President’s Letter

By Mike Moran | Email

The pool is open which means our summer has started!!!  Someone may have forgotten to tell Mother Nature that we opened the Fox Point pool, but she will soon catch on and start to bring us those warm and gorgeous summer days that we all have been dreaming about since last year. Many thanks to Horace, Seth and their crews for getting the pool up and running on time!!!  Our pool is a great asset, but it is also something that takes a lot of time and energy to maintain, to open, and to keep operational.  If you should see either of these two gentlemen at the pool, please let them know that they once again did an excellent job!!  

As you may already know, this is one of my favorite times in Fox Point! We live in a great community –which is far more than simply saying that we live in a neighborhood.  Our Fox Point community, our neighbors, our assets, and our beautiful surroundings are what make Fox Point one of the best places to live in the Northwest suburbs.  Spring is when our community starts to come alive, the flowers begin to bloom, and we all start to get out and enjoy Fox Point. Take advantage of our incredible community in Fox Point and make time to meet your neighbors!!  

We have also started to reactivate our social media, so we can share the best things about Fox Point with others on the many social media platforms.  Please link yourselves to the different platforms and post pictures as we work to market Fox Point to future neighbors. The two main platforms that we have set up at this point are Facebook and Nextdoor.

Please also watch for future notices regarding the planned renovation of our pool house, which is scheduled to begin after the 2019 pool season.   The subcommittee has spent much of the spring evaluating proposals, refining bids and working toward finalizing the pool house renovation plan and budget. We hope to be in a position to share the plan with the neighborhood via a town hall meeting in June or July so that everyone can see what is being planned.

We have been very fortunate over the years to have boards that were very fiscally sound conservative in their approach to managing association monies and a long-term vision to allow us the financial resources to maintain and rebuild our assets when needed. We continue to be able to update and/or rebuild our assets using savings that have been designated for capital projects. Most notable and recently, these include the new pool, the new tennis courts, large landscape projects, the boat docks project and our pool house renovation in progress.

I again ask everyone to be very cognoscente of their driving speeds as they commute throughout the neighborhood.  There are still quite a number of folks that are moving quite expeditiously throughout the neighborhood. Please try to keep your speed down to 20 MPH! Please take the opportunity to remind all younger drivers to slow down as they navigate the neighborhood. I, unfortunately, get quite a few complaints regarding driving speeds and I am hopeful we can work through the issue by simply reminding everyone to simply be mindful of their speeds.

As a friendly reminder, see our Good Neighbor Guidelines  https://foxpointorg.wpengine.com/association-information/

Enjoy the Start of summer!!

Social

By Stephanie Paine| Vice President | Email

Social Update

Summer is (kinda) upon us! We have a few fun events coming up – if you have ideas for other events to add to the social calendar this summer, please feel free to reach out to me! We are always looking for fresh ideas and, of course, it would be helpful if you’re willing to recruit a team to coordinate an event. (As all of our social events are run by volunteers). New residents, please feel free to get involved! It’s a great way to build relationships with your fellow neighbors.

Fishing Derby Recap

The fishing derby was another success! Thanks to Brian Meier and Brian Paine for coordinating this event yet again. The fish weren’t biting much, but Henry Connors, Ellie Connors, and Abby Monk scored prizes and Drew Meier caught a bullfrog!

After a brief hiatus, the adult pool party is back on the calendar this year! We will be combining this event with the annual tennis party – stay tuned for details and mark your calendars for July 20.

Summer Campout at the Boat Docks – Save the date for August 17, 2019!

The Fleming, Deuce 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.

Architecture

By Geoff Ommen | Email

At the May meeting, we had several more applications submitted for the installation of Solar panels. While the board has no official point of view or recourse to prevent neighbors for installing these, we ask that those considering installations discuss it with their neighbors.

The board voted to amend the Architectural guidelines, requiring that the NEIGHBOR wishing to install solar panels complete and submit the Architectural approval form. (Forms submitted by 3^rd party companies/vendors will not be accepted)

If you have any questions about this please let me know.

Civic Affairs

By Margaret Graff | Email

Fox Point has had a long history of welcoming new neighbors and enveloping them into neighborhood activities. In the past, we’ve included brief welcome write-ups in this newsletter of new neighbors that wish to participate. Given the electronic world in which we all now live and due to privacy concerns, we’ve decided to communicate these via Next Door “welcomes” posts instead. We believe this will not only be more expedient, but it also offers a “closed access” platform as all members of the Fox Point Next Door community are approved for membership (vs. foxpoint.org which anyone can access)

Sara Giunchedi continues to lead this effort for Fox Point – joining her are Melissa Paris and Liz Cocoma who will cover north side newcomers.

New Neighbors can find the form here FOXPOINT WELCOME FORM also housed on foxpoint.org under “About Fox Point.

If anyone has questions please contact one of these 3 below:

• South Side: Sarah – giunchedi@live.com
• North Side (East of Boat Docks): Melissa – mparis@gandmo.com
• North Side (West of Boat Docks): – Liz – lcocoma@ovationtv.com

Common Grounds

By Jay Roberts | Email | 224-315-6457

This month marks to start of pool season! Hope everyone is gearing up for a great season.

Our landscaping crew has been working extremely hard to get ready to make sure that everything looks great and is in order. The weather has pushed them back a bit, but they’ve been super diligent about trying to stay on schedule for opening weekend.

