Village of Barrington Hills Community Forum

Village of Barrington Hills Adopts Connect-CTY

The Village of Barrington Hills has selected the Connect-CTYtm service from The NTI Group, In. (NTI) to provide its Police Department the ability to reach local residents, within minutes, through a single point of contact. Select municipal and public safety officials will be able to use the Connect-CTY service to communicate with residents about time-sensitive matters, such as unforeseen events or emergencies, as well as to provide other community related information deemed to be in the public interest.

The recent onset of unforeseen events taking place locally, nationally and internationally has reminded Village leaders of the importance of emergency preparedness and thorough communications planning. Accordingly, the Connect-CTY service enables Village officials to schedule, send, and track personalized voice messages in multiple languages to some, or all, of the Village’s resident, businesses, and local officials in minutes.

“Whether I need to send out a safety warning, or a special message of public interest, the Connect-CTY service will help the Police Department reach more people and the right people, on time with an efficient and automated system.” said Chief Michael Murphy.

The Connect-CTY service is the most effective way to quickly notify residents, department heads, and staff with important information. Village leaders can target messages to an unlimited number of groups or geographical areas for everything from an emergency response team mobilization to road closings and send messages to everyone or only the specified groups impacted. Since the Connect-CTY service is not a physical piece of equipment housed in the Village Hall, the service is protected from localized disasters.

“Effective communication with our local residents has a direct impact on the health and safety of our residents. When an emergency or pressing situation arises, one of the primary courses of action will be to ensure that the residents have accurate, timely information by using the Connect-CTY system,” said Robert G. Abboud, President of the Village of Barrington Hills. “We will even be able to use the Connect-CTY system reach out of town residents by voice or email regarding road closures due to snow and ice storms.”

The Village is able to use the service across all departments since it does not require any additional hardware or software – and has the ability to send an unlimited number of calls without additional costs. This maximizes the Village’s investment and assures that, when an official needs to use the system, he or she can do so immediately.

The best way to keep residents engaged in their communities is through communication, and the Connect-CTY service makes it easy,” said Robin D. Richards, Chairman and CEO of NTI. “With the Connect-CTY service, administrators have a powerful tool for mass communication without having to purchase new computers, software and telephone lines.”

For more information on the Connect-CTY system, please go to http://www.ntigroup.com

*NTI does not sell, lease, share, or rent personally identifiable information (names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) to any companies or persons outside of NTI or NTI service providers.

About The NTI Group

The NTI Group, INC (NTI). A Delaware corporation is a privately held company that provides communication systems designed specifically for local, regional, state, and Federal government entities. The Connect family of services enables rapid dissemination of crucial information via voice and text devices using its premier mass notification engine designed to allow users to quickly and easily record and send time-based notifications to thousands of people in minutes using just a telephone. NTI makes and distributes the Connect-EDâ, Connect-CTYtm, Connect-GOVtm, and Connect-MILtm systems, allowing users to target specific groups and/or geographic regions within their database(s) and engage recipients in two-way communication by asking them to respond to questions via their telephone keypads.

Those of you who voted in the April 17th Consolidated Election are no doubt aware that the polling place for Algonquin Township Precincts 16, 33, and 45 was changed from the Algonquin Road School in Fox River Grove to the Fox River Grove Middle School at 401 Orchard Street in FRG.   This is to be our new polling place for all future elections as well.

Many voters were unhappy with the new location because it is farther away than our previous poling place was and much less convenient to access (voters must cross busy Route 14/Northwest Highway). The decision to change the polling place from the grade school to the middle school was made by Fox River Grove School District #3 Superintendent Dr. Jacqueline Krause earlier this year, citing apparent safety concerns for the children who attend the grade school.

If you are dissatisfied with the newly assigned venue, Republican Precinct Committeewoman LouAnne Majewski has advised us that you should send email messages expressing your desire to return to our original polling place to the leadership of Fox River Grove School District #3, and to McHenry County Clerk Katherine C. Schultz. If enough people lodge their objections, the School District may reverse their decision on our voting location.

E-mail addresses:

  Dr. Jacqueline Krause, Superintendent Fox River Grove School District #3    krausej@dist3.org
Board of Education, Fox River Grove School District #3   boe@dist3.org

McHenry County Clerk, Katherine C. Schultz countyclerk@co.mchenry.il.us

If you have any questions, please contact LouAnne Majewski at (847) 658-8380, or lampunky@sbcglobal.net

Technology Committee to Consider Cell Tower (PCS) Ordinance

April 9, 2007

Agenda

Zoning Board Votes to Recommend Denial of the Riding Center Cell Tower Application to the Village Board. Learn More.

New negotiations among a Texas developer and officials from the village of Algonquin and the village of Barrington Hills could end a long-running dispute over the controversial Barrington Farms subdivision proposal.

Under a standing proposal, both Algonquin and Barrington Hills would annex portions of the 368-acre Barrington Farms property and allow Fritz Duda Corp. of Dallas to develop the property under guidelines specific to each municipality. Homes in the Barrington Hills portion would be built on lots of at least 5 acres in size, but in the Algonquin portion -- an area mainly located west of Haeger's Bend Road -- zoning regulations would permit homes on properties as small as one-third acre.

The Barrington Hills homes would be hooked up to a septic system for waste removal, as opposed to a spray-waste treatment system, something previously proposed.

Also under the proposal, Duda would also be required to drop "Barrington" from "Barrington Farms."

Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud said the bulk of the proposal was generated by local and county leaders.

A great amount of teamwork went into this ... We've provided the developer with an alternative strategy and it's up to them to decide if they want to make it work," he said.

Negotiations between Fritz Duda Corp. and Barrington Hills have been on and off since 1999. Blocked from developing the site by the village, Fritz Duda sued to de-annex the property from Barrington Hills in 2001. While the de-annexation suit succeeded, the developer's subsequent plans for a 371-home subdivision at Haeger's Bend and Spring Creek roads were rejected in July by McHenry County zoning officials.

Abboud said though the developer chose to renew talks with the municipalities, the dialogue may not produce tangible results.

"It's hard to tell with them. This is a developer that has kind of a difficult history," he said. "The fact of the matter is that they have a great opportunity here and I'll be surprised if they don't take it."

Abboud warned, if talks do fail, he and the community will continue to fight Fritz Duda.

Pamela Cools, a Barrington Hills resident who opposed previous Barrington Farms proposals, said the discussions are a step in the right direction.

"We realize compromise on both sides is necessary. This is certainly better ... The spray sewage system and the lot size issues were the two biggest issues for us," Cools said.
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