Spring 2018 Newsletter Items

Notes from the President of the Board.

I would like to thank the homeowners that attended our Annual Association Meeting in November at the Belvidere Community Building.  There was lively interaction from many homeowners about neighbors not being neighborly.  It is all of our responsibility to act as good neighbors – keeping our grass cut, our homes and lots clean and clutter free and obeying all the local ordinances for Boone County and the City of Belvidere. Violations should be reported directly to the appropriate enforcing authority i.e. police, city zoning officer, etc.

Recently there has been an increase in suspicious activity in our neighborhood. There was a strange vehicle parked on Riverview and one of the residents called the police.  The police responded and the suspects were caught and arrested for various crimes committed all around Belvidere.  There has also been an increase in illegal dumping of trash, old tires and other debris in the back of our subdivision.  If you see anything out of the ordinary, try to get a description of the vehicle (including the license plate number) and the perpetrators and report the suspicious activity to the Belvidere Police department.

I would like to welcome a new member to our board – April Erber.  April will serve as a director at large and will assist with any special projects we have.

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Christmas Decoration winners were First Place 4127 Brookstone and Second Place 4131 Hearthstone. We will have our 4th annual Christmas Decorating Contest with the 1^st place prize being a $50 and 2^nd place a $25 gift card to a local restaurant again this year.  You must be in good standing with your dues current to win.  Also to make the contest more competitive, the same home cannot win the 1^st place prize in 2 consecutive years.  If you are not decorating your house and would like to be on the judging committee, please contact us.  Prizes will be awarded for the most appealing lighting display.  As a reminder, please make sure that your lighting and displays are removed after the Holidays as soon as weather permits.

 The Annual garage sale weekend will occur on June 14^th, 15^th and 16^th.  Our hope is to have better weather and increase the turnout in both sellers and buyers.  We will advertise in the Boone County Shopper.

Neighborhood Watch – we are still looking for a coordinator and street captains to work with the Community Officer from the Belvidere Police Department – Officer Blankenship.  It is a proven fact that this program reduces crime and vandalism in communities that have an active Neighborhood Watch program.  Please send us an email or call if you would be willing to participate in our program.

If you notice a street light out near your home, please visit the ComEd website and do a search for street light outage.

New Landscaping Service The board has approved a trial period for a new landscaping service to maintain the common areas of our neighborhood. We felt it was important to use the services of a company that was owned by a member of our community.  Beginning this spring, we will be using Three Oaks Landscaping.

Some of you may have gotten notified by postcard or heard about a website and application called Nextdoor.com.  We now have our own Belvidere Prairie Place group.  Please review this site and join if you are interested.

We will now have our website updated on a regular basis.  Please make sure you check it often for new updates and announcements.  If you have suggestions for future enhancements – be sure to share them.

http://belvidereprairieplace.com

We want to make sure that all the homeowners realize that we are a volunteer board. We are all still required to pay our dues just like all of you.  We donate a lot of time each week and month having board meetings, working with real estate agents & attorneys when properties are sold, filling out various forms and IRS tax returns, keeping track of all the finances and paying invoices for various services, writing newsletters and going to the printer, stuffing envelopes, answering emails and phone calls from homeowners and working with our association attorney to name but a few of the tasks we perform.  Our goal is to have a nice, safe neighborhood to live in and keep our property values from deteriorating.  We still have 2 voting vacancies on our board of directors.  This is your chance to have a voice and make a difference in our neighborhood.