Committees and Commissions

The Village Trustees have Boards, Commissions and Committees using volunteers from the ranks of residents. Each of these groups have a Mission and/or Charter approved by the Board of Trustees. Terms are limited and residents are asked to serve. Formal minutes are required and all groups abide by the State of Illinois Open Meetings Act. Newsworthy information will be shared on this page as it becomes available.

2012 Trustees and Committee Assignments

The Village Trustees rely on Boards, Commissions and Committees using volunteers from the ranks of residents. Each of these groups have a Mission and membership approved by the Board of Trustees. Service is limited to residents and terms are limited. Formal minutes are required and all groups abide by the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Newsworthy information will be shared on this page as it becomes available.

The committee chairmanships and email contact of the Board of Trustees can be found at the Board of Trustees page. The entire list of committees with their Trustee liaison can be found at the Village Directory.

Details about the work of Trustees is customarily posted on this Community Website. The immediate contact for information is clerk@barringtonhills-il.gov.

Earth Day Event – Great Success – School Children and Families

The Barrington Hills Beautification Committee sponsored an Earth Day cleanup event with fourth and fifth graders from Sunny Hill and Countryside Schools on April 21. Blustery weather and a cloudy sky cooled off the afternoon but at least half the children and families who signed up for the event came with their parents. We had volunteer mentors from Citizens for Conservation, Barrington Area Conservation Trust, and Friends of Spring Creek providing valuable input. Two Principals attended; they were pleased to be part of this "first ever" Earth Day event.

Anne Horwath was a wonder, getting kids going, picking up trash along the park fence line to keep busy while waiting for the parents and the bus to arrive. Chuck Prettyman was right in the thick of things, doing what he does best! He is a natural at relating to others.

The Principals and parents enthusiastically shared ideas for the next year’s event which is great. Who knew so many children would arrive with lightweight jackets for the temperature, and no gloves, hats or boots! 99% of the kids were dressed like it was a 69 degree day and Their hands were cold. Parents were all smiles and appreciated their children’s involvement. Organizers observed parents and kids each holding sides of a garbage bag, doing the pickup together. There were tires, children's riding toys in pieces, glass, knives, paper, and plastic. This was a terrific start. The Northwest Herald covered the Helm Road cleanup event. Go to:
http://www.nwherald.com/mobile/article.xml/articles/2011/04/20/r_h1rbqrlxtymivvton4s0aa/index.xml

Northwest Herald Photo of Countryside Student

Photo Courtesy of Sarah Kenney Barrington Hills

Photo Courtesy of Sarah Kenney Barrington Hills

Photo Courtesy of Sarah Kenney Barrington Hills

Photo Courtesy of Sarah Kenney Barrington Hills

Planning Commission Report Winter 2011

Comprehensive Plan and Lighting

Steve Knoop Planning
sknoop@barringtonhills-il.gov

As I enter into my last few months as a Trustee, I thought I would review two principal objectives I set out for at the beginning of my term and comment on what progress was made.

Objective # 1 - Preservation of Barrington Hills Comprehensive Plan principles – the stated vision of our village character. Development pressures, regional changes and new technologies constantly require the village to re-evaluate its Comprehensive Plan and to recommend implementing zoning and ordinances to protect its character. Moreover, to continue to protect the Plan’s vision of a quiet, secure and natural environment which supports an equestrian-oriented, semi-rural lifestyle. It is unfortunate that the lighting issue, in particular, has caused so much controversy in trying to protect our natural surroundings. To be clear, excessive lighting has worried village officials since 1963 and ordinances were contemplated as far back as 1993 despite the accusations concerning intent some like to purport. If one understands the municipal process, the original draft of the ordinance was just a laundry list of items to consider and have public discussion over. Instead, it turned into a vitriolic fight which included threats and brought unwanted national attention to our serene village. As you may know and demonstrated in public meetings, none of the Trustees supported the original draft and never did.

Objective #2 – Fight developers’ continual threat of land disconnection and to preserve our open space large-lot zoning. Commensurate with this, we must find the right balance of zoning to preserve our equestrian, semi-rural atmosphere commensurate with landowner’s property rights. Asked by other Trustees, I spent thousands of hours speaking and negotiating with surrounding villages such as Algonquin, Fox River Grove, Barrington, Inverness, South Barrington and Hoffman Estates, along with McHenry and Kane County Forest Preserve Districts regarding our land preservation issues. In addition, I had numerous meetings with Ken Koehler, Chairman of McHenry County Board. Despite what some might have suggested, all of this has led to real tangible results such as stopping a threatened disconnection case on the east side of the village and entering into the first ever intergovernmental boundary agreement with Inverness. Further, initiating and maintaining a continuing co-operative dialogue with McHenry County and the Duda representatives has lead to not only a productive outcome with McHenry County, but also, before the real estate market collapsed, had some solid progress on the future development concerning the Duda property which would be commensurate with our surroundings.

