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October Flashbacks

Posted in BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, County, HALO, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Lighting Ordinance, McHenry, News Media, OP/Ed, Politics, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Village Board on October 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Friday FlashbackFollowing are some of the articles published by The Observer for the month of October in recent years. These articles, gathered from various publications and editorials, are noteworthy for residents in that they remind us of where we’ve been as a community.

Resident files petition in protest of Dark Sky proposal – 2010

A Barrington Hills resident wants a superior majority vote on the village’s Dark Sky proposal to limit exterior lighting on residential and commercial properties.

Dennis Gallitano filed a petition with the village clerk objecting to the Zoning Board of Appeals-recommended proposal.

“Over a year ago, nobody really thought that the Village Board would still be entertaining this ordinance given the significant opposition by virtually every corner of the village,” Gallitano said. “The filing of the petition should give our village leaders a wake-up call that this ordinance is not what this village needs or, wants.”

Read the full TribLocal article here.

Barrington Hills board will again discuss cost of videotaping meetings – 2011

The Barrington Hills Village Board will revisit having a camera installed in its boardroom to tape proceedings for the village’s website at a meeting later this month.

At its next meeting on Oct. 24, the board is expected to mull over further cost estimates for the camera and other equipment needed to make meetings available online. Other local governments, such as those in Barrington and Palatine, already broadcast their meetings online.

“It will also potentially alleviate our need to have the ZBA meetings transcribed, saving about $20,000,” said Skip Gianopulos.

The full TribLocal article can be read here.

Firefighter injured in Barrington Hills barn fire – 2012

A firefighter was slightly injured in a four-alarm barn fire in Barrington Hills Wednesday morning.

The fire was called in at 8:18 a.m. in the 21000 block of Ridge Road, said Fire Chief Jim Arie, who was at the scene with the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District.

Read more here.  NBC Chicago has posted a video of firefighters battling the blaze, and it can be viewed here. 

Developer to sell McHenry County land near Barrington Hills – 2013

A 602-acre property, most of which was disconnected from Barrington Hills during a long, intense legal fight that began early last decade, is being put up for sale by its would-be developer.

The Fritz Duda Co. is asking for $17 million for the jaggedly bordered undeveloped land at Spring Creek and Haegers Bend roads in McHenry County, along Barrington Hills’ border with Algonquin.

Read the Daily Herald story here.

Horse feud splitting Barrington Hills – 2014

There’s something missing from the stables at Oakwood Farm in Barrington Hills: horses. On a recent morning, most stalls were empty. The horses that had boarded here were gone, banished following a court order.

The feud between neighbors that led to the shutdown of Oakwood Farm’s boarding operations has simmered for years. Now it’s boiling over into a communitywide controversy that has angry residents of Barrington Hills arguing over the very nature of their community.

Read more of the Chicago Tribune story here.

-The Observer

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August Flashbacks

Posted in BH Polo Club, Bicyclists, Commercial Horse Boarding, Ethics, FRVPC, HALO, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Lighting Ordinance, OP/Ed, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on September 1, 2015| 1 Comment »

Friday FlashbackFollowing are some of the articles published by The Observer for the month of August in recent years. These articles, gathered from various publications and editorials, are noteworthy for residents in that they remind us of where we’ve been as a community.

‘Dark Sky’ proposal sent to Village Board – 2010

The skies over Barrington Hills won’t go dark, despite two years of work on a proposal to limit outside lighting, until 2031 under a plan moved forward Wednesday night.

The Zoning Board of Appeals chose that year over 2021 — with both dates well into the future in order to save homeowners from having to spend “a significant amount of money” to retrofit their lighting systems, said Joe von Meier, village attorney.

Read the original Tribune article here.

Horse boarding continues to draw controversy in Barrington Hills – 2011

Barrington Hills officials agree the village’s ordinance on home businesses needs tweaking to deal with large commercial horse boarders on residential properties, but they disagree on what exactly needs to be done.

The board held a joint meeting with the Zoning Board of Appeals this week to discuss the ordinance amendment ZBA members are currently working on. The Board of Appeals is looking at requiring large boarding operations, defined as 10 or more horses, to acquire a special use permit to the Home Occupation Ordinance.* That ordinance allows people to run small businesses — everything from music lessons to attorney’s offices — from their homes.

The 2011 Tribune article can be read here.

*The Zoning Board of Appeals written recommendation to the Village Board regarding commercial horse boarding code changes at that time can be viewed here.

