Minutes of the Barrington Hills Village Communications Committee
Meeting Number 6, December 19, 2005
Final – approved January 23, 2006
Chairman Beth Mallen called the sixth meeting to order on December 19, 2005, at 5:43 p.m. in the Barrington Hills Village Hall Training Room.
1. Roll Call of Members
Present:
Beth Mallen, Chairman
Maureen Prettyman, Member
Vicky Kelly, Member
Dan Mjolsness, Member
Nicky Panos, Member
Visitor:
Kevin Colosia, Resident and Cellular Technology Subject Matter Expert
Late arrival:
Bob Kosin, Village Administrator, Sponsor (5:51pm)
Barbara Kemp, Recording Secretary, Member (5:58 pm)
Walter E. Smithe, Village Trustee, Sponsor (6:23 pm)
Absent:
Lucinda Hanover, Member
2. Approval of Minutes
Beth was unable to print out the old minutes. Dan motioned to accept the last minutes for October and November as emailed. They will be converted to Final and sent to Bob Kozin for posting. Nikki seconded the motion. Approved: 5-0-2
3. Old Business
1 Open House - The December 14 Christmas Open House was held at the Village Hall. The Committee extends sincere thanks to Maureen Prettyman and Lucinda Hanover for their leadership and hard work. There was discussion about possibly doing this at another time of year, having coffees and/or other opportunities to meet the Trustees. Neighborhood Watch - Block Captains need more help for the neighborhood watch
program. A request for new members will be added to the next upcoming newsletter.
1 Website – Village of Barrington Hills is a Legacy Subscriber for Northwest Star Net. Northwest Star Net says we need to follow certain templates for posting information to the website to meet ADA (American Disability Act) Guidelines. The meeting schedules need to be prominently displayed. The Communications Committee can work as an ancillary site and must be named as” .org.” i.e. vbhcommcomm.org.
The plan is to post the newsletter as an e-newsletter and to share the “story behind the story.” Internet Explorer is their default browser and voice assistance is available to assist us in posting. Documents can be made available in different formats, i.e. PDA, Blackberry, etc. A Terra server sits below the site. There is a Google toolbar, and anyone can search the site via Google-bot. Google is now mobile. The next goal is to set up a meeting with Terry and apply for our URL - Dan, Vicky, and Bob Kozin added comments when he joined the meeting: There will be a link between our site and others and an alert that lets you know you are leaving the Barrington Hills Village site. This effort continues.
2 Newsletter - Nikki led a discussion on the upcoming newsletter, which is scheduled for printing and distribution January 2006.
o There will be an article on Treasurer Joanne Sladek which was shared at the meeting
o Trustee updates are slow in coming. Barbara to contact Steve Knoop; Fritz article due Thursday, George end of December. Walter will cover Police Pension and Insurance
o Photo Submissions article requests submissions for “Life in the Village”. The plan is to keep a library and rotate the pictures and display some in the Village Hall, get children in the schools to participate and decorate the Village Hall
o Vicky and Dan will prepare an article on how to find information on the website
o Linda Fox has not submitted the article on the late Chief Clausser
3 Ted Horne has been asked to recommend a new logo for the Village. The logo may be used for vehicle stickers and more. It takes time and money to replace all of the Village information. Walter indicated he will ask Ted to review the logo with the Communications Committee before bringing it to the Trustees. The schedule is tight since the new ones are available for purchase in March and it takes time to get them printed. They are effective in May. We may include the application notice for the new stickers in the newsletter. The Village sells approximately 3000 stickers a year.
1 The Planning Commission submitted the revised Village Comprehensive Plan to the Trustees November 21 and it was approved. Steve Knoop’s newsletter article will reference and highlight the approval. Note: the final Plan is not on the website as of this meeting.
2 The 2006 annual calendar for Communications Committee meetings was submitted and voted on in December. The meeting dates are available for the January, 2006 Communications Committee newsletter. The 2006 calendar for the Communications Committee was discussed and the same dates as the Village Trustee meeting will be used, and the start time of 5:30 pm will be maintained. Barbara motioned and Vicky seconded. Approved 6 -0 1
4. New Business
1 Kevin Colosia, a village resident, and cellular technology expert, asked to address the Communications Committee on Technology, specifically, the issues surrounding Cellular coverage in the Village. His presentation covered many of the issues the village has faced with the technology, including technical and business issues the carriers face. He read the new Comprehensive Plan and suggested a section be added for Infrastructure within the Village to enhance and set expectations. Since the plan is a living document, Walter said it is possible to augment the document at any time by working with the Planning Committee.
o Kevin referred to the lack of population density that makes it hard for cellular carriers to do a business case for further build out
o The rolling hills and dense foliage make it hard to get ubiquitous reception
o The plans and maps the carriers use are computer generated and may need to be “road tested” to provide accurate feedback
o The political issues and access to land for cell sites must be addressed to be successful in getting carriers interested in a build out
o Zoning changes may be necessary to accomplish the goals
o This issue is perceived by some as a” major priority” and by others in the village as service is “good enough”
o Where we know coverage is lacking: forest preserves and horse trails
o While 911 is not the major driver, it is a related issue and thus Bob Kozin and the new Chief Murphy must be involved
Barbara indicated she can work mid January with Kevin on a proposal. Beth
told Kevin that the Village welcomes his initiative and advised him that the work must
be accomplished pro bono. Dan motioned that the Technology Committee start this
project. Vicky seconded the motion. 6 - 0 - 1
5. Dismissal:
Beth Mallen entertained a motion for dismissal. The next meeting is on Monday, January 23, 2006, at 5:30 p.m. Barbara seconded. Motion Approved (6-0-1).
Meeting Adjourned