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Archive for April, 2016

Algonquin Village President John Schmitt’s public statement on Longmeadow Parkway

Posted in Algonquin Rd, County, Kane, Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, McHenry, Politics, Road construction, Taxes on April 30, 2016| 5 Comments »

longMeadowBridgeI was gratified to see a good turnout of people interested in participating in the Longmeadow Parkway project. I have been participating in public meetings on this project for the past 20 years, and I have always welcomed the opportunity to listen to people’s comments, questions and concerns.

The development of this bridge corridor has been in the planning and development stages since the 1990s, and represents a true partnership of residents working with federal, state, county and local agencies to plan, fund and implement the corridor improvements.

Read Schmitt’s full statement in the Kane County Chronicle by clicking here.

Editorial note:  It’s unclear why Schmitt is doggedly defending and promoting the Kane County Longmeadow corridor considering the significant number of retailers, restaurants and service establishments along Algonquin Road which currently rely on commuters for business.  Diverting these customers would likely result in less revenue for these businesses and decreased revenue from sales taxes to the Village of Algonquin.

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March Village police reports available

Posted in Accidents, Crime, Police Reports, VBHPD on April 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

A copy of the consolidated monthly Village police activity report for March can be viewed and downloaded here.

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Barrington Hills, Barrington join ComEd’s energy-saving street lights program

Posted in Going green, Public Safety, Roads & Bridges Committee on April 29, 2016| 1 Comment »

comedBy the end of the year, Barrington Hills will have energy-efficient streets lights installed throughout the village.

Fifteen such lights, known as LEDs or light-emitting diodes, will better illuminate well-traveled intersections, such as County Line Road and Haeger’s Bend and Old Bartlett Road and Route 59, said Robert Kosin, director of administration in Barrington Hills.

Read more here.

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Illinois’ property taxes highest in nation, study finds

Posted in Taxes, Topics Of Interest on April 28, 2016| 2 Comments »

IL High Property TaxesJust when you were breathing a sigh of relief at the close of another tax season, a new study comes out showing the hit that Illinoisans take on property taxes compared with residents in other states.

Illinois has the highest median property tax rate in the nation, with various agencies and entities taking a combined 2.67 percent bite, according to a CoreLogic analysis of real estate property taxes nationwide.

Nationally, the median property tax rate is 1.31 percent, said the Irvine, Calif.-based data provider to financial services and real estate companies. That means that a home valued at $200,000 will, on average, pay annual total property taxes of $2,620.

Read more from the Chicago Tribune here.

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April Plan Commission meeting recordings released

Posted in Audio Recordings, Plan Commission, Village Code on April 27, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The Plan Commission devoted most of their April 13th meeting to reviewing and improving the Tree Preservation Ordinance.  This was their third meeting since November covering the language and terms of the code, and they seem to be nearing a new draft to be considered.

Much of the discussion in the latest meeting surrounded how to enforce the ordinance, and commissioners are leaning toward requiring the building contractor or property owner to deposit funds to cover the cost of replacing heritage trees removed in the process of home construction with the Village.  At some point after the new trees are planted and pass inspection, the monies held by the Village would then be returned to the homeowner.

The link to the edited recordings by agenda item can be accessed here.

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Unsold mega-mansions pile up in Barrington area

Posted in Real Estate, Topics Of Interest on April 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Polo Dr. MansionFor almost 12 years, a 13,800-square-foot house on Polo Road in South Barrington with seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and two kitchens has sat unsold.

It’s not the biggest house for sale in the area—that distinction goes to a 30,000-square-footer in Barrington Hills—but no mega-mansion has been on the market for as long in that hilly, horsey section of the northwest suburbs, which is saddled with a glut of homes of at least 10,000 square feet.

Of the 19 Barrington-area homes for sale with at least 10,000 square feet of interior space, a dozen have been on the market, continuously or not, for at least five years.

Read the full Chicago Real Estate Daily article here. 

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Village Board meeting agenda posted

Posted in Agendas, Board of Health, Building Department, Equestrian Commission, Heritage and Environs Committee, Plan Commission, Special Use Permits, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Zoning Board on April 25, 2016| 1 Comment »

The Village Board will hold their regular monthly meeting this evening at 6:30 PM.  A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.  

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Police Pension Board meets Monday

Posted in Agendas, Police Pension Board, Taxes, VBHPD on April 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The Police Pension Board will meet Monday morning at 7:30.  A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.

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Village campaign committees report first quarter finances

Posted in 2015 Elections, Politics, SOS Party, Unite Barrington Hills on April 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The four Barrington Hills political committees still active with the Illinois State Board of Elections have submitted their financial reports for the first quarter of 2016.  Click on any of the following committees to view their filings:

Most of the reports reveal the predictable financials one would expect, but the SOS Party spent an unusual amount of money considering this is a non-election year.  According to their report, SOS spent about $7,700 for consulting services and advertising.

Our first inclination was to assume they decided to assist another political committee financially in the March primaries, however the law requires disclosure of the receiving committee.  Since the SOS Party is listed as the beneficiary of the expenses in their report, perhaps they are getting an early start on the 2017 Village campaign, but why so early and what were they advertising in the Chicago Tribune?

The only other explanation might be they are just a year late in paying their overdue bills from the 2015 campaign, but we doubt it.

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March Village Board meeting recordings available

Posted in Audio Recordings, Building Department, Cuba Rd Bridge, Pension Funding, Police Reports, Politics, Public Safety, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Taxes, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on April 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Audio recordings from the March 30th meeting of the Board of Trustees have been posted to the Village Website. 

The meeting began with a public hearing for residents to have the opportunity to comment on the 2016 Appropriations Ordinance.  One resident commented, and the ordinance was later passed.   

The regular meeting began with the financial reports, and reviews or approvals by the board.  Peggy Hirsch, who is now the village treasurer, was invited to speak during this topic on the board’s agenda, and it appears she had things well in hand after a few short weeks on the job as can be heard here.

During the Roads and Bridges discussion, the board approved the replacement of all Village streetlights with energy-saving LED units by ComEd.  They also discussed new names for the Cuba Road Bridge once reconstruction is completed and agreed to decide on one at their April meeting.

During the Building & Zoning report, Trustee Konicek questioned why approval of the 2016 Zoning Map was placed on the agenda, since she apparently had not received all of the information from the Zoning Board she had requested of Bob Kosin at the February board meeting.  Due to this lack of follow up and the absence of time sensitivity for approval of the map, she did not make a motion for approval.

Trustee Harrington apparently did have some motivation to get the map approved, and he motioned to approved it which was seconded by Trustee Gohl.  After some brief discussion, Harrington then attempted to call the matter for a vote before all the trustees had an opportunity to fully participate in the dialog. 

When a vote was finally called by the president, Harrington’s motion didn’t pass.  The link to this discussion and vote can be accessed here.         

To access the menu of edited recordings by agenda topic, click here.

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