Committees

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.

Last Updated February 11, 2010

Beautification Committee Plans May 1, 2010 Event

- a sure sign spring is coming

The Beautification Committee has selected Saturday morning May 1, as their day for the annual Roadside Trash Pick Clean Up. Teams will assemble for their tailgate activities starting as early as 8:15 a.m. at the south side of the Barrington Village Hall which is located between Brinker Road and Illinois Route 59 on Algonquin Road, State Route 62. More than a hundred residents and volunteers from communities and schools in the area have volunteered in the past to clean up tons of trash along the roadside.

Participants will sign up, receive their vests and supplies and be driven to the designated roadways where the Barrington Hills Police Department of will again afford protection and assistance as needed. P. Denise Israel, Committee Chairperson, reminds everyone to dress for the weather, wear water proof boots or shoes and come with gloves.

Residents and Volunteers Talkin' Trash as they prepare to clean up the roadside - photo by Debbie Stone

This event is open to individuals ages 12 and up. Students can earn Community Service hours; forms will be signed upon completion of the work. This year local Scout troops have chosen to participate. The Riding Club of Barrington Hills can always be counted on for their enthusiasm and hard work.

Residents and Volunteers clean up the roadside - photo by Barbara Kemp

Amazing items have been found by the roadside. Who knows what trash or treasures await the volunteers after the winter snows melts. Sign up early by contacting the village clerk at clerk@barringtonhills-il.gov, or contact the team though the following email address: green@barringtonhills-il.gov.

Rain Gardens 2010 Village Hall Grant

Beth Mallen
Trustee Liaison Beautification and Buildings and Grounds

Despite all the snow and sub-zero wind chills we have been experiencing, it is time to look ahead to spring when a conservation based project will take shape on the grounds of our Village Hall. Flint Creek Watershed Partnership (FCWP) will begin installation of a demonstration rain garden to help educate residents on the importance of protecting our watershed by reducing polluted storm water run-off into our streams. Rain gardens are a low-cost way to collect and filter rainwater, thus allowing it to seep naturally into the ground and replenish our aquifers. FCWP's Rain Garden Initiative has been made possible by a $4,500 grant from the Barrington Area Community Foundation.

Rain gardens are landscaped areas planted with wild flowers, native grasses and plants, and consist of a simple depression in the ground with gently sloping sides. They can be situated in naturally low lying areas to collect rainwater directly, or located so they gather water from downspouts or sump pump outlets. In addition to helping improve water quality, these gardens also provide new habitats for many species of birds and butterflies. More information on how to construct a rain garden and the types of native plants that work the best can be found at www.flintcreekwatershed.org or www.citizensforconservation.org.

Roads and Bridges - 2010

IDOT has informed us that they will be doing resurfacing of County Line Rd next year.   The work is projected to begin next April 2010. This news comes from Trustee Elaine Ramesh, eramesh@barringtonhills-il.gov.

Per Village Engineer, Dan Strahan, back in October an Open House was held to gather resident input regarding the potential permanent closure of Chapel Road, located in the northwest part of the Village. The road had to be blocked off for several months last year due to drainage issues and flooding. The majority of the comments received opposed a permanent road closure, and the two fire protection districts which serve the area also indicated that the closure would likely result in increased emergency response times. Based on this input, the Village Engineer did not recommend a permanent closing. Instead, every effort will be made to address future flooding within the available budget, and temporary closures will be instituted when it is not possible to maintain a passable roadway.

The long awaited resurfacing of County Line Road from the Kane County Line to Old Hart Road is expected to begin in May and last into July. IDOT is not planning to close the road during construction, but occasional lane closures are anticipated and delays should be expected. Check for updates on the project schedule on this village website or via our Twitter page www.twitter.com/BarrHills_IL.

Residents often wonder about the timetable for the Village's Roads and Bridges program. Typically, the scope of the program is finalized in March and April, with bids going out in early May and voted upon at the May board meeting. It then can take up to 6 weeks to get contracts, bonds, certificates of insurance, etc. in place with the selected contractor. Construction usually occurs in the months of July and August. Tentatively, the 2010 Road Program is scheduled to include Hawley Woods Road, Round Barn Road, and Old Dundee Road. The actual scope of the program can change based on the severity of the winter and its effects on various roadways.

