Valley Lakes Marsh Land

Two board meetings ago John Gutknecht made a short presentation to the village board here was able to email to me the rough draft of the presentation and I will reproduce it below. John has been a guest blogger here in the past, but John has joined the blogosphere as well with a well written and well researched blog. By the way the village board agreed to John and the Valley Lakes HOA's request. He also has a PDF version of his slide here.

We’re here tonight asking for your support with a specific project but more importantly to lay the foundations for a partnership on this and similar projects in the future.

In order to understand this partnership, I think it will help if I explain why the Valley Lakes Community Association is involved in ecological restoration and maintenance. I’ll review our mission, our action plan, go over a couple examples of the work we’re doing and then review what a partnership with Round Lake will offer to our members and to the Village.

I know everyone is familiar with the basics of Valley Lakes, but did you know the Valley Lakes Community Association owns over 284 acres of property? And did you know that unlike most other HOA’s most of the property we own is undisturbed wetland? In comparison Nippersink Forest Preserve (right here in Round Lake) is about 300 acres with less than 200 acres of wetland.

The reason we’re involved in ecological restoration and maintenance is simple; as the owners of this much property, we owe it to our members and the Village to be responsible owners and ensure that this property is cared for and protected for generations to come.

I think everyone understands the environmental impact of wetlands on the local waterways and ground water, and I have no doubt everyone is aware of the global issues surrounding the environment, but there’s more to being environmentally responsible than just “being green.” There is a financial side to it as well. Having a HEALTHY wetland nearby can increase home values by as much as 20% - This in turn adds to EAV.

So whether it was because of the desire to be environmentally responsible, project their investment or some combination of the two - our members made it clear that PROPER management of our open spaces was a priority for them. We have committed to our members that we will maintain our property in a way that will both protect the investment of our members in their homes and protect the investment of the Village in Valley Lakes.

To fulfill this mission we have adopted an action plan that broken down into its basic parts consists of; ecological restoration, strategic partnerships and pursuing every funding opportunity available.

The first step in our restoration focuses on shoreline restoration. The single largest expense for our members in the future will be the dredging and maintenance of 22 detention ponds. The best way to reduce and delay those costs is by implementing an aggressive shoreline restoration program. This is one of 2 ponds done in 2006. All together we restored just over 62,000 square feet of grass into 62,000 square feet of high quality native plants. This is year one of a three year program and represents a $40K investment from our members in their community.

It has the potential for saving $200K in 20 years in dredging and dumping costs. In addition to the financial benefits, it also has the added bonus of improving water quality in these ponds, our wetlands and downstream into Long Lake and the Chain-o-Lakes. This program has been so successful that we plan to continue this program with 5 more ponds in 2007 and more in 2008.

The detention ponds in Valley Lakes all flow into one or more of our various wetlands and the next part of our plan focuses specifically on those areas. We commissioned a professional inventory and assessment of wetland areas this past summer and in line with our expectations received an overall grade of D. While not something to be happy about, in this case a D is about average with the rest of the Chicago region, so while it could be a lot better, it could actually be a lot worse.

Although most of the areas have been heavily disturbed and are rapidly degrading there are traces of some high quality remnants. These areas, even if small, are important reservoirs of genetic material for maintaining regional biodiversity and worth preserving. So with help from our experts we’ve developed a restoration plan that will kick off this spring.

The objective of the plan is to: Protect, Manage and Restore. Our goal is to stabilize first, then lay the ground work for recovery. We’ll be using the best scientific principles and management methods to implement this plan including biological control agents for control of one of the worst plants - purple loosestrife. We’ll also be doing controlled burns (something that is long overdue), and establishing new native plant communities and providing habitat for native wildlife such as the wood duck and the eastern blue bird.

We couldn’t possibly have done all of this on our own. Early on we knew that it would be important to develop strategic partnerships. We were fortunate enough to receive support from the Lake County Forest Preserve. Through Bonnie Carter, our County Board rep and President of the Forest Preserve Board, we’ve had access to some of the district’s key staff and resources. Our partnership was so strong that the Forest Preserve sponsored our application for membership in the Chicago Wilderness Consortium. We were awarded membership in this group in January and through their network of public and private land owners, now have access to technical and financial resources that are only available to members.

