Village News

The Village News section includes news and updates that are taking place throughout Barrington Hills. We will be updating this page from time to time as news changes and as old news becomes outdated. If you have a newsworthy event you would like the Communications Committee to know about and consider posting on VBHComm.info, please contact us. If you no longer see news, check the Archives, Photo Gallery or History Pages.

Information about Ordinances that have gone into effect in the past two years is mentioned below. All Ordinances can be found by going to the www.barringtonhills-il.gov site and clicking on Village Code.

Page Last Updated February 1, 2010

Message from the Village President

Date:    Friday, January 22, 2010
To:      The Residents of Barrington Hills
Subject: The President’s Message for January 2010
Illuminating Lighting

Unless you have been living on Pluto during the last year, you have most likely been hearing a lot about lighting issues in the Village. Even the Wall Street Journal decided that lighting in our Village warranted a nationally published editorial. Apparently, we are more weighty a subject than the troubles in banking and the economy.

The Issue: From my perspective, the fundamental issues are property rights, long term protection of our character and environment, and governance.  Over use of lighting has been a concern of the Village since long before I came onto the Board in 2001.  It is driven in part by technology, architectural fashion, and operational and safety concerns.

In summary, does one resident have the unlimited right to light their property at the substantial detriment created by the halo to another?  And, if we are to balance these competing rights, what mechanism should we use and how should we go about discussing it?

The unique rural environment and character in Barrington Hills is fundamental to our property values and our lifestyle.  We enjoy the night as well as the day.  A clear night sky filled with stars on a warm summer evening or a crisp January night is part of the spectacular character of our community.  As residents, we expect to enjoy our property with little or no impact from our neighbors.  With the advancement of lighting technology in the last decade, a number of residences (mostly builders trying to advertise new spec. homes), and some institutions have installed wide scale property lighting.  In particular, lighting positioned high above the ground, and/or washing the sides of buildings.  On an intermittent use basis this would not be a problem.  However, some of these locations have brilliant lights on during all dark hours on a daily basis.  This creates a ‘halo’ effect in the night sky which many consider light pollution. These lights can also shine in windows, spill out onto surrounding properties, and disrupt the overall character of night in our Village.

I do not believe that the abuse of lighting is yet a wide scale problem.  There are 20 or so properties, both residential and institutional that are currently problematic and impacting the rights of surrounding neighbors.  But, as a community, we should consider how to prevent this issue from becoming wide spread given the recent growth in the problem.

The Recent History: In 2000, a lighting ordinance had failed to pass with some of the same controversy we have seen over this last year.  In order to address continuing complaints the Board received from residents, and in keeping with the perspective of small and non-intrusive government, Trustee Fritz Gohl and I authored changes to a simple lighting ordinance and enacted them in May of 2003. (See BH Ordinance 7-1-5) In short, it says that outdoor lights shall not create excessive glare or light levels so as to be dangerous to the public or result in annoyance or discomfort to the public or adjacent land uses.  It also says that if you can see the light bulb from the property line, you are out of compliance.  This was designed to address the spotlight shining into another’s yard or into someone’s windows.  It has been effective, easy to enforce, targeted, and solved a large number of problems since its enactment into our code. Typically, resolution involved simply reorienting the light or adding a small shield.

More recently, there has been increasing complaints caused by larger scale lighting as I described above that this existing ordinance was inadequate to address.  In an attempt to solve this problem, the Village Board asked the Plan Commission, through Trustee Steve Knoop, to look into the problem and make recommendations regarding this issue. 

The Process: The Plan Commission began holding public hearings in June 2008.  Like all Plan Commission hearings, they were public, regularly scheduled, and their agenda was posted on the BH WEB site.  Late in the fall of 2009, the Plan Commission issued a draft ordinance as a result of its findings.  This draft was sent to the Zoning Board of Appeals for further review, as we do with all ideas for ordinance changes.  The ZBA is specifically organized to process these drafts, review them technically, take more public comment, and make a specific recommendation to the Village Board.  This recommendation can range from ‘do nothing’ to substantial changes to the Village code. The ZBA is presently in the middle of these hearings.

