Dear Homeowners:
On March 31, 2022, we had our first in-person HOA meeting in a very long time. Rosina Vega began the meeting with an update regarding areas of interest including feedback from residents received during walks around the neighborhood. Thank you for your enthusiastic responses and patience. There are quite a few homeowners who were proud to say that they have lived here
since the beginning!
It was apparent that Harvest Hill residents care greatly about the condition of our community and we discussed this during our meeting. The Board will continue to address issues by seeking guidance from professionals and by referring to the Lindenhurst Village Ordinances and our HOA documents. We will continue to be mindful of our limited budget as projects are prioritized. Below are the key points that we discussed:
1. Please provide your email address to PSI at info@psimanagement.net ; you can also call 847-806-6121. This would be one easy way to reduce expenses by sending future HOA communications by email rather than by paper mail.
2. Log into the PSI portal at https://portal.psimanagement.net to get association documents, check your payment status, get information about ARC forms and more.
3. Trail fence: Extensive vandalism last year required us to search for options to fix the damage. The decision was made to have Infante Landscaping utilize the discarded rails rather than having a fence company replace with new fence rails. Hopefully the vandalism will not happen again. In the future, we’ll evaluate replacing with lower cost fence or hedges in some sections.
4. Lights at the front entrance: PSI Management received multiple bids and the Board chose the company who could do it quickly and at a good price. The new fixtures use LED bulbs which should last for thousands of hours.
5. Lights at three column bases on Harvest Lane have been replaced.
6. Condition of the Roads within Harvest Hill: Rosina advised the Lindenhurst Village Board that many homeowners feel our roads are unsightly and bumpy and may reduce the value of our homes. Several months ago, the Village hired consultants to evaluate the condition of all of the Village’s roads. A ranking was developed based on need and budget. Unfortunately, it will probably be another 2-3 years before the roads in our neighborhood are repaired. Another evaluation will take place next year but it is unlikely that we will move up in the priority list.
7. Just as an FYI: the landscaping company performs mowing, edging, weed control, fertilization, spring and fall cleanups, and trimming trees and bushes and cultivating the beds.
8. Homeowners on Glenarye have complained about finding grass clippings and dead branches on the open area between their houses and the ones on Jasmine Circle. This will be addressed with Lindenhurst Village so that they can contact the Jasmine Circle owners.
9. The question about the common grass area came up again. It is located on the opposite side of Country Place. The HOA had offered it to the Lindenhurst Village some time ago, however, they declined. It takes only about 45 minutes to mow so it is small fraction of the mowing expense.
10. We’ve received complaints that some homeowners may not be maintaining their properties as required by Lindenhurst Village ordinance as well as by Harvest Hill documents. The recent issue of the Village Voice Newsletter states:
"All structures must be in good repair, clean and sanitary condition, and structurally sound. Structures should also be properly anchored, free of rotting wood, peeling/chipping paint, and rust. Property should be well-maintained, free of noxious weeds, and grass below 8" in height. Tree limbs and shrubs must not obstruct the street or sidewalk and have a minimum of 8-foot overhead clearance." The HOA Board will periodically point out issues to the homeowner and request that the issues be corrected. It is expected that all of us keep our front AND back yards clean, grass trimmed, and weeds removed. Beyond our personal pride in wanting to maintain a beautiful subdivision, messy yards and homes may deter new buyers from wanting to live here.
11. We had a good discussion about when an ARC form should be submitted. An ARC would be required when requesting changes to the outside of your home such as new siding, roof, patio, or driveway. Please keep in mind that even though you may already have a fence, an ARC form still needs to be submitted to get a new one or to replace a large portion of an existing fence. You would not need to submit an ARC for small maintenance work that needs to be done to a portion of the siding, roof, or fence, or if you want to remove some bushes. Please submit an ARC if you have plans to do a large landscape change. These are only examples, so when in doubt, please call or write to PSI Management. The Board will target to have responses to ARC forms turned around in
approximately 5 days.
12. We will revisit the procedure and expense to update our 20+ year old CCRs and By-laws and advise homeowners of the cost to do so. If the decision is to proceed with having our attorney update the documents, a special assessment may be required to fund it. In the meantime, last year we distributed a set of Rules & Regulations which should answer many questions as well as provide the Board with more clear guidelines.
13. The Pond: In the summer of 2020, ILM skimmed the pond to remove as much algae as possible. There was not a lot of rainfall in 2021, so there were several times when the algae growth was significant. In addition, the pond level was not high enough to allow water to flow into Farmington’s Pond. We recently learned that there may be something lodged underneath the trail that might be blocking the flow. Lindenhurst Village has been asked to check it out and clear the problem.
14. On April 18, the Board walked around the pond with a potential new ecological company, Bluestem, who will make a proposal about shoreline restoration. Their proposal will be evaluated vs the proposal from Tall Grass, the company who installed the coir logs. We are seeking advice from a number of companies about how to address the health of our pond and will report back to homeowners.
The next Board Meeting will be held in person on May 12, 2022 at 7:00 P.M. at the Village of Lindenhurst, 2301 E. Sand Lake Road, Lindenhurst, IL 60046. Hope to see you there! Last but not least, at the end of the general meeting, we held the Board election. Rosina Vega and Scott Goodale were re-elected. We welcomed the new members of our Board: Sehij Dharni, Lisa Leyva, and Jarrod Smith. Please feel free to reach out to PSI Management and/or a Board
member with questions, concerns, or comments.
Rosina Vega, 25 Preserve Court
Sehij Dharni, 81 Preserve Court
Scott Goodale, 69 Preserve Court
Lisa Leyva, 2955 Glenarye Drive
Jarrod Smith, 2860 Harvest Lane
Sincerely,
Harvest Hill Homeowners Association Board of Directors
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