Posted in Agendas, Building Department, Conflict of interest, ePacket Agendas, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, Minutes, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Police Reports, Roads & Bridges Committee, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Engineer, Village Treasurer, Zoning Board on January 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »
The Village Board of Trustees will be holding their monthly meeting this evening at 6:30 PM. Some of the topics for discussion and/or vote include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. Those wishing to try to listing in on the meeting can phone 508-924-1464.
Posted in Agendas, ePacket Agendas, Financial Reports, Minutes, Police Pension Board, Police Reports, Roads & Bridges Committee, Special Use Permits, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village President, Village Treasurer, Zoning Board on November 17, 2020| Leave a Comment »
The Village Board of Trustees will be holding their regular monthly meeting this evening at 6:30 PM. A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.
Those wishing to try to listing in on the meeting can phone 508-924-1464.
Posted in Agendas, Audio Recordings, Building Department, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Lighting Ordinance, Minutes, OMA, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Real Estate, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Special Use Permits, Topics Of Interest, Traffic, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Treasurer, Zoning Board on October 29, 2020| 1 Comment »
The recordings from October 26th Board of Trustees meeting have been released. Click here to access the link from the Village website.
Posted in Agendas, Building Department, Financial Reports, Police Pension Board, Roads and Bridges, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Zoning Board on June 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Our Village Board of Trustees meets this evening at 6:30 PM. A copy of their agenda, including instructions on participating remotely, may be viewed and downloaded here.
Tonight’s agenda is relatively routine. However, the board will be discussing the 2019 Annual Audit Report, and two of trustees won’t be deprived of an opportunity to ask inane questions given the opportunity, so the meeting will likely be longer than usual.
Posted in Audio Recordings, Building Department, Crime, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Police Reports, Roads & Bridges Committee, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Engineer, Village Treasurer, Zoning Board on March 28, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Recordings from the remotely orchestrated Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night have been posted and can be accessed for your listening pleasure by clicking here.
At the beginning of Trustee Brian Cecola’s Public Safety report, he read a letter he entered in to the record that we felt we should post now in light of the events on Old Sutton Road three weeks ago today.
His letter reads as follows:
“I want take this opportunity as public safety chair to personally thank our officers for the fine work they did with this recent incident. I also want to thank our surrounding communities police tasks force without their assistance and support it would be impossible tb investigate and handle situations like this.
As the public may or may not be aware when we have incidents, we rely upon intergovernmental agreements with surrounding communities to support each other in investigations.
In a recent meeting with the village president and administrator and in conjunction with the treasurer and the Police Chief I am advocating to move forward with presenting the· costs associated with this investigation for immediate reimbursement from the property owner the rental company agencies and the responsible party who rented this property.
As you may all be aware this village board tasked our Village attorney with notifying the owner of their non-compliance which they did promptly days prior to this incident.
It appears the property owner and rental agencies ignored our Instructions even after they agreed days prior that they were in violation.
They did so at their peril and if we do not recover our taxpayer’s costs then I suggest we take immediate legal action to do so.”
Hopefully Police Chief Joseph Colditz will have much more to report on this incident very soon.
Posted in Police Pension Board, Politics, Springfield on November 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »
A historic plan to consolidate suburban and downstate fire and police pension plans passed the Senate Thursday with bipartisan support from local lawmakers.
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker led the effort and has promised it will save millions in a state where local municipalities are bogged down with pension obligations.
The policy would merge about 650 pension plans, not including Chicago’s, into two statewide systems — one for fire retirees and one for police.
Pritzker still must sign the legislation.
Read more here.
Posted in Police Pension Board, Politics, Springfield, Taxes, Village Board on November 1, 2019| 2 Comments »
While some towns want state lawmakers to take quick action on a recommendation to combine suburban and downstate police and firefighter pension funds in an effort to boost returns and cut costs, not all municipalities are on board.
Senate President John Cullerton introduced a bill Tuesday to consolidate the 649 suburban and downstate police and fire pensions. Gov. J.B. Pritzker followed with a statement praising Cullerton’s move in the first half of a six-day fall veto session that ended Wednesday.
Barrington Hills is asking lawmakers to take their time and not pass the proposal during the veto session. The session’s second three-day leg runs Nov. 12-14.
In part, Barrington Hills’ resolution says the Pension Consolidation Feasibility Task Force’s recommendation would be a complex financial, economic and operational undertaking requiring “proper and comprehensive analysis and review by all stakeholders” and should not be pursued until the regular legislative session starts next year.
“In my opinion, they’re trying to penalize cities that are performing well and lump them into cities that are not performing well,” Barrington Hills Village President Martin McLaughlin said.
Read more here.
Posted in 2019 Elections, 2019 Trustee Elections, Audio Recordings, Board of Elections, Deception, Ethics, Finance Committee, OP/Ed, Police Pension Board, Politics, Public Safety Committee, Riding Club of BH, Roads & Bridges Committee, Village Board, Village Government, Zoning Board on April 1, 2019| 3 Comments »
Four years ago we asked readers of The Observer to trust our judgment when voting for 3 new trustees to be on our Village Board of Trustees (see Croll, Maison and Cecola for Barrington Hills Trustees).