Finally we’ve partnered with the Fox River Ecosystem Partnership, a diverse group of landowners, businesses and non-profit organizations that work to fund an implement various projects throughout the Fox River watershed and hired Tallgrass Restoration, LLC. as our exclusive general contractor to develop and implement all of our plans. Tallgrass is one of the founding members of Chicago Wilderness and has a long history with not only the Lake County Forest Preserve, but the Chicago Botanical Gardens, the Morten Arboretum and other area leaders in ecological restoration projects.

Obviously there is a financial investment required in funding all of this work. To date the shoreline restoration projects have been 100% HOA funded. In an effort to offset some of those costs going forward, we’re in the process of applying for funding through the Illinois USDA Conservation 2000 program to cover shoreline restoration costs starting in 2008. The C2000 program has long recognized the benefits of shoreline restoration and it is our hope that grants will cover the cost of continuing the work we’ve already started.

We secured a $25,000 donation from Pritzker when we acquired the Mud Lake wetland and we’ve used some of that money to cover the costs of the wetland assessments and the development of our restoration plans. We expect that money to more than cover the costs of creating those plans and technical documents, but it won’t come close to covering the cost of implementing those plans. For that we’ve budgeted $25,000 to get started and have applied for matching funding through the USDA Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) program.

We were notified last week that not only did we receive that funding – guaranteed for the next 10 years – but we qualified for 100% funding due to the high priority given to Valley Lakes due to the number of endangered and threatened species in the area. While we’re still drawing up the detailed plans and reviewing the various costs, it’s hard to tell exactly how much money this could be, but it could be as much as $500,000.00 over the next 10 years!

So, as you can see there is a good reason we’re involved in this work, and we’ve already made a tremendous investment in getting these projects started. Tonight, the reason we’re seeking a partnership with the Village is to qualify for funding through the C2000 program. This program, which would cover the costs of various shoreline restoration works starting in 2008, requires applicants to establish partnerships local governments and agencies.

As I mentioned we’ve already established a partnership with the Fox River Ecosystem and The Lake County Forest Preserve, but we’d like to include the Village of Round Lake among our list of partners. This is an excellent opportunity for the Village because it will directly benefit one of our areas richest natural resources. It also speaks to the commitments already made by this board in its effort to receive Tree City USA designation and the designation of so much open space on the comprehensive plan.

At this time, we’re hoping for a commitment from the Village to provide a minimal investment of time and material of 2 days of work for 1 or 2 people, a wood chipper and disposal of debris (that can not be used on site.) This is for work to be done in 2008.

We hope that you’ll recognize the value of the work that we are doing to protect, maintain and restore our property and the impact that work will have on our community. We also hope that you’ll join us as a partner in these and other future programs so that together we can fulfill the promise of the original vision for Valley Lakes to provide a model for how a natural habitat can be successfully integrated into a residential community. I’d like to invite you to join us at the Police and Public Works building prior to our annual meeting on April 18th for a more detailed presentation on our shoreline and wetland restoration projects given by Tallgrass Restoration. If you know of anyone that would be interested in attending, please extend this invitation to them.

Thank you for your time this evening and I hope we can CONTINUE to count on your support.

Lakewood HOA Talk Last Night

I was invited to talk to the Lakewood Homes HOA meeting last night. They might be regretting that since I went on for about 2 hours until Sherry Perkowitz dragged me away from the Q &A. Hopefully I did not wear out my welcome.

I got some great questions, transportation, SSA's, multiple taxing districts, questions on parks, and on commercial. Overall it was very good for me, I heard lots of things that we need to address as a village.

They have a very nice new web page which is linked above, they also have an energized forthright HOA board which is a huge step forward.

Homeowners Associations-- A Short History

When you buy a house in a new subdivision or planned unit development, you may be subject to a host of rules and regulations! Are you shocked yet? I know many of you are, because I get more complaints about the dreaded words "Homeowners Association" or the HOA! I have noticed that there is a typical pattern that HOA's tend to follow over the years.

