Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association
Neighborhood News
Fall 2018
Working Together for a GREAT Neighborhood
President’s Message – Guy Karm wedding was in his backyard. The weather was beautiful and so was the bride. He was especially proud of his house and the neighborhood, but the highlight of his backyard was the liNle creek that flowed through it. The yard was spectacular.
What a great summer. Being a car Guy, one of the highlights for me was the annual Mecum Classic Car Au c t i o n t h a t c a m e t o t h e Schaumburg Convention Center on Meacham Road, less than a mile from here, in October. The auction has been there several years and it always reminds me of the very first time that I became aware of Plum Grove Estates. I know that you are thinking, what the heck is Guy talking about here - a car auction and Plum Grove Estates – so I’ll tell you. It was the summer of 1958 and I was a liNle Guy then, not yet a teenager. My cousin Sal, who had just graduated from college as an engineer, married his fiancee Jackie, who had just graduated from nursing school. Jackie’s father, Dr. Julian Mavity, who I believe was the second President of our Association, had remarried and lived in Plum Grove Estates. The -1 ! -
Dr. Mavity had just taken delivery of a new car. It was yellow and white and was one of the very first full-sized Ford hardtop retractable convertibles. I was already a car Guy and I could not believe it–a hardtop and a convertible in one car. I am not sure if he was more proud of his daughter’s wedding, the house and backyard, or the car. Neighbors were continually dropping in to give their best wishes to Sal and Jackie but they all wanted to see the car’s hardtop fold into the trunk. He must have put the top down and up again at least 100 times. Of all that took place that day I remember him telling my father that he had the greatest neighbors and that this was a wonderful place to live. Who could know then what the future would bring some 60 years later. The Mavitys are long gone now but their beautiful home and yard remain. The grounds are still spectacular. Unfortunately, the liNle creek now turns into a raging river during the rainy season and
the house has flooded several times. Sal and Jackie are still married. Sal retired as one of the Directors of N A S A a n d wa s o n e o f t h e engineers responsible for development of the heat-shielding ceramic tile technology used for our spacecraft re-entry into the atmosphere. Jackie retired as Director of Nursing at a major hospital. At the Mecum Classic Car Auction a 1958 Ford hardtop retractable convertible sold for probably 50 times what Dr. Mavity paid for his in 1958. It is still a great looking car. Yet with all of the changes over time, one thing remains the same after all of these years: we have the greatest neighbors and Plum Grove Estates is a wonderful place to live. This will be my last President’s Message to you as my term ends at the end of this year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you and especially all of the Board Members and other neighbor volunteers who have served with me over the years of my Presidency. Their effort and hard work made me look good as your President. So–THANK YOU!!! Plum Grove Estates truly is a wonderful place to live. - Guy Karm
Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
Community News More Plum Grove Pool News Are you still wondering why the the picnic pavilion hasn’t been built to replace the Plum Grove Pool? So are we. When the PGE POA Board inquired with Amy Charlesworth, Executive Director of the Rolling Meadows Park District here is the text of the reply we received:
The project is designed by a landscape architect and then engineered by a civil engineer. Once completed those plans go to the City of Rolling Meadows Community Development Department for plan review. The Community Development then has an engineer review the plans and either signs off or makes suggested revisions. Every Bme those plans are reviewed it can take up to 15 working days. Community Development also sent the plans out to a third party Structural Engineer to determine the “snow loads” for the structure. We have to re-engineer the project related to the posts that support the pavilion, so that part of the project actually went back to the pavilion manufacturer, this has caused another delay. Before a permit can be issued by Community Development the plans are also reviewed by the Metropolitan Water ReclamaBon District. One of the funcBons of the MWRD is for storm water management. Any Bme there is building in the waterway they review the project to determine the effects of the project on communiBes downstream. From the outset our landscape architect informed us that due to the staff size at MWRD a permit can take 4-6 months. They have reviewed our plans three Bmes, their -2 ! -
concerns related to water drainage and retenBon. We believe those quesBons have been answered, however, to date they have not issued a permit. The Park District has no control over these other governmental agencies, their Bmelines or their processes, however, we do have to answer to them. The wheels of government are moving very slow on this project. There are Bmes when I have thought we should have just saved the money and planted grass. While it may be unsightly now, I believe that when it is done it will be a park that we can be very proud of.
I hope this answers the quesBons of the members of the Plum Grove Homeowners AssociaBon.
