Boulder Hill gets advice for dealing with nuisances

BOULDER HILL – The Kendall County Board took government to the grassroots level in a meeting with Boulder Hill residents at the Oswego Township office building.

About 40 citizens of the unincorporated area jammed into the township’s meeting room on Oct. 21 to seek solutions to the property maintenance, noise and other nuisance problems that have plagued the community.

The residents told members of the county board’s Planning Building and Zoning Committee that an on-going concern is recreational vehicles, boats, trailers and landscaping equipment being parked on streets, driveways and unpaved surfaces.

They said that unsightly junk vehicles that never seem to move are prevalent.

Excessive noise emanating from some properties also was cited by homeowners as an ever-present quality-of-life issue.

Boulder Hill is a densely populated area of 8,300 residents covering just 1.5 square miles east of the Fox River, sandwiched between Montgomery and Oswego, in unincorporated Oswego Township.

County board member Scott Gengler, the committee chairman, noted that Boulder Hill constitutes about a third of the entire county’s population living in unincorporated areas.

The committee also includes county board members Elizabeth Flowers, Judy Gilmour, Dan Koukol and Robyn Vickers.

The visit to Boulder Hill was an indication that the county board has taken notice of the challenges faced by the community.

“This is the first time we’ve had a meeting in Boulder Hill,” Gilmour observed.

“It’s an honor to be here in the neighborhood,” Gengler said to open the meeting.

The message that the board and members of the county staff had for residents to deal with nuisance problems was simple.

Residents must call in complaints to the county’s Planning Building and Zoning Department and then be patient for results.

“We’re a complaint-based department,” county Senior Planner Matt Asselmeier told the crowd.

Asselmeier detailed county ordinances regulating property maintenance codes and enforcement procedures.

For example, in the case of a junk vehicle, it generally takes at least a week before the county can investigate after receiving a complaint. The first clue is generally the condition of the tires, Asselmeier said.

When the vehicle is determined to be inoperable and in violation of the ordinance, the owner has 30 days to get into compliance, Asselmeier said.

If the owner fails to do so, it takes another 10 days before a court date can be assigned, he said.

But a vehicle that is parked on a driveway or hard surface without ever seeming to leave the spot is not necessarily in violation of the ordinance.

“If it starts and moves, no matter how bad it looks, it’s not inoperable,” Asselmeier said.

Joe Bush was one of several residents who said there are a large number of vehicles parked on and near a property along Saugatuck Road.

Brian Holdiman, the county’s code enforcement officer, said the situation is under investigation.

Judy Bush, wife of Joe Bush, is a newly elected trustee for Oswego Township and said later that she was asked by residents to run for the township board because of the property maintenance issues facing Boulder Hill.

Because Boulder Hill is unincorporated, it relies on the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office for police protection. That includes responding to noise complaints.

Residents cited barking dogs, fireworks explosions and other loud noises disturbing the peace.

Asselmeier said the noise limit is 60 decibels from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 55 decibels from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., as measured from the property line of the homeowner making the complaint.

Sheriff’s deputies take a reading and if the noise is found to be in excess of the limit, the person responsible for creating the racket is notified to turn it down. Habitual offenders may be liable to a fine, Asselmeier said.

Residents often asked questions dealing with problems specific to their properties. They were advised to contact the Planning Building and Zoning Department directly.

At times, the meeting room seemed more like a classroom with the residents having gone back to school for a course in Local Government 101.

The officials explained the overlapping jurisdictions of the county and township governments, as well as the unique characteristics of unincorporated areas like Boulder Hill.

Koukol of the committee advised the residents to get to know each other better.

“A lot of the time it’s just communication with neighbors,” Koukol said. “Introduce yourself to your neighbors. Boulder Hill has a lot of new people moving in.”