General

04-20-2023

As previously communicated, the HOA Directors met with the Village of Bolingbrook officials on January 9, 2023 to discuss our private street situation. I gave a presentation detailing the history, current state and our requests for resolution. During that meeting, the Village officials listened, discussed some points, then asked for more information. One item asked for was the financial reserve balances relating to future costs of the streets. The HOA Board scheduled and attended a followup meeting on April 17, 2023, which resulted in a “preliminary agreement” between the Village of Bolingbrook and the Bella Vista HOA. This “preliminary agreement” needs to be formalized and approved by the Village of Bolingbrook, which may not happen until June or July 2023.

In summary…

What we asked for:

• All streets transition from Private (owned by Bella Vista) to Public (owned by the Village of Bolingbrook).
• Village takes responsibility for all asphalt streets, curbs and storm sewers.

What we got:

• The Village will assume responsibility and expense for all asphalt maintenance for all roads in Bella Vista. This includes all aspects of project management, scheduling and repaving activities. Estimated by the Village at about $250,000 in present day dollars (which probably is closer to $400,000 in future dollars).
• The ability/offer to use Village of Bolingbrook vendors for future curb, storm sewer and street light maintenance at “village-wide cost levels”, which would be lower than Bella Vista contracting for these services on our own. The Village also offered to manage these projects as part of their “village-wide” contracts.
• We keep our reserve fund balances designated for the asphalt maintenance (about $25,000 in present day dollars by 12/31/2023), which were offered to the Village by us as an incentive to help with the situation. 

What does this mean:

• Bella Vista streets will continue to be Private (owned by Bella Vista).
• All parties avoid the legal ramifications and expenses of having the Village actually “own the streets”. Plat of surveys, setbacks, easements, whatever…
• The village takes over the all street asphalt maintenance. 
• We are responsible for curbs and storm sewers. 
• We are responsible for snowplowing. 
• We are responsible for street lights. 
• It is unknown where “street cleaning” responsibilities fall at this time.

We will discuss this topic during the 3rd Quarter Residents HOA Meeting. Please hold all your questions until the meeting.

The Mayor has been invited to this meeting and expressed interest in attending. To date, there has been no confirmation of her attendance. If I get attendance confirmation, I will let you know.  

We have posted the minutes of the meeting on the website.

04-04-2023

The HOA Board have discussed the topic of Solar Panels and created a Solar Energy Policy.

The document is now posted in Documents.

04/04/2023

Come join us.

11-30-2022

Private Street discussion with El Costa. We had a nice discussion and the event was semi-well attended (we would love even more support next time around!). While El has no “say” in any decision-making process, she can assist in getting our requests to the correct officials at the correct time. 

As previously discussed, Hartz’s heavy construction activity for the last 4 townhouses is about complete, so we are currently preparing to discuss the situation with various Village officials. 

Remember… we are trying to “partner” with the Village to become an integrated Bolingbrook subdivision. Realistically, if this happens, there will be a cost, we just don’t know what that is yet. One step at a time.  

Recently, the HOA Board met with our Snow Removal Company, Green Earth, to discuss this year’s snow removal. 

Here is a summary of the discussion:

1. Rubber tipped plows will be used on the vehicles for the driveways to minimize scraps (note the word minimize as they are still scraping snow off asphalt with heavy machinery).Also, rubber doesn’t scrap as well as metal, some residual snow may be left on the driveways.

2. It is advised to REMOVE all yard lights, driveway/sidewalk decorations and dog chains from the areas where they shovel. They are NOT responsible for damage to “things hidden under snow” or in harm’s way. Dog chains on front porches broke 3 snowblowers last year.

3. They do not remove all snow from driveways in the first pass, as they use different personnel and methods to remove snow depending on depth, manpower and timing. Please give they the time to complete their job. 

4. Please do not ask for or expect “special requests” as their contracted job is to remove snow from all driveways, roads and sidewalks.

5. They will salt “less” this year, as we agreed last year was “too much”, but they will salt. 

6. For “big snows”, there may only be one person on-site for a while to keep the roads clear. The bulk of the personnel will come when the snow is scheduled to stop.

7. The “snow removal” timeline is two hours, but that all depends on “has the snow stopped”, “when is it scheduled to stop” and “personnel”. 