State Law: January 1, 2010

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and 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

Technology Review Committee

Can a “Femtocell” Improve Your Cellular Coverage at Home?

Will I need Femtocell Technology when DAS comes to my area?

The ATC DAS Proposal which was accepted by the Village July 27, 2009 is not a guarantee the Cellular Service being addressed will work better inside buildings and homes. The drive testing covered outdoor use of Cellular Technology via DAS in lieu of Cellular Towers to improve communications. Once DAS has been implemented, testing should be done by the homeowner and if service inside the home is not reliable, a Femtocell Product may be required to boost performance.

Recent product announcements from several cellular service providers may help improve cellular coverage within the home for some of our residents. Complementing the existing nationwide network of cell towers in use today, new products called “Femtocells“ can provide a cellular signal in areas that suffer from poor cellular service such as your home or perhaps a basement.

A Femtocell unit provides a low-power radio signal that allows you to make and receive calls using your cell phone within a limited coverage area. The unit is physically the size of a thick book, and requires that it be plugged into AC power as well as requiring a spare broadband Ethernet connection for Internet access. In addition, these units also utilize Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite data to report location information, and in the event that the unit cannot properly receive GPS data where placed within your home, you will also need to connect an external GPS antenna.

Similar to cordless telephones, the low power radio signal produced by these products means that the area covered is limited. Since it is dependent upon where the unit is placed within your home, the actual coverage may not be known until the unit is actually installed and operating. Go to the Hot Topic Page for Cellular Services for the questions and answers if DAS does not improve your cellular quality in the home.

AT&T U-verse Availability Update

Technology Committee Meeting

The Technology Review Committee met with AT&T External Affairs Director Dave Strahl to better understand their U-Verse offering and availability within the Village. AT&T U-verse provides integrated Broadband Internet access, TV/Video Programming and digital Telephone services to the home, similar to services available from Comcast and various satellite service providers. The AT&T U-verse service installation utilizes the existing copper wiring to your home that carries your AT&T land-line telephone calls, thus eliminating the need to bury additional cables down the street or trench a new cable to your home. Within the home, the service can use either existing Broadband Internet cabling (Ethernet cable), or coaxial TV type cable. In addition, an installer will visit your home to set-up the service, a process that may take 4 to 8 hours.

Over the last two years, AT&T has installed eight new equipment boxes (VRADs) at various roadside locations within the Village. This new equipment has been connected to each of the several telephone Central Offices (COs) that serve our Village and provide the U-verse service to individual households. Currently deployment of U-verse has not been completed within the Village, and as a result service is available to only some of our residences. At the meeting, AT&T indicated that unfortunately it does not currently foresee any further deployment of the U-verse service within our Village during 2009. AT&T will also try to resolve some of the service interruption issues raised by a current user who is also a member of the Committee.

For further information on the U-verse service, or to determine if it is available at your residence, click on the link: https://uverse1.att.com/un/launchAMSS.do.

Equestrian Commission

Equestrian Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals
to Address Commercial Horse Boarding

Chairman Dan Lundmark

The latest version of the Recommendation from the Equestrian Commission Commercial Horse Boarding study team is ready for the ZBA.

Background: The Board of Trustees asked the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) to review the current Ordinance concerning commercial boarding of horses within the village early in 2008.

The Equestrian Commission has been working on providing the ZBA with definitions concerning horses and boarding in order to facilitate this review. In order to have a meaningful dialog it’s important that many common terms like “pasture”, “barn”, and “commercial boarding”, which seem obvious, actually be thought through and accurately defined for non-equestrians.

To further facilitate this review, the Equestrian Commission has created formulas for the ZBA’s consideration that outline how many horses might be allowed, if the ordinance is changed, in various configurations of property and barn size. During all of these deliberations the Equestrian Commission has been conscious of maintaining a fair balance between the rights of all property owners, both equestrian and non-equestrian