About 11 percent of 287 Barrington area homes’ wells tested positive for coliform bacteria, according to the Barrington Area Council of Governments.
According to a summary report released by BACOG last month, the bacteria was found in the wells of eight homes from Barrington Hills, six from Deer Park, five from North Barrington, three from South Barrington, two from Lake Barrington and one unidentified town. Seven other samples were self-reported from the Barrington area.
Read more here.
We need more horses in Barrington Hills to help clean up our water!
This is a very valuable service provided by BACOG. The annual budget for BACOG is estimated at about $300,000, and it seems the testing of water is its only function, notwithstanding the fact that the Counties provide this service at nominal cost.
This translates to $12,000 per home to identify the 25 homes with wells testing positive for coliform bacteria, but on a more positive note, only $1,046 per home to test 287 homes.
Agree with Carlos and Aqua Man; unless BACOG steps up and summarizes and publishes the contiminating sources, e.g., animal waste runoff, fecal coliform, the general public will not benefit from BACOG’s do-nothing, busy work, agenda. What about the effects of these bad wells on their neighbor’s well being or on a general area surrounding these contaminated wells?
As far as individual sampling, Homeowners should, as a matter of their family’s safety, be doing sampling on a regular basis, as provided by local Health Depts.
The BACOG report exposes the lies of our government officials in the conflicted Oakwood Farms Text Amendment approval process. Shouldn’t we request the immediate resignation of Michael Harrington and Judy Freeman?
First, does anyone want to be the 1 in 10 properties affected by water contamination? Does anyone want to be part of increasing % number affected by a neighbor who now has the right to board and keep 15-20 horses on a 5 acre property next door? Absurd limitations in the Amendment erased protections for neighbors who share same water tables under increasingly dense horse populations. Ability to inspect waste disposal practices in BH does NOT exist.
Michael Harrington spoke untruthfully and there is no denying it. He represented that the Health Commission was “ambiguous” to the commercial boarding Amendment. Two separate representatives of the Health Commission spoke and stated that was false. In fact, the Commission requested time to study the impacts and Harrington misrepresented the facts.
Furthermore, Judy Freeman ignored the request of the Board to secure information on the health impacts before taking action on the Oakwood Farms Text Amendment. She ignored it and the ZBA spoke falsely that no impact come from increased commercial horse boarding when the facts were not available.
BACOG’s study results support concern for public health. We want equestrian operations in our community, it’s partially why we moved to BH. But, the new Amendment will destroy our Village and possibly make living her unsafe. Harrington and Freeman have proven their willingness to speak untruthfully to protect Oakwood and conflicted special interests at the possible expense of public health. Fire them now.
“Save 5 Acres” n/k/a “Save Open Spaces” (“SOS”) spends taxpayer money without ever providing any analysis to VBH residents why would you expect anything different its appendage, BACOG. One only has to revisit recent history of SOS VBH government to find the following:
1. 10 year VBH capital road project where SOS candidate Meroni requested and received a record increase of 47% for expenditure of roads for 2015 without providing any analysis/accounting of prior 10 year road campaign with Harrington now wanting to start a new 5 year road program without historicle analysis of prior ten year plan.
2. Expenditure of excess of 1.5 Million Dollars on Sears litigation by SOS dominated Board and VBH President without ever disclosing this VBH residents let alone providing accounting to taxpayers. Hiding in executive session when dealing with this issue. Litigation settled by Pres. McLaughlin at no cost to VBH taxpayers during his first year in office.
3. Expenditure of @182,000 of taxpayer funds to shut down commercial boarding operations on Oakwood Farm and achieving this both at the State and Appellate court level only to issue the .47 cent “Schuman Letter” (Illegally legalizing these boarding activities) 34 days after a secret campaign donation of $15,000.00 from Oakwood Farm to SOS candidates, Messer, Meroni and Selman.
4. As a result of Schuman Letter, secret campaign donations and gaming the ZBA and BOT through SOS majority on these Boards, VBH has unnecessarily exposed itself to a multi-million dollar RICO claim by an aggrieved VBH resident and SOS did this in the face of warning by VBH Pres. McLaughlin.
5. Routinely authorizing payment of bills every month from B-W, GW, Kelly and anyone else providing servives or materials without ever requiring “itemized billing statements” identifying with specificity what VBH taxpayers were paying for.
6. Removal of the police pension plan from IL State IMRF to local VBH management at a cost of millions of dollars to VBH taxpayers now and into the future.
7. Overfunding the pension contribution each year resulting in VBH taxpayers of today subsidizing VBH taxpayers of tomorrow and placing the pension in an underperforming plan. This debacle will in future years if not resolved, comprise of 50% of annual VBH budget.