Barrington Hills trustees mad over attorney’s removal – 2014

A dispute over the removal of Barrington Hills’ longtime village attorney played out before a capacity crowd of residents at village hall Tuesday night.

Village President Martin McLaughlin asked the previous attorney of more than 30 years, the law offices of Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, to resign last week, citing the Illinois Attorney General office’s finding that the village violated the Open Meetings Act in April 2013.

He also cited the attorney’s research fees, which he called unnecessarily high.

Read the original posting with comments here.

Barrington Hills board shows opposition to bike lanes – 2014

The Barrington Hills board assured residents at a standing-room-only meeting Tuesday night that there are no plans to build bike lanes or widen any of the village’s roads.

Read the original Observer posting, including editorial and reader comments and the link to the original Daily Herald story here.

Why Barrington Hills must change –2014

This op/ed piece from August 2014 suggested that “It’s time for us to stop being a sideshow for the entertainment of surrounding communities.  Instead of “Don’t Change Barrington Hills,” a more productive goal is “Let’s Change Barrington Hills.”

Read the original editorial by clicking here.

-The Observer

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Too many signs

Posted in 2015 Elections, Bicyclists, Cell Towers, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Deception, Ethics, HALO, Horse Boarding, Land Disconnection, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Legal Expenses, Lighting Ordinance, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Politics, Real Estate, Road construction, Sears, SOS Party, Taxes, Village Board, Village Government on April 3, 2015| 12 Comments »

Too Many SignsThere are too many signs in Barrington Hills.  Drive down most roads, and it will be obvious.  Too many election signs.  One next to the other and then another and another.  What’s worse than that?  There are too many “for sale” signs.  They signal a broad sense of dissatisfaction and a desire to get out.  This may or may not be true, but the signs say to the world and to us that we are in trouble.

The truth is that it has become far too noisy in Barrington Hills.  The noise comes not from the sounds of traffic or congestion but from one group of voices trying to drown out the other.  And we are all to blame, including this publication.

There are too many blogs and political parties.  Their names are an allegory for something that has been lost or diminished:  “Save Horse Boarding in Barrington Hills,” “Don’t Change Barrington Hills,” “Save Open Space,” and “Preserve Barrington Hills.”  But what have we really lost?

There have been too many lawsuits:  Iatarola, Duda, Sears, LeCompte 1, LeCompte 2, and now a fresh lawsuit challenging the Village’s handling of its own horse boarding laws.  These lawsuits are also a sign that we have lost control of our problems and now must ask faraway judges, strangers to our Village, to decide what we were unable to resolve ourselves.

We talk too much about lawyers and legal fees and government investigations.  We have had too many controversies:  cell phone towers; exterior lighting (remember the HALO signs?); horse boarding; bike lanes; disconnection; 911.  The list and the signs go on and on.

There have been too many headlines portraying our small Village as the epicenter of wealthy-folks’ petulant controversies:  “Horse feud splitting Barrington Hills”; “Residents, cyclists feud over Barrington Hills roads”; “AG’s office reviews ex-mayor’s Barrington Hills appointments”; “Appellate court sides with Barrington Hills police officers.”

Of course we would be remiss or (worse) hypocritical if we did not recognize that these pages too, within the Barrington Hills Observer, have added to the “noise.”  If only by necessity, we have editorialized and perhaps sometimes heightened the public debate on controversial local political topics and public figures.

We spend too much money on trustee campaigns; we stuff mailboxes with too many mailers; there are too many political coffees (and too few social ones); and too many articles about all of them.  And, while we could never be critical of public participation in government, the reality is that our Village Board meetings are too well attended because they are filled with so much drama.  We’ve become a rival to reality television, including the expletives.

Now back to the question.  What have we lost?  The answer is that we have lost peace and a commitment to the public and private service of our neighbors.  We have taken the noise to a level that cannot be sustained and it is time to back down.  If not, what’s next?  More signs.  More lawsuits.  More lawyers and lawyer fees.  More mailers.  And, regrettably and not coincidentally, more “for sale” signs.  We have written before on the need to restore peace to Barrington Hills, (Read “Why Barrington Hills must change”). It is equally or more true today.

