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Archive for the ‘Elections 2011’ Category

September Flashbacks

Posted in BACT, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Cook, County, Elections 2011, Ethics, FPDCC, Horse Boarding, Land Use, Real Estate, Save 5 Acres, VBHPD, Village Board on September 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Friday FlashbackFollowing are some of the articles published by The Observer for the month of September 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.

Investigation finds no wrong doing by Barrington Hills village president – 2011

An investigation into claims the Barrington Hills village president interfered with the work of the Zoning Board of Appeals found no wrong doing.

“There was no impropriety or interference,” said attorney James Kelly of Crystal Lake-based Matuszewich, Kelly & McKeever, LLP. Kelly was asked to investigate the matter, and he presented the village board with a report of his findings during a contentious meeting Monday night.

The claim centers around the removal of an attorney who was working with the ZBA on a controversial ordinance dealing with commercial horse boarding.

Read the Chicago Tribune story here.

More village board meeting drama – 2012

The characters in the ongoing drama of the Barrington Hills Board of Trustees treated us (or should we say, exposed us) to another episode at the last board meeting that occurred on August 27, 2012.  The entire event is audio recorded for posterity in the Village audio files of the meeting, available here.  We may not have the visuals of reality television, but we certainly have the drama.

Read the full Observer editorial here.

Couple battle forest preserve over Barrington Hills estate – 2013

The owners of Horizon Farms — a 400-acre Barrington Hills estate and horse farm — have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Forest Preserve District of Cook County of conspiring to pay $14 million for their Barrington Hills horse farm while they were fighting foreclosure.

Read more of the Daily Herald story here.

Why Public Safety Mergers Are Inevitable – 2013

More than ever, the local cop, firefighter or emergency responder may not be from the neighborhood.

A Better Government Association investigation finds municipal budget shortfalls are forcing a growing segment of Northern Illinois suburbs to consider what was once unthinkable: Merging basic hometown public safety operations with neighboring or regional governments, such as the county sheriff’s departments.

Read more of the Better Government Association’s recent article here.

 

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Barrington Hills votes 4-3 to pay acting village attorney

Posted in Ethics, Legal Expenses, OMA, Politics, Save 5 Acres, Village Attorney, Village Board on September 26, 2014| 4 Comments »

After some debate, Barrington Hills Village Board voted 4-3 on Sept. 22 to pay the acting village attorney for his temporary service.

It started when Trustee Joe Messer declined to pay an invoice submitted by Wheaton firm Bond, Dickson & Associates. The firm was not validly appointed (in Messer’s opinion), so the board should not recognize its authority, Messer said.

McLaughlin, however, said he just wanted to move forward.

“Joe, I suggest you take it to court, rather than play village attorney up here, because, frankly, it’s getting a little tiresome,” he said. “I think the village residents, including myself, have had enough.”

Read the full Barrington Courier-Review story here.

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Barrington Hills board debates horse boarding plan

Posted in 2015 Elections, Animal Welfare, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Equestrian Commission, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, Land Use, OMA, Save 5 Acres, Village Board, Village Code, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on September 23, 2014| 29 Comments »

Barrington Hills trustees sent a controversial horse boarding plan back to the village’s zoning board Monday night for clarification on 11 points before they take a vote.

The board’s action came after more than 2½ hours of public comment and board discussion before a large group of residents in the Countryside Elementary School gymnasium.

Critics of the plan, which would allow landowners to board three horses for each acre of property, said it did not receive the proper scrutiny of the zoning board.

Read more here.

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What’s at stake this evening

Posted in Agendas, Animal Welfare, Building Department, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Horse Boarding, Land Use, OP/Ed, Politics, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Taxes, Village Board, Well Water Quality on September 22, 2014| 5 Comments »

EthicsTonight our Village Board is scheduled to discuss, and perhaps approve, a commercial horse boarding amendment to our Village code that a large and growing number of residents oppose.   The swift and wavering path leading to this vote has been strewn with disregard for procedure, for the opinions of many residents, and some would argue for the law.

For example, the last ZBA proposed horse boarding amendment took over a year to deliberate and draft culminating in a July 2011 letter from then and current ZBA chair Judith Freeman to the Village Board clearly stating that the best way to address commercial-scale horse boarding was through special use permits.

A copy of the ZBA opinion letter submitted by Ms. Freeman in 2011 can be viewed here.

Incredibly, while Ms. Freeman and the ZBA in 2011 were adamant that the best solution to commercial horse boarding was to regulate it through a special use permit process, today Ms. Freeman (and a marginal majority of the ZBA) have rejected a special use process.  Even more inexplicable is Ms. Freeman and the ZBA have offered no explanation for this dramatic change in their position.