8. Charging taxpayers many hundreds of thousands a year for an SOS created 911 system which is redundant of a system already in place for VBH and never making any effort to lease VBH 911 system to other municipalities. Projected cost over next 10- years, 6 Million Dollars.
9. Excess of $2,000 to VBH taxpayers for portrait of former vBH Pres. Robt. Abboud where portrait of current VBH Pres. McLaughlin cost only $200.00. May I say the latter is much better executed.
10. Depletion of almost all VBH financial reserves on hand when Kempe left VBH office and SOS obtained presidency and majority on VBH Boards.
The greatest threat to our “5 Acre zoning” and “open spaces” is the reckless spending and management of VBH taxpayer money by SOS coupled with SOS majority recent distruction of R1-5 acre zoning through adoption of Anderson II commercial boarding amendment.
Given this record of taxpayer abuse, why would would you think BACOG would provide any type of explanation. Perhaps the acronym “SOS” more appropriately stands for “[S]pend [O]ur [S]avings” .
Come April, do VBH voters want the [S]ame [O]le [S]h#t SOS brings to the table or do VBH voters want a fresh new generation of leaders who bring new ideas and accountability to VBH taxpayers?
For me, this is a no brainer!
Once again we have another village entity, called BACOG, taking more taxpayer dollars without providing a sincere accountability of its spending and denying residents a complete analysis of their findings. I thought the purpose of this effort was to give our residents solid and pertinent information.
Thanks to the passage of Anderson II we can expect that the composition of our water will become more problematic not less. The denial of the ZBA, to allow testimony and debate from the Health Dept. on this matter shows their position, along with Trustees Harrington, Gohl, Selman and Meroni who continue to back them up. One more example, of another financial figurehead in the village depleting our financial reserves. Are residents aware that BACOG continues to lease out office space at the Village Hall? You can thank our current Trustees for extending their lease agreement and spending resident tax dollars on this type of fiscal mismanagement. President McLaughlin can do only so much! Time for a revolt! Are these Trustees acting in good faith and good stewardship of village funds? Is transparency government in action?
Residents are continuing to be strung along in the hopes of attaining the 10 year road paving plan set forth from years ago. President McLaughlin made mention numerous times that any savings should be returned to residents in the form of future road improvements. Well, why is it then that only one out of the ten years was the 3.5 mile quota met? Where did the rest of the money go and to whom? Now, we have deteriorating and deplorable roads, and Trustee Meroni is requesting even more money. Her candidate apprentice Mary Naumann is only interested in road reclassification. She should ask her boss to return all the lost monies back to residents!!
Trustee Harrington now wants to approve a new five year road plan, without providing residents complete specifics on the failed ten year road plan. Rest assured, there are multiple beneficiaries of those funds: Perhaps, Trustee Selman can explain why her report fails to include the itemized bills for folks like attorneys Burke/Warren, Gewalt/Hamilton, who padded their pockets all the way to the bank!
And the gall of this BOT to consider Kelly as one of the finalists for permanent legal counsel for the village is stunning, but yet the BOT continues to deny the attorney bills for temporary counsel Bond/Dickson shows their nepotism.
Question is when will our residents lash back at this type of failed fiscal management? Why are all the reports void of detail and hidden?. Many of these issues are routinely discussed in executive session away from the public’s review.
When are our residents going to say enough already and make it count come April? This village needs Barack O’bama’s campaign slogan, HOPE and CHANGE!
The SOS acronym should stand for a H E L P life preserver for Barrington Hills residents! We need to have our financial budget rescued from these spendthrifts who continue to assume that they can spend so recklessly without accounting for all these cost overruns year after year!
Since his term began President McLaughlin continues to support fiscal restraints on spending, and has a eagle eye to control costs wherever he can. His election was a mandate from the people to find a way to restore our fiscal house and bring us together in the spirit of unity and compromise. So far he has done a marvelous job, and I congratulate him!!
It was a miraculous feat that he successfully worked on and found a tax-saving solution to the Sears litigation dispute. Obviously, where there was a will there was a way! This is something quite novel for the village and previous administration to swallow, as the deficit of the last decade ballooned and our road budget already demonstrates a failure to compound savings and pass them on in infrastructure improvments. President McLaughlin’s change in village counsel was correct, as Burke/Warren became the cash cow compliments of the taxpayers of Barrington HIlls. Overspending in every area of budget planning is now evident, and solutions are becoming scarce as the BOT will not accept their complicity in these financial affairs until there actions are uncovered.
As a long time resident, I support this President’s goal to return funds to residents. It is the correct and courageous course of action. It might be a an uphill road however with the proper well-meaning and seated Trustees come April, President McLaughlin can take this village to new heights. I ask my fellow residents to join me, and make this our New Year’s resolution in 2015.