2018 PGEPOA Officers and Directors President Vice President and Architectural Control Secretary Treasurer Area Control Civic Affairs Membership Communications Landscaping Audit Past President Social Committee Chair
Guy Karm Dave Freeman Susan McDonald Amy Pritchard Dave Knowling Steve Sperling Lauri Mitchell Rich Coha Lynn Meinzer George Reichl Gary Dindia Sue Knowling
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Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
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Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
General Meeting Minutes Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2018 (pending approval)
Call to Order – The general meeting of the Plum Grove Homeowners Association was called to order by President Guy Karm at 7:32 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018 at the Plum Grove Park Banquet Room. Board Attendees – Guy Karm, Rich Coha, Amy Pritchard, Dave Knowling, Lynn Meinzer, Susan McDonald, Gary Dindia, George Reichl, Lauri Mitchell, Steve Sperling Absent Board Members – Dave Freeman Resident Attendees: Linda Harrison, Tom Clark, Andrea Brennan, Art Brennan, Dona Mullen, Madeleine Madsen, Ken Flobeck, Kenny Flobeck, George Manthey, David Getsla, Nancy Getsla, Joanne Fallon, Sam Manno, Steve Manfreda, Bill Huley, Sue Dindia, Daniel Drag, Renee Coha, Irene Vinyard, Tim Groch, Nancy Groch, Mark Daniels, Tara Daniels, Jack Pretto, Bruce Mueller, Dawn Amos, Sophia Mueller, Randy Mitchell, Howard Pohl, Pauline Pohl, Eric Potts, Jill Berls, Paula Hewsen, Konrad Mausser, Christine Mausser, Meghan Johnson
Daniel and Wioletta Drag, 343 North Elmwood Patrick and Meghan Johnson, 319 Briarwood Approval of Minutes – A motion to approve the May minutes was tabled to the 2019 February General Meeting as the wrong minutes were printed for distribution. Treasurer’s Report – Amy Pritchard reported that most of the dues for 2018 have been collected, however, there are a few stragglers. She noted that they will be sent communication that they will lose their eligibility to attend the Holiday party if dues are not paid. There were some questions regarding the landscaping expenses and where these expenses are applied. There was also a discussion regarding the reserves, the purpose of the reserves for
New Neighbor Introduction – Lauri Mitchell noted that in the last two and a half years, there have been 67 new residents in Plum Grove Estates. For a calculation of 20 houses, the average purchase price of the homes was $465,000. She also mentioned that the membership directories are free to all residents as long as the membership dues are paid. Lauri discussed that recent high school rankings showed that Fremd was ranked sixth out of 20 top high schools. Lauri introduced the following new residents who each spoke a little more about their interest in moving into Plum Grove Estates: Mark and Tara Daniels, 224 Park -4 ! -
Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
larger and unplanned expenses, i.e., the electrical work needed at the Westwood entrance. Sue Dindia moved and Randy Mitchell seconded that the Treasurers’ report be moved into records. President’s Remarks –Guy Karm, President of PGEPOA announced that this was his last meeting as President for PGEPOA and that he enjoyed serving in this position during his terms of election. Committee Reports Preservation and Beautification Committee – Lauri Mitchell, committee head, reported that the new autumn decorations have been added to the entranceways and 140 new spring bulbs have been planted on the islands. She wanted to thank Nancy Groch for planting the bulbs and to all the neighbors who helped water the newly landscaped islands over the summer. Architectural Control – Dave Freeman, committee head, was absent. Guy Karm discussed the recent mailing that went to all residents, which explained the covenants. He stressed the need that any improvement costing more than $1,000 needs to be addressed with Dave Freeman, who basically just needs to record the improvement. There was some discussion that $1,000 is a very low amount. Guy explained that the amount is from our covenants from years ago and would be nearly impossible to change. Area Control – Dave Knowling, director of Area Control, explained further that the Guidelines letter recently sent also helps new homeowners who may have not received this during their closing. And it also is a reminder to those of us who have been longer residents. There was a question to a homeowner who had a commercial vehicle parked in the driveway. -5 ! -
Dave explained that this is a Cook County violation and that if it reappeared he or Cook County could be contacted. There was a question as to whether we as a board have the authority to block a sale of a home that is in violation of any of the codes. The answer to this is no, but Cook County can always get involved if they are made aware of the violation. Dave reported that Roland Sachs, head of Palatine Township, is in the process of improving the drainage of the standing water in the area left from the heavy rains. Dave said to let him know if you notice anything, like a log jam on the water, etc. It may take a little time, but Roland is good at following up with issues. He noted that the damage of cobblestones on the islands from the recent repaving will be repaired by M&B, our landscapers. Per Roland, that is at our expense. He said that for the upcoming leaf collection, it is required to have the Palatine stickers displayed on the leaf bags. Collection will end the Monday before Thanksgiving, per Roland. George Manthey also mentioned that the homes in Schaumburg Township do not need the stickers. Dave reviewed what is happening to the entranceway lights on the Westwood entrance, which was caused by a 60-year-old main panel and meter socket that needs to be replaced. It will be completed within a week or two. He reminded us that if you see any of the entranceway lights off, especially after a rainstorm, most likely the GFCI has powered off. Call Dave and he will turn the lights back on. He alerted to a needle blight affecting some spruce trees in the area. If you see symptoms, you may want to call an arborist for treating the trees, so they don’t die. Early symptoms of a blighted needle would be deep-green bands and yellow and tan spots on needles.
Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
This deep green color banding is short-lived. The spots and bands quickly turn brown to reddish brown during the summer months.
will be a recycle bin for recycling and she pointed to its location for this meeting.
Civic Affairs – Steve Sperling, Director of Civic Affairs, noted that Election Day is November 6th and if you don’t get a location reminder in the mail of your voting location, you can go online at cookcountyclerk.com/EV for hours and locations. He said that the Algonquin Lane addition is still stalled due to the acquisition of property. He mentioned that Motorola road construction is still in progress, and since the Top Golf approval, an apartment complex of 260 units has also been approved. There was some discussion from the group about what and who will get the tax advantage of this new population of people who will be in the District 211 school district.
Newsletter/Communications – Rich Coha, Director of Communications, announced that the PGEPOA website will be revamped. He asked Andrea Brennan to raise her hand as she will be the one in charge of this revamp. Old Business – No old business
Frankly Yours, the continued eyesore, is still that. No progress has been made other than there is a court date established to further progress the cleanup of the area.
New Business – George Reichl listed those on the 2018 nominating committee, which included George Reichl, Tom Peters, Steve Ward, Lynn Provan, and Dave Winklebleck. He explained the nomination procedures and announced the slate of individuals to be elected this evening. This slate included Lauri Mitchell (President), David Freeman (Vice President), Sue Knowling (Secretary) and Amy Pritchard, (Treasurer). There were also two board directors to be voted for another three-year term, which included Rich Coha (Communications) and Dave Knowling (Area Control). After the explanation, George conducted the elections and all were voted in unanimously.
Landscaping – Lynn Meinzer reported the 2018 landscape season was eventful with many weather changes. She commented how M & B Landscaping Company continued to do a good job this year and that the Fall cleanup would be done within a few weeks. She thanked the Preservation and Beautification Committee for their work on restoring some of the meridian islands. Lynn also said the Christmas lights will be installed at the entrances in time for the Holiday party on the first Sunday in December. Social Committee – Sue Knowling, committee head, announced that the Holiday Party is scheduled for Dec 2, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Set-up will start at 3:30 and she asked for volunteers to help with both set-up and tear-down. At this point, Guy brought up that this committee is looking for additional help for next year. Sue also mentioned that at all future meetings there -6 ! -
Adjournment – Prior to adjournment, Guy made another appeal for volunteers to come forward. A motion was made by Pauline Pohl, seconded by Irene Vinyard, and unanimously approved to adjourn. President Guy Karm adjourned the meeting at 8:45 p.m.
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Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
Board Member Reports
Tony and Terri Cardona: 2285 South Westwood Lane
Membership - Lauri Mitchell
Shawn Harris and Russell Smith: 224 Brookdale Lane
I’m a little sad to announce that at the end of this year I will no longer be Membership Director on our PGE Board. I enormously enjoyed meeting over 67 new families who moved into our neighborhood in the past three years. I loved hearing about their interests and reasons for moving to our neighborhood, meeting their children, and listening to the plans they have for their homes.
Mark and Tara Daniels: 224 Park Drive Juan Zavala, Jr. and Joseph Vazquez: 330 Longacres Don and Julie Barrington: 349 Woodland Court Jerry and Elizabeth Lewytskyj: 351 Woodland Court
One of the many reasons new homeowners gave me for moving to our neighborhood is the highly rated schools. Chicago Magazine (September 2018) recently published a report on the top elementary, middle and high schools in Illinois. We can be very proud that William Fremd High School was listed as #6 in the top 20 Cook County high schools! Performance measures included in this study/ ranking were: Enrollment (2,687 students); the average cost per pupil ($11,265); freshmen on track for graduation (95%); SAT attainment – the percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards (69%); graduation rate (97%) and, _inally, what is called the “5 Essentials” based on teacher and student surveys assessing the learning environment.
