President’s Letter

By Margaret Graff | Email

It’s that time of year again for the Fox Point Board – 2022 Budget Discussions and Board Member recruitment.

2022 Budget Discussions

As a self-managed Board of Directors, it is incumbent on the FPHA Board to develop annual Operating and Capital Budgets. Each of our Chairs works to estimate and quantify expenses for maintenance and operation of all Fox Point assets. And we evaluate and assess what is needed and when from a capital improvement standpoint. In 2021, there was not a significant capital improvement budgeted – but we do anticipate that the 2022 budget will include at least one.

The proposed 2022 budget will be distributed with the December newsletter.

The 2021 Board will take action on the proposed 2022 budget at its last meeting in January, immediately preceding the 2022 Annual Homeowners Meeting.

Board Recruitment

Each year we have board members whose term ends — and new board members are needed.  In 2022 we will have 3 vacancies as Lynn Douglas, David Jobes and I end our terms.

At the September FPHA meeting, per our bylaws, the board voted in a nominating chair from the board—Steve Kipferl. He will work with a small group of neighbors as the nominating committee to recruit at least 3 candidates for the board. Fox Point bylaws require at least one Board Member from each county serve and of the three nominees required this year, at least one must be from Cook County and at least one from Lake County.  Ultimately new board members will be voted on and elected in conjunction with our Annual Meeting in January.

We welcome any Fox Point homeowner to self-nominate and run for the board. Steve would also welcome any suggestions to fill the board vacancies.

Being a board member is a great way to get involved in your neighborhood, give of your time and talents —and make a difference in Fox Point. We ask those interested in learning more to contact Steve Kipferl via email HERE.

Thank you to all the current and past board members for continuing the Fox Point tradition of a well-run, self-managed homeowners’ association.

Social

By Rena Slovick | Email

Fox Point Golf Outing

The balls were rollin’ and the beverages were flowin’ at Palatine Hills! We had 54 golfers this year, including a group of 6th-grade ladies who definitely gave the group in front of them a run for their money. The following neighbors get bragging rights until next year!

9 – Hole Winners: Team Lunt/Brown

18 – Hole Winners: Team Paine, DiMucci, Jankowski, B. Mickey

Ladies Winner of Games: Elenor Jankowski

Men’s Winner of Longest Drive & Closest to the pin is up for debate as I was provided with numerous fake names. None of you can be trusted!

Holiday Luminaries

There are 73 Days until the Holiday (as of 10/13) which means Brian Connors has to start parking outside of his garage. The Holiday Luminaries will return this year! Last year we had an amazing turnout and we hope you’ll all participate this year! Joie Connors is looking for a committee of interested peeps who would love to help us this year! Sign-up here if you enjoy the sand, candles, and Bloody Mary’s.

Common Grounds

By Jay Roberts | Email

LIGHT’S OUT: Some of you may have noticed that the boat dock light is out and has been for some time now.  We had a crew in place to fix it, but it requires a truck with a lift.  The vendor had an accident and damaged their truck, so the fix has been delayed.  Oddly enough, it seems as if many of the electrical companies that would do this type of work do not have access to a lift right now.  I should have that fixed in the next couple of weeks once the original vendor can come back out.

MONUMENT WALLS: As I mentioned last month, the board continues to have some great conversations around the monument walls.  After looking at several scenarios and different options, we have reached some conclusions, which will be shared out in a different forum.  Look for some further communication on this topic as we finalize the last remaining details.  Thank you for your patience!

MUM’S THE WORD: Look for the annual mums to be installed in early October!  In previous years, they’ve really highlighted our entrances and have signaled the beginning of Fall.

Should anyone have any questions, please let me know.

Jay

Pool

By Criss Chang | Email

As we head into the non-pool season months, many neighbors have reminded me how much they valued their summer days at our pool. For 12-15 hours each day, the pool was operational and filled with activity.  Barrington Masters and Fox Point resident lap swim started most days off, followed by Swim Team practice, then swim lessons for the little tots, and then open swim for residents and guests all the way until dusk.  The fun was further enhanced by the inclusion of guests and party awning rentals, allowing for more opportunities for neighbors to gather at our pool. 