Once the Village Board receives the analysis from the ZBA, I will instruct the Board to review these recommendations, take more public comment, and then vote on a final action.  It is the vote of the Board that determines what action the Village will take in this matter.  I suspect that it will be at least March before the Village Board takes up this matter.  Please continue to check the Village WEB site for meeting and agenda updates.

My Perspective: The lighting ordinance draft created by the Plan Commission and before the ZBA, from my own perspective, is overly burdensome and too draconian to achieve the correct balance between the property rights of neighbors and provide protection to the character of the Village. It impacts many residences and institutions that are not a problem.  Substantial changes and modifications are necessary before I can support an ordinance on this issue.  I have been clear about my perspective on this for a fair number of months. 

The nature of this draft is not unexpected.  The Plan Commission, as well as our other committees frequently create drafts which are not suitable for direct inclusion as a text amendment to the Village Zoning Code.  The Plan Commission’s purpose is to create a detailed library of issues and possible solutions.  They have done a good job of drilling down on many details of lighting, its impacts on our community, and provided a series of possible solutions.  It is the job of the ZBA to select from this library and create a Zoning Code text amendment, if they feel any is needed, which balances the issues and the concerns of our community.  The process is working precisely as it should.

It is imperative that the review of this issue continue to be conducted in an open and balanced way so that all sides can weigh in, without fear of retribution or being shouted down by any particularly loud organization. My primary role in this process is to ensure that democracy is not short-circuited or otherwise corrupted to the advantage of one view or another.

Please remember that our commissions and Board members are made up of your neighbors.  The work our commissions are doing is difficult and they need your cooperative input.  I commend their patience in this process as with every issue they deal with.  I commend their willingness and fairness to consider the quiet voices as well as the shrill ones.

It is without question that our community is well numbered with strong, independent, colorful, and committed people.  That is why part of the long term answer is to be considerate of your neighbors.  Take a critical look at your own property from your neighbor’s point of view.  Let’s work together in preserving this unique community that is shared by us all.

Barrington Hills is in four counties, Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry. The state has created a new website which will help you find out if you are registered, learn more about the whole voting process for 2010, and locate your polling location and more.

For Tuesday's voting information go to:

http://www.elections.state.il.us/VotingInformation/RegistrationLookup.aspx

SB 189 - FOIA and OMA News

Link from here to the Village News Committee Page.

Distracted Driving Laws Aim To Improve Traffic Safety

On January 1, 2010, several new laws went into effect in Illinois which limit the use of cell phones while driving. The laws were passed in response to growing evidence that driving while using a cell phone poses a serious distraction and reduces driver performance and can increase your chance of getting into an accident by 400 percent. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that driver distraction from all sources contributes to 25 percent of all police-reported traffic crashes.

• Drivers are now prohibited from using cell phones in school or construction zones unless using a hands-free device.
• Anyone operating a motor vehicle is also prohibited from using an electronic communication device, like such as a cellular telephone, Blackberry or computer, to compose, send or read electronic (text) messages. This law does not apply to global positioning systems (GPS), navigation systems, or devices that are physically or electronically integrated into the motor vehicle.

Details on both laws can be obtained from the Illinois Secretary of State's Office www.cyberdriveillinois.com and from the Illinois Department of Transportation website www.dot.state.il.us.

BACOG Hosts Groundwater Meeting in Barrington

For all BACOG Villages including Barrington Hills

The Barrington Area Council of Governments held a public meeting on November 30, 2009 at the Barrington Village Hall, 200 S. Hough Street, Barrington, from 7:00-9:00 pm to present important groundwater information to the communities of Barrington, Barrington Hills, Deer Park, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, South Barrington, Tower Lakes and unincorporated Barrington and Cuba Townships. 

Groundwater is the water supply that nearly all residents in this area rely on each day for many activities such as drinking, bathing, washing cloths and watering gardens. BACOG studies groundwater resources because of identified potential shortages in adjacent areas as early as 2020, increasing withdrawals from these shallow water resources, and groundwater dependent natural areas. 

The BACOG Groundwater Presentation will characterize water resources and answer questions about groundwater in the Barrington area.  Please call the BACOG office at (847) 381-7871 or send email to bacog@bacog.org if you have questions about the public meeting.  You can also visit the BACOG website at www.bacog.org.

