REMINDER Garage & Porch lights: Must be on from dusk till dawn. Contrary to popular belief, the cost of running a light is not as expensive as many think.
An regular incandescent 60w bulb costs an average of .02 cents per hour to run. A 100w florescent bulb costs about .009 cents. That's less than 1 cent a hour!
So for an average of 8 hours a day for 30days ...
60w incandescent = $4.80 per month
100W florescent = $2.16 per month

REMINDER Locking up your home: Just a reminder, when your not home close AND LOCK your doors and windows.
We know with the nice weather the temptation to live windows open a crack to let fresh air in while your at work sound nice, but its an open invitation to burglars. It isn't hard to rip a screen and get in if window is open.

Dec 2008
Parking Reminders
With many units in Hanover Square being bought and sold there has been a rash of cars paring in spaces of vacant units.

PLEASE PLEASE remember.. you may ONLY park in another units space if you have WRITTEN PERMISSION from the UNIT OWNER of the space you wish to park in. This written permission must be sent into the association Management by the owner of the unit who is giving the permission.

If someone parks in a vacant units space and a realtor comes to show the unit, they will not have a space to park in. They will then either par in someone else's space or in fire lane, both of which they could have their car towed. Would you want someone paring in your space without permission? Would you think its fair for you to have to go around knocking on doors to try to figure out where that person is? NO. So please respect others and park ONLY in YOUR space unless you get the written permission from another unit to park in their space.

Cars found to be park in vacant unit spaces, or in other unit spaces without permission WILL be towed at vehicle owners expense.

DO NOT DOUBLE PARK !  Do not park in fire lanes. Again, any vehicle found double parking or in fire lanes also risks being towed

Dec 2008
Snow Removal
December has been filled with snow this year. The company we have hired has been very good at getting out and getting the job done in a very reasonable timeframe. Remember, the snow removal company only comes out after 2" or more and normally only after it has stopped snowing. This way we don't pay them twice to clear the snow during 1 storm.

PLEASE keep in mind, this company does not work for us alone, but several locations. Sometimes we will be first, sometimes we will be last and other times in the middle. In any case, our roads and walks WILL get done.
This year I am happy to see they have made sure the sidewalks are cleared the full width of the walks and not just a skinny snow plow width.

They also have done a much better job around the garage aprons. Sadly it could be better still if residents would move their vehicles when they are plowing to get a more complete job done. Association Rule is that after 2" of snow vehicles MUST be moved for just this reason.

I have seen another area where they need to improve, and that would be to clear the walks by the garages to allow people to get from the garages to the units. We have talked to them and we will keep on top of this.

We are also talking to them about the salt buckets. As with last year, 1 salt bucket is to be left for each building, Normally this will be by either the A or F unit and SHOULD be outside for each unit of that building to use. Sadly we are having some issues with some units thinking that the bucket if for them alone, or taking it inside, as well as some buckets being stolen. Also some are using WAY TO MUCH of this Ice melt. This is not standard salt, This is Ice melt and you only need a small amount to do the job. PLEASE do not over use this as it is very expensive, every time we have to have them refilled it means more of the money we all pay goes to that and not to other more needed areas such as painting, sidewalks, lighting and so on. We will be working on this Ice melt issue.

Personally I have gone out and bought my own ice melt. At Wal-Mart a 50 pound bag is only $6.97 (Road Runner Brand) I have shoveled my own walk, as well as my neighbors and put Ice melt down. If each of us chiped in a little and helped thisngs would be much cleaner.

Click photos for larger versions

Nov 20th 2008
Gutters cleaned
Now that fall is basically over and most of the leaves and crab apples have fallen, crews have started cleaning out the gutters on all the buildings. This is an important job to do to make sure that melting snow and ice can dran from roofs and not cause ice damning thus causing damage to buildings.

 

Nov 12th 2008
Sewer work by 1306 to 1311
The village has hired a contractor to do some sewer work in the area of our complex from 1306 to 1311 Kingsbury. This is work being done by the village and not by the association. and all repairs to sewer, sidewalks, grass and so on are NOT part of our budget and not anything we will be paying for.
This is a long project so please be patient while work is being done and be careful around this area as there will be missing concrete, holes, as well as parts and equipment laying around.

Oct 27th 2008
Road Update
The Hanover Square board had an 2 hour meeting with village officials to get the ball rolling on road replacement here in Hanover Square.