Understanding the surrounding area’s limited resources and subsequent impact when it comes to water, traffic congestion, and dealing with the future problems of the CN railroad are critical. Without a doubt, Barrington Hills’ most important issue has to be preservation of its open spaces and large-lot zoning. While the village currently is involved in some zoning issues revolving around horse boarding, this issue becomes moot if we don’t preserve the principles of our Comprehensive Plan and continue to enforce it with proper zoning.

I've enjoyed my time as a Trustee and thank the numerous Commissions and other village volunteers for their help and the residents for their trust and confidence.
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Zoning Board of Appeals Commission - Winter 2011 Report

Polo Special Permit and Commercial Boarding

Joseph Messer
jmesser@barringtonhills-il.gov

On December 20, 2010, the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) began the process of hearing a petition by the Barrington Hills Polo Club for an amendment to the Special Use Permit to allow the Club to continue to use the polo field at Oakwood Farms, 350 Bateman Road, for practices and additional charitable and fund raising events. The ZBA continued the hearing on the petition to its January 19, 2011 meeting to allow the attorney for two neighbors who are opposing the petition time to assemble their witnesses.

At their December 20 hearing, the ZBA also continued hearings on a potential text amendment to the Village Zoning Code which would govern the boarding of horses. At issue is how the Village should regulate horse boarding operations to safeguard the interests of neighboring property owners. The ZBA will continue consideration of the matter, including potential changes to the language of the Zoning Code, at its January 19 meeting. Those who are interested should review the Equestrian Commission’s White Paper, which was presented to the ZBA in February of 2010, available at http://www.barringtonhills-il.gov/pdf/CommercialBoardingBH20100212.pdf. Those interested should also review the draft ordinance on horse boarding, prepared for the ZBA by the Village’s attorneys in May of 2010, which is available atfhttp://www.barringtonhills-il.gov/pdf/DraftRegulationsCommercialHorseBoarding_2.pdf

Environmental, Buildings and Grounds - Winter 2011 Report

Board of Health and Beautification

Beth Mallen Health, Environment,
Building & Grounds
bmallen@barringtonhills-il.gov

Board of Health - A central element to the quality of life in the Village is preservation of the quantity and quality of our groundwater. Domestic water use is typically drawn from shallow aquifers that are locally recharged. Then wastewater is returned to the aquifer after treatment and filtration by the soils in our individual septic systems. For this reason, the Village has recognized the importance of ensuring that our Septic Code provides an optimal level of protection to residents.

To this end, the Board of Health would like to announce two initiatives designed to promote and advance awareness regarding soil conditions. Not all soils are the same, and differences in soil characteristics can greatly affect the performance of septic systems. To provide Village residents and potential residents with advanced information regarding the suitability of soils to accommodate septic systems, an internet application has been created and posted on the Building Department page of the Village website http://www.barringtonhills-il.gov/building.htm. By clicking on the “Restricted Soils Map” link, the user can access a map that utilizes a Google Earth aerial photograph of the Village, overlaid with a color-coded set of soil information. Soils are qualitatively described as “unrestricted”, “limited”, or “prohibited” for septic systems. The soils information is based on county-wide soil surveys published by the National Resource Conservation Services (NRCS). This map should be used as a planning tool, and is not a substitute for site specific soil testing.

Second, the Board of Health also recently approved an ordinance that permits Village staff to consider soil classification to supplement the percolation test information that must be submitted with a building permit. Although the percolation test remains the standard by which septic systems must be designed, occasionally weather conditions at the time of the test can result in misleading data in the field, leading to a passing rate for a soil which is actually unsuitable. Consideration of the underlying soil type can provide the Village with a supplemental indicator of the expected performance of a septic system, potentially saving homeowners from a much larger headache down the road.

Beautification Committee - On October 30th, the Committee held its latest village-wide trash pickup event. Thank you to all 43 volunteers who gathered trash and debris along Helm Road. Very special thanks go to the smallest participants – the hard-working members of the Countryside Tiger Cub Scouts who inspired all with their energy. Well done boys!

The full Beautification story follows.

Roads and Bridges Winter 2011 Report

Roads and Bridges Special Page

Elaine Ramesh
eramesh@barringtonhills-il.gov

A Roads Page was created for the Community News and Information part of the Village Website. This page covers news on all roads within the village whether they are maintained by Barrington Hills or other agencies such as the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). This page includes news the residents can use regarding priorities for road repair and for detours and road rules in effect.

