Posted in Agendas, Board of Health, Building Department, County, Equestrian Commission, ETSB, Heritage and Environs Committee, Kane, Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, OMA, Plan Commission, Public Safety, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on June 19, 2015| 2 Comments »
The Village has posted a copy of the agenda for Monday evening’s Village Board meeting. Some of the topics for discussion or vote include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.
Posted in Audio Recordings, Board of Health, Building Department, Equestrian Commission, Heritage and Environs Committee, Legal Expenses, Plan Commission, Real Estate, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on June 15, 2015| 2 Comments »
The Village has released edited audio recordings from the June 8th special Village Board meeting.
Two residents made public comments regarding the matter of enforcement of the Tree Preservation Ordinance in the matter of a newly constructed home on Westfield Way. The board then adjourned into executive session to discuss this issue and personnel matters. Attendees to the public session inform us that Don Schuman, Code Enforcement Officer for the Village, was included in that session along with two attorneys representing the Village.
After nearly an hour and a half of closed session deliberation, the meeting reopened to the public. President McLaughlin then asked attorneys Mary Dickson and a Mr. Kaplan, who apparently got involved when the Village’s insurance carrier was contacted regarding the matter.
The Plan Commission discussed this Westfield Way property matter four times in 2014 according to records. At their December meeting, the commissioners voted unanimously to enforce the Tree Preservation Ordinance, despite an appeal from the homeowner.
This called for the replacement of 110 “Heritage Trees” to replace those removed during site development of the property. In December 2014, the Village Board voted to adopt the findings and recommendations of the Plan Commission and to deny the petitioner’s waiver/appeal.
A copy of the Plan Commission’s findings presented at the December 2015 Village Board meeting can be viewed here.
Despite the commission’s best efforts to enforce Village Code, apparently Don Schuman met with the homeowners sometime in May, and issued a letter stating they would only have to replace 36 trees, thus overriding the Plan Commission’s ruling. It is unknown whether Schuman consulted with any Village official prior to doing so, but according to news accounts, he has no such authority.
Dickson and Kaplan recommended the Village Board settle on replacement of 48 heritage trees in order to settle the legal action brought against the Village by the homeowners. By a vote of 5 to 1, the board, very reluctantly, approved this offer given the position Schuman’s unauthorized letter had put them in.
We highly recommend readers listen to the brief recording of this discussion and vote by clicking here.
The board then moved on to the original purpose of the special meeting, which was to approve appointments to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Plan Commission, Equestrian Commission, Board of Health and the Heritage and Environs Committee. With few objections from Trustee Gohl (Trustee Mike Harrington was absent), all nominees were approved.
The link to the menu of topical recordings from the full June 8th Village Board meeting can be accessed here.
Posted in Board of Health, ePacket Agendas, Equestrian Commission, Heritage and Environs Committee, Plan Commission, Village Board, Zoning Board on June 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »
The ePacket agenda containing links to documents to be discussed during this evening’s Village Board meeting has been posted. To access the ePacket link, click here.
Posted in Agendas, Board of Health, Equestrian Commission, Plan Commission, Village Attorney, Village Board, Zoning Board on June 7, 2015| 3 Comments »
The Village board will be holding a special meeting on Monday evening at 6:30 PM. The primary purpose of the meeting is to make appointments to various boards and commissions.
The reason that appointments were not made at the May 27th Board meeting was due to improper staggering of terms on various bodies for many years now as required by state law. In fact, this situation dates back to when Joseph von Meier of Burke Warren was the attorney assigned to the Zoning Board. Years ago, he advised the terms be properly staggered, but no changes were made.
According to the recordings from the May 27th meeting, Village Hall records indicated three different term lengths for a particular member of the Zoning Board. As a result, our current Village Counsel has recommended that the Board take appropriate measures now to comply with the law by establishing properly set terms.
The recording of that discussion can be heard here. A copy of Monday night’s agenda can be viewed here.
Posted in Agendas, BACOG, Board of Health, Building Department, Cook, County, ePacket Agendas, Heritage and Environs Committee, Kane, Land Use, Longmeadow Parkway, Pension Funding, Plan Commission, Police Reports, Public Safety, Public Safety Committee, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Zoning Board on May 26, 2015| 4 Comments »
The Village has posted a copy of the agenda for Wednesday evening’s Village Board meeting. Some of the topics for discussion or vote include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here, and the ePacket agenda, including links to most of the documentation to be covered in the meeting, can be accessed by clicking here.
Posted in 2015 Elections, Audio Recordings, Board of Health, ETSB, Finance Committee, Heritage and Environs Committee, One Barrington Hills, Plan Commission, Politics, Public Safety Committee, Roads & Bridges Committee, SOS Party, VBHPD, Village Board, Village Government, Zoning Board on May 15, 2015| 1 Comment »
The Village has released audio recordings from last Monday’s special Village Board meeting. We understand the meeting was well attended by residents, but the same cannot be said of elected officials.