Thanks to all for electing me to be your 2019 President, a role which I am honored to assume in January. I have served on the PGE Board and several committees for three years. Therefore, I have a good idea of the issues and challenges facing our neighborhood. I’m anxious and enthusiastic to work on them with the new Board.
Our neighborhood welcomed six new homeowners this spring and summer. I have been unable to currently visit all of them as of this report. If they became new neighbors in your area, please welcome them to their new home.
I want to focus on the needs of our homeowners. At our _irst General Meeting in February, I intend to open the _loor and listen to the issues you want our Board to address. Please plan on attending! My hope is that we
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By way of introduction, my professional background and strength is in English and communication. I taught secondary English for 11 years and for over 25 years have owned my own business concentrating on training in sales, customer service, team building and management consulting. My company, Mitchell Motivation, helps large and small businesses improve workplace performance.
Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
will all work together to continue making Plum Grove Estates a wonderful place to live! - Lauri Mitchell
electrical wires in our neighborhood was brought up at the meeting. The board will seek further information about these options. Recently, a letter was sent to all residents as a reminder about our covenants and the county ordinances that affect us all. If you have questions or did not receive the letter, please contact any board member.
Area Control – Dave Knowling Palatine Township cleared a log jam and debris from under the Briarwood bridge. There is a buildup of sediment on the west bank under the bridge that will also be removed. Culvert work on the north side of Briarwood at the bridge will be done at the same time to improve drainage into the creek. The township will collect leaf bags through the week of Thanksgiving. Extra pickups after that are possible, depending on the weather. The trucks must be converted for snowplow duty, so the actual cutoff for leaf pickup varies. Roland Sachs says they do their best to keep leaf pickup going as long as possible. Work is being done at the gate at Westwood and Algonquin to replace wiring from the electric meter to the supply pole. All other wiring and _ixtures were replaced recently at the site, and we hoped that the electrical feed would still be sound. This wiring is _ifty or so years old, though, and has caused our power to go out here nearly every time it rains. Our electrician showed me that the pipes containing wires in that area were full of water. The work should be completed soon, with power restored. Spruce trees in some of our common areas are being sprayed to control needle blight and spider mites. Be aware that if your spruce trees are thinning from the middle with normal growth remaining at the ends of branches, you may have the same problem. This will kill the trees if untreated, and is an areawide problem.
Landscape – Lynn Meinzer The 2018 landscape season was eventful with very cold, very rainy, very hot weather and now the colder temperatures have set in on the way to those dormant winter days coming up. The M&B Landscaping Company has done a very good job of maintaining the common lawn areas, cobbles weed-free, shrubs trimmed, Spring Begonias followed by Fall Mums planted in attractive and interesting ways. The fall cleanup will be scheduled within the next few weeks – then for the winter rest.
Don’t Forget You need to RVSP for the PGE POA Holiday Party by November 20th The party is on Sunday, December 2nd
The possibility of sound-reducing walls being built along the expressway and burying all -8 ! -
Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
The lighting of the planted beds and pillars has been monitored for any types of problems by Area Control and adds to the design and aesthetics of the main entrances at Westwood, Longacres and Briarwood. There are always changes to be made to the live, growing entrance and median island areas, and over the years new plant varieties will be installed in an effort to improve these areas to make them even more beautiful, easier to grow and maintain, as well as enhancing the overall general appearance of our Plum Grove Estates properties. The relatively new Preservation and Beauti_ication Committee (PBC) has given Briarwood Lane at Meadow, Crestwood and
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Longacres and also the smaller island, without grass, at Longacres and Circle - changing out plants and adding some new interesting varieties of shrubs and perennials. With so many great new varieties being produced by the growing nurseries, we are fortunate to be able to purchase, improve and update some of the areas annually for the enjoyment of PGE residents, friends and neighbors. No report is ever complete without mentioning the many projects taken care of for PGE by the Palatine Township Road District. Under the direction of Roland Sachs,
Supervisor, the median islands are improved to remove over-mature shrubs, evergreens and trees. They own the roads upon which we drive as well as the medians. They allow the landscaping of the medians and sometimes
Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
make suggestions regarding types of plants, to control mature sizes to allow for safety. South Brookdale Lane was recently worked on to remove large obstructive plants and plant new grass from seed. So, you can be assured, that many dedicated and interested individuals and groups, volunteer and hired, are working away during the year, keeping up the appearances of PGE! Our unique community! An end of the season note: the holiday lighting of the main entrances will be in place sometime at the end of November, in time for the Holiday party on the _irst Sunday of December. These lights and decorations always add to the enjoyment and festivities of the year’s end!
