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Archive for January, 2020

Term limits, school upgrades among Northwest suburban ballot questions

Posted in 220, Cook, County, Deception, District 220 referendum, Lake, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes on January 21, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Barrington Area Unit District 220 wants voters to authorize borrowing $147 million. Voters last April rejected a request to borrow $185 million for facility upgrades.

District 220 is seeking authority to issue $147 million in school building bonds for a variety of projects to include paying for basic improvements at all schools in areas such as safety and security, plumbing, electrical, roofing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Voters last April rejected a request to borrow $185 million for facility upgrades.

Due to existing debt the district expects to pay off in 2021, approval of the ballot measure would have the owner of a $500,000 home still see a net decrease of about $75 a year. Without the referendum, the same homeowner would see a reduction of $468.

Read about other Cook County ballot questions making news here.  Lake County initiatives are also covered by the Daily Herald here. 

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Have you waited a long time at a freight train crossing? The feds want to hear about it.

Posted in EJ&E/Canadian National on January 20, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Fuming in the idling car while an interminable freight train steals 20 minutes you’ll never get back? Get revenge — or at least get on the record — by reporting the delay to a new Federal Railroad Administration database.

The agency recently launched the website www.fra.dot.gov/blockedcrossings with the intent of capturing data on blocked crossings to help identify chronic situations where trains cause traffic jams and hamstring first-responders for long stretches of time.

Freight trains have grown in length by about 25% since 2008, with trains on some railroads averaging 1.2 to 1.4 miles in 2017, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Read more here.

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220 to offer online summer school

Posted in 220, Board of Education, School Districts on January 19, 2020| Leave a Comment »

At the last 220 Board of Education meeting, Dr. Brian Harris shared that beginning in the summer of 2020, Barrington 220 will begin offering a new program called Barrington Online Summer School (BOSS). 

In this program, students will engage in learning experiences from outside the district and submit evidence through an online learning management system. This program will be offered to outgoing students in Grades 2–5 in the first year and will be evaluated for possible expansion thereafter.Sessions of online summer school will run concurrently with traditional summer school.

Parents will register their children through the same online process as general summer school, which opens in mid-March.

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Barrington School District 220 approves $129M property tax levy ― a $5.4M increase ― to help pay for teacher salaries and class materials

Posted in 220, Board of Education, Property Taxes, School Districts on January 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The Barrington School District 220 Board of Education listens to public comment during its Dec. 14, 2019 meeting. Later in the same meeting the board approved a tax levy increase.

The Barrington School District 220 Board of Education is asking for an additional $5.4 million from property owners with the approved 2019 levy, money officials say will help to fund costs for class materials and salaries.

The requested total of $128.7 million is a 4.4% increase from the nearly $123.3 million collected from the 2018 levy, according to school district financial data.

The levy proposal was initially presented at the Nov. 19 school board meeting by David Bein, assistant superintendent for business services. Then a public hearing was held Dec. 3, where there was no public comment. At the Dec. 17 (Dec. 14, actually) meeting, the board voted 7-0 to adopt the increased tax levy.

Read more here.

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220 Board hosting community meetings on upcoming $147 million referendum

Posted in 220, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, District 220 referendum, Ethics, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes on January 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The Barrington 220 school board has scheduled five community “information” meetings and three open houses in coming weeks to inform the community about the school district referendum question on the March 17 primary election ballot. 

The district is seeking voter approval to borrow $147 million for improvements at all schools in areas such as safety and security, plumbing, electrical, roofing and heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Proposed work also includes construction of a physical education and wellness center at Barrington High School, additional classrooms at the district’s two middle schools, and new classroom space at all elementary buildings for science, technology, engineering and mathematics classes, as well as students with special needs.

The community information meetings are scheduled for:

Open houses are set for:

We will be publishing copies of their draft presentations when they become available once the paid consultants (see “District 220 hires former state lawmaker’s firm to help with referendum”) finish honing their spin. 

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Family Seeks Help Locating Lost Dog, Xena, Who Comforts 13-Year-Old Son With Stage 4 Cancer

Posted in VBHPD on January 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »

An Algonquin family that lost a special dog in Barrington Hills earlier this month is hoping someone found her and will return her or that she’ll be spotted.  