It starts with the village stepping in to beat up the developer, because of homeowner complaints. The developer runs the HOA until a certain percentage of occupancy is met. Then usually because the village forced the developer to turn over the HOA to the residents the problems and complaints shift to the new "resident board". Usually the first thing that happens is the new HOA board decides the old management company (usually a creature of the developer) needs to take a long walk off a short pier. Then the board goes through a shake out and some energetic resident leadership takes over and things tend to smooth out and normalcy returns.

Some of the things you will look for from your HOA are:

• Maintenance: Once a developer'’s responsibility has expired, the owners have to pay for repairs when things start to break down. Having an adequate reserve and a planned maintenance program is essential to preserving the community and your property'’s value.
• Fees and Assessments: Generally, homeowners associations levy mandatory monthly fees to maintain common property, such as lawns, swimming pools, hiking trails, golf courses, or tennis courts Fees may increase as expenses rise and special assessments may also be imposed for major costs such as a new roof for a community sports center or private street repair.
• Liens and foreclosures: If you fail to pay your association dues, or run afoul of its regulations, you can be charged a fine. A lien can even be imposed on your property resulting in potential foreclosure, sometimes over trivial amounts. If you dispute the charges in court and lose, you may also have to pay the association'’s legal fees.
• Governance: Most homeowners association board members are volunteers elected by the property owners. Sometimes inexperience can cause mistakes, resulting in additional expenses. Often, more than 50 percent of the dues collected by an association are used to pay for the management companies and attorneys it employs.
• Regulations: Together with their management partners, homeowners associations function very much as private governments. Once property owners sign a contract agreeing to comply with an association'’s laws, that often supersedes their individual property rights. It'’s not easy to change community regulations imposed by a homeowners association. To do so generally requires the approval of the majority of members.

My mayoral radar tells me this will be a lively debate on the comment section of my blog so I promise to blog further on the subject since I am sure I will get some ideas from the feedback. A couple of interesting facts on HOA's are that they are:

• The fastest growing form of government in the US in the last 15 years.
• 1 in 6 Americans live in a HOA environment.
• There are at least 20 HOA's in Round Lake.
• The Village has taken over one HOA, Bright Meadows! By the way the residents requested it.

By the way this is an article from a few months ago, but I am pressed for time this morning.

Animals in the Wetlands

Recently I have been noticing and getting complaints about people walking pets in and around in the wetlands at Valley Lakes and in other developments as well. The village inserted as standard verbiage into most of the relevant HOA declarations the following.

Section 8.17 of the Valley Lakes declaration lists prohibited acts: "No Unit Owner, Occupant, or Person shall be permitted:" and if you read down you discover that section item J reads:
(j) to bring or allow to enter into a dedicated wetland any dog, cat or other animal or pet.

The above was placed in the declarations for Valley Lakes specifically because the Army Corps of Engineers required it because of the wetlands studies that Pritzker (the original owners) had to go through.

While the declaration does not specifically prohibit a member from entering the wetlands, it does prohibit dogs (and minors). I would like to discourage residents from wandering at will through the wetlands and prefer to encourage them to think of them as "off limits". In Valley Lakes there is a walkway through a portion of the wetlands with plans to add more in the future, but members are encouraged to stick to those areas and not wander at will through the wetlands. The area up near Valley Lakes 2 (Behind the CVS) tends to be high ground and as such is dryer and already criss-crossed with trails which I think encourages them you think they are open to member access. In Madrona Prairie Walk and Lakewood we have a path system set up that hopefully encourages you to walk your dogs on it

It's ultimately up to your HOA board to create a policy to determine how to manage access to this area, however in no circumstances would it be okay for a member to bring a dog with them. I would encourage the HOA to post "No Trespassing signs" (as required by the declaration and wetland maintenance agreement on file with the Village in most cases) and make sure all of the residents knew that if they were going to go out in this area that they should ensue they do not cross these areas.

I would also ensure that a sign was installed facing into the property along the perimeter anywhere there is a path that indicated that was the limit of the property. This puts the burden on the Association to mark it's own property line (again, as required in the agreement) and put the burden on anyone choosing to go back there to stay on HOA property. I would also make sure it was clear to residents that dogs are not allowed in these areas. I would also discourage members from entering these areas until sufficient restoration and preservation efforts have been put forth to sufficiently protect them. The ones between Valley Lakes and Valley Lakes 2 for example are after all some of the highest quality wetlands in the area.