Among topics discussed was garbage collection, concrete, blacktop, engineering, finances and time tables. AT this point there are some details to nail down and a lot of engineering to do. While we would like to see road work started this spring, I have been told that the engineering for this project, which will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, will take some time to plan before work can start. Including drainage, blacktop, concrete, masonry etc etc etc. Plans at this point look like getting paperwork and plans done in 2009 and work to begin in 2010. depending on how everything works, there is a possibility that the roads MIGHT be able to all get done in 1 year as apposed to 3 years.

There are all things that will be needed to worked out. but we are on the way of getting the roads done ! :)

1303 Damage Update 11-9-08
Police have investigated, and are still doing so. But sadly the people we, and police, believe are involved have not only NOT owned up to doing this, but have actually gone as far as to try to cover up their tracks so they wont be held responsible. This has caused not only the Association money, something WE ALL have to pay for, but the unit owner as well. It is sad that because these people don't want their insurance rates, If they even have insurance, to go up, and aren't adult enough to admit a mistake that everyone else has to pay for their actions. We have photos, paint chips, plastic from vehicle. All have been turned into police who are looking into this matter. If the people who did this are proven to be responsible they will be charged back the entire cost of the repairs as well as charges filed for damage to property and hit and run by the association. Other charges may be filled as well.
The damage to the 1303 building between the A & B units has now been repaired. This was a hit and run and police are investigating.
Sadly this was another unexpected cost that the association now has to absorb all because someone was not responsible enough to admit to the accident. This causes us all to pay for it out of our association fees.

Oct 22nd 2008
Garage at 1303 damaged
The garage at the 1304 A / B unit was damaged late Wednesday night. A resident was alerted to the damage by the noise and called police. Our security was on property and was at the scene when police arrived.
The damage was to the area between the A and B units garage door, the wall framing, the framing to the A unit's garage door, and the A units garage door itself.
Needless to say this is a unexpected expense the association now has to repair the damage not to mention an unexpected expense to the unit owner for a new garage door. Neither of this expenses are fair to be forced to pay because a careless driver wont own up to what they did.

The association has contacted a contractor who did come out to inspect the damage on Thursday morning and found that there was no danger from the structure falling and made some temporary repairs. They are engineering the repair and will do work on Monday.

PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY! No one wants this to happen to their property or worse yet to a person.

Click photos for larger view

Oct 2008
Dumpster corals / shed painted
The shed and all the dumpster corals have now been painted, and WHAT a improvement to the look of the complex. These items have not been painted in nearly 10 years and were in major need of TLC. Sherwin painters did a great job!

Sept 19th 2008
Lights repaired
The lights between 1306 and 1311 Kingsbury that have been out since AT&T cut the electric line to them months ago are FINALLY back on and working.
A HUGE thank you to Valerie at ACM for putting up with the constant badgering from the board about this issue and for dealing with the headaches from AT&T and the numerous people dropping the ball there on this issue.
AT&T finally got the electric line fixed thanks to the help from JC at AT&T. And best part is is that because it was AT&T who damaged it, it didn't cost us anything but the time and aggravation of dealing with AT&T to get it done.

Sept 13th & 14th 2008
Storms and Flooding
Hanover Square for the most part was spared from any major damage of flooding. A few units had water in their floor vents, but when the ground is as saturated as it was these two days we are lucky that is all that happened.
Ranger Park, Barrington Rd, White Castle, and the shopping center next to it were effected the most around us, as well as the field across from 7601and 7602.
This is a good time to remind everyone to re-look at your home insurance and make sure you have some sort of flood insurance to help replace  items if we ever do get flooded in Hanover Square.

Below are some photos of areas as they normally are and when they were flooded.... Click on photos to enlarge them

Flooded	Normal		Flooded	Normal
Flooded	Flooded	Flooded	Normal
Flooded	Normal		Flooded	Normal
Flooded	Normal		Flooded	Normal
Flooded		Flooded		Flooded

Aug 11th 2008
Work on Swing area
Board president Tom Schaefer with some help from about 10 neighborhood kids started the work on the area around the swings.
Wood ties were put in and about 1000 lbs of pea gravel was put in. More gravel, grass seed and new paint will be added soon.
THANKS to all the kids who asked to help. On Aug 12th they will all get bags of marshmallows for their efforts!