On April 7th, next Tuesday, we will have an opportunity as a Village to restore peace to Barrington Hills at the ballot box and, one can only hope, to usher in a new era of public and private service of our neighbors.  Our roads and budgets and zoning laws need repair.  For those jobs we need trustees who will be devoted to public service and unity.   We need residents who possess the skills needed to fix our broken roads, budgets and zoning laws, not noisemakers.

The Observer will publish its endorsements on Monday.  Suffice it to say we will not be endorsing the candidates whose names have been synonymous with the noise that now covers the Village like a blanket.

It is time to reflect and to reduce the “signs” of trouble in our Village.

–     The Observer

 

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Rosene rebuttal

Posted in BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Common Sense Party, County, HALO, Horse Boarding, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Letters to the Editor, McHenry, Politics, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, SOS Party, Taxes, Village Code, Zoning Board on January 9, 2015| 10 Comments »

A week ago we published our take on a 2005 document written by John Rosene that was presented to members of the Riding Club after the election of Bob Abboud that same year in an editorial titled, “We’ve Been Clubbed by Commercial Horse Boarding.”  Yesterday Mr. Rosene has shared his perspectives on that piece with us and has requested we publish them.

In his response he states, “By the way, despite its age, I stand by every word in my 2005 document.”   He goes on to berate The Observer on several occasions and complains about the anonymous status of the editors.  To that we can only respond with, “Je suis Charlie.”

Mr. Rosene’s rebuttal piece can be viewed here.

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October Flashbacks

Posted in Animal Welfare, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Elections 2011, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, HALO, Horse Boarding, Land Disconnection, Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, McHenry, Minutes, OP/Ed, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Village Board, Village Code, Village Government, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on November 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Friday FlashbackFollowing are some of the articles published by The Observer in October since 2009. These articles, gathered from various publications and editorials, are noteworthy for residents in that they remind us of where we’ve been as a community.

Barrington Hills wants to turn out the lights and see the night sky – 2009

In an effort to preserve the village’s black night sky, Barrington Hills is looking seriously at being certified as a Dark Sky Community, becoming only the third in the nation.

Barrington Hills Trustee Steve Knoop, a Dark Sky supporter, said it is about preserving property values as well as being able to see the stars in the inky black sky.

Read the Daily Herald story here.

August 2011 Village Board meeting minutes posted – 2011

Excerpt from ZBA report: “Three members of the Zoning Board of Appeals, Judith Freeman, Karen Rosene and Kurt Anderson, joined the Board of Trustees in the discussion of commercial boarding.  Ms. Freeman submitted a draft ordinance document regarding commercial boarding and wanted comments back from the Board of Trustees. The ZBA has proposed suggested a Special Use Permit if boarding ten or more horses.  Trustee Messer felt the Village has no overcrowding issue and we should address the issue when it comes up.  Trustee Meroni felt a Special Use Permit was an unnecessary burden.   Trustee Selman stated that horse boarding should be under Home Occupation (see Flip, Flop : What changed your minds Trustees Messer, Meroni and Selman?).

Minutes from the August 2011 Village Board meeting can be viewed here.

“Save 5 Acres” Trustees face further scrutiny by the Illinois State Board of Elections – 2011

The Observer learned late today that the Illinois State Board of Elections (SBOE), will be deciding on potential further action(s) against former “Save 5 Acres” candidates Joseph Messer, Patti Meroni and Karen Selman who were recently elected as Village Trustees.  The SBOE hearing takes place tomorrow, October 18, 2011, in Chicago.

The complaints were initiated by the SBOE and are related to delinquent campaign filings of financial and organizational documents.  More details to follow when they become available, however the full SBOE agenda and reference documentation can be viewed via this link (see agenda items 50-52 and 59).

Developer to sell McHenry County land near Barrington Hills – 2013

A 602-acre property, most of which was disconnected from Barrington Hills during a long, intense legal fight that began early last decade, is being put up for sale by its would-be developer.

The Fritz Duda Co. is asking for $17 million for the jaggedly bordered undeveloped land at Spring Creek and Haegers Bend roads in McHenry County, along Barrington Hills’ border with Algonquin.

Read the Daily Herald story here.

–     The Observer

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Why Barrington Hills must change

Posted in Animal Welfare, BH Polo Club, Bicyclists, Cell Towers, Commercial Horse Boarding, Communications Committee, Elections 2011, Elections 2013, FRVPC, HALO, Horse Boarding, Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, News Media, OP/Ed, Politics, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village Code, Village Government on August 30, 2014| 11 Comments »

In his WTTW documentary “Northwest of Chicago,” Geoffrey Baer quoted a local source who declared Barrington Hills, Barrington and South Barrington to be “North shore communities without the shore.”  This may have been true when the show first aired, but this is far from accurate today.

