Twelve residents spoke during public comment. Eleven of them were given due respect from the board beginning with the first speaker who called for an investigation of President McLaughlin’s actions in office. The speaker was met with no interruption, and in fact, was acknowledged with a respectful “thank you” from President McLaughlin at the end.
To listen to the comments of the speaker, who just happens to be the Campaign Chair for Trustees Meroni and Selman’s SOS Party, click here.
However, the third speaker was interrupted so loudly and frequently by Trustee Messer that the chair was forced to suggest he would need to leave the room if he could not maintain decorum. Even Trustee Meroni stated “Let him go on continuing to make a fool of himself” when Messer continued on even after the speaker was done. A direct link to that exchange can be found here.
As always, we recommend readers listen to all comments from residents who took the time to attend and contribute to the discussion.
After public comment, three representatives from ComEd provided an update on the planned installations of Smart Meters in Barrington Hills beginning in May. Their presentation can be heard here.
During the finance discussion, Trustee Harrington once again objected to payments to Patrick Bond, temporary Village counsel, despite the fact that neither he, nor any other Trustee, has recommended a replacement for Bond who continues to gladly answer legal questions from every board member. Bond’s billing was denied by five trustees, and according to recorded minutes, he has not been paid since August or September of last year, yet he continues to serve the board dutifully and without hesitation.
The vote on the 911 consolidation ordinance was tabled by Trustee Gohl due to public comment that evening and because of pending insurance information from QuadCom. His motion passed with only one nay vote from Trustee Meroni.
During her Roads & Bridges report, Trustee Meroni stated that she was unprepared to present a mid-range plan beyond the current year to catch up on the 4.5 mile backlog of road resurfacing, but committed to present one at the February board meeting.
Trustee Messer presented an ordinance he had drafted repealing the code allowing the Village President to appoint special counsel. Many, including The Observer, viewed Messer’s draft as ambiguous in scope and could have also been used to take the power to appoint the Village Attorney away from the office of the Village President. After much wrangling, Messer finally agreed to change the dubious language, and it passed by a 5-2 vote.
During the Board of Health report and discussion, Trustee Harrington and Bob Kosin gained support from the board to allow for more extensive periodic testing of well water from public locations required to do so by law, such as churches, the Riding Center and the Village Hall well. We commend the members of the Board of Health for taking on this initiative, since nearly every resident has no alternative to well water.
Finally, after nearly two and half hours the much-anticipated report on Administration that had attracted most of the crowd was presented.
President McLaughlin stated that he had vetoed the Anderson-LeCompte commercial horse boarding amendment on January 6th, and then proceeded to provide a very reasonable explanation regarding why he exercised his right, as can be heard here. Despite this veto, the same five Trustees who voted to approve the amendment can override the veto at the next Board meeting.
McLaughlin then spoke to his initiation of a special counsel review into the manner in which the Anderson-LeCompte boarding amendment was handled and allegations of impropriety brought forward by residents. That recording can be found here.
No sooner than the President finished, Trustee Harrington interrupted the agenda with his own call for an investigation in a lengthy prepared statement mirroring the comments of the SOS Party chair earlier in the evening.
Harrington, who recently donated $10,000 to Trustees Meroni and Selman’s SOS Party, accused McLaughlin of political motivation in his call for a special investigation regarding the horse boarding amendment and cited a laundry list of anything he could name, from appointments made by McLaughlin that adhered to Village Code and the Open Meetings Act, to allegations of impropriety in conducting the annual Village “party” known as the “Hills are Alive Heritage Fest.”
Earlier in the evening, Trustee Messer had expressed disappointment when he reported that only five permits had been issued in 2014 for new home construction. Frankly, given the frequent negative publicity Barrington Hills has endured for nearly a decade over cell towers, lighting ordinances and multiple failed attempts to address horse boarding in our “equestrian” branded community, conflicts of interest on two boards and his precedent-setting drop of the “F-Bomb” in a public meeting, we’re pleased anyone is building here at all.
The link to the full menu of edited recordings from the meeting can be accessed here.