Please be patient with the snow removal process, it is a big job.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. 

The newly elected Bella Vista Board met to discuss current projects, statuses and 2023 plans. 

Here are some possible items of interest:

1. The HOA Board Director assignments are staying the same for 2023. I will continue as President, Lela as Secretary and Don as Treasurer, although as communicated before, we all do a little of everything. 

2. The HOA Board met with Green Earth to discuss the upcoming Snow season and to discuss the previous Landscaping season. Please look forward to a “Snow Season Email” coming soon!

3. The Solara “Mailbox Move” Project is complete. Yes, children were conceived and delivered during this project timeline, but we finally got a concrete contractor to do it for less than my first born son. And I must say, it looks marvelous. 

4. The 2 Street Lights on Mandalay are now working. Don worked with ComEd and our electrician to finally wrangle that beast and get the power working again.  

5. The FAID elevator test at the clubhouse was conducted and went very well. 

6. Four Seasons is coming out December 13 for our annual clubhouse furnace check. 

7. The final original exterior Clubhouse light fixture was replaced last week.We now have all new fixtures on the exterior of the Clubhouse. 

8. Please remember, any maintenance to the “exterior of your townhouse” and/or “HOA Common Area by your townhouse” must be approved by the Architectural Committee or HOA Board, depending on the nature of the work. Please DO NOT assume “something you want” is automatically approved. Please note that all Driveways, most sidewalks and lawns (outside of your plat of survey) are HOA Common Area.

9. Please read the Bella Vista Buzz for the Activities Committee updates! 

10/15/2022

please find the Ballot and Proxy Assignment for the upcoming Oct 27 2022 HOA election in Documents.  

Only “owners” of the townhouse can vote in the election. Only one vote per townhouse is valid. The nomination committee members will determine if an individual is eligible to vote, and their decision is final.

There are two ways to vote, ‘Day of” and “Early”. 

“Day of”:

1. Simply come to the Clubhouse from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Oct 27 to vote. 

2. We will have all the ballots at the Clubhouse. 

3. If you want/need to assign a Proxy to vote for you, via the form attached, please fill out the form and have he/she bring the form to the Clubhouse to vote.

4. ** Important**. Please bring identification, so we can verify your identity, if necessary. Proxies need identification too.

“Early”:

1. Fill out the attached ballot and place it in a sealed envelope. Contact and deliver to a nomination committee member, both of you sign the sealed envelope on the back with townhouse address.

2. Or… contact a nomination committee member and they will come over and give you a ballot. Fill it out, seal in an envelope, both of you sign the envelope on back with townhouse address.

Risks of “Early” voting: 

As with any “Early” voting, election circumstances may change between the time you vote and Election Day. That is a risk you assume and accept for the convenience to vote early. In this election, we are required (by the By-laws) to ask for “nominations from the floor” at the annual meeting, those names obviously will not be on the attached ballot. Just beware of the risks for early voting. 

Note: If we receive “nominations from the floor”, the nomination committee has decided to postpone the election for a week to allow the nomination committee time to distribute additional the election information and ballots. Please note that November 1 is the start of the next fiscal year.

Charlie Breier at CBBreier@comcast.net

Ken Madeja at KenMadeja@aol.com

Patrick Lee at leepa05@icloud.com  630-253-0542

10/14/2022

The HOA Board Election will be held Thursday October 27 between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM at the Clubhouse. The Annual HOA Board Meeting is Wednesday October 26 at 7:00PM to discuss the 4th quarter and yearly progress. We also will ask for any more nominations (as per By-laws) at this meeting.

Nomination committee members are:

Charlie Breier at CBBreier@comcast.net

Ken Madeja at KenMadeja@aol.com

Patrick Lee at leepa05@icloud.com  630-253-0542

There are two ways to vote: 

1. In-person at the clubhouse on Election Day

2. “Early Vote” via Election Committee member (authorized proxy)

In-person: Simply come to the the Clubhouse between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM on October 27 to vote. We will supply the ballots. 

“Early Vote”: Before election day (October 27), please contact Nomination Committee members to accept your townhouse/resident ballot. A resident can drop off a ballot or use a ballot/envelope the nomination committee member will supply. In addition, if you want/need a nomination committee member to pick up your ballot at your townhouse, simply contact the nomination committee and one of us will stop by to accept/supply the ballot/envelope. Either way, the ballot will be put in a sealed envelope and signed on the back by both the nomination committee member and the resident. The ballot will be kept in a secure location, verified and combined with the ballots accepted on election day.

