President’s Letter

By Mike Moran | Email

We are finally here!! Happy 2021!!! 

I have tried to write this newsletter quite a number of times in the past week and each time found myself frustrated.  Frustrated at the past year & the challenges that we have all faced in the prior twelve months.  It has been a miserable time for all of us full of pain & sickness, challenge & exhaustion, loss & chaos, and at times extreme sadness & a sense of being overwhelmed.  It was clearly a monumental time in our lives yet hopefully full of at least a couple of life lessons that will help each of us be better people in the future. 

As I write this version of my article it is 2021 and I feel something that I did not feel last week; I feel HOPE.  I feel an extreme sense of relief that we have made it!!  We are very close to the finale and the end of the race is in sight!!  We have all run a very long and challenging race this past year but the “finish line” is right around the corner.  Soon we will all feel that exuberance that one feels after running the hardest race of their lives, after crossing the finishing line first, after giving it every ounce of energy in your body, and as we watch friends and family as they cheer us as we cross the finish line.  

My Hope is that we all learn from the pain of 2020 and live our lives as better people, doing nice things for others, & enjoying the simple things in life.  I hope we take the chaos of the past and turn int into strength and that we take the pain endured and turn it into an appreciation for others.  This is going to be a great year for all of us! 

On January 18^th we will have our yearly Homeowners Annual meeting via Zoom, elect a new Fox Point Homeowners Board & set the agenda for 2021.   I want to thank the entire board for their tireless efforts this past year in managing the finances and activities of the Fox Point Homeowners Association.  It was a very unique year for the neighborhood but in the end, I think we did a great job managing around the many challenges that were handed to us.  This year we will be losing the support & talent of several board members as Jeff Barnum & Bruce Kukowski will be retiring from the board & my long tenure on the association will come to an end.  I want to thank Jeff and Bruce for their efforts and wish them well on their next journey.

This year is going to be unique as we manage our three January Homeowners meetings via zoom and work to manage the board election.  This year we need everyone’s help to vote preferable by mail.  The ballot will be included in this newsletter and we will also post it on Nextdoor in the coming days.  Please as you read this article, print it off, complete it (one per household), and mail it to us at the PO Box listed on the ballot.  DO NOT wait until the last minutes.  The board meeting is on Monday the 18^th but this is also a holiday so the last mail we will get at the PO Box will be Saturday, January 16^th.  For this to be a valid election we will need a quorum so please vote.  We will also be holding onsite voting at the pool house (entrance) on Monday, January 18^th from 6:00 – 6:45 if you did not get a chance to mail in the ballot.

In my long tenure on the board, we have done many great things in Fox Point and rebuilt the great majority of our assets.  I have had the opportunity to work with some incredibly hard-working & devoted neighbors as we completed each project on-time and either within or under budget in every instance.  We truly have a great group of neighbors that have devoted hours of their time towards making Fox Point a better place to live and raise a family.  For the folks that have more recently moved into Fox Point, I challenge you to get involved!  Whether you have an interest in joining the board, hosting one of our social events, or creating something new within the neighborhood, there is always a need for creativity & support within our Fox Point community. 

While I end my tenure on the Fox Point Board, I continue as your Trustee for the Village of Barrington.  It has been an honor and a privilege to serve on the Fox Point Homeowners Association for all these years!!   

Mike Moran

Secretary

By Tim Gall | Email

Each January, the Fox Point Homeowners Association elects members to the Board of Directors and holds an Annual meeting per our bylaws in conjunction with the regular monthly meeting of the association. 

Fox Point Homeowners may submit their ballots in 1 of 2 ways (1 vote per household)

• By Mail: Must be received in the designated PO box by Saturday, January 16, 2021
• In-Person: At the Fox Point Poolhouse from 6-6:45 pm on Monday, January 18, 2021

As a reminder:  we must have a quorum of at least 10% of Homeowners cast valid ballots in order to hold the election and the annual meeting.

The schedule for this year’s meetings will be as follows:

• 6-6:45 pm Homeowner In-Person Voting@ Poolhouse, 105 Cold Spring
• 6:30 pm January Board Meeting (2020 Board) via Zoom
• 7:00 pm FPHA Annual Meeting & 1^st Meeting of 2021 Board via Zoom

The purpose of the last meeting of the 2020 Board is to take action on the 2020 fiscal year-end financial statement and proposed 2021 budget.

The Annual meeting will include a recap of Association activities from 2020.

The 2021 Board meeting will include instatement of new officers and committee assignments.

A Zoom Meeting link to register to attend the Fox Point Homeowners Association January meetings will be posted on Next Door the week prior to the meeting.