In what turned out to be a hard fought, oft times contentious campaign, some may have thought we were asking for a leap of faith from our readers, and we continue to appreciate the confidence bestowed upon us by our readers. Though this year’s campaign is the quietest we’ve witnessed in 10 years, the stakes are no less high than they were four years ago.
Five residents are running for three seats on our Board of Trustees. Two residents are incumbent Trustees, one is a current member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, the other two ran unsuccessfully for village positions in 2017. Here are our thoughts on these five candidates:
Louis Iacovelli: Louis seems like an affable guy in the computer software business. His campaign website is well done, though it would be more suitable to have photo of a location in the Village on the home page and not unincorporated McHenry County.
We cannot support Louis candidacy for the simple reason his wife, Gigi Iacovelli, is the treasurer of the Barrington Hills Park District. Currently a candidate for election on the park board herself, she derives at least part of her income by providing lessons at the district. While this is not a direct conflict of interest, the potential for lack of objectivity may cause concern in a trustee position.
Linda H. Cools: Linda ran as a write-in candidate for trustee 2 years ago, and after two recent Board of Election hearings, she is running for trustee on the April 2nd ballot.
The best thing one can say about Linda is she will do anything to get elected. This was evidenced by the fact that she (‘misspoke’) under oath multiple times to the Village President, President Pro-Tem and the Deputy Village clerk (see Truth or consequences). We have no place in such a small village for unrepentant (misspeakers)!
Buettner
Debra Buettner: Debra had served on the Zoning Board of Appeals for nearly 4 years when President McLaughlin asked her to consider running for Trustee. When she asked if he needed her help, he replied “Yes.” And that’s why she’s running today.
Debra founded her law firm about the same time she moved to the village nearly thirty years ago. She is a graduate of Barrington High School, and she has her CPA as well as a law degree. Her confident attitude and her experience on the Zoning Board warrant our endorsement for Board of Trustees.
Cecola
Brian D. Cecola: Brian became a Trustee in 2015 and was given responsibility for Roads and Bridges as well as Public Safety. No one adequately prepared him for the conditions he would be inheriting, but as most residents now recognize, he was up for the challenge and then some.
Brian also graduated from Barrington High School and he also owns his own business. He and his wife, Stephanie, and their three children are active in the community, participating in the neighborhood clean up days and riding trail maintenance.
Brian is also very active in philanthropy, is President of the Lions Club, and helped found and run the Fourth of July tent and fireworks. Despite all this, when President McLaughlin asked him to serve another term, he agreed, and he has our wholehearted endorsement.
Bryan C. Croll: Bryan was also elected to the Board of Trustees in 2015. He has been in charge of monitoring the finances of the village with the day-to-day oversight Peggy Hirsch, Village Treasurer. He and Peggy also keep track of police pension fund performance.
Bryan and his wife Josie have three children and he manages his family business remotely in Arizona. He donates his spare time to causes such as Barrington Area Conservation Trust and the local riding club.
We had some concerns with Bryan’s willingness to work with others early on in his first term. We now are equally concerned with his motivations in seeking a second term, and this publication cannot in good conscience unreservedly endorse him.
Overall endorsements: The Daily Herald, Village President Martin McLaughlin and President Pro-Tem Colleen Konicek Hannigan have endorsed Bryan Croll, Brian Cecola and Debra Buettner for Trustees of Barrington Hills.
Cecola and Buettner have the unconditional support of The Barrington Hills Observer. Both have demonstrated a passion for our Village and willingness to serve our community. Both display the honesty, dedication and sound judgement that will represent the residents of Barrington Hills admirably for the next four years.
Early voting ends today, April 1. Election Day polls open tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM.
Posted in Agendas, Algonquin Rd, Barrington Hills Farm, Board of Health, Building Department, Cell Towers, Cellular Service, ePacket Agendas, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, Heritage and Environs Committee, Heritage Fest, Insurance Committee, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Disconnection, Land Use, Legal Expenses, Longmeadow Parkway, Minutes, Pension Funding, Police Pension Board, Public Safety, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Topics Of Interest, Uncategorized, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Village Government, Village President, Zoning Board on August 26, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Agendas, ePacket Agendas, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, Heritage and Environs Committee, Insurance Committee, Minutes, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Public Safety Committee, Roads & Bridges Committee, Roads and Bridges, Topics Of Interest, Uncategorized, VBHPD, Village Board, Village Code, Village Government, Village President, Zoning Board on July 22, 2017| 4 Comments »
The Village Board will meet on Monday July 24th at 6:30 PM. The agenda can be viewed here and the e-Packet can be found here. Of special note is a petition for de-annexation of 2400 Spring Creek Road, owned by Barrington Hills Farms, which was cited in recent building enforcement reports for demolition of a residence without a permit and possible violation of the Heritage Tree Ordinance.
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The Village Board will meet on Monday August 28th at 6:30 PM. The agenda can be viewed 