On the other hand, the LeCompte proposal for agricultural designation of any scale of horse boarding was submitted just three months before a vote by the ZBA on September 11.  But that proposal, and three other proposals presented to the ZBA, were never reviewed during that meeting.

Instead, despite the lack of notice or resident scrutiny, a new proposal from ZBA member Kurt Anderson was submitted at the meeting, and it took less than three hours from introduction to a divided 4-3 vote approving this new amendment by the ZBA.

If approved tonight, the Anderson amendment will allow for:

  • No special use permit required to start a boarding business
  • Up to three horses per acre allowed on five acres or more
  • Extended business hours beginning at 6:00 AM
  • Unlimited customers and employees
  • Diminished privacy rights of adjacent homeowners, subject only to “nuisance” law provisions, and
  • Weakened property values and potential property tax shifts favoring boarding properties

This amendment favors a relatively small number of property owners and will be detrimental to a large number of other Barrington Hills residents, including those desperately trying to sell their homes in the poorest local real estate market witnessed in decades.

Price ReducedThere are over one hundred-twenty R-1 zoned properties on the market in Barrington Hills today.  The total acreage of these properties is roughly 1,000 acres, or the equivalent of the Duda and Horizon acreage combined.  As one reader put it, why would anyone gamble on buying a home in the Village only to have a commercial business spring up next door if this amendment passes?

We encourage residents to attend tonight’s board meeting and speak up.  Ask why our Village officials are even considering such an amendment crafted solely for a small special interest group in our Village?

Also ask why public opinion has been ignored on such an important matter?  And why did Judith Freeman unilaterally cancel the September 15 ZBA meeting without a vote to consider the other amendments before the board?

The Village Board meeting begins at 6:30 PM at Countryside Elementary School. A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.

–     The Observer

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Monday’s Village Board meeting ePacket agenda posted

Posted in Accidents, BH Polo Club, Bicyclists, Building Department, Commercial Horse Boarding, Crime, EJ&E/Canadian National, ePacket Agendas, Ethics, FRVPC, Heritage and Environs Committee, Horse Boarding, Land Use, OMA, Plan Commission, Police Reports, Public Safety, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Road construction, Save 5 Acres, Sears, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board on September 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The ePacket agenda containing links to documents to be discussed during tomorrow evening’s Village Board meeting to be held at Countryside Elementary School has been posted.  To access the link, click here.

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September 11 Zoning Board meeting recordings released

Posted in Animal Welfare, Audio Recordings, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, Land Use, Legal Expenses, OMA, Politics, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Taxes, Village Code, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on September 19, 2014| 2 Comments »

The Village has released edited audio recordings from the September 11 Zoning Board of Appeals special meeting held at Barrington High School to discuss four horse boarding text amendment proposals.  To access the menu of the meeting’s topical audio recording segments, click here.

Anyone who listens to these recordings will quickly realize the sound quality is abysmal.  Not only that, many of the board members, and often times the attorney, cannot be heard during the discussion of the Anderson horse boarding amendment.

We assume by now Village Hall staff have a copy of the transcript from the meeting.  Anyone interested in obtaining a copy should call the Village Clerk at 847-551-3000 or by email at clerk@barringtonhills-il.gov.

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Anderson horse boarding text amendment released

Posted in Animal Welfare, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Ethics, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, Land Use, OMA, Politics, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Zoning Board on September 17, 2014| 5 Comments »

The Village as posted a copy of the horse boarding text amendment proposal Zoning Board member Kurt Anderson presented to his fellow board members during last Thursday evening’s board meeting.  A copy can be downloaded here.

It is unclear at this time when the Zoning Board will meet again to discuss the other horse boarding amendments previously submitted by residents and the Riding Club.  Their next regularly scheduled meeting is October 20.

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Zoning Board approves horse boarding text amendment

Posted in 2015 Elections, Agendas, Animal Welfare, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, Land Use, Legal Expenses, OMA, OP/Ed, Politics, Real Estate, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Taxes, Zoning Board on September 15, 2014| 33 Comments »

herd-of-horsesThe Zoning Board of Appeals met last Thursday evening to discuss, and possibly recommend, one of four horse boarding text amendment proposals that they had heard testimony and public comment on during previous meetings.  By the end of the meeting, the board narrowly approved a text amendment, but it was not one of the four that had been previously been heard by the board and had never before been made available to residents for comment.

Thursday’s meeting began with Chairman Freeman moving public comment to the beginning of the meeting.  Many who took advantage of this time were members and officers of the Riding Club.  We’re told the president of the Riding Club was allowed about ten uninterrupted minutes to read a prepared speech, after which Chairman Freeman suggested subsequent comments be limited to three minutes per the rules for most Village meetings.