This election is for 2 open director positions. Residents can vote for two different names on the ballot. Only one ballot per townhouse (resident) is accepted/valid. Ballots will be counted by the committee starting at 8:01 PM on Election Day.  

This election’s nominations are: 

Don Wittmer

Lela (Elizabeth) LaHa

Mike Hohlman

Their nomination applications are attached and available on the website in Documents.

The nomination committee is meeting to discuss Election Day logistics as this is our first time. We will send out an “Early Vote” ballot shortly.

05/09/2022

This is the season for “outdoor projects”, as winter has finally left us. 

Please be aware of the Architectural Review process for Bella Vista. Please DO NOT assume that your outdoor project falls into the categories of  “this one doesn’t matter” or “this can’t need approval” or “nobody will notice”. When in doubt, please ask.

Please fill out an architectural form for any project (as per Bella Vista Covenants/By-Laws, please review Article III, if necessary). These include, but not limited to… privacy fences, lattice, Satellite Dishes, awnings, exterior painting, concrete work, etc. 

The architectural forms are available at the clubhouse or on the website.

Lela Laha is the Architectural Committee Chairperson. Please work with Lela for approvals.

Also, please keep in mind, for spring planting projects, please adhere to the Landscaping Policy documented on the website.

Over the last few months, the HOA Board has frequently discussed the ongoing problem of “delinquent monthly dues/assessments payments”. After much discussion, we have decided to assess “late charges” for offenders. This does not mean you will get charged for 5 or 10 days late, but it does mean if there is a pattern as per policy, there will be a late charge assessed. 

There are simple ways to avoid this problem:

1. Schedule an automated payment via your bank. (Push a payment)

2. Schedule an automated payment via our HOA Financial Service CSM. (Pull a payment)

Both are very secure and both avoid late fees. 

Your CSM account has a full history of your payments for your reference. 

The policy document is posted on the Bella Vista website under documents. Please read the policy and if you have questions, let us know. Thanks.  

04-06-2022

The HOA Board has posted the Insurance-Roof Policy on the website under documents. 
If you don’t read anything else in the policy, please read the following. 

1. It is important to mention that it is the responsibility of the homeowner to ensure that their insurance policy includes the roof of their unit. Some townhome policies may have been erroneously written as a “condo” policy which does not include the roof of the condo since in a condo building the roof is generally considered a common area item.

If you have any doubt as to what your insurance policy covers, please, please call your agent and ask, as it needs to cover 100% of the replacement cost of your townhouse, which includes the roof. Please do not assume “all is well”, as it may not be.

02-19-2022

Feel free to skip the story and go to the summary… 

Story:

The recent sightings of coyotes in our subdivision reminds me of a true story that happened about 20ish years ago. Up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin by St. Germain, we have a family cottage. My mother and stepfather spent a lot of time up there enjoying the peace and tranquility of nature. One crisp Fall day, as summer is definitely over by Labor Day, this true story unfolded. My mother put on her walking shoes, grabbed her fly-swatter and went out for her morning walk in the woods. She was enjoying the beautiful colors of autumn and getting her daily exercise at the same time, who could ask for more? Then… all of a sudden she spots a black bear in the woods, he was foraging for berries or whatever they forage for… This black bear looks fierce and menacing, as normally you see them in their cages at Brookfield Zoo where they look sad and bored. The bear spots her and maybe snares, maybe winks, (we are not sure about that detail) as he pads through the terrain always eyeing her movements. She is very careful and decides to take a different path back to the cottage as to not upset the bear. She makes it back to the safety of the cottage and quickly tells my step-father of her alarming encounter. After some intense deliberation and careful thought, she picks up the phone and dials the Vilas County Wildlife Department (probably with one of those vicious rotary phones that hurts your index finger). She is connected to the supervisor who probably just came back from cleaning a couple of Walleye after her early morning fishing trip. After my mother details her hair-raising encounter with the black bear, she asks “what can you do about it?”. After the supervisor finishes her donut and washes it down with a swig of morning coffee, she politely responds “Well… that’s where they live, honey”. My mother, speechless for a brief moment, thanked her for the information and went on to have a wonderful day. The bear was seen from time to time, always looking happy and content, but he always watching out for those unpredictable humans, as you never know what they are going to do next…