I know that the Valley Lakes HOA who own the Mud Lake wet lands is in the process of developing a wetland maintenance plan for the Mud Lake wetlands that will protect this area for the long term.

I would encourage all HOA's to carefully review their declarations and implement polices to protect these wetlands.

HOA's-- Another Voice Heard From

NOTE: This post is a first, the first not written by me. John Gutknecht wrote this on my comment section on yesterdays post, he is the first commenter to ever reach the limit to how much text could be commented on not once but three times! John and I have not been on the same page on some issues (I was right) over the years and we have agreed on others, but I can tell you that he is one of the most organized people I know and the Valley Lakes HOA runs very smoothly becuase of him. John serves the village as a board member on the Round Lake Management Commission for our lake. Our community is that much better becuase people like John live here!

Why all this hostility to HOA's?

Like it or not, mandatory homeowners associations are the result of responsible development and are the result of the evolution of residential property development and ownership. Associations are the only way to deal with the realities of commonly held property which is the result of communities demanding more "open space" and "less density" in their developments.
By purchasing into a community association, the homeowner agrees to abide by the community's pre-established guidelines. In our modern developments, homeowners live very close to each other (often on less than 1/6th of an acre) and share common facilities and property and this requires that they sacrifice certain freedoms for the cause of protecting communal property values and reducing nuisances. Reasonable restrictions, consistently enforced over time, will preserve the net value of the community and maintain a high quality of life for residents. The purpose and functions of an HOA are outside of those for municipal government which is in place to serve the ENTIRE municipality.

Even if a municipal government were to take over an HOA, they would still be required to enforce the declaration. In some cases (Valley Lakes) even if the HOA is abolished, the restrictions in the declaration "shall continue only until the expiration of twenty (20) years after the death of the last surviving child born in Lake County, Illinois, in the year 1998." which in most estimates is sometime in the year 2100!

So even if you abolish your HOA, most of the "issues" that people have with HOA's would still exist, but instead of local homeowners calling the shots, a bunch of elected politicians would be deciding the fate of your neighborhood. And who's to say that the money you pay in taxes (instead of assessments) isn't put into some general fund with only a small portion of that money actually being spent to maintain the value of your community. Do you want some guy who's more interested in being re-elected so he can protect his "good old boy" buddies deciding how much money is being spent on the upkeep of your community, or would you rather have one of your neighbors calling the shots?

Each community has a distinct and unique character that was present from the beginning. It's the HOA's responsibility to maintain that character which includes such things as architectural control and common area maintenance. Some communities are more burdened than others.
For example, Lakewood has the added amenity of having a swimming pool for it's members to use. I think it's a safe bet to say that less than half of the people buying a home there actually gave any thought as to who was going to pay for the upkeep of that pool. If you knew you were going to end up paying $300-$400 a year for the upkeep of a community pool, would you have bought a home there?? Maybe, maybe not, but just because you didn't take the time to find out you were responsible for that expense before you moved in, doesn't give you the right to abandon that responsibility.

Instead of b!~@&!%# about the your HOA, why not get involved and make a difference. I think you'll find that like most people who get involved in HOA's they quickly realize that they are bound by what the declaration allows them to do. Most HOA's are not as "all powerful" as most people think they are. But if you get involved in a constructive manner, you'll have a chance to actually have a hand in the direction of your community. You have a much better chance of affecting the direction of your community through your HOA than you do through the Village Board. But I think what's really going on here is the same problem we have in general in this country - apathy. People whine and complain about stuff - especially on the internet - but when it comes time to actually DO anything about it or voice their opinion in person, they just stay locked up in their nice suburban homes peering out through closed windows and spewing hate on the keyboard. I witnessed this first hand last year when the Valley Lakes Board increased assessments by 15% (after not having an increase for 7 years) With all of the comments and complaints we received, we were prepared for the worst. With 1172 homeowners, we expected 10-15% would show up to voice their concerns. So we were prepared for 200 or more people. When 5 (yes FIVE) people showed up, I knew we had reached a new level in apathy.

