The intersection of Barrington and Palatine Roads is staged for lane closures to begin.
Scope: Resurface Barrington Road between Dundee Road (IL Route 68) and Algonquin Road (IL Route 62).
Status: Work is expected to begin ‘no later than May 15′ and be completed by the end of July. Motorists can expect delays and should allow extra time for trips through this area. Drivers are urged to pay close attention to flaggers and signs in work zones, obey the posted speed limits and be on the alert for workers and equipment.
Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. Topics on their agenda include:
[Vote] Amended Village Budget FY 2023
[Vote] Resolution Authorizing the Issuance of Notice of Award for the 2023 Road Program Project by the Village of Barrington Hills, Illinois Resolution 23 –
[Vote] Ordinance Amending Escrow Requirements for Tree Removal Permits as Set Forth in Title 4, Chapter 6 in the Village Code Ordinance 23 –
[Vote] Resolution of Proclamation Appreciating Trustee Bryan C. Croll for 8 Years of Dedicated Service Resolution 23 –
[Vote] Resolution of Proclamation Appreciating Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan for 10 Years of Dedicated Service Resolution 23 –
In addition, nominations for new or renewal appointments to Boards and Commissions will be voted on. Four member of the Equestrian Commission is on the list of renewals, however there is a problem with the renomination of one of those members.
That member ran for and won a seat on the Barrington Hills Park District Board earlier this month, and now this represents a conflict. Therefore, an alternate should be considered at a subsequent Board of Trustees meeting.
A copy of this evening’s agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.
What follows was recently posted to the Village website:
“I strived to make Barrington Hills’ government a model for Illinois communities and our Village a more attractive place to live,” said Trustee Bryan Croll reflecting upon his time as Village Trustee. “I would say we proved that reducing taxes can be done; that raising taxes doesn’t have to be the norm. Admittedly, it takes time to analyze spending habits but it is a worthwhile effort.”
Homeowners would agree. During his two terms as Village Trustee, residents realized a Village property tax savings of almost 22%. “We reduced Village spending and the property tax levy for eight years while maintaining healthy cash balances,” said Croll satisfyingly.
He was elected to office in 2015 and appointed by the Board as a Member of the Building & Zoning Trustee Committee, but his biggest role was his appointment as Chairman of the Finance Committee where he rolled up his sleeves and delved into examining Village operations and its finances.
He researched and collected data of which schedules of annual revenues and expenditures were created going back to 2008 to allow for easy historical comparisons and accountability. These schedules have been incorporated into the monthly Board of Trustees meetings.
He further assisted in investigating and reporting on the investment performance of the Police Pension Fund, noting the poor returns and recommending a new manager, a change that was implemented.
Anyone who knows Trustee Croll or has listened to a Board meeting knows he is a numbers guy, instantly converting numbers into percentages no matter the subject, be it about the Village budget, personnel topics, or the Village road program–he will find the numbers! …X miles of road with a cost of X dollars per mile comes to about X percent of road over a period of X equals X. To support an initiative, Trustee Croll took into consideration if it met with the Village’s code and if it was in the best interest of all residents—a telltale of his devotion to our community and integrity as Trustee.
All throughout his tenure of eight years, Trustee Croll continued to be in tune with Village operations. Two years into his term, he was appointed to the Personnel Committee, replacing his role on the Building & Zoning Committee. Once again, after careful analysis, he endorsed cost-saving measures streamlining services and operations for Village staff, including the Treasurer, village engineer, and village attorney.
He supported outsourcing the 911 call center to QuadCom Police Dispatch, saving the Village over $300,000 per year, or in Trustee Croll‘s lingo: $300,000 per year, over seven years, comes to over two million dollars in savings thus far, not including the adjustment for inflation.
He promoted open space and cooperation with conservation groups, supported efforts to maintain Barrington Hills’ residential five-acre zoning, and the efforts to resolve pending legal issues.
Trustee Bryan Croll opted not to run for a third term. His talents lay well within the layers of negotiation and financial prowess. He had the natural ability to delineate the issues at hand and unfold a solution. Like Trustee Colleen Konicek Hannigan, his term as Trustee began when community issues divided residents.
“I wanted to give back to the community I grew up in and build a culture of transparency and responsiveness to community concerns. I believe I contributed to that. I enjoyed working and collaborating with my fellow trustees, Village staff, and other dedicated people who make our Village an outstanding place to live. They are all talented and hard working. I cherish the time I spent as a Trustee and value our accomplishments.”
Thank you, Trustee Bryan Croll, for your ardor for Village finances and mathematical wizardry, copious hours of analysis and preparation, and your unwavering integrity in serving the Village of Barrington Hills!
Monday, April 24, will be Trustee Croll’s last Board Meeting as next month the newly elected Trustees will be sworn in to complete the new Board.
The Village Roads & Bridges Committee meets this morning at 11 AM to review bids received for the 2023 Roads Program. A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.
Those planning to attend today should know the last three R&BC meetings have needlessly lasted an average of over an hour and a half due primarily to the lack of preparation and constant interruptions by the current Committee Chair.