   
Before                       surround added           Painted

Aug 2008
Dumpsters and Dumpster fences
The dumpsters are an important resource for all of us living here in Hanover Square and sadly recently have been abused.
If you have large items like mattresses, PLEASE get someone to help you place them INSIDE the dumpster (not next to it). Furniture like dressers, bookcases etc should be disassembled and placed INSIDE the dumpsters (not next to it). If you are placing a appliance such as a stove or refrigerator you MUST remove the doors, placing the doors IN the dumpster (not next to it) and call Valerie at ACM (847) 301 1133 to arrange pick up for them.

These large items WILL NOT be picked up by the regular garbage pick up and cost the association extra money for the special pick ups. ,That means it costs everyone in the association extra including you. Most of these costs can be avoided just by making sure these steps are followed.

Another problem we have is garbage not being put into the dumpsters. Weather its someone just tossing garbage over the fence and missing the dumpster, sending little children out with garbage who cant ,or wont put garbage in dumpster or adults just being to lazy to do so, this causes issues. Wild and domesticated animals can get to waste food. This is a danger not only to the animals, but to people who may be near and scare them while they are eating.
Another issue is just the look of garbage laying around. This makes the entire complex look bad and makes visitors think badly of the type of people who live here.
PLEASE MAKE SURE GARBAGE IS INSIDE THE DUMPSTER!

You might like to know that the worst dumpster area is near the1301 and 1302 buildings. it almost is always messy a day after it is cleaned, surprisingly, the dumpster area directly across from it by the1307 and 1308 buildings is always the cleanest.

In other Dumpster news, the dumpster fences have started to be painted. THESE ARE NOT WRITING BOARDS! We have had MANY of these dumpster fences written on in paint, marker and pencil. Again, it costs money to repaint these. If children are caught defacing these or any association property the parents will be charged back the cost of cleaning an/or repainting and a fine may also be sent. This is our home and neighborhood, PLEASE take pride in it and stress to children not to write on anything but their own papers :)

June 2008
Police Cameras
Hanover Park Police Chief Ron Moser has proposed a plan to place police cameras, much like in Chicago, in the area of Hanover Square and Larkspur complexes on Kingsbury.
While Hanover Square board believes these cameras would be good for the neighborhood, we disagree with the plan to have the residents on Hanover Square and Larkspur pay for the system whish would run over the $100,000 price mark.
These cameras would be village property, would be village maintained and controlled and accessed. They would also help the single family homes, the park district and the new Manard's.
We believe that since these would be VILLAGE property, and that since Chicago pays for the police camera's there it only make sense that the village cover the cost of these cameras if they wish to have them. After all the cameras would not be on Hanover Square property, nor would they be used exclusively for Hanover Square use.

July 2008
Road Repair news
At the July meeting we were happy to have Village Clerk Sherry Craig come and talk about how the village of Hanover Park will be working with Hanover Square to solve or problems with the roads as well as other issues.
We have set in motion the next steps that will put us closer to the goal of having the roads in Hanover Square replaced, curd work done, new dumpster corals and many other improvements.
If all goes well and no unforeseen problems arise we could hope to see work start as early as next spring!
This will be a GREAT improvement to Hanover Square and will also help us plan other improvements as well

More details to come as this project moves forward

July 2008
Property Tax Decrease WE GOT IT :)
Well after SEVERAL months of work, the board and management of Hanover Square were able to have layers fight to help decrease the recent raise in property taxes in Hanover Square.
Why did the association do this rather than individual unit owners? To make it as simple as possible to explain, the entire grounds of Hanover Square are owned by all of us, each unit owner owns a particular percentage , andsince it is all owned by all of us, to contest the raise it had to be filed as a whole.
So we got the decrease ! :)  this will be reflected on your next property tax bill.
There is a cost to the association to undertake this however. And the cost will be worked into next years Hanover Square Budget but the savings to each of us are more then the cost of getting it done.

More details to come !
 

May 2008
Menard's building fast
Menard's is going up fast ! More photos, VIDEO and Info can be found here ...  CLICK HERE

May 2008
Wheelchair Ramp
A resident in the complex got permission and special approval to install a wheelchair ramp at their unit. The work was done per Hanover Square rules and to Hanover Park code.
This is not only functional but LOOKS GREAT!  Joe R. you did a GREAT job on this!

