When Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin volunteered to participate in a dunk tank during the recent “The Hills are Alive Fall Festival,” he did so with a village police officer in mind.
Shortly after he situated himself in the dunk tank on Sept. 30., youngster Susie Bongiorno hit the target and dunked McLaughlin into the water below.
Proceeds this year from the dunk tank, as well as food and beverage sales during the village’s annual fall community festival, went to an ongoing effort to raise funds for Jeremy Hensler, a police officer in Barrington Hills who recently was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
“(Bongiorno) threw a strike. I coached her on our softball team,” McLaughlin said of the dunk tank experience, adding how an estimated crowd of 600 attended the festival. “We think that’s pretty good attendance for a village with 1,100 homes.”
But the featured element of Barrington Hills’ sixth annual fall festival was supporting Hensler, who also is a member of the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System — a group of suburban police departments in the Chicago area, officials said.
“He was one of our highest-trained, well-qualified officers,” McLaughlin said of Hensler.
McLaughlin said the Dunk Tank ended up generating about $500 in proceeds. Organizers also collected donations through vendors’ food and beverage sales at the event, he said. Timmerman’s Equestrian Drill Team, of Island Lake, also performed for the festivalgoers.
Other activities included a climbing rock wall, an interactive animal show and a make-your-own ice cream area, organizers said.
The entire Barrington Courier-Review article can be seen here.
This Sunday September 30th from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., the Village is holding the 6th annual The Hills Are Alive Festival at the Barrington Hills Park District Riding Center, 361 Bateman Road. The free event will go on, rain or shine, with attractions being moved inside the indoor riding arena in case of inclement weather. Below is a press release from Village Hall.
“For the 6th year, Village of Barrington Hills is hosting a Community Fall Festival. This year’s event promises to be another spectacular day!
Whether you are new to our community, a longtime resident or a friend from a neighboring village, this is the perfect opportunity for camaraderie, meet ‘n greet, and simply enjoying fun, food, attractions and entertainment to satisfy all ages.
New draws this year are the Climbing Rock Wall, Dunk Tank, Equestrian Drill Team & Barrel Racing, Blacksmithing Demo, Interactive Animal Show, Make Your Own Ice Cream–just to name a few. Check out the full listing below with the associated times.
Of course, no fest would be complete without great BBQ, Grilled Meats, Sides, Cold Beer, Chilled Wine and something for the sweet tooth! See you there!”
The Summer issue of News from Village Hall was recently mailed out to residents. Click here to read the issue online.
Topics include covered include announcement of the 6th Annual Hills Are Alive Fall Festival on Sunday September 30th, updates on the 2018 Road Program and the IDOT Route 62 study, news from the Police Department and much more.
We are pleased to announce the recipient of the 2017 Shining Star Award — Barrington Hills Police Chief Richard Semelsberger. Chief Semelsberger epitomizes the very best in a public safety professional, and the residents of our village are very fortunate to have such a dedicated individual at the helm of our Police Department.
Chief Semelsberger is well-known to many in the community, having started as a patrolman in 1989, and rising through the ranks over the last 28 years. Having worked under four of the nine previous village chiefs of police, Rich became Deputy Chief in 2011, eventually becoming Chief of Police in March 2015, after the retirement of Chief Michael Murphy.
He is respected and well-liked by officers in his department, and works easily with our elected officials, village hall staff, and attorneys. A familiar face to many, Rich is in attendance at each annual Hills Are Alive Heritage Fest, where he can be seen engaged in friendly conversation with village residents.
Over the years, Semelsberger has continually impressed us with his vast knowledge of the department’s operating budget during Board of Trustee meetings, always having the appropriate facts and figures when questioned by board members. But what has been the most striking recently has been his active participation in many other discussions during Board Meetings. Whether the topic was the somewhat controversial outsourcing of our 911 Dispatch services to QuadCom, or the purchase of a new phone system for the Village Hall, it was obvious that Semelsberger had studied the issues very carefully and had an intimate understanding of all of the pros and cons.
The Chief’s low-key yet highly effective style was most notably on display in early 2017 when he set the record straight on the many of facts surrounding the village’s CTY alert system, police staffing levels, and the false accusations of discontinuation of the police non-emergency number. These issues had been raised during the months leading up to the April 2017 Election by the “Your Barrington Hills” slate and their supporters. Despite the highly political atmosphere that had been created, Semelsberger calmly and clearly refuted the unfounded allegations one-by-one in a decidedly nonpartisan and straightforward manner that left little doubt what the facts were. See these Observer articles for more detail: All the world’s a stage, April 24th Board meeting recordings released, and Regime revived?
Our village is indeed lucky to have such a fine man as Richard Semelsberger fully committed to serving and protecting our homes and families. We commend the Chief for his leadership of our award-winning Police Department, and for making our community safe each and every day. Thank you from the residents and from all of us at the Observer!
Audio recordings from the July 24th, 2017 meeting of the Board of Trustees have been posted. To access the menu of recordings edited by agenda item, click here.
Most of the brief meeting consisted of routine business, but, again, property owned by Barrington Hills Farm LLC (BHFarm) provided the most interesting fodder for discussion. As we mentioned previously, the owner(s) of the unoccupied property at 2400 Spring Creek Road had been cited for demolition of a residence without a building permit and for removal of two posted Stop Work Order signs. Additionally, many trees and much vegetation had been removed without a permit required under the village’s Heritage Tree Ordinance.