None of these experiences and memories would have been possible without the involvement of several key contributors.  Thank you to the Fox Point Board for helping to review and discuss the many decisions related to and unrelated to COVID protocols.  Thank you to the Swim Team Committee and coaches for all your efforts in providing Fox Point kids with swim skill development, fun, and competition.  Thank you to our pool facility expert and handyman, Seth Gering for keeping the pool mechanicals running on a daily basis – zero-days closed due to operational or inspection failures for another year. Thank you to the services of our Pool Watch lifeguard staff, who kept up with daily maintenance and cleaning measures along with pool safety.  And a big thank you to all Fox Point residents for your cooperation, patience, and participation in all pool activities this summer.

As we head into the fall, tasks for winterizing the pool house have been completed and the pool has been drained.  Preparations and planning for next season are already underway with some improvements planned for the check-in process along with evaluating the need for repairs and maintenance.  Updates will be provided in the coming months.  In the meantime, enjoy the Fall season!

Lake Report

By David Jobes | Email

Fall is upon us, and everyone is starting to get their lawns ready for the winter season. Here is a short but interesting article, Welcome to Fall, from Flint Creek/Spring Creek Watershed on the proper usage of leaves on your property. More importantly, it talks about keeping the leaves out of storm sewers and creeks that flow into the lake. Leaves are a potent source of phosphorus, which can encourage algae growth in waterways, and as everyone is aware this is a major focus of the Lake Committee to control the algae growth in Lake Louise and the pond.

ENCOURAGING NEWS: We received some very encouraging news from the Village of Barrington last month that there is now a formal, EPA program that will tie Baker Lake and Lake Louise together.  Many of us know we receive poor quality water from Baker Lake (our headwaters), but we have always been limited on what we could do to impact Baker Lake.  This news from the Village treats the entire watershed as one, with specific goals of reducing Total Phosphorous (TP) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS).

We now have a direct linkage to the Village, to Cook Co Forest Preserve (who controls Baker Lake), and other key stakeholders, all sharing common mandated goals.  These entities will be budgeting money in the years ahead to fund the studies and ultimately fund projects that reduce TP and TSS in Baker Lake and Lake Louise.  As Lake Managers, we can look forward, AND PLAN FOR, improvements in water coming down the creek.  Up until last month, we really could not plan on that.

PHOSLOCK UPDATE: The goal of the 3-year Phoslock program we started in Spring 2021 is to get more plants established in the water.  In August and we had Lake Co. Dept of Health out to see if we had any plants starting to appear.  They did see some plants, most were invasive type (which is expected), but nothing significant to report.  They will do another assessment in Spring 2022.  Lake Co. is expected to have ‘good’ plants for us to transplant into Lake Louise when the conditions are right.

Another piece of good news is we finally received the approved permit from the Army Corp of Engineers on the creek project. This is the 50/50 Lake County Storm Water Commission grant that we were awarded prior to Covid stopping the progress. We are in the planning stage with our contractor, Trillium Inc. for the actual work to begin this fall. Homeowners affected by the creek have been notified. We will continue to keep these homeowners updated on the work to be completed. Again, the purpose of the creek restoration is to help with the flow of water and minimize the erosion that is taking place, all of which affect Lake Louise.

With the change in seasons take some time and get out on the lake to see how beautiful the area is during the fall months.

Enjoy fall and I look forward to seeing everyone on the lake!

Tennis

By Mark Johnson | Email

Hi neighbors,

I hope everyone is enjoying the late September & early October weather we’ve been experiencing.  I hope the weather continues to remain friendly and the courts continue to get used before the weather starts to transition into winter-like conditions.

I’ll post an update on Next Door, but we’ll likely take the nets and courts down around Halloween.  It’s at that point conditions begin to vary and that also creates a safety issue for the staff removing the nets and windscreens. 

Please reach out to me if you have any questions.

Civic Affairs

By Mark Villalovos | Email

DOWNRIGHT NEIGHBORLY: It’s a wonderful compliment to Fox Point when folks come visit and comment on how nice it is to see neighbors waving to one another in passing cars, pedestrians waving to drivers in cars, and dog walkers waving to other walkers.  We’ve been blessed with many out-of-state visitors who are continually impressed when they witness these casual acts of caring. We are blessed to live in a community that looks out for one another. Neighborly implies a disposition to live on good terms with others and to be helpful on principle.  Let’s continue to practice this simple action and share kindness with those we meet in our community.