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Events and Notices

We are pleased to confirm that the Board of Directors has retained HSR Property Services, LLC as your new management company effective June 1, 2009. Full contact information is listed here.

Please remember your homeowners insurance requires listing the Association as an additional insured / certificate holder; refer to Section V. of the rules and regulations. Your agent or the company can update your policy and automatically send a copy to HSR Property Services upon each renewal. It is mandatory to have your insurance policy defined this way and to provide an annual update to the management company to keep on file. If you have not already done so, please contact your insurance provider. See additional notes below regarding insurance including floods.

Please be aware that it is illegal in Cook County and Palos Hills to have meat or meat by-products outside at any time. It is also a violation of the rules to feed wildlife. It is important to not create a draw for animals or upset natures balance.

Kindly use the work order form found on the "Downloads" page to submit any type of request to HSR Property Services, or simply call or email the contacts provided. Many cases can be handled directly and immediately and rest assured all requests are reviewed by the Board.

Please watch your pets, all must be leashed and licensed. Kindly pick-up after your pets around your unit and when walking them.

All residents and visitors are required to obey the posted speed limit of 15 mph in the complex at all times.

All types of boats (paddle, row, etc.) must be locked if left unsupervised on the lake, otherwise please remove them, to prevent unauthorized use.

Comments on using, improving or otherwise changing the Hidden Lake Estates web site are welcomed. Contributors and collaborators are also welcomed. Click on the HLE logo in the upper left corner to send a message. Click here to visit the "Submissions" page.

Lake and Landscaping

The lake requires certain maintenance to remain healthy. Some aspects of healthy lakes and ponds are legislated, and any body of water ages over time creating new aspects of care. Prime considerations include aeration to provide oxygen for fish and plants, circulation and movement to reduce or eliminate algae and mosquitoes, sedimentation, and general aesthetic qualities to appeal to the senses; each of which represents some expense. Repeated testing of the lake by qualified professionals consistently finds a healthy body of water with high oxygen levels. Recent information indicates the "bubbler" style aeration units provide the best source of aeration. Considerations must still include funding a future lake rehabilitation project. A formal multiple association Lake Committee has been formed to include our adjoining neighbors in the decisions and funding regarding the lake.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains many programs and resources including: Lake Stratification, Monitoring Lake Quality, Aeration and Circulation, Aquatic Plant Management, Aquatic Exotics, and Canadian Geese. Along with I Fish Illinois that provides among it's resources: Tips for Pond Management, Lake Management and Aquatic Plants. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources and many other resources are available to those interested in the topic. The Palos Hills pond ordinace can be found here.

The landscaping committee is active nearly all year. Please remember that new plantings always need water and some other areas benefit from watering on non-freezing days during the winter. "Be aware that drying winter winds with low humidity can be more brutal than a hot July day." says master gardener Nancy Pollard. A standard goal is one (1) inch of water per week for all new plantings. A weekly soaking is usually better than a daily light sprinkle. New sod initially requires 20 to 30 minutes of a sprinkler on a daily basis for the first two weeks. Then, the same amount of water every 3rd day for the following 2 weeks.

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Buildings and Grounds

Information on cedar wood products can be found at the Cedar Bureau and our vendor American Roof Preservers uses Sta-Brite R. A popular resource site Ask the Builder, has this to say about caring for cedar shake roofs. This is an example of a 3 year old roof in before and after views.

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Helpful Owner Tips

The board of managers holds open business meetings at least 4 times a year. The meetings always follow a typical agenda. Within this agenda each meeting includes a list of standing, or repetitive, details. A simplified view is a monthly calendar of topics repeated each year. An annual owner meeting is called each November. The owner meeting is primarily to elect board members. Other topics for owner voting may also be presented at that time.

In the most simple terms, any and all modifications to the common grounds or building exteriors other than homeowner maintenance must be reviewed by the Board of Managers. Please refer to your Rules and Regulations for complete details. A city permit from Palos Hills may be required for either exterior or interior work. They provide a list to use here.

Association services may be requested by contacting the management company. When contacting the management company please be certain to mention Hidden Lake Estates. Work Order forms are available on the "Downloads" page. Contact information is available in Association newsletters.

Home owners are required to carry "condo insurance"; this is typically called an HO6 policy. Building coverage is included in assessments. Contact your insurance agent to confirm you have the proper coverage required by the Association’s governing documents.

Some home owners may desire flood insurance. Everyone lives in an area with some flood risk. It's just a question of whether you live in a high-risk, moderate-risk, or low-risk flood area.

HLE contains two low-risk zones, both FEMA Zone X, with the majority of buildings classified as “Area of Minimal Flood Hazard”.  Seven (7) of the eight (8) buildings on the north side of East Lucas are classified as “0.2 Percent Annual Chance Flood Hazard”.  As might be expected the lake is “always flooded” acting as a retention pond and a detention pond for storms; so, has the FEMA Zone AE, designated as “Special Flood Hazard Areas”. Your insurance agent is your best resource on the matter. Any agent can write such a policy and every agent must write the same policy per FEMA.  Mortgage lenders should have no requirements and can be confirmed by requesting as much from FEMA, this link takes you to the process.

Information on the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program can be found at FEMA and their FLOODSMART web. A direct link to the residential information is here at FEMA and another version we found is here. A mapping service is also available. This takes any address or location and displays the various waterways and their impact to surrounding areas. CAUTION: Map designations and labels may be hidden, appear, disappear or change as the focus or zoom-level is modified.  A map from this source, focused to our specific area can be seen here. Low- to moderate-risk flood areas are designated with the letters B, C, and X on FEMA flood maps. High-risk areas are designated with the letter A or V on FEMA flood maps.

Home owners are required to file current emergency contact information with the management company. This information is only used when the need to contact you regarding an issue on the property arises. This information is kept private and not shared with any other entity.

Building and deck stain is obtainable from many retailers selling an Oxford Brown tint. Please note there are different products for siding stain versus deck stain; also a solid color stain is very similar to some paints. Composite deck materials are allowed provided the color match is "very close" with Oxford Brown color .

Placing discrete red ribbons on trees and plants prevents the landscape company from trimming these trees and plants allowing you to have more involvement in your surroundings. Yellow ribbons will cause trimming to be "lite" if you want the work done, but not much or often. White ribbon indicates "hard trimming" to drastically cut back growth.

Please note the street drains are not sewers, they connect directly to the lake for rain water run-off. Do not discard any form of waste into these drains.

Mail delivery is centralized at 4 mail stations throughout the property. These mail stations also contain slots for outgoing mail. Although schedules can vary, recent service times are late afternoon.

Garbage pick-up is twice weekly, Tuesdays and Fridays. Recycling pick-up is Tuesday only. Although schedules can vary, recent service times are late morning / early afternoon. No pick-up occurs prior to 9a.m. Anything not fitting in a container? Contact the management company for special pick-up arrangements. Place containers in the street, facing the street, with space between containers and cars. Details on Recycling.

Kindly pick-up after your pets around your unit and when walking them.

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions, Housing Styles, and Ownership Styles pages for additional information

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Property Managed by:
HSR Property Services,LLC
815 806-9990