Click for larger view

May 13 2008
Car damages tree and fire hydrant
On May 13th 2008 at about 2am a car jumped the curb on Kingsbury near the 1312 building hitting a tree by 7605 A then hitting and breaking off the fire hydrant by the 1312A unit.
No one was hurt and damage is being repaired. Click photos for larger view

May 2008
Bike Path
We are still awaiting updates from the village on the bike path that is to be built on the field north of Hanover Square. More info can be found here .. CLICK HERE

May 2008
Road Repairs
We were to have Sherry Craig from the village at the May meeting to discuss the ongoing plans for the road replacement as well as other plans, but, due to an error on the meeting date Tom sent to Sherry she didn't make it.
Tom accidentally told Sherry it was the 21st of May, the meeting was the 20th.
Tom has since contacted Mrs. Craig and had apologized for his mistake and we are planning to have Sherry attend the July meeting.
Tom would also like to apologize to the residents for this error, as he knows many were looking forward to hearing the updates.

But be assured, we are STILL working on this and will be taking the necessary steps to get this project moving forward.

May 2008
Meeting Minutes
The minutes from the meetings are also being added to the web site so those who werent able to make it can see what was discussed  CLICK HERE

May 2008
Return of the newsletter
We are in the beginning of planning for and all new Hanover Square newsletter. New look, new schedule and new input. :)

We are looking for YOUR INPUT! This is a newsletter for all of us so we want to hear from you. Do you have an idea, a story, A recipe you want to share? How about a picture of the area? How about a reoccurring article?

Contact us with your ideas and so on by going to our NEW NEWSLETTER SECTION of the website ... CLICK HERE

May 2008
Painting, utilities and more :)
PAINTING
We had budgeted to paint 6 buildings this year. 1305, 1313, 1314, 7604, 7607 and 7608.
These buildings were picked on two criteria, First by rotation. 6 buildings are painted each year (more if funds allow). With 24 buildings in the complex, this means each building will get painted every 4 years. So if a building got painted last year, it wont get repainted again this year. Second my its condition. The buildings in most need will be painted first. Need being if there is bare wood, severe pealing, replaced material not matching ect.

Please keep in mind. Since doors and windows are HOMEOWNER RESPONSIBILITY, association does not have to paint them for owners, but does so as to help doors look as fresh as the building paint. If you wish your door to NOT be painted. please contact management. You will be required to paint the door yourself. It must be within the same time or close to it, and must be painted white.

We would also like to mention that the buildings are 30+ years old and our budget can only afford so much. We can not afford to have everything scraped and sanded to bare wood for repainting and still afford to paint 6 buildings a year. Painters will scrape any loose paint and power wash before painting, but that is as far as it will go. Our only other options would be to have painters scrape and sand each building, but then we could only afford to do 2 buildings a year instead of 6. This would mean each building would only be pained once every 12 years. And I don't have to tell you that isn't possible. No paint lasts that long and it would be highly irresponsible of us to go that route. Or to raise the association fees to cover the additional cost. And NO ONE wants that.

CLICK OH PHOTOS FOR LARGER VIEW

UTILITIES
Comcast - You may have noticed that most of the exposed comcast wires have been buried. After MANY MANY complaints to them from Management and Tom, and after having their wires clipped, 5 crews were out on property in April to burry them. They WILL be back out to do more work, such as moving the boxed off the fronts of some buildings and moving them to the sides where they belong as well as repairing and replacing some damaged and sinking junction pods.

AT&T - Sadly, AT&T has STILL not repaired the power line to the light poles in the courtyard by 1306 to 1311 that they damaged back in November when burring one of their lines.
We have contacted not only AT&T about this issue, but the village and the state utility board as well. We are going to take further action if problem is not resolved soon which may include barring them offering service in out complex until they repair the damage and / or legal action.
This is a safety issue and is very important to get resolved.

Nicor - We are setting up dates for Nicor to come out and inspect every unit in the complex for possible safety issues with the natural gas service.
They will be inspecting both the meter on the exterior of the buildings as well as connections in each unit for furnaces, stoves and dryers.
The reason we are doing this is due to leaky hoses and broken gas lines in the past. Needless to say, with the units so close together, a fire in one unit can easily spread to another.
When you are contacted about the inspection to your unit .. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make EVERY effort to accommodate this inspection. This is a extremely important inspection for the safety of not only yourself and your property, but to your neighbor as well.

Tradwinds -  Well as you have seen, the new Manards is well on its way. The gas station has also been torn down and the Blockbuster as well.
The Blockbuster will be replaced with a Bank of America. I have not been told about what the plans for the gas station are.
More photos and Info can be found here ...  CLICK HERE
 

April 5th & 6th
Pot hole repairs
With the weather clear and warn enough to do it, the remainder of the major pot holes on Kingsbury were filled on the 5th, and on the 6th the Bristol drive was done. Hopefully if all goes well with the village we wont need to repair pot holes next spring.