The Government portion of the Village Website has a Roads information related to the Village of Barrington Hills roads and background information the Administration has made available for reference.

Technology Report

Latest News on Cellular Service and More

A Technology Page is available to keep residents abreast of the work the Village Administration is doing with respect to technology. In many cases matters have been brought before the ZBA to be discussed and voted upon such as cell towers and technology to assist in the improvements of Cellular Service within the Village. In other cases, the technology news is related to commercial electrical power, telecommunications, television and the Community Alerting System.

State Law: January 1, 2010

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Open Meetings Act (OMA)

What does it means to the Village of Barrington Hills - Part I

At the November, 2009 Communications Committee meeting the team received their initial training on the New FOIA and OMA requirements signed into law in 2009 by Governor Pat Quinn, effective January 1, 2010. Significant effort is required in all cities, towns and villages in Illinois whether the size of Barrington Hills or the City of Chicago.

Mr. Robert Kosin introduced Ruth Schlossberg, from Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle, a Crystal Lake law firm specializing in municipal law. Ms. Schlossberg is an expert in FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) and Open Meetings Act (OMA) compliance. She gave a presentation to the Communications Committee on how these issues apply to governments and how governments should conduct public meetings, especially in light of the new state law.

FOIA- Public records do include personal electronic communications between committee members. There are some exceptions, such as preliminary drafts of documents. E-mail is FOIA-able. The location of the e-mail file is irrelevant – personal computer, village laptop, or personal Blackberry are all subject. For this reason, it is best to use official municipal e-mail addresses to conduct village related business. New email address assignments are being created for all Village Trustees and Committee and Commission members for full use starting the first of the year 2010.

OMA- Public business must be conducted in view of the public. How does this apply to an e-mail message sent to all members of the committee (a “blast”)? You may opt to blast directly – if so, make sure to include a disclaimer that the recipients should not reply to all, just to the original sender. Alternately, you may send the message to the clerk (or other staff), and have them send to all. It is also not recommended to blind carbon copy (BCC) other members when sending messages.

When posting information in a public forum (like a Website, Twitter or Facebook), it is important to take care with the content. You must make clear rules and limits for posting in advance. However, governments are allowed to express a viewpoint and opinion, and to promote their own agenda.

This message is being repeated for the Trustees and all Commissions and Committees appointed by the President and/or required through Ordinance. President Abboud is appointed two FOIA/OMA Compliance Officers, from existing staff. Work is underway to update and augment the Village Website which will house the added information required for full and public open disclosure. The Village Website Search Engines have been modified and are being tested. Gaps and overlaps among sections of the Website and are being identified and information will be designed and represented with a new face to the Public as we move forward. Keep an eye out for more news in upcoming mailings and via electronic notification. This is a major undertaking and the Village is hard at work to meet the challenge. Changes will occur through the early part of 2010.

FOIA and OMA Part II

At their December 21, 2009 meeting, the Barrington Hills Board of Trustees formally appointed two (2) FOIA/OMA Officers: Sarah Kenney, Planning and Zoning Coordinator, skenney@barringtonhills-il.gov, for the Village Administration and Police Officer JoAnne Gumprecht, jgumprecht@vbhpd.net, Communications Supervisor, for the Police Department.

A new Webpage has been developed to educate the public on FOIA and OMA, and provide access to all existing village records online. Forms are available to enable the FOIA requests to be made online. The FOIA home page has links explaining a new Kiosk which is being readied at the Village Hall for anyone who chooses to make a request in person. The website is linked from the bottom of the new Village Portal Home Page. In the interim, the site can be viewed at: http://www.barringtonhills-il.gov/foia.

One of the first changes residents can expect to find is the new contact directory for reaching all of the Village Staff, the Police Department, and all elected and appointed personnel. The Village Clerk's office is an important conduit for the public to ensure communications are flowing properly and that any and all communications are available per FOIA requirements.

Staff and Trustees for example are all reachable using a first initial and last name, i.e., e: atrustee@barringtonhills-il.gov. The FOIA link brings you to a page where you can find the current directory for all of the village commission and committee members, the Board of Trustees and Village Administration and Officers. The email convention for the Police Department remains the same with first initial and last name, i.e., apoliceperson@vbhpd.net.

Village of Barrington Hills, 112 Algonquin Road Barrington Hills, Illinois 60010-5199

Trustee Liaison Committee Assignments

Fritz Gohl – President Pro Tem

Elaine Ramesh

Joe Messer

l

Steve Knoop

Walter Smithe

Beth Mallen

Robert Abboud – President

Ex-officio member all committees and functions.

To Be Determined

* Commissions mandated by Ordinance