Civic Affairs – Steve Sperling
letter and guideline mailing. The board will consider the various suggestions at our next board meeting. Since the mailing we have had numerous neighbors calling for approval of projects under consideration. Thank you for that response as well. The Board is encouraged by the support to maintain the integrity of our community. Many residents support the open park-like environment which we all enjoy, absent fences and sheds. We want to encourage all neighbors to contact our Board or David Freeman (dave.freeman@cbexchange.com) with further questions or comments regarding the policy. Thank you.
Share the Road PGE residents are asked to remember a few important items that are good for the safety of our neighborhood.
Snow and ice on the way! Help your neighbors and other motorists be safe by not disposing of snow into the street, a public sidewalk or on the parkway across from your property. Properly pile the snow from your driveway on the downstream edge of the roadway in front of your home! If a mailbox has been compromised by a municipal plow truck, please notify the road district as soon as possible at 847–358–6336. The Palatine Township Road District is staffed and equipped to combat the diverse weather of the Chicagoland area. They are always monitoring the weather conditions and try to apply the best technique to combat inclement weather.
Architectural Control – Dave Freeman The Architectural Board and the PGEPOA would like to thank neighbors for their positive comments in response to the recent - ! 10 -
The speed limit in Plum Grove Estates was set at 20 miles per hour a few years ago to help keep our neighborhood safe. Plum Grove Estates is a unique neighborhood without sidewalks that allows residents and their children a beautiful environment for walking, running, cycling and dog walking. When driving please observe this speed limit for your own safety and that of your neighbors.
Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
Beautification Committee Report Lauri Mitchell, Committee Chair This autumn we will have completed our third year as a committee. Our small committee has worked diligently to fulfill our mission to update and preserve the overall public and neighborhood impression and appearance of Plum Grove Estates.
months. A big thank you to Terri Manfreda and Meghan Johnson for the beautiful autumn wreaths decorating our pillars. Finally, it will be exciting to anticipate spring tulips and daffodil bulbs that were recently planted by one of our committee members! We replaced the small pea gravel on the Westwood entrance with larger stones more appropriate for our entrance. This entrance has always been a challenge to maintain over the winter because of the salt and snow plows. I’m sure all of you noticed that the Palatine Township Road District repaved several streets in our neighborhood. The District also removed the unappealing, old and overgrown shrubs on South Brookdale Lane which they deemed to be a safety issue for children in the area; they also planted a new tree on the Brookdale island. We are very grateful for the District’s assistance with our neighborhood improvements.
Committee members, left to right Dave Knowling, Sue Knowling, Rich Coha, Lauri Mitchell, Nancy Groch, Lynn Meinzer. Terri Manfreda not pictured
Our focus this spring and summer was to continue to replant and improve the high-impact islands along Briarwood Lane. We also redesigned and replanted the smaller internal island on Longacres near Briarwood. We hired a landscaper to trim the large locust trees on two islands which badly needed dead branches removed. Along with reconfiguring the grass and planting areas, we added evergreen shrubs, perennials, hydrangeas and a few annuals. We are grateful for the many compliments we received from neighbors who noticed our island changes. Also, we sincerely appreciate those homeowners who helped us water the new sod and plantings over the summer. We also replaced a large patch of sod on the Briarwood/Meadow island that unfortunately burned out over the summer - 11 ! -
I hope you will agree we’ve had a busy and productive year as a committee. Moving on to our fourth committee year, our desire is to improve and continue to replant selected islands. If you have any suggestions, please call me or a member of our committee.
Check Out Our New Website The revamp of pgepoa.org is now complete. Special thanks to PGEPOA member Andrea Brennan for all her work in creating the clean new design.
Join Us on Facebook
Go to the Friends of Plum Grove Estates and ask to join the private group.
Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org
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PGEPOA Board Meeting
PGE POA General Meeting Plum Grove Park 7:30 PM (Pizza & dessert at 7:00PM)
PGEPOA Board Meeting
PGEPOA Board Meeting
PGE POA General Meeting Plum Grove Park 7:30 PM (Pizza & dessert at 7:00PM)
Kick -Off to Summer Party
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Calendar plum grove estates Property Owners Association PO Box 2568 Palatine, IL 60078-2568
Plum Grove Estates Property Owners Association ! P.O. Box 2568 ! Palatine, IL 60078-2568 ! www.pgepoa.org