Read any recent real estate report on the average time on the market for homes in our area and you’ll find our Village bests all others for the wrong reasons.  Barrington Hills homes consistently have the longest time on the market and lead at the lowest sale price compared to the original asking price.  Home and lot values have plunged to prices not seen in over a decade.

It doesn’t take a WTTW documentary to conclude that recent political unrest and unnecessary drama are making us the pariah of the Chicago suburbs, which clearly is not helping, and probably is hurting, property values.

This includes the false recent drama over bike lanes; the real and potentially character changing debate over commercial horse boarding; and the embarrassing fiasco over the exterior lighting ordinance in our recent history.  Outsiders can reasonably question whether they want to have any part of this madness.

For example, one vacant five-acre lot in our Village is now going for $119,900.  Another breathtaking estate on Hawthorne Rd has had its price slashed by more than fifty-percent of the original eight-figure asking price.

While the housing market across the country is generally picking up after years of decline, this is not the case in Barrington Hills.  True, there are a number of factors beyond our control, but there is one major factor we can clearly change for the better, and that’s to stop making our Village look arrogant, dysfunctional elitists time and time again.

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Since 2005, some of our elected politicians and residents have made some local issues very public.  Residents do have every right to voice their concerns loudly, but it’s usually a few politicians that make our Village look bad.

First, there was a proposal for sky-high cell towers in our picturesque Village by some on our Village board.  Then, there was the ill-conceived exterior lighting ordinance proposal from a small group of “dark sky” zealots on our board and in the community, which outraged residents enough that the issue was covered in the Wall Street Journal (see “Everything is Diluminated”).

One of this year’s topics of resident concern is bike lanes.  While The Observer shares many resident concerns on this hot-button issue, all of this would have been alleviated back in 2012, if the administration at the time actually communicated with residents about the plan before pursuing it.

Two newspapers recently took  Barrington Hills’ residents to the woodshed in editorials over objections to bikers in our Village.  And even though residents were assured over a month ago that there will be no bike lanes in our Village, the group “Don’t Change Barrington Hills” (apparently assisted  by the former Village President) persists in encouraging their supporters to keep protest signs up along our roadways and continues to disseminate rumor and innuendo on their website.

Do you think that helps our property values?  Do you think that encourages people to seriously consider Barrington Hills as a place to make their home?

Additionally, we have commercial horse boarding amendments back on the table — for the third time since 2005.  Calling itself “Save Horse Boarding in Barrington Hills,” one group circulated an online petition based on a false mission statement that has garnered electronic signatures from as far away as southern Yemen.

Really?  After all, we were “branded” by the former administration as an “equestrian community” years ago, so why do we still not have effective codes to address commercial horse boarding?  Perhaps we are waiting for advice from southern Yemen!

Sadly, the Village Board meeting held earlier this week provided even more fodder for the press.  We find it a very interesting coincidence that this was the very first meeting reporters have attended since President McLaughlin was sworn in.

It certainly was convenient, considering the clearly rehearsed barrage by four trustees against the chair due to the dismissal of the law firm that has cost our Village millions of taxpayers’ money.

Regular readers of The Observer are familiar with our monthly “Flashbacks” column, and each month it pains us to review what our Village reputation has endured in the press for many years.  Yet there is still a dwindling faction among residents who get pleasure it seems  by fueling misinformation and innuendo.

It’s time for us to stop being a sideshow for the entertainment of surrounding communities.  Instead of “Don’t Change Barrington Hills,” a more productive goal is “Let’s Change Barrington Hills.”

After all, didn’t most residents vote for that goal in the last election?

–     The Observer

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August Flashbacks

Posted in BH Polo Club, Bicyclists, Commercial Horse Boarding, Elections 2013, HALO, Horse Boarding, Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, OP/Ed, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Topics Of Interest, Village Government on August 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Friday FlashbackFollowing are some of the articles published by The Observer for the month of August in recent years. These articles, gathered from various publications and editorials, are noteworthy for residents in that they remind us of where we’ve been as a community.

‘Dark Sky’ proposal sent to Village Board – 2010

The skies over Barrington Hills won’t go dark, despite two years of work on a proposal to limit outside lighting, until 2031 under a plan moved forward Wednesday night.