I completely disagree with the argument that HOA's are another layer of government and an additional tax on the homeowner. This is simply not true. HOA's are limited by their charter as written in the declaration. So you ALWAYS know what you're getting yourself into. A municipal government on the other hand, can write law after law anytime they want all in the interest of "public health and welfare". Your assessment money goes directly to support your community and YOUR property (you hold title in common to your community property, so it IS your property) Your tax money on the other hand goes to support the welfare of your entire community which can grown and expand at anytime. Your tax burden can increase at anytime to accommodate the growing needs of your larger community, your assessments on the other hand can only be spent for your association and that's not likely to grow once the development is finished.

If you want to live in a community that has open common space and one that maintains the architectural integrity of the community, then live in an HOA and sacrifice some of your freedoms for the assurance that you'll live in a community where everyone in the community has a stake in protecting your common property value and share in the high quality of life that comes as a result.

If you don't want those things or you just can't bear to give up your God given right as a citizen of the United States of America to paint your house purple and cover your lawn with miniature replicas of icons from around the world and silhouette cutouts of kids in cute poses then DON'T buy a home in an association, there are plenty of those homes in the area.

Nobody's forcing you to live in an HOA, you did READ the declaration before you bought your home - didn't you?

FINAL NOTE: The picture is of Valley Lakes looking South. This was about a year and a half ago.

Homeowners Association 101

When you buy a house in a new subdivision or planned unit development, you may be subject to a host of rules and regulations! Are you shocked yet? I know many of you are, because I get more complaints about the dreaded words "Homeowners Association" or the HOA! I have noticed that there is a typical pattern that HOA's tend to follow over the years.

It starts with the village stepping in to beat up the developer, because of homeowner complaints. The developer runs the HOA until a certain percentage of occupancy is met. Then usually because the village forced the developer to turn over the HOA to the residents the problems and complaints shift to the new "resident board". Usually the first thing that happens is the new HOA board decides the old management company (usually a creature of the developer) needs to take a long walk off a short pier. Then the board goes through a shake out and some energetic resident leadership takes over and things tend to smooth out and normalcy returns.

Some of the things you will look for from your HOA are:

• Maintenance: Once a developer'’s responsibility has expired, the owners have to pay for repairs when things start to break down. Having an adequate reserve and a planned maintenance program is essential to preserving the community and your property'’s value.
• Fees and Assessments: Generally, homeowners associations levy mandatory monthly fees to maintain common property, such as lawns, swimming pools, hiking trails, golf courses, or tennis courts Fees may increase as expenses rise and special assessments may also be imposed for major costs such as a new roof for a community sports center or private street repair.
• Liens and foreclosures: If you fail to pay your association dues, or run afoul of its regulations, you can be charged a fine. A lien can even be imposed on your property resulting in potential foreclosure, sometimes over trivial amounts. If you dispute the charges in court and lose, you may also have to pay the association'’s legal fees.
• Governance: Most homeowners association board members are volunteers elected by the property owners. Sometimes inexperience can cause mistakes, resulting in additional expenses. Often, more than 50 percent of the dues collected by an association are used to pay for the management companies and attorneys it employs.
• Regulations: Together with their management partners, homeowners associations function very much as private governments. Once property owners sign a contract agreeing to comply with an association'’s laws, that often supersedes their individual property rights. It'’s not easy to change community regulations imposed by a homeowners association. To do so generally requires the approval of the majority of members.

My mayoral radar tells me this will be a lively debate on the comment section of my blog so I promise to blog further on the subject since I am sure I will get some ideas from the feedback. A couple of interesting facts on HOA's are that they are:

• The fastest growing form of government in the US in the last 15 years.
• 1 in 6 Americans live in a HOA environment.
• There are at least 20 HOA's in Round Lake.
• The Village has taken over one HOA, Bright Meadows! By the way the residents requested it.

The Cedar Lake Road Extension

This is an old article from last year, but since I attended a meeting of the Lakewood Orchard HOA last night where the Cedar Lake Road extension was a topic of discussion I thought I would reprint it.

