus.

Currently all traffic into and out of the Lines/Station campus flows off of Eastern Ave -which during peak bell times causes bottlenecked traffic on Lake Cook and Northwest Hwy. Thus, the potential referendum funds for Lines/Station includes a line item to improve traffic flow/parking and includes adding an additional section of road – conceptually along the east side of Lines, bordering Fox Point.

Many bodies would be involved in evaluating and ultimately approving any type of traffic flow improvements or additional roads—including IDOT, the Village of Barrington, Cook County.

The FPHA and FP residents have a strong history of partnership and dialogue with D220 leadership and will continue to regarding all topics that affect Fox Point homeowners.

District 220 also holds monthly Facilities subcommittee meetings that are open to the public –as are bi-weekly Board of Education meetings. All dates and times are available on the district website: barrington220.org

As of 4/3, it was announced that the D220 Referendum failed. The next earliest referendum could take place in April 2020.

FOX POINT SOCIAL MEDIA

I’m excited to announce that we are launching an official Facebook page of the FPHA –the new page– Fox Point Homeowners Association, just went live. Going forward it will be the main FB source of all things Fox Point in Barrington! (Note: the other FB page was set up as a personal account; no one has claimed administrative rights and activity has been infrequent)

Our hope in launching an official Fox Point Homeowners Association Facebook page is to more fully utilize it as a PR/communications tool for both residents and prospective residents —and to showcase all the things that make our neighborhood a wonderful place to live!

** Please go to Facebook and search for Fox Point Homeowners Association (you’ll recognize our logo/entrance sign on the cover page) – or click the link: https://www.facebook.com/Fox-Point-Homeowners-Association-275108163407853/

Be sure to LIKE and Follow the FB page to stay current on all things Fox Point!!

Next up: Fox Point on INSTAGRAM – look for updates via NextDoor, Facebook and next month’s newsletter

Common Grounds

By Jay Roberts | Email

Hope everyone had a chance to get away for Spring Break! It looks like we may have some warm weather finally coming our way for good. Let’s hope so.

Earlier this month, I did meet with our new landscaping crew to give them a chance to walk through the neighborhood. This should prepare them for the coming season and it gave us a chance to look for some possible projects down the road. I’m very impressed with their attention to detail so hopefully that shows up as we move through the outdoor season. In the next couple of weeks, they will start the Spring Cleanup to prepare the grounds.

I did speak with the village as well to get a better timeline on the lanterns that are out. There are a handful of lanterns for which Nicor must come out and repair the gas line first. This cannot be done until the ground thaws out a bit first. Once that happens, they will come out and repair. After Nicor is through then the village will light all the lanterns that are out. I will continue to monitor this and give updates as needed. This should be done soon.

Hello Spring!

Lake

By David Jobes | Email

It is good to see the ice off the lake as we look forward to spring’s arrival. Along those lines we have started the process of enhancing the lake marina area. We are in the design phase for the replacement of the current boat storage rack with a goal of having completed this year as well as the installation of a kayak/canoe launch pier slated for completion in the next couple of months.

To help in planning a brief survey was posted on Nextdoor a few weeks back to gain an understanding on the number of boats we will need to accommodate on the new storage racks. You can still complete the survey by going to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8DC3XBK. The addition of the new kayak/canoe launch pier will make it much easier for individuals to comfortably get themselves and their kayaks into the water with greater ease. Our goal is to increase usage of one of our most important assets to the community.

*Note: Look for updates/details on the Boat Docks/boat storage plans in next month’s newsletter

Pool

By Horace  Seely-Brown | Email

As we return from Spring Break, many of us having enjoyed trips to warmer climates and spending time in a pool, we await the opening of our own pool! Well, I am pleased to say pool season is merely 55 days away! I say merely as the planning that goes into the opening of the pool and our swim programs means we are in crunch time. Stay tuned to NextDoor for timely updates and the posting of the official pool schedule over the next few weeks.

For those of you driving by the pool a few weeks back, you may have wondered why the lot was full of cars/trucks/vans. This “event” was a meeting of 5 potential contractors and our architect discussing the potential pool house renovation project. We are moving things along and expect all bids for a base and alternate floor plan to be received by the time of this publishing. We have mentioned our desire to present a path forward at the pool opening Memorial Day weekend and we remain on target.

At the March Board Meeting, we approved a request by the Barrington Swim Club to utilize our pool on a handful of dates from Mid-July thru early August. They have used the facility in year’s past as the high school pool goes thru general maintenance. Many of our neighborhood kids participate in BSC and we felt it appropriate to assist the overall community… for a nominal fee of course!

Last, we previously mentioned our desire to offer a swim lesson program in 2019. To date, I have only heard from a few neighbors showing interest and would ask if anyone else has an interest to please email me. In 2018, we offered a program for those residents’ ages 4-6, from 11:10-11:45 during the week and we are looking to replicate. I will have share details as they become available via Next Door or next month’s newsletter, but again, please send me your interest level.