Social

By Rena Slovick Email

As we round out another year in Fox Point, I want to thank everyone who has helped and supported me through my first term on the board. It seemed like a great idea one year ago when I was expecting to have both kids in school and all this free time to dedicate to my community and local school this year (HAHAHA!!) With all the curve balls that 2020 has thrown our way, our Fox Point family proved, again and again, a willingness to bring a village to support our Fox Point community. Cheers to 2021! 

Santa! We Know Him!

We switched up our traditional in-home Santa visits for a mobile option courtesy of Santa’s Village in West Dundee. Santa spent 5 hours at the pool house meeting with our resident little foxes and distributing reindeer food for Christmas Eve. Thank you to Maureen Bozduman who helped out with favors!

You’re a Mean One…

The Grinch made a surprise visit to 18 lucky residents on Sunday December 13th! The Grinch passed out green popcorn from Popcorn Bar and even engaged in a TikTok challenge. Huge Thank You to Tricia Warren-Fenske for finding our Grinch and supporting local businesses with the popcorn idea!

“Buddy the Elf, What’s your Favorite Color?”

Many residents found fun treats at their door throughout December as a mysterious elf circled around Fox Point bringing holiday cheer. Thank you to the elf/elves who were determined to keep us all from feeling “elf’d” by 2020. I promptly hid the king-size candy bar from my children to eat while wrapping Christmas presents in the middle of the night.

Christmas Eve Luminaries

Rumor has it that “back in the day” Fox Point used to shine bright with luminaries on Christmas Eve making it an amazing site to see! Enter Joie Connors, Luminary Angel. What started as “Man I hope people will participate” quickly turned into “OMG we have 3,500 luminaries what have we done?!?” Words can’t explain my gratitude for Joie as she literally cleaned out multiple grocery stores of lunch bags and built a luminary creation station in her garage. Thank you to all the neighbors who helped fold bags, to Julie Gwiasda, Jen Livingston, & Kristin Nuzzo for helping in our luminary sweatshop, & bartender Brian Connors.

Please keep a lookout on the Website Events Calendar, Nextdoor, or via Email for continued Social Updates! A lot can happen in-between newsletters. Give us a follow on social media and send us some photos at foxpointbarringtonsocial@gmail.com

Architecture

By Bruce Kukowski | Email

With everyone stuck at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 turned out to be a very busy year in Fox Point for exterior home, patio, and landscape remodeling projects. I’d like to thank the nine homeowners who abided by our HOA rules and submitted an architecture application to the Fox Point board this year; all these architecture applications were approved. Unfortunately, I did see at least five homeowners doing exterior remodeling or driveway projects who did not submit an architecture application to the HOA board. I have sent your names to the North Pole to be added to Santa’s 2021 Naughty List. Some of these exterior or driveway projects did not receive a Village of Barrington building permit. Keep in mind this may present a problem when you sell your home. Overall, Fox Point is really looking great and I am very excited to see new and existing owners making improvements to their homes and properties.

The last part of my annual report is to remind homeowners to do their due diligence when considering an exterior remodeling or landscape project in 2021. Please take a look at the Fox Point website, read the Fox Point Bylaws, and reach out to the Village of Barrington’s Development Services Department to see if your exterior or landscaping project will require a Fox Point HOA architecture approval and/or Village of Barrington permit.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact the Fox Point HOA Architecture Chairperson.

NOTE: Item listed with an asterisk (*) require a permit from the Village of Barrington (in addition to Fox Point approval) before work can proceed.

Improvements Requiring Application and FPHA Approval

• Additions*
• Expanded Driveway*
• New Deck*
• New Patio*
• New Terrace
• Porch*
• New Walkway*
• Gazebo*
• Permanent Basketball Hoop
• Pergola*
• Outdoor Fireplace/Fire Pit*
• Playground Equipment*
• Changes to Drainage*
• Non-continuous Landscaping
• Hot Tub
• Solar Panels

Improvements NOT Requiring Application and FPHA Approval

• Trampoline
• Temporary Ice Rink
• Change of Energy Source for Yard Lantern
• Replacement Driveways in Original Footprint*
• Replacement Walkway in Original Footprint*
• Replacement Patio in Original Footprint*
• Roof Replacement*
• Gutter Replacement*
• Siding Replacement*
• Door Replacement*
• Window Replacement*
• Garage Doors*

Improvements Historically NOT Approved 

• Fences
• Sheds
• Sport Courts
• Dog Runs
• Pools

Civic Affairs

By Margaret Graff | Email

I hope that this finds everyone happy and healthy at home after the holiday season.

It has been a productive year in Civic Affairs – a lot of progress but always a lot to do.