The Zoning Board of Appeals chose that year over 2021 — with both dates well into the future in order to save homeowners from having to spend “a significant amount of money” to retrofit their lighting systems, said Joe von Meier, village attorney.

Read the original Tribune article here.

Horse boarding continues to draw controversy in Barrington Hills – 2011

Barrington Hills officials agree the village’s ordinance on home businesses needs tweaking to deal with large commercial horse boarders on residential properties, but they disagree on what exactly needs to be done.

Read the original Observer posting here.

Thanks for the reminder, President Abboud. It is time for change.  – 2012

A Daily Herald article published on July 30, 2012 predicted that horse boarding was likely to be an election issue in Barrington Hills—yet again (see Horse boarding likely to be an election issue in Barrington Hills).  In that article, Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud was quoted as follows:

“Given the kind of body politic that we have, I don’t see that these kind of things are going to end. It was lighting before; it’ll be something else. I hope these experiences give our community some pause to look at these things with a critical eye.”

On this, Abboud is right.  These experiences should give our community pause to examine the recent years, and controversies, with a critical eye.  And when they do, they should see that these controversies have one thing in common—they’re always churned by Bob Abboud and his administration at the expense of residents.

Read the original Observer editorial here.

Escape into the country — by bike- 2013

When you go on vacation, do you ever rent bikes and enjoy rides on quiet rural roads?  Do you ever wish there were some quiet rural roads closer to home so you wouldn’t have to wait for vacation?

Say hello to the Barrington Hills and South Barrington area.

View the original Observer post including comments and a link to the article here.

–     The Observer

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January Flashbacks

Posted in BACOG, Elections 2011, FOIA, HALO, IAA, Kane, Land Use, Letters to the Editor, Lighting Ordinance, Longmeadow Parkway, OMA, OP/Ed, Politics, Topics Of Interest, Village Government, Well Water Quality on January 31, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Friday FlashbackFollowing are some of the articles published by The Observer in January in the last few years. These articles, gathered from various publications and editorials, are noteworthy for residents in that they remind us of where we’ve been as a community.

End of Barrington Hills light debate coming Monday? – 2011

Barrington Hills’ long-controversial outdoor lighting ordinance could be up for its final vote on Monday, but even its most ardent opponents are at peace.

Read the Daily Herald story here.

Law needed to halt FOIA abuses – 2012

FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act, is an enhancement of governmental transparency. FOIA provides access to information, including the village budget, costs, procedures, and the like. FOIAs are legitimately used by the media.

Read the original post with comments here.

Barrington Hills may host meeting on auto auction site – 2013

Because East Dundee won’t hold a fifth hearing to discuss the merits of an auto auction business coming to town, neighboring Barrington Hills, which opposes the project, wants to host a town-hall meeting on the issue.

Revisit the original post with comments here.

Longmeadow Parkway fate may go to voters – 2013

If Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen gets his way, Kane County residents may be asked whether the county should proceed with long-planned improvement of transportation on the county’s north end.

Lauzen told County Board members Wednesday he would be reluctant to support further work on the proposed Longmeadow Parkway project without a demonstration of public support for the large, regional road project.

Read the Northwest Herald story here.

–     The Observer

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The IAA battle: Why it was over before it began

Posted in BACOG, Commercial Horse Boarding, HALO, IAA, Land Disconnection, Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, OP/Ed, Plan Commission, Save 5 Acres, Taxes, Village Board, Village Government, Village President, Well Water Quality on July 19, 2013| 16 Comments »

salvage-carsLast Monday evening, East Dundee trustees voted unanimously to approve the controversial proposed development of a 35-acre auto auction facility by Insurance Auto Auctions (IAA), bordering Barrington Hills.

The residents of the adjacent Pond Gate subdivision are to be commended for mounting a valiant and coordinated effort to stop the approval of the IAA development.  They attended countless meetings, performed extensive research into complaints against IAA, and mounted multiple social campaigns, including a petition drive that garnered nearly four hundred signatures.

There will undoubtedly be some second-guessing as to why our Village could not stop this from happening, but The Observer has collected some of the reasons pointing out why our Village was at a disadvantage from the start.

Lack of an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA):  On the heels of the failed attempt to keep the Duda property within Barrington Hills, most candidates in the 2009 campaign agreed that IGA’s needed to be either strengthened or established with neighboring communities.  Fritz Gohl actually had as one of his top four priorities during that campaign (see Re-Elect Fritz Gohl).