Jason Martin said Xena, a coon hound-ridgeback mix, got away from him near Penny Road Pond and Old Sutton Road, ran into a wooded area, and disappeared. That was nearly two weeks ago. 

Martin described Xena to be “brown like a deer, white chest, white feet, with black muzzle. She is really easy to spot with those colors.” She weighs about 60 pounds.  

And although dogs are special to everyone, what makes Xena special is that she has been a comfort to Martin’s 13-year-old son, Jack, who has sarcoma.

“Ever since my son was diagnosed with stage-4 sarcoma, he’s been going through all these treatments and he’s been down a little here or there and she helps him out. Every boy loves their dog. It’s a big help to have her around and now that she is gone, it’s too bad for him. We would love to have her around. We have other dogs, but she’s part of our family. We’d like to have her back and Jack misses her pretty bad.”

Read more here.

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Two hurt in Barrington Hills crash

Posted in Accidents, VBHPD on January 16, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Two people were hurt in a three-car Barrington Hills crash Wednesday night, police said.

The crash occurred near the intersection of Algonquin Road and Springwood Lane shortly after 6 p.m., Barrington Hills police officer Jason Currie said. Two people were taken to St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates with minor injuries.

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District 220 won’t contest dismissal of lawsuit

Posted in 220, Board of Education, Hoffman Estates, Plum Farm development, Politics, School Districts, Uncategorized on January 15, 2020| Leave a Comment »

This is an artist’s rendering of one of the seven apartment buildings planned for the Plum Farms development at the northwest corner of routes 59 and 72. A Cook County judge last month dismissed a lawsuit Barrington Unit District 220 filed over the proposal.

Barrington Unit District 220 won’t challenge a Cook County circuit court judge’s decision last month to dismiss a lawsuit the school system filed against Hoffman Estates and developers of the stalled Plum Farms proposal at the northwest corner of routes 59 and 72. Hoffman Estates’ development agreement limits Plum Farms to 1,250 homes of various types. The most recent plan submitted by a development partnership calls for 1,035.

But the last indication of progress on Plum Farms was interrupted by the filing of a lawsuit in July 2017 by residents of the nearby Regency at the Woods of South Barrington retirement community.

District 220 intervened in the complaint on the side of the residents, with the developer and village named as defendants. The density of the proposed development and the potential for additional students’ costs to exceed the increase in tax revenue were at the heart of the school district’s concerns.

While the residents’ original lawsuit was settled last summer, District 220 kept its part of the case active until it was dismissed in December. School board President Penny Kazmier announced at a meeting Tuesday night that the district will not pursue any further legal action in the case.

Read more here.

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Barrington launching ‘Curious Questions with Karen Darch’ podcast

Posted in News Media, Politics, Topics Of Interest, Uncategorized on January 14, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The Daily Herald reports Barrington plans to start a “Curious Questions with Karen Darch” podcast.

Darch, who is Barrington’s top elected official as village president, and others are expected to answer residents’ questions in the podcast segments that should run 20 to 30 minutes.

Patty Dowd Schmitz, the village’s director of communications and community engagement, said work continues on logistics and determining a platform for the podcast.

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Barrington exploring whether to seek donation for annual art festival

Posted in Topics Of Interest on January 14, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Barrington might seek a suggested donation from patrons attending the annual art festival held downtown over Memorial Day weekend. Donations would help festival organizers recover some of the estimated $2,000 it costs to host the event.

Barrington might seek a suggested donation from patrons attending the village’s annual art festival, in an effort to cover expenses for the event.

Set for downtown Barrington from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 23 and 24, over Memorial Day weekend, the 11th annual art festival once again will feature juried artists in a variety of mediums, live music, food and children’s activities. Last year’s free Barrington Art Festival drew about 8,000 visitors over the two days, according to the village.

Although this year’s festival would remain a free event, the Barrington Cultural Commission is exploring whether to seek a $5 suggested contribution at the entrances. The 12-member volunteer commission is a branch of village government that coordinates and co-sponsors activities such as the art fest.

Read more here.

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