NASCAR’s Chicago Street race is slated to take over the city for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, but the impacts for drivers will be felt long before and after the race is done.
Officials on Monday detailed a traffic plan, featuring more than a month of rolling closures around the city in the lead-up and tear-down for the first-time event.
Closures will include major roadways like DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Columbus Drive, Jackson Drive, Balbo Drive and Michigan Avenue and are expected to kick off on June 2 and continue through July 15, adding to a long list of traffic disruptions for drivers in the city already battling major construction projects on the Kennedy Expressway and elsewhere.
The biggest interruptions are slated to begin on June 25. (Full list of closures below)
On top of the closures, officials said they expect roughly 50,000 people to attend each day of the two-day event.
“The city of Chicago has been working with NASCAR in the planning and execution of the race to minimize disruptions to residents and visitors while making it a safe event for everyone,” Rich Guidice, executive director of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, said in a statement. “Safety is our top priority, and we will help monitor all race activity leading up to the event, through the race weekend, and following the event to help coordinate city resources and expectations.”
The deal between NASCAR and the city of Chicago, which was announced last summer, gives NASCAR access to Grant Park from June 22 to July 5.
Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. A copy of the agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.
Completion of the Longmeadow Parkway Corridor, which runs from Huntley Road in Carpentersville to Route 62 in Barrington Hills and includes the new toll bridge over the Fox River seen here, has been delayed by the need to remove lead-contaminated soil in the project’s final phase. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)
Removal of the lead-contaminated soil that’s held up completion of the $115 million Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor is to begin this spring, Kane County Division of Transportation officials said.
The 5.6-mile regional road, which runs from Huntley Road in Carpentersville to Route 62 in Barrington Hills and includes a new toll bridge over the Fox River, is partially open but completion has been at a standstill because of the 60,000 cubic square feet of tainted dirt that requires special removal and disposal.
Kane County Board members approved a new contract in February under which the soil will be treated on site before it’s disposed of, said Steve Coffinbarger, division of transportation assistant director.
“We’ve made progress,” he said. “We’ll get started on that this spring.”
Once that work is finished in spring 2024, they can accept bids for the last stage of paving work needed, Coffinbarger said. If all goes according to plan, the entire roadway — including the bridge — will be open before the end of 2024, he said.
County and state officials have known there was contaminated soil on the site for decades. The former owner of the gun range site has been working with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to remove the lead, Coffinbarger said.
A Special Roads & Bridges Committee meeting scheduled for 1:15 PM today has been cancelled (again). A copy of the agenda to have been covered can be found here.
The next regularly scheduled committee meeting is March 16th. The last time the committee met was November 8th, 2002.
In three weeks, IDOT will start a major rehabilitation of 36 bridges that go over the Kennedy Expressway.
Some of those structures are 50 years old.
“We reached and exceeded what would be the lifespan of this roadway. And, for the motorists, you can see the state of disrepair that the road decks are in, and now is the time to repair that,” said IDOT Bureau Chief of Construction Jonathan Schumacher.
It will be a three-year project between the Edens/Kennedy Junction and Ohio Street. This year, the focus will be on the inbound Kennedy, starting with the left two lanes later next month.
“We are going to tackle some other project that would have impact if we didn’t do them all together, so we are coordinating this work over a three-year period. We’re able to get multiple projects done,” Schumacher said.
There will be a Public Hearing this evening at 6:30 PM at Village Hall to hear comments on the proposed Village of Barrington Hills Annual Appropriation Ordinance. A copy of the proposal can be found here, and the 2022 ordinance is available here for comparison.
The proposed 2023 Appropriation represents an increase of $1,029,899, reflecting an 11.4 percent increase. The categorical increases comparison to 2022 are as follows:
The proposed 2023 Roads and Bridges Appropriation is $2,124,500, compared to the amount approved in 2022 of $1,433,160, or a 48.2 percent increase. The reasons are revealed in recordings of the November 8, 2022, two-hour Roads and Bridges Committee meeting found here, but we’ll focus on the primary one for brevity’s sake.
The recordings reveal that, despite the repeated objections of the Village President, relying on his years of experience as Roads and Bridges Chair service, and the Village Engineer, whose expertise we pay for, Laura Ekstrom, current Roads Chair, is recommending the entire length of Oak Knoll Road be resurfaced this year. It’s no secret that Ekstrom happens to live on Oak Knoll Road.
Oak Knoll Road has undergone patching since it was last resurfaced. To the casual observer, this work resulted on a sound road surface with significant useful life remaining.
However, it’s Ekstrom’s contention, likely influenced by neighborhood friends, that Oak Knoll Road suffers, “aesthetically.” Admittedly, the road surface colors won’t pass a color pallet comparison. However, we’ve driven Oak Knoll frequently after Ekstrom’s testimony, and resurfacing Oak Knoll Road prematurely this year would be a waste of taxpayer’s heard earned money.
Furthermore, given her position in Village Government, we find it unethical and egocentric for Ekstrom to even consider a proposal that clearly benefits her.