Barrington Hills is Officially on Twitter

The Village Board of Trustees approved a Twitter site for official Village use. A brief article appeared in the Fall 2009 Newsletter. The official name: www.twitter.com/BarrHills_IL. Go online to sign up for messages that can be delivered to your computer, mobile phone or smart phone. Use this an another means to keep up with short announcements. Twitter does not replace the Village Blackboard CTY Police notification system for emergencies and will not be duplicating Police news.

Village Website Integration Project Team

The new overarching Portal for the Barrington Hills website was launched in November with the Fall images provided by Laura S. Ekstrom, the winning designer for the Portal Page. Each season, residents and visitors to the site can expect a change of images and improvements in the connecting pages.

Background: The Board of Trustees authorized a Website Integration Project (WIP) to commence on June 22, 2009. Efforts are underway to Integrate the Government, Police and this Community Website using a new Portal Page for access through any and all of the URL's currently in use to get mandatory and optional information to the public on demand. The Illinois Legislature passed SB 189 on May 28, 2009. Governor Quinn signed the bill. It goes into effect January 1, 2010.

The proposed bill makes sweeping changes in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Open Meetings Act (OMA). A comprehensive review of the websites includes ensuring the Village of Barrington Hills is on target to meet the requirements of the legislation.

Board of Trustees Approves Animal Shelter Ordinance

See Ordinance Section Below on this Page.

Village Cellular Coverage News

The topic of Cellular Phone coverage and service levels has been a Hot Topic for several years within the Village. In 2009, a new technology was introduced to enhance service levels for customers of Cellular Carriers who use the technology, Digital Antenna System, DAS. The Village approved resolutions in 2009 for the construction of DAS equipment along Village Roads and at the Village Hall. Work is in progress as of Winter 2010. Cellular information and news can be found on the Hot Topics Page for Cellular Service Quality.

The 2010 Census is one of the most important events for the Village of Barrington Hills. A special page has been created for this Website to promote Census 2010 and explain the value of participation by each person in the Village.

Longmeadow Parkway Corridor

Project and Description

The Longmeadow Parkway Fox River Bridge Corridor is a proposed four-lane Fox River Bridge crossing and four-lane arterial roadway corridor with a median, approximately 5.6 miles in length, to alleviate traffic congestion in northern Kane County. The proposed road passes through portions of the Villages of Algonquin, Carpentersville and Barrington Hills, as well as unincorporated areas of Kane County.

Special Hot Topics Page will have added news as it becomes available.

CTY – Automatic Police Emergency Notification System

When Barrington Hills police learn of events in the village they quickly try to warn residents. If you didn’t receive a call or an e-mail from a recent event, it’s because you still need to sign up for this free notification service. It’s easy to do! Simply log onto the village web site at www.barringtonhills-il.gov. By clicking on the link called CTY in the upper right corner of the front page, residents will be directed to give their address, phone, e-mail and text message information. When a situation arises, the police chief submits messages to the CTY service, which then disseminates the news to the contact information on file. You can name someone else to receive your messages if you are not in town.

Typically, police actions, traffic accidents, road closures are sent via CTY notification. The contact information you submit is not used for ANY other purpose and, because it is managed by a private company, it is not accessible to village officials or anyone else making a Freedom of Information Act request. Additionally, you only need fill out the data pertinent to your preferred method of contact. Sign up today, so you don’t miss out on the next warning that could be a lifesaver.

Remember:
• If you change your phone(s) or email address(es), update CTY.
• CTY now can send SMS, i.e., Text Messages, so CTY MVBF 4 NUS

Look for this Icon on the www.barringtonhills-il.gov website. It will lead you to the update process!

 

Heritage Tree Preservation Ordinance

Spring is the busiest times for year for clean up and removal of trees that may have fallen or died due to storm activity. The Heritage Ordinance does not cover dead trees or small trees. Larger trees are critical to the environment and this Ordinance addresses the protected trees and the actions required by a resident before planning removal of trees on their property.

