Posted in Elections 2013, IAA, Land Use, Politics, Save 5 Acres, Well Water Quality on September 28, 2013| 1 Comment »
East Dundee officials amended a complaint against ComEd this week to secure monetary damages, including $500,000 in penalties for the utility denying an easement to Insurance Auto Auctions, a business that sells wrecked vehicles to the highest bidder.
The village filed the complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission in July so a judge would simply overturn the utility’s decision.
Read more here.
Posted in Commercial Horse Boarding, Elections 2013, Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, OP/Ed, Riding Club Commission, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Zoning Board on July 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Following are some of the stories reported by The Observer in the month of July 2010 to 2012. These articles, gathered from various publications, are noteworthy for residents in that they remind us of where we’ve been as a community.
The Barrington Hills Zoning Board of Appeals further refined a proposal to restrict outdoor lighting, conceding that security lights can be on longer in emergencies, but not giving ground on more decorative fixtures.
The board allowed no public comment at Monday’s meeting, but residents packed the room, and were admonished several times about their snickering and giggles over discussions of defining glare and light pollution.
The TribLocal story can be read here.
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.
This TribLocal piece can be read here.
Throughout the pages of the Observer, readers often see references to OMA – the Open Meetings Act, and FOIA – the Freedom of Information Act, but may not be fully aware of their provisions. According to the Illinois Attorney General’s website,
“… public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business.”
– Illinois Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/1.
Read the full July 2012 Observer editorial here.
In an unprecedented move, the Village has released a recording of this month’s Zoning Board meeting. It was during this meeting that the ZBA voted to set aside the Home Occupation Ordinance Amendment addressing Commercial Horse Boarding in the Village and make no recommendation to the Board of Trustees on the matter.
A link to the forty-eight minute long meeting recording can be found here.
Horses have long been a distinguishing feature of Barrington Hills, but could these four-legged residents prove to be the driving issue in the next village board election?
Read the Daily Herald perspective here.
– The Observer
Posted in Elections 2013, IAA, Land Use, Well Water Quality on July 23, 2013| 6 Comments »
East Dundee Village President Lael Miller has filed a formal complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission against ComEd, alleging the utility caved to political pressure and tried to block an auto auction business from coming to the village.
“This is not the type of behavior that we, as the public, expect from Commonwealth Edison,” Miller said. “It’s harmful to our efforts in attracting business and it’s certainly worth the $7.17 in postage for me to file the paperwork to fight this.”
Read more here.
Related story: Ex-Barrington Hills mayor admits to talking to ComEd about auto auction plan
Posted in Communications Committee, Elections 2013, Finance Committee, Heritage and Environs Committee, Legal Committee, OMA, Plan Commission, Riding Club Commission, Village Government, Zoning Board on July 12, 2013| 4 Comments »
The Illinois attorney general’s Public Access Bureau is reviewing a complaint that former Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud’s 35 proposed committee appointments made after he lost the April 9 election were not adequately identified on a meeting agenda.
As such, the review is looking into whether the action constitutes a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act, spokeswoman Natalie Bauer said. She would not speculate on the time frame of the review or what action would be appropriate if it determined a violation had occurred.
Abboud said he was following the advice of the village attorney that sufficient notice on the agenda did not necessarily have to include names.
Read more here.
Posted in Elections 2013, Save 5 Acres, Unite Barrington Hills, Village Board, Village President on May 7, 2013| 1 Comment »
Barrington Hills got its ninth village president Monday — and its second named McLaughlin — as newly elected Martin McLaughlin took the oath of office.
He succeeded Robert Abboud, whom he defeated in the April 9 election by 647 votes to 504 according to the official canvass that the old board approved just before the swearing-in ceremony.
Read more here.
Posted in Agendas, Elections 2013, Village Board on May 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Monday evening at 7:30, recently elected members of our Village Board will take the oath of office during a special Village Board meeting. A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.
Posted in Elections 2013, Village Board, Village President on May 1, 2013| 2 Comments »
The Village Clerk has posted the final vote counts for candidates running for Village office in the April 9 General Elections. A copy of the report can be downloaded here.
Posted in Cook, Elections 2013, Village Board, Village President on April 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »
While voter turnout in suburban Cook County on Tuesday averaged 18.9 percent, it ranged from a high of 56.7 percent in McCook to a low of 3.8 percent in Elk Grove Village, Cook County Clerk David Orr said Thursday.
The strongest turnout in the Northwest suburbs was 26.3 percent in the Cook County part of Barrington Hills, where the incumbent village president was turned out of office.
More of the Daily Herald report on local voter turnouts can be viewed here.
Posted in Elections 2013, McHenry, OP/Ed, Village Board on April 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Just 16 percent of McHenry County voters turned out to cast ballots in this spring’s Consolidated Municipal Election, according to the County Clerk’s Office. A few more votes in a number of races could have changed the outcome.
For Barrington Hills Village Board, where three seats were up, just three votes separated third-place finisher Gritz Gohl (elected with 566 votes) and fourth-place finisher Kelly Mazeski (563 votes, not elected.)
Read the full Northwest Herald editorial here.
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