Trustee Colleen Konicek asked Administrator Bob Kosin for an update on the situation. The issue of the removal of the Stop Work Order signs is currently in the hands of the village prosecutor, and the courts will be left to determine if the violation did take place, and what fines, if any, should be imposed. Kosin went on to state that the necessary demolition permit had now been obtained, albeit AFTER the fact, and that according to the demolition contractor, none of the work to remove the debris from the demolition of the 2900 sq. ft. home had required an overweight permit. Trustee Brian Cecola strongly questioned the notion that a residence of that size could be taken down without the need for an overweight permit. Konicek pressed the issue further, asking Kosin what evidence had been provided that an overweight permit had not been required? Kosin was forced to admit there was no evidence, just the word of the contractor. We wonder how many other residents would be afforded this same benefit of the doubt.
On the issue of the trees that had been removed, Kosin stated that the Village’s tree contractor had been sent out, and he determined that no heritage trees had been lost or jeopardized on the site, again AFTER the fact, and that the property owner had been appropriately billed (and paid ) for the arborist’s inspection fee. Kosin expressed supreme confidence in the arborist’s psychic abilities to determine the species of trees which had been removed, without ever having seen them. We don’t quite understand how this was possible — perhaps he conducted a DNA analysis of the sawdust residue?
President Martin McLaughlin expressed concern about the objectivity of the arborist, Chuck Stewart, who had performed the study of the property, because Stewart rents office space in a building owned by one of the members of the board of Barrington Hills Farm. Trustee Michelle Maison was also troubled by this perceived conflict of interest and inquired if another independent tree analysis should be conducted.
McLaughlin then brought up the issue of the deannexation request (dated July 17, 2017) for 2400 Spring Creek Road. Back in the fall, the trust controlling BHFarm had expressed interest in annexing ALL of the former Duda property back into the Village during a friendly 2 1/2 hour staff meeting during which the village outlined two timelines to complete the annexation petition process. He found it odd that first they wanted to annex into the village, and now they want to annex out of the village. He also reminded the new Board members about the trust’s previous request for an easement for its proposed HARPS facility (which still has not broken ground). The trust had wanted an easement, requested it, constructed the legal documents for it, and when the Board agreed to it, the trust wanted the easement out.
McLaughlin described how the Village has gone out of its way to say “yes” numerous times to requests by BHFarm, and explained how the Village has tried to work with the individuals representing BHFarm, only to have the trust change their minds about things that they themselves had asked for. He likened dealing with the BHFarm trust as doing the Hokey Pokey — they want the easement in, they want the easement out, they want to annex in, they want to annex out. All of it, he said, amounted to much silliness, and in our opinion, wasting of board and staff time, not to mention taxpayer dollars.
Doing the annexation hokey pokey
Trustee Paula Jacobsen wondered why the village couldn’t have employed a warmer and fuzzier process to inform the property owner of their violation of the cease and desist order, perhaps by placing a personal phone call. Jacobsen was either playing dumb in thinking that property owners’ phone numbers are listed on property deeds, or perhaps she was pandering to BHFarm’s board which is headed by a prominent donor to her recent trustee campaign. Her point seemed to be that the property owner was not being treated in a neighborly manner, despite the fact that the only publicly available contact information is an street address in Chicago. Never did she place any onus on the property owner who apparently assumed that it was okay to knock down a house without consulting the municipal authorities in advance. Maybe she has never heard of the expression “ignorance of the law is no excuse”?
And, if the village had gone to extreme lengths to track down a telephone number in this particular instance, wouldn’t that create a dangerous precedent for the village’s future contacts with other property owners? AND, does Jacobsen really believe that the contractor(s) who removed the trees and demolished the residence didn’t inform their employer of the Stop Work Order?
Later in the meeting, during discussion of the disconnection petition itself, Village Attorney Mary Dickson described the legal requirements for disconnection and confirmed that the subject property meets all of them. However, the village cannot act on such a petition sooner than 30 days after receiving it, and, as a result, the attorney will prepare an ordinance for possible action at the next Board meeting in August.
Dickson cautioned that any penalties regarding the cease and desist order violation pending in court should be resolved and that any other monies due to the Village should be paid PRIOR to the Board of Trustees taking final action on BHFarm’s petition.
Jacobsen continued to puzzle over the reason for the disconnection request into unincorporated McHenry County, and asked if the petitioner would be making a presentation to the Board explaining the reasons for the disconnection. Dickson explained that no such presentation is legally necessary. (We suggest that Jacobsen pick up the telephone a place a neighborly phone call if she wants to quench her curiosity.) Attorney Dickson opined that maybe developmental rights are the reason, and perhaps the best prospects for the owner’s desired development of the property may lie with the county rather than the village. We’d say that Ms. Dickson hit the nail on the head with that assessment.
On Sunday August 13th, Village of Barrington Hills & the Barrington Hills Park District, 361 Bateman Road, is hosting our heritage festival. This year’s event promises to be another spectacular day!
As always the purpose of the festival is to bring Barrington Hills residents together for a day of fun, and to highlight the organizations and activities that make our community unique. This year we have also partnered with the Honor Ride & Run to celebrate our nation’s heroes.
Last year over 500 residents attended our heritage festival to celebrate our community and our neighbors. We hope to see you all again for this family oriented, fun filled day! Arrive at 11am to cheer on the recovering Veterans as they cross the finish line.
To read the full announcement from the Village of Barrington Hills website, click here.
The Village Board will meet on Monday August 28th at 6:30 PM. The agenda can be viewed 
Audio recordings from the July 24th, 2017 meeting of the Board of Trustees have been posted. To access the menu of recordings edited by agenda item, click 
On Sunday August 13th, Village of Barrington Hills & the Barrington Hills Park District, 361 Bateman Road, is hosting our heritage festival. This year’s event promises to be another spectacular day!