If you have any comments/concerns or ideas to further improve our pool experience, please let me know! We welcome the feedback both positive and negative!

DOLPHINS 

The Fox Point Dolphins Swim Team and Water Polo Team Registration is Now Open!

Each summer, Fox Point participates in the North Shore League of recreational youth water sports, competing with other residential/neighborhood club teams in the Northwest/North Shore suburbs. Year to year, the specific Dolphins Teams vary but include Swim, Water Polo and Dive teams. This is a great amenity/opportunity for Fox Point kids and parents alike!

You can register by clicking the online registration tab on the Team Unify Home Page. Payment and Registration are due by May 1st. 

Swim Team

The Fox Point Dolphins Swim Team is a recreational team that is open to all children aged 5-15 years residing in Fox Point. Our season runs from early June until mid-July ending the season with our team banquet. Swimmers will practice daily from 8:00 am – 11:00 am.

We are excited to announce many of our coaches from last year will be returning, in addition to Head Coach Colin O’Leary! In addition, we have received interested from many additional coach candidates, and we will be reaching out to them in the coming week to setup conversations as we have a better understanding of registration numbers.

A couple of reminders:

• Participation: Children must be 5 years of age by the first day of practice – no exceptions, and be able to swim one length of the pool unassisted. If you are new to swim team, there will be an evaluation at the start of the first practice conducted by our coaches. The decision of the coaches is final.
• 2019 Meet Schedule is Posted on Team Unify: There are 5 meets, typically held on Thursdays, but sometimes Tuesdays and 2 championship meets at the end of the season. Meets start promptly at 4:30 pm and usually last a few hours. Note, we have 3 HOME MEETS this year, so if your child plans to participate, remember a parent will be required to volunteer multiple times through the season.
• Practice Times: A similar practice schedule to years past will likely be followed, but we will want to confirm with Colin. For planning purposes, here is the tentative practice schedule is below. For swimmers enrolled in early morning summer school programs (Academic) we are looking to have an alternate time available for your swimmer to practice; however, space will be limited and acceptance into the alternate time is at the discretion of our head coach. Remember – grade guidelines are for the grade your child will be entering in the fall of 2019.
  • K through 2nd grade: 8:00 am – 8:45 am
  • 3rd grade through 5th grade: 8:45 am – 9:45 am
  • 6th grade to 15 years old: 9:45 am – 11:00 am
• Volunteers: We are confirming the lead volunteer jobs for this season, and will be communicating volunteer jobs in the coming weeks. Given we have three home meets, all families will be required to volunteer for three shifts. If you are unable to volunteer, you will need to have a sub. If you are interested in being a sub, please reach out to us.
• Cost: 1st Swimmer: $215.00; Each additional Swimmer: $155.00

Questions? Please contact Swim Team Chairs @ foxpointswimteam@gmail.com

Looking forward to a great season – Kristin Cannon, Jen Fleming, Jen Livingston, Jenny Postma, Tiffany Seely-Brown, Victoria Sivrais

Water Polo 

Players age 9-15 of all skill levels are welcome to join – whether you’ve played before or not! The season starts right after school is out and ends mid-July. Practices are generally held two evenings per week and matches are on Monday nights. We will be updating the practice schedule soon!

• Cost: The 2019 registration fee is $125 per player.  

Questions? Please contact Parent Chairs: 

Joanna Carl – Joanna_carl@hotmail.com

Allison Meier – aameier804@gmail.com

Mary Monk – mary.e.morrison@gmail.com

We look forward to a great season!

Safety and Welfare Report

By Jeff Barnum | Email

Hello Neighbors – here are some friendly reminders of a few safety concerns that continue to be brought to my attention:

• Speeding – With spring upon us, there are more people out on our neighborhood streets, so again, PLEASE watch your speed. COMING SOON: Fox Point will again employ the speed radar displays set up by the Barrington Police Department. These devices have proven to be very eye opening for drivers throughout the neighborhood and help curb speeding.
• Path to Lines Elementary – Please do not use this path as an alternative place to drop-off and pick-up kids before and after school. Although the Lines parking lot is chaotic, the path is to be used only for students that walk to and from school. The Barrington Police Department has been asked to keep an eye out for offenders.|
• Front Yard Lamps – Now that the weather is breaking, take the time to replace those gas mantles. I highly recommend the hard mantles over the soft ones, as they tend to last longer.

Tennis

By Christine Mickey | Email

The Fox Point tennis courts are closed and locked for the winter. We hope to open the courts back up when the weather remains consistently warm – usually late April.

I am currently working with First Serve Management Company to schedule Fox Point tennis lessons and cardio tennis classes for this summer. More details will be available in early May.

The tennis committee is looking for Fox Pointers to plan the summer’s tennis social parties. If you would like to volunteer please contact me! A few Fox Point tennis socials to look forward to in summer 2019 are the annual Cocktails on the Courts Party, Fox Point vs. Biltmore Country Club and new this year Fox Point vs. Barrington Hills Country Club. If any Barrington Hills members would like to help plan the new event please reach out to me.

See you on the courts!