I was asked an excellent question by a Prairewalk Resident named Doug Pentek that I decided to respond to here since I am sure many people have the same questions.

The answer requires a full discussion of the Cedar Lake Road Extension and the plans Round Lake has made for the extension and the plans Lake County are making for it. So thanks to John Gutknecht for the updated map!

First however an overview.

When I took office 4 years ago one of the primary commute methods to Route 60 from Round Lake was 120 to Bacon to 60. Anyone who has lived here longer then 3 years recalls that actually the South end of Bacon was actually more dangerous then the North end. When Lakewood homes was in a first draft stage of the their development we were able to insist that Lakewood homes build the extension of Cedar Lake Road to its present point (#3 of the photo above) from Route 60.

Lake County has on its books the extension of Cedar Lake Road north from 60 all the way to 120. (that's the heavy black line on the map) However money is tight, the project is expensive and referendums for more transportation funds keep failing. So the project is going to be done in stages.

Stage 1 which is the 60 to Bacon Road portion right now is done, only some connection work to the Stage 2 and the cul de sac of Bacon (#5 on the photo)

Stage 2 I am pleased to say will extend north to Townline Road (#2 on the photo) and bids will be going out in October of this year, construction will start in the spring of 2007 and finish in the Fall of 2007. The village is going to improve its portion of Townline Road to Bacon to handle the traffic flow westwards from the T intersection and in front of our new Police and Public Works Facility (#6 on the photo). In attain the village required Neumann Homes and Concord Homes to provide funding to improve and enhance Townline Road East of the intersection all the way to Curran.

Stage 3 is scheduled to be bid out in 2008 and finished in 2009. This is clearly a shame but is a direct consequence of the two failed traffic referendums in the county in the last two years. However when it gets done a traffic light will be built at Townline and Cedar Lake (#2 on the photo), and at 120 and Cedar Lake (#1 on the photo).

So once this all get accomplished Bacon Road will be a cul-de sac on the South End about where it merges with Cedar Lake now (#5 on the photo). There has also been some discussion on making it a dead end on the North End as well.

However to finally get to Mr Pentek's question the state has looked at putting a light at Bacon and 120 and is currently doing a tentative survey of it, but my guess is since within 5 years the need for it will have vanished I am thinking it will not get done. My only advice is don't drive that way, I avoid those intersections if I can.

The Mayors Email Basket

One of the things that I get a lot in my inbox is some irate resident with about 100 complaints about usually 99 things that either I have no control over, or had nothing to do with. But you need to blame someone and the Mayor (or any elected official, HOA President etc) is an excellent venue to vent on. As many of you know if you ask me calmly and rationally about something I generally respond via email or the phone. You may not like the answer, but you get one. I think its important to be responsive to the people who elected me.

So a few days ago I got this email that literally has all the "more irate" residents triggers in it. So to save the emailer some embarrassment I have removed any reference to where they live and who they are. I am leaving the email exactly the way it was sent to me, however I have placed XXX where it would identify the location of this resident.

Mr. Gentes -

It is not a common practice of mine to write emails such as this. I must express my current stress level in regards to what the XXX Park at XXX has turned into. If I wanted living like this, I would have remained a resident of the city of Chicago.

My husband and I moved to Lake County in 1998 with the hopes of living in a peaceful environment. Since we have moved here, it has continued to become a burden. I am at the ends of my rope with the park here at XXX. It wasn't bad enough that the XXX Builder lied to us when they told us the park would remain with the residents of XXX. So all of us that were told this lie swallowed the news and put up with what it has turned into.

The soccer groups that are here during the week have taken things over. This includes safe access through our streets. They conjest the whole area. God forbid if an ambulance needed to get through. At what life's cost is a soccer game. They have kicked out children who are playing in the park just so they can have their soccer practice. They leave their garbage on the ground. I have been to your meetings, you instructed me to call the police number anonymously. I'm tired of being questioned by the police for my address even after I have mentioned your name and what you instructed me to do. And I know one of the officers has told one of the soccer coaches who it is that called the police to report the parking issues. Who are they serving and protecting?

