Once each year the Village Board writes a letter to residents and businesses providing newsworthy information we hope will be of interest. We also use the letter to explain some of the Village ordinances that are intended to keep Germantown Hills a great place to live. We would be grateful if you would take a few minutes to read this entire letter carefully.

The Village Board asks you to think about the advantages of shopping locally, some of which you might not have considered. When you shop locally, a portion of the sales tax that you pay is returned to Germantown Hills. Along with the property taxes collected on the businesses, these funds help us pay for street repair and other Village services. Germantown Hills does not currently levy at its maximum permitted taxing authority. The revenues from our local businesses are part of the reason we tax less. We all enjoy the convenience of the local businesses, and the help they give our community by providing jobs for local youth and adults. support for local fundraisers, and school and sports programs.

There are other stores in surrounding areas that have much greater buying power and even buy internationally. Our local businesses will never have that cost advantage. But if you consider all the benefits of shopping locally, not to mention the costs to drive elsewhere to shop, are you really saving money at the bigger stores?

Please consider shopping at our local stores, because supporting them may be the easiest thing you can do to help our community thrive. And you may even help your own finances, when you thoughtfully consider all the costs involved.

The Village maintains a web site at http://www.germantownhills.com/village/index.html that has useful information and contacts, and an e-mail address to write to us (gtown@mtco.com). The minutes from Village Board meetings are also posted there. A newly added capability is a link to a Google Group, which we will use to post timely announcements and other information of interest to our Village residents, such as upcoming special hearings and meetings, announcements involving road repairs, and meeting schedule changes. An exciting feature of this group is the ability for you set it to send these announcements directly to your e-mail address if you wish. Go to the Village web site and click the link in the center of the page to access the Google Group and learn more about this new service.

The Village does not provide your drinking water. Please contact Caterpillar Trail Public Water District at 383-4002.

Mailboxes or supports that are placed too close to the roadway pavement, and mailbox supports that do not break away readily when struck, interfere with the Village’s snow plowing operations and present a hazard to motorists. The Mailbox Ordinance prohibits the use of brick mailbox

enclosures, and the Village has set a dollar limit on the Village’s reimbursements if your mailbox is struck by a snowplow. Your cooperation in addressing these safety issues will be appreciated.

Following a brief interruption, we are happy to report that we've resumed the monthly recycling service (3^rd Saturday morning of the month, 8-11 a.m. at the Village Hall, 7-10 a.m. in the summer). This service is being provided by the Association for the Developmentally Disabled of Woodford County (ADDWC). It has been working better than our previous service. We no longer use a special dumpster, so we won't run out of capacity, as has happened in the past. We will be making some changes to improve throughput and safety in the next few months. ADDWC can take paper, cardboard, newspapers, books, aluminum, and plastic. They cannot take glass, Styrofoam, gift wrap, motor oil, and other metals (but they do have a handout telling where some of these can be taken directly).

Open burning is permitted only of "landscape waste" which means grass or shrubbery cutting, leaves, tree limbs, and other materials accumulated as a result of the care of lawns, but shall not

include freshly cut grass clippings. There shall be no open burning of tires, furniture, garbage,

refuse, or other waste. Burning is permitted only between sunup and sundown, at which time the fire must be completely extinguished. A competent person shall constantly attend to the fire until it is extinguished. Burning shall not be done on Village Streets.

Small bonfires for wiener roasts or other recreational purposes, or for ceremonial purposes, are permitted with some requirements; please contact the Village Hall. If you would like a copy of the Ordinance please call the Village Hall.

We know that it is tempting for a homeowner to connect the output from sump pumps or roof downspouts directly into the sanitary sewer system. Unfortunately, this results in huge problems at the sewer plants, because when it rains a very large amount of excess flow enters the system, even from a single downspout or pump. This not only increases the cost of plant operation (electricity and chemicals to pump and process the extra water), but during heavy rainfall it has the potential to result in costly damage to the sewer treatment plant, which drives up sewer rates.

It is because of these problems that such hookups are illegal. Those of you who know that you have an illegal hookup should disconnect it immediately along with any floor drains that are connected to the sewer. If you are unsure of a possible illegal connection, contact the Village Sewer Plant at 383-4200, and we will help you identify if you have an illegal hookup. We will not impose fines on those who cooperate to help us with this problem. Occasionally our employees will come door-to-door to perform inspections. Please understand and cooperate, as this is an important part of controlling your sewer costs.

In 2000 the Village of Germantown Hills established an early storm warning system. These two systems are located at the J.R. White Park and the Middle School. These sirens are outdoor warning devises only. Persons wishing to receive early notification of severe weather should invest in a NOAA weather radio. These radios are available with an automatic warning alert ranging in cost from $30.00 to $80.00. The sirens are tested the first Tuesday of each month at 10:00 a.m.

ESDA still needs volunteers for storm spotting, especially during the daytime hours. Free training is available. Please call the Village hall if you are interested.