As I reflect on 2020, I’m most proud of how our neighborhood “pivoted” in the pandemic – maintaining and strengthening our sense of community, enhancing communication, and finding ways to go on living in a COVID world.

The High School Graduate Car Parade that I helped organize was perhaps the highlight for me –as we found a COVID-friendly way for our community to come together and celebrate our graduates.

We continued to foster discussion and dialogue with community stakeholders – from D220 about the referendum, Lines School leadership about the playground, and the Village/D220 about construction projects on the Lines-Station campus.

We enhanced our internal/external communications – utilizing NextDoor as an on-going way to communicate amongst the Fox Point Community; Facebook to highlight timely news; the launch of our Insta handle (thank you FP Social/Rena) and of course this monthly e-newsletter and our Website.

Looking toward 2021 there is much opportunity to continue to evolve and perfect our communications, foster community, and continue a dialogue amongst the broader community.

Common Grounds

By Jay Roberts | Email

Hope everyone had a great holiday season!

It was a very productive though sometimes frustrating year for Common Grounds!

The cul-de-sac project was completed, which was a three-year project.  Each year we worked on three different cul-de-sacs and gave them a completely new look.  The objective was to give them a more updated appearance, add some color, and incorporate some plants that would be easy to maintain.  This year, we completed North Shore Court and Fox Hunt Trail.

One project that we did push back was the monument walls.  We came close to pulling the trigger several times but were never comfortable with the resolution.  There are several factors that we need to consider that will determine how we proceed in the future.  This includes the current landscape, drainage, and grade of the terrain.  A lot of time, effort, and discussion were put into all those aspects this year.  I think we are more educated now and will continue to look at the best options going into next year.

The monument walls will be the main point of focus again next year.  The hope will be to narrow it down to a couple of different concepts that not only will be the proper fix now but something that we can maintain for many years down the road.

Like most people, I’m ready to say goodbye to 2020 and am looking forward to 2021!  Hopefully, we can get back to “normal” and enjoy all that Fox Point has to offer soon.

Until then, stay safe!

Jay Roberts

Pool

By Criss Chang | Email

Dear Neighbors, I hope you are all safe and well. 

It’s wintertime here in Fox Point and for those of us that are braving the snow and wind chills back home, pool days seem very far away.  Reflecting back on this year’s challenges, I am so grateful for this neighborhood’s patience, cooperation, and support as we managed to provide a safe and fun escape from all of the pandemic related restrictions.  The 2020 season data points originally posted back in September, is a reminder of how this community came together and made the best of a difficult situation.

• 10,000 pool attendees checked in.
• 1,100 unique neighbors registered in the system
• 25 Pool Watch staff employed for the summer
• 0 days closed due to operations or inspection failures
• Zero incidents of COVID-19 transmission

Preparations have begun for the 2021 summer season.  In the coming months, updates will be shared on maintenance items planned this year, such as re-painting the wading pool and overdue repairs to a clogged pool drain line.  And we will continue the use of the Omnify app for check-ins. 

Happy New Year and best to you all.

Safety & Welfare

By Jeff Barnum | Email

It has been a pleasure serving on the FP Board over the last three years as a safety chair.  My biggest takeaway as I leave the board is that when we all do our part, staying diligent, while also staying “neighborly”, Fox Point can continue to be the safe and friendly neighborhood it has always been.

Remember, to drive slow in the neighborhood and even slower when there are pedestrians or bikers on the road.  If your gas lamp isn’t lit, light it.  If you are parked overnight on the driveway, make sure to lock your car.  Clean up after your dog.  If you are walking at night, wear appropriate clothing, and have a flashlight.  If you see something suspicious, report it.

Jeff Barnum

NOTE TO NEIGHBORS: Fire Department Training on Lake Louise

Every year the Barrington Fire Department requests access for training on Lake Louise at the boat dock.  This year they will be training on the following days Jan 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30^th. 

There will be a post on Nextdoor as we traditionally do simply letting neighbors know so they don’t think there is an emergency issue down there during these time frames.

Tennis

By Mark Johnson | Email

Happy holidays Fox Pointers!

Well, 2020 is in the books and without a doubt, it was a challenging year. 

Having said that, our tennis courts had plenty of use – both with lessons and general play.  We had a new instructor for the kids and cardio programs and the feedback I received about Marta was very positive.  We anticipate that she’ll return for the summer of 2021.

In terms of general play, the courts were being used throughout the week, particularly in the spring as we transitioned to guidelines with recommendations to have limited interaction outside of the immediate family.  It was the first time I had played in several years and I really enjoyed myself, even though I’m incredibly out of shape.

With the vaccines on their way at warp speed, I’m hopeful that we return to our normal routines and that we have a great upcoming summer..

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and New Year’s and have a great start to 2021.