Audio recordings from the December 19th meeting of the Board of Trustees are available on the Village website. To access the full menu of recordings, click here.
One resident, who also serves as chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals, made remarks during public comment, seeking to set the record straight on a statement made by Trustee Fritz Gohl during the Board of Trustees Special Meeting on December 7th. Those remarks can be heard here.
During the Finance portion of the meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to approve the tax levy for 2017. Once again, the levy amount is down from the previous fiscal year, with a reduction of $972,000. (A tax levy is the total amount of property taxes that a village asks for from taxpayers in order to balance its budget, after taking in account other revenue sources.)
In addition, the Village Budget for 2017 is also lower than 2016, with projected expenditures of $7,580,000, down from $7,853,000.
The full Finance recording can be found here.
Discussion of Building Enforcement activities revolved primarily around a residence on Tamarack Lane whose owner had created an unauthorized driveway onto Route 68, prompting complaints from IDOT and inspection by the Village. There were also concerns that the property owner may be using the property in violation of the Home Occupation Ordinance (HOO). The homeowner had indicated that the excess vehicles and equipment on the property would be removed by the end of that week, potentially remedying his HOO problem, but the issue of closure of the access onto Route 68 remains. The village has requested a court date in January to enforce closure of the unauthorized driveway.
In the matter of the Saville Row residence which had been found to be in violation of the HOO, the village is still awaiting payment of the $25,000 fine, which has a January 7th deadline according to the settlement that was approved in October.
The recording of the Building and Zoning portion of the meeting can be found here.
The Board of Trustees also voted to approve expending staff resources and time to research re-authorization of an twenty year Intergovernmental Agreement with South Barrington when the current border agreement expires in approximately three years. That discussion can be found here.
Congratulations to President Martin McLaughlin and Trustee Colleen Konicek on your continued diligent work of reduing the cost of VBH government to “we”, the VBH taxpayer. This is all being done while increasing the standard of VBH government services which is most apparent in VBH road repairs and replacement. Other savings are found in the 911 system and my favorite, reduction of legal fees.
When you study the VBH audited financial statements during the McLaughlin era versus the period of time when the “Silent One” was a member of VBH BOT you can only conclude the “Silent One” should never hold public office where taxpayer funds are involved.
The Silent One is a “big tax” and “big spend” former VBH Pres, Abboud acolyte who remained “mum” even in the face of mounting evidence involving possible “pay to play” politics, the 18 Million Dollar Sears Lawsuit against VBH which could have bankrupted VBH and annual legal expenditures by VBH between $750,000 and $1,000,000 which almost equaled the City of Elgin.
The Silent One has the dubious honor of being a member of a municipal board which spent more per capita on legal fees than any municipality Preserve Barrington Hills (“PBH”) could find in the entire United States. Believe me PBH under the watchful eye of Publius did its research.
If you do not believe me, take a look at the numbers yourself. VBH audited financials for each year can be found on the VBH website. The Silent One may stay quiet during this campaign season about her past record of spending taxpayer dollars but rest assured this loud mouth taxpayer will not. During the course of the next 3 months until election day I intend to present on this blog the cold hard facts and numbers the Silient One and her Save 5 Acres Team will not be able to hide from.
I want to thank the Silent One for making the ill-advised decision to run for village office again as it affords me the opportunity to remind all of us why President McLaughlin and Trustee, Colleen Konicek were elected in 2013 and why the Silent One’s Save 5 Acres political team were sent packing in landslide numbers.
We live in a time where we cannot afford our elected officials to remain silent in the face of “waste”, “mismanagement” and “corruption”.
Mr. Stieper;
Thank you for all that you do so eloquently and magnanimously for the people of this village. It is appreciated more than you know!