Summary: 

Having said that, I called and talked to the Bolingbrook Animal Control person and here is the summary of the conversation:

1. Coyotes are protected (like it or not)
2. They hang around with family members, not packs
3. We cohabitate (like it or not)
4. Haze them, yell at them, call them names, stump your feet, spit at them
5. Act big, they are afraid of big, act like you are in charge, do not show fear, do not act like prey
6. Act crazy… they don’t like crazy, however they still may keep an eye on you from a distance
7. Buy/use a Blowhorn, get one at Lowes or Home Depot or Amazon or your nearest Blowhorn store
8. DO NOT FEED THEM (they love the small animals that hang around your bird feeders!) 

1. Work normally starts an hour or so before the snowfall SHOULD stop (based upon a weather service)
2. General order (but not set in stone as workers adjust as they go due to manpower and skillset…)
   1. Large streets, medium streets, cul-de-sacs (similar to Village of Bolingbrook and most cities)
   2. Bella Vista sidewalks, Townhouse sidewalks
   3. Driveway edges, Driveway proper (edges get done first, then another team does the rest later)
   4. Salting
3. Equipment used: Large plowing machine, pickup truck with plow, small plowing machine, snow blowers, snow shovels, blower
4. Timeframe: there is much to do, it takes time (hours and hours and hours). Please be patient.
5. It may not be perfect at the end… but few things are. The HOA will and does complain about LARGE issues. Please let us know about the LARGE issues.

01/05/2022

The first quarter 2022 Bella Vista HOA Residents meeting will be held on Wednesday January 26 2022 at 7:00 at the Clubhouse. 
If you have any questions, concerns or topics of interest, please email them to the HOA Board BEFORE the meeting so the HOA Board has time to review and discuss. 
As always, there will be a formal presentation, a quiz (which may be more difficult this quarter) and Q&A.  
Masks ARE required unless the pandemic abruptly ends in the next 20 days. If you feel you are at risk, unsafe, or sick, please DO NOT attend. 
As always, the presentation and minutes will be posted on the website (www.bellavistabolingbrook.org) later.

12/20/2021

Clubhouse street light – At long last, ComEd came out and fixed the Clubhouse street light. On July 14th 2021, Its brilliant light lit up Bella Vista Blvd for the first time in the modern era. Many thanks go out to Don for his many phone calls and hard fought battles to resolve this nagging issue.

Downed street light – Pole was knocked down by a Budget Rental Truck hit-and-run on June 30. Clubhouse Video confirmed the hit-and-run. Police report submitted. Insurance company called. Electrician/street-light-guy called and analyzed. The street light repair will take time to analyze, order and replace as we are still in a pandemic and shipping is slow and backed up.

As of 9/21/2021 the street light pole has arrived at the local distribution hub. Expected availability for the installer is 11/04/2021. The work to assemble, deliver and erect may be completed in 3-4 weeks. Stay patient.

As of 12/08/2021 the street light has been delivered and installed. However, there is still a problem with the brackets for the street sign (the brackets broke). They have been ordered. No delivery date has been given. Stay very, very patient.

As of 12/15/2021, the brackets have arrived after a pandemic delay. The electrician is now going to schedule a truck out to Bella Vista to finish the job. Hopefully this is completed in time for Christmas. Thanks for being very, very patient in this difficult time.

As of 12/20/2021, the signs have been put up on the pole and this saga is over!!

11/17/2021

The HOA is taking steps to move the Solara Mailbox from Bella Vista Blvd to Solara Court. There is not an exact timeline yet, but we are busy getting quotes and will move quickly as winter is coming. We hope to get it done before winter, but this may have to wait until spring.

Update: The weather is getting too cold, this project will need to wait until spring.

11/05/2021

As previously communicated at last quarter’s HOA Meeting, the HOA Board is working with a company to perform a Reserve Study. When the company meets with us (in December), they will be measuring, counting and analyzing all Bella Vista roads, townhouses, sidewalks, etc.

Please join us for the quarterly HOA meeting Tuesday Oct 26th 7:00 at the Clubhouse. Masks are required as per CDC guidance.