During our daily search for news and information to share with our readers this morning, we discovered the Barrington Hills Park District recently launched an updated website. The masthead of the new site (pictured above) encourages everyone, whether they be resident or not, to “Explore One of America’s Most Unique Park Districts.”
Indeed, our park district is unique. In the coming weeks, we plan to expand on the history of how the district came to be, but in the meantime, have a look at the newly designed park district website by clicking here, and let us know what you think of this new image of the Riding Center.
Barrington Hills doesn’t have a park district. We have a riding center subsidized by the majority of taxpayers for the use of a minority of residents, outsiders and for trainers throughout the northwest suburbs to make money for a measly registration fee of $100 a year. To call it a park district is an insult.
I was pleased to see updated minutes on the new WEB site but extremely concerned to learn they are only now considering whether horse trainers should be required to carry liability insurance – http://44b.432.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/BHPB-March-2016-minutes.pdf
If you ask me the riding center is devoid of oversight and management throughout the week and as such is a huge exposure to residents for potential lawsuits. Perhaps we need people on the board who are not members of the equestrian clubs to better manage our exposure and our tax dollars.
How about expanding the Park District offerings for residents with appropriate fees instead of just spreading the equestrian dream.
THANK YOU for your comments and for the attachment. I’m a Barrington Hills resident and have a barn on my property. You are 100% correct with your statements about the riding center. It’s heavily used by non-residents all the time and liability is a problem.
Has anyone considered selling the riding center to Cook County? It’s heavily used by people from outside Barrington Hills, even coming from Wisconsin. Can’t enforce it because it’s adjacent to the Cook County Forest Preserve.
Trainers are using our taxpayer money for their financial gain. We are subsidizing them. They take up rings with multiple horses at once, and residents feel squeezed out. They wear heavily on our rings which need constant maintenance. They drill and lunge horses, damage and misuse beautiful jumps – this all ends up being a major expense to us. Not to mention the abuse the barns take – and paying for shavings and “board” for trainers to hang out there with their horses all day? This happens all the time.
It is no coincidence this Park District website designed to attract more nonresident equestrians was launched on the heels of passage of Anderson II. The intent of radical equestrian fringe is to make commercial horse boarding more attractive in VBH to outsiders preferably at taxpayer expense.
Until Anderson II is placed in the dustbin of VBH history where it belongs, expect continued pressure by these horse profiteers (some of which who pay no real estate taxes in VBH) to continue exerting influence in making VBH a commercial horse boarding desitination.
Until more equestrian and nonequestrian residents speak to this issue at Park District and VBH Board meetings, the equestrian commercial opportunists will continue with their agenda of moving VBH equestrian lifestyle from a hobby to big business.