To many in the audience, this comment session seemed to be a continuation of public hearing from last Tuesday’s ZBA session.  Since Tuesday night also happened to be the regular monthly meeting of the Riding Club, and many RCBH members chose to attend that meeting rather than go the ZBA, perhaps this explains Freeman’s decision to allow comments preceding the business before the board.

The first agenda item originally to be discussed was the LeCompte text amendment proposal.  However, Freeman allowed board member Kurt Anderson to introduce a new amendment, purportedly of his own crafting, for consideration by the board.  He then handed out copies to board members.

Anderson, whose term expired last April, stated his proposal was based on the LeCompte proposal with his suggested additions and deletions.  He then proceeded to read most of the document he had drafted and discussion ensued by the members of the board.

The key components of his amendment proposal included:

  • No special use permit is required for boarding businesses
  • Horse boarding businesses of any scale would be considered agricultural use
  • Up to three horses per acre would be allowed
  • Operations can begin at 6:00 AM and end at various times in the evening
  • No limit on the number of customers/employees on site

When discussions began heading toward a vote on this never-before-released proposal, the attorney assigned to the Zoning Board urged the need for another public hearing for residents to weigh in on Anderson’s new proposal.  It seemed obvious the attorney felt there were enough substantive changes to the original LeCompte proposal to qualify Anderson’s draft as a new amendment altogether, and that it should be made available to residents before holding another public hearing.  Doing so, however, would require proper notice which would create a delay of about three weeks to properly and legally plan for.

Freeman chose not to follow the advice of counsel, and a motion to approve was made by Karen Rosene, another board member whose term has expired, to recommend Anderson’s new amendment.   Four equestrian members of the board voted aye, and three non-equestrians voted nay.  The meeting then adjourned without consideration or discussion of the four originally submitted text amendment proposals.

We find it highly disturbing that any member of the board could even vote on an important and controversial amendment having had little or no time to read it or question it.  More troubling are the facts that residents were not given any opportunity to even read the changes and that the basis for Anderson’s amendment was the LeCompte proposal, which most residents who commented publicly and in writing objected to.

Many residents had asked for this process to be slowed due to the significance of this matter, but Freeman chose to disregard their pleas Thursday night.

We are at a loss to explain the unorthodox and quite possibly illegal actions by Freeman.

Were there external pressures on her and some other board members?  Did the fact that the LeCompte Kalaway Landowner’s Polo event was due to start roughly thirty-six hours after the vote have any bearing?  And by calling for a vote on an item not published in the agenda, why did she allow what could be a violation of the Open Meetings Act to take place?

We cannot provide answers to these questions, but residents should demand they be answered before any further actions occur.

–     The Observer

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September 9 Zoning Board hearing recordings and written comments released

Posted in Animal Welfare, Audio Recordings, BH Polo Club, Commercial Horse Boarding, Conflict of interest, Ethics, FRVPC, Horse Boarding, Land Use, OMA, Politics, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Village Code, Well Water Quality, Zoning Board on September 12, 2014| 1 Comment »

The Village has released edited audio recordings from the September 9 Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing regarding the Drury and Hammond horse boarding text amendment proposals. To access the menu of the meeting’s topical audio recording segments, click here.

Written comments regarding the proposals have also been posted, and a copy can be downloaded here.

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September 4 Special Village Board meeting recordings released

Posted in Audio Recordings, Conflict of interest, Ethics, Legal Expenses, OMA, OP/Ed, Politics, Save 5 Acres, Taxes, Village Attorney, Village Board on September 11, 2014| 10 Comments »

The Village has released recordings from the September 4 Special Village Board meeting.   To access the menu of the meeting’s topical audio recording segments, click here.

Most of this relatively short meeting consisted of discussion of criteria and methodology to create a selection process for the next village law firm.  While this process will be interesting, it obviously cannot change the provisions of the Village Code that give the sole power to appoint the Village Attorney to the Village President, by and with the consent of the Board.  Hopefully this process, whenever it is settled, will provide Village President McLaughlin additional candidates to consider appointing and (then) for the Board to vote upon.

Unfortunately, the meeting did start out with Trustee Joe Messer once again incorrectly insisting that the temporary Village Attorney, Patrick Bond, had not been properly seated in that office.  Listeners to the recording will be treated to the continuing obstinacy to recognize the temporary appointment was lawful and, even more shameful, the suggestion that the Board will vote not to compensate Mr. Bond for performing his duties.

Of special note were the comments made by the second resident to speak during public comment who remarked on both the process of appointing temporary counsel and the qualifications of Patrick Bond.  His comments demonstrated the logic and clarity that so many on our board of trustees are severely lacking.  The link to this speaker’s remarks can be found here.

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