INTENT AND PURPOSE: The intent of this [ordinance] is to ensure the presence and continuation of Heritage Trees, a special resource throughout the Village of Barrington Hills by requiring sound forestry practices and preventing storm water runoff and topsoil erosion. It is also the intent of this section to promote and educate our residents as to the importance, protection and existence of Heritage Trees. Residents of the Village will then continue to enjoy all the benefits of living in the unique environment of Barrington Hills, because the Village strives to protect the health, safety and welfare of its residents from situations in which may substantially alter the environment. This will be accomplished by regulating how such trees may be removed and replaced, whether as a result of building construction or as a result of landscaping activity only.

To see the ordinance:
http://66.113.195.234/IL/Barrington%20Hills/index.htm (type "heritage tree" in search box). Residents are encouraged to check the Ordinance before authorizing or performing Tree removal. The following Table provides insight into the types of trees covered by this ordinance. In case a resident sees someone potentially violating the Ordinance, a call should be made to the Village Police Department non emergency number (847) 551 3006. You can also download the Heritage Tree Table document to learn more about tree preservation.

Target Shooting Ordinance

The Board of Trustees passed an amendment to the Target Shooting Ordinance at its November 19th, 2007 meeting. Go to www.barringtonhills-il.gov. Click on the Village Code and Search for the Weapons Code which includes the revised Target Shooting Range and use Ordinance.

Open Burning of Landscape Waste Ordinance Updates

In the Village of Barrington Hills, an outdoor fire is permitted for the disposal of landscape waste upon the premises where it is produced. No more than one bonfire may occur at any one time and it must be constantly attended.

Burning Order Amendments as of April 28, 2008


With summer coming to an end, residents will soon begin fall clean-up on their properties. For many of us, that also means burning of landscape debris, including leaves, grass, cuttings from shrubbery and trees only.

Homeowners who plan to burn are reminded that the Board of Trustees approved several amendments to the Villages long-standing Open Burning ordinance at their April 28th meeting. Below is a summary of the new ordinance.

• The location of the fire shall be no less than 100 feet from any structure.
• No more than one fire at one time shall be allowed on the premises.
• The fire must be constantly attended to by the resident with a shovel or rake
until the fire is extinguished.
• Appropriately rated fire extinguishers or garden hoses shall be available for immediate use.
• The fire cannot exceed 5 feet x 5 feet x 5 feet in dimension.
• Burning can only take place between the hours of 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.,
• Burning can be done for no more than 3 hours total in any 24 hour period.
• Appropriate precautions must be taken to control the blowing of ashes or
cinders from the burn site.

Most importantly, please exercise common sense – avoid burning on windy days, and be considerate of the neighbors! Go to Barrington Hills Government site to the Ordinances for Building Codes, Burning Section.

Good Neighbor Leaf Burning Tips

Landline Phone Requirement

Old Ordinance - Worth a Review

No matter how long we have been residents, it seems there is always something new to learn about our Village Code. There is an Ordinance that was established some time ago to enhance public safety.

" In order to provide optimal service to the public when calling 9-1-1 for emergency assistance, each household in the Village is required to maintain at a minimum one land based telephone line served by a Telecommunications Carrier who provides true land based 9-1-1 service which delivers both the call and the information regarding the callers address/location automatically to the Village Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). AT&T and Comcast, because they use AT&T's 9-1-1 service, are the land based service providers who qualify to meet the Ordinance."

If in doubt, call the Police Department at (847) 551-3006, and ask if you can set up a 9-1-1 test call from your phone(s), cellular and land based, using your own Service Provider(s).

As you may know, having a phone that works even during a power outage is also essential to your service reliability.

The Village continues to be at the forefront of technology in the 9-1-1 PSAP Center, enhancing the capabilities as Cellular and VoIP Service Providers enter the Market. As many as 60% of the calls for 9-1-1 go to the Police Dispatchers from Cellular Phones.

Reference is taken from Section 4-2-2(E) of the Barrington Hills Village Code:
 
Fire Protection Systems/Supervision (Section 1020.0).
"1020.3 Emergency Number Telephone System. Notification of the need for emergency services shall be accomplished by a caller through dialing the digits  9-1-1 on a wired line in the public switched telephone network. The telephone connection will originate from the caller's location and terminate at the Barrington Hills police safety answering point, where the telecommunicator will receive a voice connection, call back number and service address of the location of the caller.(Ord. 03-17, 8-25-2003)"