The playground especially needed some extra attention. They were able to remove many of the roots that were underneath the mulch and those that were also exposed. To finish off the area they topped it off with nearly 3 inches of playground mulch.

In addition, to the playground, the crew also put some new mulch in around the pool, the trees along the parkway, and the main entrances. Later this month they should be able to finish the mulching with the cul de sacs.

By next month, I should be prepared to give you a full report on the monument walls and where we need to go with those. To start, they are in rough shape and will be addressed this year. Currently, I’m still collecting quotes and seeking out professional advice to see what our best solution is. Much more to come on this later. Thanks for your patience with this project but progress is being made.

Enjoy the pool this season and please let me know if you have any questions!

Lake

By David Jobes | Email

FISH

On May 23 we conducted our first electrofishing survey of 2019 and were pleased to receive a report that a number of good size crappie and bass were observed.  For those unfamiliar with electrofishing, it is a common and popular technique to gauge the fish population of a lake. During the same time, we removed approximately 500 pounds of carp. Limiting the carp population helps to reduce the overall murkiness of the water as well as other benefits.

We were hoping to conduct a fish survey of the pond, but the banks were too soft due to all the rain we have received lately. We will be conducting a periodic number of these lake management procedures throughout the summer.

BOAT STORAGE

We continue to work on the new boat storage system and will update the neighborhood as it becomes finalized. If you have questions please send me an email at d.jobes@MotivationExcellence.com.

ALGAE

Some of you may have noticed that there is a return of the blue-green algae in Fox Point’s waterways. We have contacted our treatment partner and they are helping us try to mitigate this situation. They believe that the algae is coming from Bakers Lake and flowing into the small pond and subsequently into Lake Louise.

Pool

By Horace  Seely-Brown | Email

The Pool is OPEN, the weather is improving (if ever so slightly) and dreams of a pool house renovation are coming to fruition!

Pool House Renovation Project

At the May FPHA meeting, the Board took two big steps in moving this project on its path forward. Sterling Renaissance Inc. was officially approved as the general contractor for the pool house renovation project. Sterling is a local commercial construction company based in Lake Zurich.

Additionally, the Board approved a total project cost, not to exceed $450,000. The entire project will be able to be financed via FPHA reserves – there will not be a special assessment.

This dollar amount is the result of the subcommittee’s evaluation of 3 bids inclusive of key base renovation elements: gutting the existing structure, replacing the cement slab floor, replacement of all pipes/plumbing and other interior/exterior replacement components. At this writing, there are several other elements being considered for the project (including changes to the entrance, interior reconfiguration, aesthetic enhancements, and heating elements). Once these elements are more finalized, a detailed overview of the project will be shared with the neighborhood.

NOTE: As a reminder, this is a renovation project –it is not a teardown of the existing structure, nor is it adding a second floor/meeting room, etc. The board and subcommittee explored all the above and other scenarios, which have been ruled out in order to be fiscally responsible and mindful of association budgetary constraints.

While the Board approved the maximum expenditure for the project noted above, the majority of the expense (roughly $300k) will need to be officially approved in the 2020 budget. The 2019 Budget includes $125k to begin the project this fall with the planned completion of the entire project before the start of the 2020 swim season. Watch for more details along with a Town Hall meeting later in the summer.

The Pool

We expect an abundance of activity at the pool this season as Swim Team and Water Polo has started and our Swim Lesson program starts next week. Please make sure to track the goings on via the official Pool Calendar https://foxpointorg.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Fox-Point-Pool-Calendar-2019-Final.pdf also posted at the Pool House, on (foxpoint.org), and on NextDoor.

Our swim lesson program kicked off last year with 8 initial swimmers and I am pleased to say we expect over 20 little ones this summer!

As a reminder, for those adult residents looking to kick off their day with a swim, Fox Point has approved usage by the Barrington Masters program this summer on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30-8am. Adult Fox Point residents are welcome to join! The start times are early, so please by respectful of your neighbors and keep your noise level to a whisper!

Last, a few “good neighbor reminders at the pool this summer as a refresher for long time residents or an introduction to those new-comers in the neighborhood. Drinks and food products must be kept 4 feet away from the pool so please no drinking while in the pool or setting drinks/food on the gutter as you enjoy a refreshing dip. Absolutely No GLASS containers are allowed on the pool deck. Last, remember to pick up after yourselves so the guards can focus on the water!

*For a complete list of Pool and IDPH rules see links here: http://www.dph.illinois.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pool-regs-042716.pdf

We look forward to a wonderful swim season and as always, if you have ideas, suggestions on ways to improve the overall experience, please let me know!

Horace Seely-Brown

Tennis

By Christine Mickey | Email

The Fox Point tennis courts are open for the season! We hope you enjoy the second summer on our new tennis courts! Please remember that the tennis courts are for tennis only. No biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, hockey, dog walking, etc. Please help to keep our new courts in great shape!

First Serve is back this summer with a full schedule of adult and junior tennis programming. Please see the information in the documents linked below to view the summer schedule and sign up for the tennis classes.

SAVE THE DATE:  

July 20, 2019, for the Fox Point Adult Round Robin and Pool Party.  The festivities will kick off with a round robin format tennis games and then move over to the pool deck for food, drinks and live music.  More details coming soon.  

Please stay tuned for more details on the annual Fox Point vs. Biltmore tennis event. We are currently working with Biltmore to get a date on the calendar.

See you on the courts!