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Archive for the ‘Village President’ Category

‘Empire’ mansion going up for auction after 10 years on the market

Posted in Elections, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Real Estate, Topics Of Interest, Village President on May 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Empire

After failing to sell conventionally for a decade, the palatial mansion in Barrington Hills that was featured in the TV show “Empire” is going up for auction. Unlike a Winnetka mansion that is being auctioned by a lender that took over the property, the Barrington Hills property is not in distress, Cook County records show, and is being auctioned by its longtime owners. “The auction establishes a date-certain sale for the sellers,” said Randy Haddaway, CEO of Elite Auctions. Elite, based in Naples, Fla., plans to hold a live auction in the mansion July 15 if the sellers, seeing bidders’ proposed opening offers in advance, decide to go ahead. If the opening bids seem too low, they might back away. If they go ahead, Haddaway said, “the house will sell to the winning bidder.”  Details of the auction are on Elite’s website.

More here.

Related: “’Empire’ mansion in Barrington Hills finds buyer after 50% price cut,” “‘Empire’ mansion owner slashes $2 million from asking price, placing 5-bedroom Barrington Hills home at $7.5 million,” “They’re finally marketing the ‘Empire’ mansion as the ‘Empire’ mansion”

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Village Board of Trustees meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, Big Red, Clown Car, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Legal Expenses, One Barrington Hills, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Police Reports, Politics, Property Taxes, Riding Club Commission, Roads & Bridges Committee, Topics Of Interest, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Zoning Board on May 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

May 23 BOT

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.

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Special Village Board of Trustees meeting tonight

Posted in Board of Health, Building Department, Clown Car, Elections, Environmental Committee, Ethics, Finance Committee, Insurance Committee, Mówimy po polsku, One Barrington Hills, Plan Commission, Politics, Public Safety Committee, Riding Club Commission, Roads & Bridges Committee, The New Normal, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Director of Administration, Village President, Zoning Board on May 8, 2023| 4 Comments »

Spec BOT

Our Village Board of Trustees will be holding a special meeting beginning this evening at 6:30 PM. The purpose is to certify the results of the April 4 election and to vote on Board responsibility assignments as follow:

  • John Carpenter Clarke: None
  • Laura Ekstrom: Environment, Roads & Bridges and Equestrian Commission
  • Darby Hills: Building & Zoning and Plan Commission
  • Jessica Hoffman: Health
  • David Riff: Municipal Buildings & Grounds and Public Safety
  • Thomas Straus: Finance, Insurance and Village Personnel

Also, President Cecola is nominating David Riff to be President Pro Tem.  A copy of tonight’s agenda can be viewed here.

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After 8-year fight, judge says Barrington Hills horse boarding law is constitutional

Posted in Animal Welfare, Barrington Hills Polo Club, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, FRVPC, Land Use, LeCompte/Anderson Commercial Horse boarding amendment, Politics, Public Safety, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Save 5 Acres, Unions, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Code, Village President, Your Barrington Hills, Zoning Board on April 28, 2023| 1 Comment »

oakwood

A Cook County judge has ruled a Barrington Hills ordinance allowing commercial horse boarding at Oakwood Farms and other places to be constitutional, rejecting arguments that conspiracy and corruption were the basis of its adoption. (Daily Herald file photo, 2011)

A Cook County judge has called constitutional a Barrington Hills ordinance permitting commercial horse boarding as a home-occupation business in the historically equestrian-friendly village, rejecting claims of corruption.

The 8-year-old litigation that resulted in a 21-day trial was born of a neighbor dispute that dominated local politics in Barrington Hills for a time about a dozen years ago.

“I believe it vindicates a number of people,” said attorney James Kelly, who represented a party of intervenors in plaintiff Jim Drury’s lawsuit against the village. “I think it was a good decision.”

Drury — who lives next door to Benjamin and Cathleen LeCompte’s Oakwood Farms, where a 60-horse commercial boarding operation existed — argued the facility’s imposition on his residential peace and quiet clearly was forbidden by existing village code regulating home-occupation businesses in 2011.

Drury tried through lawsuits, newspaper advertisements and official testimony to suggest village officials at that time were refusing to acknowledge this and instead were pandering to the Riding Club of Barrington Hills and other equestrian interests.

While Drury conceded the LeComptes had the right to keep 60 of their own horses on the 130-acre property, he said the number of employees and clients that visited his residential neighborhood most days clearly marked Oakwood Farms as a commercial enterprise.

