Minutes of the Barrington Hills Village Communications Committee Meeting November 17, 2008 5:30 p.m. Training Room VILLAGE HALL 112 Algonquin Road Final 1. Call to Order 2. In the absence of Chairman Nikki Panos, Vice Chairman Barbara Kemp called the meeting to order November 17, 2008 at 5:34 p.m. in the Barrington Hills Village Hall. Roll Call Present Barbara Kemp, Vice Chair Pamela Cools, Recording Secretary Maureen Prettyman Linda Fox (arrived at 5:47 p.m.) Laura Ekstrom Robert Kosin, Village Administrator Lt. Joe Colditz, Police Department Absent Nikki Panos, Chairperson Beth Mallen, Trustee 3. Reports from the Village Lt. Colditz * Results from the 2008 Police survey are now complete. The write-in comments were interesting, and the more popular topics raised by residents might serve to guide the content of future articles in both the newsletter and website. * The survey indicated that many residents are concerned about the large groups of bicycle clubs utilizing village roads and lack of observation of traffic laws by many cyclists. Members discussed several possible strategies for helping to improve compliance. The committee agreed to pursue face-to-face meetings between its members and representatives of area bike clubs, in order to open a dialogue and promote positive lines of communication. Linda Fox agreed to spearhead this effort, with assistance from the rest of the group. * Pamela Cools asked for clarification of the rationale for issuing various types of CTY alerts, citing the recent malfunction of traffic signals at the corner of Routes 62 and 25, which do not prompt an alert. Although CTY has been used to notify residents of localized issues such as a controlled burn at Grigsby Prairie or extended road closures, Lt. Colditz was unsure of the exact decision-making process for specific incidents and recommended follow-up with Chief Murphy. * In a recent ceremony held in San Diego, Chief Murphy and Sgt. Kann accepted the second place award for municipal departments with 7-25 officers from the International Chiefs of Police. Robert Kosin * Sarah Kenney, formerly with the Fulton County Highway Department, has been recently hired as the new Planning and Zoning Coordinator, replacing Neal Waltmire. She started on the job today, and may be contacted at skenney@barringtonhills-il.gov. The committee plans a feature article about Ms. Kenney in the upcoming issue of the newsletter. * 2009 has been named the International Year of Astronomy, commemorating Galileo’s first using his telescope, built 400 years ago, to study the skies. Due to the increasing amount of light pollution in the suburban area, Barrington Hills is likely to be the only place in Chicagoland where the stars & skies will be visible as they were in Galileo’s day. Committee members discussed the possibility of organizing a Village event centered on viewing the night sky. * National Geographic Magazine had a recent cover story on light pollution. A link on the website will be added to educate residents about this growing problem within our own community. This is especially important as the proposed exterior lighting regulations will soon be voted upon by the Village Board. 3. Approval of Minutes Approved October minutes as submitted. Motion by Laura Ekstrom and seconded by Maureen Prettyman. Approved 5-0-0 4. Website * Barbara Kemp reported that there was a major site crash in the beginning of November which was fixed with help from Tim Evans (Evans Web Services). * Pamela Cools will submit a summary article about the BJWC Fashion Show. * We will be waiting to implement site upgrades until at least April. * The committee will check with Tim and others about helping us find an unpaid intern to help with computer and tech issues. 5. Newsletter * The deadline for article submissions for the next issue is January 20th. * In addition to the articles previously discussed, Pamela mentioned that, during the last Village Board meeting, President Abboud specifically requested that an article be included instructing residents to call 911 for non-emergency reports. Barbara expressed her reservations about this, and members agreed that some clarification of this is in order. 6. Other potential matters of business * Committee members should contact Chairman Nikki Panos and let her know if they will be serving on the committee again next year. * We are still looking for another committee member, and should contact Nikki with any potential candidates. * Barbara requested seasonal photographs for use in new website headers next year. * The Committee will follow up with Bob Kosin about production of small lapdrop flyers for marketing of the website in Village mailings. * In light of the low turn-out at Make A Difference Day, Laura suggested that perhaps future clean-up days be done in conjunction with a neighborhood barbeque or picnic, as has been done with neighbors along Oak Knoll Road. Promoting the event as a social activity may boost participation. * Pamela mentioned that the vbhcomm.info website has dropped out of the first 20 places recently when conducting a Google search for “Barrington Hills”. Barbara agreed to confer with Tim to see what can be done to move the site up in the search hierarchy. 7. Technology Committee No meetings were held. 8. Adjournment Given there was no new business, Barbara Kemp entertained a motion for dismissal at 7:17 p.m. The next meeting is on Monday, December 15, 2008. Motion to adjourn made by Maureen Prettyman and seconded by Linda Fox. Approved 5-0-0. Meeting Adjourned Respectfully submitted, Pamela A. Cools Recording Secretary 1