Trustees Gohl and Harrington were absent from the brief meeting, as were outgoing Trustees Meroni and Selman. Once newly elected Trustees Croll, Maison and Cecola took their oaths of office, a quorum of the Board was then present, and the meeting was called to order.
Two residents made public comments. Trustee Messer was then given a plaque and commendation for his years of service to residents by President McLaughlin, and all present gave him a round of applause. Plaques were also prepared for former Trustees Meroni and Selman and presumably they will pick up them up at a later date.
The Board then voted on Trustee assignments for oversight of the various committees and commissions made up of appointed residents, as well as approve a new President Pro-Tem.
To access the menu of edited audio recordings from the meeting, click here.
Posted in Agendas, BACOG, Board of Health, Building Department, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, Heritage and Environs Committee, OMA, Pension Funding, Plan Commission, Police Reports, Public Safety, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Roads and Bridges, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Government, Zoning Board on April 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »
The Village has posted a copy of the agenda for Monday evening’s Village Board meeting. Topics for discussion or vote include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.
Posted in 2015 Elections, Audio Recordings, BACOG, BH Polo Club, Board of Health, Building Department, Financial Reports, Heritage and Environs Committee, Land Use, Legal Expenses, Pension Funding, Plan Commission, Police Reports, Politics, Public Safety, Public Safety Committee, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Roads and Bridges, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Zoning Board on April 25, 2015| 4 Comments »
Audio recordings from last month’s regular Village Board meeting are available for review. Since the meeting lasted nearly four and a half hours, we’ll cover the main topics of interest to readers.
Nine residents spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. The comments were evenly split between the topics of 911 consolidation and the politicization of the LeCompte Kalaway Cup event special use permit extension.
During the one-hour finance discussion, payment of a portion of the temporary Village Counsel’s fees was again denied, though no Trustee could or would profess to any issues with the services provided by either Patrick Bond or Mary Dickson. It should be noted the fees outstanding due to Bond Dickson are now approaching $60,000.
Trustee Harrington read a prepared “ten reasons” list for not paying our legal bills, and cast blame once again on President McLaughlin. We believe anyone who needs ten reasons obviously doesn’t have one legitimate one to stand on, thus the unnecessary list.
What Harrington repeatedly neglects to mention is that McLaughlin allowed him and other Board members to vet more than ten other law firms for seating as permanent Village Counsel in a failed selection process that led to no clear-cut choice for recommendation. Furthermore, since that time, neither Harrington, nor any other Trustee, has recommended any other qualified firm to be considered by the full Board, yet he and others balk at paying a temporary firm providing quality, timely services.
The ongoing discussions of 911 consolidation consumed nearly the entire one hour and twenty minute Public Safety portion of the March meeting, concluding with a vote to migrate the village’s 911 services to QuadCom. Though it is a long recording, we recommend any readers who are concerned about migration listen to it, since many fictional tales circulating through the Village during the recent political campaign were dispelled.
Trustees Gohl, Meroni and Selman voted against consolidation despite reassurances from not only the consulting group engaged by the Village, but also our own police chief, Rich Semelsberger. The vote can be heard here.
With regard to the LeCompte Kalaway Cup special use permit extension that was “killed” at the March Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, the Board passed the extension by a unanimous vote. The recording of that discussion can be heard here.
The topic of extending the lease agreement with BACOG (Barrington Area Council of Governments) was also discussed, but not voted on, during the Health, Environment, Buildings and Grounds section, despite the fact the current BACOG lease doesn’t expire until the summer of 2016.
According Janet Agnoletti, Executive Director of BACOG, the Village of Barrington is wishing to provide them space in the “White House” currently under renovation on Main Street in downtown Barrington. While this location might be better suited and more centrally located, Agnoletti expressed her desire to continue renting office space at our Village Hall under a multi-year lease extension for the 220 square feet they currently occupy. The recording of that discussion can be accessed here.
It is our sincere hope that, with the elections behind us, these Board meetings will become more tolerable for residents to either attend or listen to in these recordings. There has been entirely too much unnecessary, time-consuming political rhetoric heating the McArthur Room at Village Hall for the last year, and it’s high time this practice comes to an end.
The link to the edited audio recording segment menu from the March meeting can be accessed here.
Posted in 2015 Elections, Agendas, BACOG, BH Polo Club, Board of Health, Building Department, Conflict of interest, Ethics, Financial Reports, Land Use, Pension Funding, Plan Commission, Police Reports, Politics, Public Safety, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Roads and Bridges, SOS Party, Taxes, VBHPD, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on March 27, 2015| 1 Comment »
The Village has posted the agenda for Monday evening’s Village Board meeting beginning at 6:30 PM at Village Hall. The meeting is scheduled to begin with a public hearing regarding the proposed 2015 Appropriations Ordinance. A copy of the Ordinance can be downloaded here.
Topics for discussion during the public meeting include:
A copy of the agenda can be downloaded here or viewed via the Village Google calendar here.
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