It's not bad enough that I spend 3 hours everyday fighting traffic going to and from work - which is only 16 miles one way. Most of my compute time is spent in Round Lake, Hainsville and Grayslake. Then I work 8 hours. That totals 11 hours so far and now I must come home to all this traffic and numerous soccer groups right out in front of my house. By the time they leave, I have to go inside because now all the mosquito's have come out. I am a prisoner of my own home.

I HATE IT HERE NOW. I wished I had never moved here. Clearly I feel you only care for the residents you want to care for. Where did all these soccer groups play before XXX was built? I have seen schools with playing fields that are empty why can't they use these areas?

The Director of the Park District tells me the XXX Park at XXX is not in a residential area. I don't know what he is looking at but there are homes that go around this park on all 4 sides. Not to mention it is situated right in the middle of our subdivision. Whats not residential about that.

There are kids that hangout in this park at night to do who knows what. I thought the park closed at dusk- at least that's what the sign say's that's at the entrance of the park. Maybe the rules only apply when we feel like enforcing them. Where are the Park Ranges why don't they patrol. Isn't that what our taxes help pay for.

The gazebo has been torn apart by these punks. They damaged numerous mail boxes.

How much do we have to take?

I have a heart condition and the amount of stress this is causing is getting to be more than I can deal with. If something doesn't happen soon to make this a peaceful park again, you leave me no choice but to consult legal advise to see how much stress and harassment one must take before they themselves can take action.

I know if it was my responsibily to hold a position such as yours, the residents which I represent would be my number one priority. How much do you know about us? When are things goings to start changing for the good for the residents of Round Lake.

We keep paying higher taxes but it's you that reeps the benefits. I haven't seen anything other than more houses being built, my compute time getting longer and a park that's attracting gang bangers.

Would the village like to pitch in for the gas our vehicles are burning because WE CAN'T MOVE. STOP BUILDING ALL THESE HOUSES UNTIL YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROADWAYS. Or maybe you want to send your child into a park to play with used needles, used rubbers or maybe you can let them swing on a swing next to a drug dealer.

I would love to see the police more round here. Believe me, it's safer for us with them here.

Maybe, we need a new Mayor! Clearly you have heard what I have to say in your monthly Village meetings. My mother had a phrase for people who didn't respond "IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER" I hope that's not your plan on dealing with the issues I'm bringing to the table.

I AM WAITING FOR YOUR RESPONSE - so please don't low this off.

Well this hits the whole range of things I hear about. More then likely given the fact that we have worked with this resident numerous times and taken quite a few proactive steps to allay there concerns I would just acknowledge the email and move on. In my service as Mayor I have learned there are a segment of people who you can't make happy, and no matter what you do, they will never be satisified.

This is the response that I'd like to give but I know I won't because I'm sure the writer is a good person but just highly frustrated at daily issues that have no immediate solution.

Dear Un-happy Person
I received your email last week, you raise many points. Let me attempt to address them one by one.
First. The developer lied to you, okay join the club! Its not an exclusive club, I would guess there are a couple million people in it in Chicago alone. I am a member as well.
Second. You bought a home directly across from a park. What did you think was going to happen in a park? Kids would not play? Kids would not make noise? If you had such an issue why not choose a home site well away from the park? There were and are lots of those around.
Third. The soccer groups that play in "your park" are in Round Lake Area Park District operated parks and are 100% legitimately able to be there. Oh by the way I drove over to the park to see the soccer hooligans damaging mail boxes, shooting up, and then leaving used condoms all over the place. You know what I found? I found your neighbors coaching teams of kids who live right in XXX development. They range from maybe 6 years old to 14 years old. That's the danger age right there. I would suggest that these dangerous thugs are better off playing in organized leagues rather then out pillaging and looting.
I also met Jose, who holds a masters degree in engineering, who takes time from his job to coach his kids and his neighbors kids in AYSO soccer, he lives exactly 4 blocks from you. He tells me you harass him and only him, I wonder why? He does not know you.
Fourth. I told you to call 911 if you saw something offensive, the dispatchers do not ask your name if you do not want to use your name. You might actually know this if you actually called 911 about something.
Fifth. You sit in traffic! Wow really imagine my surprise! You must realize that traffic is a county, state and federal issue, but however it's easier to blame me. Maybe you should see that I am very actively pursuing traffic improvements throughout the county, including one that is crucial to Round Lake, the 120 bypass.
Sixth. Mosquito's make your life unbearable. The village agressively sprays 6-8 times a year, as best I can tell there is no problem right now. If mosquitos drive you inside I am sure they drive the thugs inside as well, so this might be a good thing.
Seventh. You are going to sue? For what? Buying a house? Kids playing soccer? Giant bugs? Traffic Jams?
Eighth. There is a lot more here in the email that kinda starts to ramble so I am going to stop responding because the rest is just ranting.
Ninth. When you list your house, make sure your realtor uses the words "right across from the park" I hear it's a selling point, and people pay more to live right across from the park.