Unfortunately, this never came to fruition.  Barrington Hills has IGA’s with a number of surrounding communities, but never bothered to create one with East Dundee.

VBH IYA“Dark Sky” and other unnecessary detours:  In the last four years, our Village government and residents have wasted an inordinate amount of time and money on “issues” such as the Exterior Lighting Ordinance, Horse Boarding regulations that would never be realistically enacted by the administration, and last but not least, justifying providing office space for BACOG within our Village Hall.

Coincidentally, East Dundee had their first meeting with IAA about a year before our Village Board was finalizing the terms of the BACOG lease (May, 2011) .

Heavy handed “diplomacy”:  Once the plans for the IAA development were discovered about a year ago, it took little time for this controversial plan to be used as a political haymaker.  Despite the fact that our Village was in no position of strength, there was no discernible diplomacy coming from our Village leadership.

Instead, there was heated banter between the respective village presidents.  Photos and videos were recorded of puddles being drained from an IAA facility in a nearby suburb.  The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency was notified of that situation and they were also asked to intervene in the local proposed auction site, but this activity only seemed to aggravate an already tense situation rather than move toward resolution.

Eleventh hour strategy backfire: Last week, we learned that the IAA proposal was stalled for months when our former Village president attempted to persuade ComEd to block access to the site (see “Ex-Barrington Hills mayor admits to talking to ComEd about auto auction plan”).

Presumably our former President thought IAA’s only option for accessing the proposed development was to obtain a right-of-way using the utility’s easement. But this strategy neglected to notice that another less desirable, but workable, route existed via Healy Road.

Sadly, our Village has learned too many lessons the hard way for a number of years now.  The IAA development approval by the East Dundee board is now the latest, although the battle may not be over yet.

The Observer sincerely hopes that new Village Board members can successfully overcome issues left behind by the previous administration quickly and foster a spirit of cooperation among themselves and with neighboring villages.  Only then can our Village begin to move forward.

–     The Observer

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July Flashbacks

Posted in Animal Welfare, Commercial Horse Boarding, HALO, Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, OP/Ed, Riding Club Commission, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Village Board, Zoning Board on July 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Following are some of the stories reported by The Observer in July 2010 and 2011. These articles, gathered from various publications, are noteworthy for residents in that they remind us of where we’ve been as a community. Readers can view further articles from those and other prior months by utilizing the “Archives By Month” menu tool on the right sidebar in all page views of this website.

Residents turned off by ‘dark sky’ proposal (2010)

A well-lit church steeple might be picturesque to some and a beacon to others, but at least one northwest suburban village president wouldn’t mind pulling the plug, saying the glare makes it hard to see the stars and detracts from the beauty of the nighttime sky.

“At 3 a.m., my sense is that God’s pretty powerful, and he knows where the church is,” said Robert Abboud, village president of Barrington Hills.

The full TribLocal article can be viewed here.

Landowner faces big fine for wood piles, dogs (2010)

Philip Maksymonko’s property in Barrington Hills is as secluded as most of the parcels of land that line the roads of this rural oasis in the middle of the Northwest suburbs.

For the last half decade, though, his neighbors claim he has caused problems for everyone in the area by keeping huge wood piles on his property, raising dogs and composting his dogs’ feces.

Read the Daily Herald account of the story here.

Village expected to be fully lit up again by midnight (2011)

The tiny village of Barrington Hills, which was left in the dark when a storm swept through the suburbs Monday, should soon be lit up again, as electricity to 250 homes is expected to be restored by midnight, a spokesman for ComEd said Friday.  Since Monday, power has been restored to 1,300 households, the spokesman said.

TribLocal’s story of last year’s massive power outage can be read here.

Village Board considering ZBA proposal on horse boarding (2011)

ZBA chair Judith Freeman presented a proposal to address horse boarding codes in the Village at the July BOT meeting. President Abboud deferred discussion/comment by the board on the ZBA proposal until the August BOT meeting to allow time for trustees to further consider the proposal.

The ZBA proposal calls for any property owner that boards ten (10) horses or more within the Village on R-1 properties to be classified as “Commercial” and residents boarding nine (9) or fewer horses would be allowed to conduct their businesses under the “Home Occupation Ordinance.”

For more detail, download a copy of the ZBA proposal from a year ago this month here.

–     The Observer

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