The amount of your sewer bill is revised annually, and is partly determined by your water meter reading taken during the winter. (During winter months, nearly all water ends up in the sewer system. By using a winter reading, customers who water their lawns or fill swimming pools in the summer are not unfairly penalized on their sewer bills). New residents, those on wells and others who did not have a valid winter reading will be charged based on the average usage of all other residences.

This year we kept the rates consistent with last years numbers. Remember, however, that your own sewer bill may have gone up or down, depending on your particular winter water usage this last year.

Each summer we conduct maintenance of some streets in the Village. We cannot control exactly when this work will start. At the request of some of our residents, we will try to place signs indicating where the work will be done, shortly before it begins.

When there is road construction in your area, please slow way down and observe traffic control signs and barriers. We know that the construction is inconvenient, but some drivers have sped

past our workers, putting them in danger. Nobody wants an accident to happen, especially you.

It is illegal within the Village to allow your pets to run free. The Village has an Ordinance prohibiting stray animals and severe cases of barking dogs. Please contact the Woodford County Animal Control Department to impound stray dogs. Please be considerate to other property owners when walking your dog.

Please note that sump pump failures and sewer backups caused by power failures are typically not covered under your standard homeowner's insurance. If you are concerned about this, you should contact your insurance agent to see if you should have special rider coverage for this potential loss.

Certain areas of the Village require some Village residents to be on a grinder pump sewer system. If you have a grinder pump unit, there are several things that you need to know. The system is designed to handle NORMAL sanitary sewage. Please, DO NOT pour oils or greases into the system. Also prohibited are so-called disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, plastic tampon containers, flushable wipes, articles of clothing, rubber goods, gravel, and flushable toilet brushes etc. A resident may purchase an audible alarm that would be connected to the control box. This would provide a noise along with the red light when there is a problem. These alarms are an additional cost to the resident in the amount of $150.00, which is installed by the Village. Please call the Sewer Plant at 383-4200 if you are interested in having an audible alarm installed or if you have additional questions. If you would like a complete listing of instructions, please contact the Village hall. In an emergency please call the Village hall at 383-2209 and follow the instructions.

Remember that if you intend to construct any structure on your property, including fences, pools, garages, sheds, installation of a sign, or a roadside underdrain (culvert), you must contact the Village before you begin. We’ll assist you in determining how you can plan your construction so that it is consistent with the Zoning Ordinance. Calling first will avoid confusion, and prevent a disastrous situation where your new construction might have to be moved or torn down. Also remember to contact JULIE (Joint Utility Locating Info for Excavators) at 1-800-892-0123, prior to doing any digging. Otherwise you could be held responsible by the utility companies for any damage done to their underground utilities.

If you wish to conduct a business from your home, you must apply to the Village for a home occupation permit. The process explains how you can legally conduct your business, and avoids complaints by neighbors.

The Village Board passed a new ordinance this year requiring that swimming pools are fenced and hot tubs covered, to prevent tragic drownings such as those that have occurred in recent years. The ordinance is similar to ones in effect in surrounding communities. There is a transition period for installation on existing pools. All new pools or tubs must abide by the ordinance as soon as they are built. Please contact the Village for a copy of the ordinance if you have a pool or hot tub.

Do you enjoy spending your summer in the sun and having a family picnic? The parks in Germantown Hills are a great place to make this happen. Let’s not let vandals ruin that experience for you and your family. We need your help! Please notify the village hall (phone or e-mail) or police if you see or know of anyone who has been involved in vandalizing your parks.

The Village Board annually budgets funds to upgrades our parks. We are interested in what you would like us to do with the parks in the future. To that end, there is a survey included with this letter. If you have opinions on our parks, complete the survey and return mail or drop it off at the Village Hall. Your opinion on this will help determine future plans.

Most people in Germantown Hills have indicated that they like the clean, open, country like appearance of our Village. To keep it this way, the Village has adopted a Zoning Ordinance that regulates advertising, identification signs and commercial lighting levels. A permit is required for any sign, in both residential and commercial zones. When you are issued the permit, we’ll work with you to insure your sign meets the zoning requirements. The Zoning Ordinance also prohibits the advertising of cars or any other material parked or displayed on Village roads and road shoulders along Rte. 116. Also, it is your responsibility to remove all signs after your garage sale has concluded.

If you decide to construct a paved driveway all the way to the street, you’ll want to be sure that the end of the driveway is at least a little lower than the edge of the street. If your driveway is higher at this point, it will be struck by the Village snowplows in the winter. Not only is this hard on your Village equipment, it will almost certainly damage the end of your new driveway.

Also, while we don’t discourage completion of paved driveways all the way to the street, we do want people to understand that their property line usually ends 10-15 feet from the edge of the street, and that this portion of the driveway is really sitting on public property. If the Village needs to do road or ditch maintenance that would damage or destroy this section of your

driveway, the Village is not obligated to replace the pavement.

Email: gtown@mtco.com

Marvin J. Johnson Jr., Village President

John Ford Dave Cole Greg Neaveill

Terry Quinn Lyle Neff Mike Gaetz