In claiming political motivations in the village, Drury pointed to $5,000 donations LeCompte made to each of the trustee candidates then-Village President Robert Abboud supported in the 2011 election — Joe Messer, Karen Selman and Patty Meroni.

That money was returned to LeCompte when the State Board of Elections determined he had not been properly identified by the candidates as the original source of the funding.

Read more here.

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Village Board of Trustees meets tonight

Posted in Agendas, Barrington Hills Park District, Board of Health, Building Department, Conflict of interest, Contests, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, Horizon Farm, Mad Cow, Organizations, Pension Funding, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Public Safety Committee, Real Estate, Resident Spotlights, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Riding Club Commission, Riding Club of Barrington Hills, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, TMI, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President, Village Treasurer, Zoning Board on April 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »

April 2023 Adg

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.

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Village posts unofficial Trustee vote totals

Posted in Big Red, Clown Car, Elections, Ethics, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Property Taxes, The New Normal, The Other Half, TMI, Transparency, Unions, Village Board, Village Government, Village President on April 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

VBH 2023

UNOFFICIAL TOTALS:

  • DARBY HILLS: 568
  • JESSICA HOFFMAN: 585
  • JOHN CARPENTER CLARKE: 514

The results have us wondering if Dinky was out campaigning for votes, or if residents weren’t pleased with the Cecola Administration’s choice of Clarke to run for Village Board?  We should have an idea soon enough…

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Village Board of Trustees meets tonight

Posted in Big Red, Building Department, Clown Car, Conflict of interest, Deception, Elections, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Finance Committee, Heritage and Environs Committee, Insurance Committee, One Barrington Hills, Plan Commission, Police Pension Board, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Resident Spotlights, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Taxes, TMI, Transparency, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Code, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village President, Zoning Board on March 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

3.21.23 BOT

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.

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Roads & Bridges Committee meets today

Posted in Agenda, Audio Recordings, Cuba Rd Bridge, Cuba Township Road District, Ethics, FUBAR, Mac's Property Management, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Roads & Bridges Committee, TMI, Transparency, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President on March 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

3.23 RB

The Roads & Bridges Committee meets today at 4:00 PM at Village Hall. This will be the first time the Committee has met November 8 (See, “Special Election Day Roads & Bridges meeting today”).

A copy of their agenda can be viewed here.

Related: “Some perspectives on the proposed 2023 Appropriations Ordinance”

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Some perspectives on the proposed 2023 Appropriations Ordinance

Posted in Deception, Ethics, Financial Reports, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Politics, Property Taxes, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Taxes, TMI, Village Engineer, Village Government, Village President on February 27, 2023| 3 Comments »

Pot Holes

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:

2023 Inc

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.

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Village Board of Trustees meets tomorrow evening

Posted in Agendas, Audio Recordings, BACOG, Board of Elections, BOHICA, Building Department, Clown Car, Conflict of interest, Deception, ePacket Agendas, Ethics, Finance Committee, Financial Reports, FUBAR, Insurance Committee, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Mad Cow, OMA, Police Pension Board, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, Road construction, Roads & Bridges Committee, Roads and Bridges, TMI, Transparency, VBHPD, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Clerk, Village Director of Administration, Village Engineer, Village President on February 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

BOT Feb 23

Our Village Board of Trustees will be conducting their regular monthly meeting tomorrow beginning at 6:30 PM. Some of the topics on their agenda include:

  • Village of Barrington Hills Annual Appropriation Ordinance for the Fiscal Year Beginning January 1, 2023, and Ending December 31, 2023. 2.5. Ord – 2023 Approriation.pdf
  • [Vote] Village of Barrington Hills Annual Appropriation Ordinance for the Fiscal Year Beginning January 1, 2023, and Ending December 31, 2023 Ordinance 23 –
  • [Vote] Ordinance to Internally Commit Road & Bridge Fund Reserves to Bridge Restoration Ordinance 23 –
  • [Vote] A Resolution Approving A McHenry County Crimes Against Children Task force Agreement with the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office Resolution 23 –
  • [Vote] A Resolution Approving a Memorandum of Understanding Between the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and the Village of Barrington Hills Resolution 23 –
  • [Vote] Resolution Authorizing Execution of the 2023-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement Between the Village of Barrington Hills and the Metropolitan Alliance of Police Barrington Hills Police Union #576 Resolution 23 –

A copy of the agenda can be viewed and downloaded here.

Editorial note: Since the proposed 2023 Annual Appropriation Ordinance represents a 11.4% increase over the 2022 Appropriation, we’ll be sharing our thoughts on the largest contributor to that increase tomorrow.

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