Sincerely yours
Bill Gentes
Mayor of Round Lake

Round Lakes Acting Mayor

Last night we had the Downtown Development Board meeting which was attended by exactly two members of the public. Michael Blum the President of Madrona's HOA and his daughter The Honorable Madison Blum who has appeared in my blog before when I attended a Halloween gathering at Madrona's park last October (in costume). She sat there very patiently for 2 hours before she decided that enough was enough and she moved up and took the meeting over! Banging the gavel with some serious authority at the end of the meeting so she could go home! It took her 5 minutes!
So she has set some serious records by presiding last night, the first women Mayor of Round Lake, the youngest (I used to be, darn it all) and the 14th Mayor in 98 years! Quite wisely she kept quiet as well! I think she may be known as the "Quiet Mayor" when the history of Round Lake is written!

Homeowners Associations-- A Short History

When you buy a house in a new subdivision or planned unit development, you may be subject to a host of rules and regulations! Are you shocked yet? I know many of you are, because I get more complaints about the dreaded words "Homeowners Association" or the HOA! I have noticed that there is a typical pattern that HOA's tend to follow over the years.

It starts with the village stepping in to beat up the developer, because of homeowner complaints. The developer runs the HOA until a certain percentage of occupancy is met. Then usually because the village forced the developer to turn over the HOA to the residents the problems and complaints shift to the new "resident board". Usually the first thing that happens is the new HOA board decides the old management company (usually a creature of the developer) needs to take a long walk off a short pier. Then the board goes through a shake out and some energetic resident leadership takes over and things tend to smooth out and normalcy returns.

Some of the things you will look for from your HOA are:

• Maintenance: Once a developer'’s responsibility has expired, the owners have to pay for repairs when things start to break down. Having an adequate reserve and a planned maintenance program is essential to preserving the community and your property'’s value.
• Fees and Assessments: Generally, homeowners associations levy mandatory monthly fees to maintain common property, such as lawns, swimming pools, hiking trails, golf courses, or tennis courts Fees may increase as expenses rise and special assessments may also be imposed for major costs such as a new roof for a community sports center or private street repair.
• Liens and foreclosures: If you fail to pay your association dues, or run afoul of its regulations, you can be charged a fine. A lien can even be imposed on your property resulting in potential foreclosure, sometimes over trivial amounts. If you dispute the charges in court and lose, you may also have to pay the association'’s legal fees.
• Governance: Most homeowners association board members are volunteers elected by the property owners. Sometimes inexperience can cause mistakes, resulting in additional expenses. Often, more than 50 percent of the dues collected by an association are used to pay for the management companies and attorneys it employs.
• Regulations: Together with their management partners, homeowners associations function very much as private governments. Once property owners sign a contract agreeing to comply with an association'’s laws, that often supersedes their individual property rights. It'’s not easy to change community regulations imposed by a homeowners association. To do so generally requires the approval of the majority of members.

My mayoral radar tells me this will be a lively debate on the comment section of my blog so I promise to blog further on the subject since I am sure I will get some ideas from the feedback. A couple of interesting facts on HOA's are that they are:

• The fastest growing form of government in the US in the last 15 years.
• 1 in 6 Americans live in a HOA environment.
• There are at least 20 HOA's in Round Lake.
• The Village has taken over one HOA, Bright Meadows! By the way the residents requested it.