March 26th
KEEP YOUR CAR SAFE ! ! !
Sadly a couple of resident in our complex found out the HARD way why we have said numerous times NOT TO leave your car running and unattended or to leave your garage open and unattended.
Sometime on Monday March 10th, a resident did just that and their car was stolen. As well as tools from their garage. We also believe the damage to another garage in the complex was caused by this car being stolen.

Then on March 26th a SUV was stolen from another part of our complex.

These were crimes of opportunity. This means that whoever stole these cars were not looking for these particular  cars, but happened to be there when they saw them running with keys in it and unattended. It took less than a min for the car to disappear and the tools in their garage.

Police and investigators are working the cases and Hanover square management is working with them. Cars have been stolen from Larkspur and Old Salem as well, so this isn't just a Hanover Square issue.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!  DO NOT leave your car running unattended, not leave your garage open unattended. It is against association rules and STATE LAW to leave a vehicle running while unattended.

Here’s the Illinois law on unlocked vehicles left running:

(625 ILCS 5/11-1401) “No person driving or in charge of a motor vehicle shall permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the engine, locking the ignition, removing the key from the ignition, effectively setting the brake thereon and, when standing upon any perceptible grade, turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the highway.”
 

It could EASILY happen again to any one of us.

March 17th
Light Pole repairs
After literarily YEARS of issues with Comed the pole between 7601 and 7602 is BACK UP AND WORKING!

MANY MANY thanks to Valerie for putting up with the DAILY calls from Hanover Square President Tom Schaefer, and her hard work dealing with both Comed and the electricians to get this done!

March 15th
Pot Hole repairs
On Saturday, pot holes will start to be filled in. This is a temporary repair as the board is still working for a total driveway replacement plan. It may take a couple of weekends to get them all filled in. low temps, rain, cold may delay the repair process, so pleas be patient.

Please drive slowly and avoid them until we can get them all filled in.

As of 2pm on Saturday March 15th, the pot holes on the main entrance of kingsburry and the court from 1301 to 1308 have been filled in. Weather permitting the drive for 1309 to 1315 will be next
 

March 14th
Light improvements and repairs
Once again, Comed is giving us major issues with regards to the two lights at 7601 / 7602. 
The poles have been rewired and are ready, but Comed has yet to come out to hook them up. First excuse from them was the old contact we had their is no longer with company. The NEW contact has now told us that Comed doesn't consider lights out a priority. They have been informed this issue has been going on for OVER 2 years and it IS a priority. and we were told that the contact will try to talk to HIS supervisor to move up the work order.

The lights in the 1300 court yard are out due to the power wires being damaged by AT&T when they did some digging by the 1309 & 1310 units. They still have not come out to finish their wire, repair our power line nor repair the landscaping. We have been calling them every day for the last 2 weeks.

The additional lights from the Police grant are still being worked on. we are in contact with both the village and the contractor about this and hope to see the lights going up soon.

 

March 6th
This winter and the costs
Its no secret that this winter we have seen MUCH more snow than we did last wither. This means we have also spent MUCH more this year than last with snow removal and salt.
We will have a break down listed here soon of the costs. We just need to compile them first.

The winter has also taken it toll on the roads. Yes we are aware of the pot holes, and once it warns up and dries out where we can patch the holes we will. But it doesn't make economic sense to spent the $$ now just to have them be pulled out and have to spent more $$ later to redo it.
So in the meantime.. PLEASE, drive around them, drive SLOWLY and be careful.

We have also had some damage to the property from the plows and piles of snow. Most issues have been corrected and a couple more will be resolved once ground thaws.

Storms have also cause some siding to come off. Again, this has already been repaired.

In other damage issues, AT&T has cut our power line to the lights in the 1300 court yard, causing the poles there to go out. We are in contact with them and will be making them repair and cover the costs of that repair. It was their fault and it isn't fair to have Hanover Square pay the cost for what they did.

March 6th
Web Site back up
Well we had some issues with the web site. But I am happy to report that they have all been resolved and site is back up and running!
The web host has moved the site to a new and faster server and this should help prevent crashes in the future.

Send mail to tschaefer@hanoversquare.org with questions or comments about this web site.
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Last modified: April 12, 2009
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