VILLAGE OF BARRINGTON HILLS
PLAN COMMISSION MEETING
FEBRUARY 11, 2008

The regular meeting of the Village of Barrington Hills Plan Commission was called to order at 7:32 p.m. by Chairman Bosworth.

Plan Commission Members Present:	Kenneth Bosworth, Chairman
					Peter Grande
					Patrick Hennelly
					Joseph Messer	
					James O’Donnell
					David M. Stieper

                         Absent:	Lou Anne Majewski
      			Michael Schmechtig


The Attendance Sheet is attached and made part of these Minutes.


PREVIOUS MINUTES:  Commissioner Hennelly made the motion, seconded by Commissioner O’Donnell, to approve the January 14th Minutes as presented.  Motion carried unanimously by voice vote.

Consideration of the Special Meeting Minutes of January 21st was deferred until a day and time certain.


GROUNDWATER:  Robert Kosin advised the Commission that in regards to the discussion on the issues of groundwater, there has been presented for its information a three part review of the subject covering legal, geology, and engineering.

David Warner as Special Counsel to the Plan Commission presented the overall regulatory scheme of groundwater in Illinois.  It is a matter of some importance as the Village of Barrington does not have ready access to Lake Michigan water by terms of certain national agreements.  The pumping or mining of groundwater is a matter reserved on to the State with a role generally applied by municipalities usually through the Building or Zoning Codes.  During the drought of 2006, the State created a commission to undertake an analysis of the subject.

Kurt Thompson a consultant for the Village and BACOG on the subject of groundwater presented the science of groundwater and the likely experiences in the area of Old Sutton and Otis Roads.  Most of the wells in the Village draw their water from the shallow aquifer which is subject to fluctuations of availability or elevation in proximity of the pump.  The land use practices of the Village are complimentary to the recharge of that aquifer. BACOG is in the midst of a study to identify the location of such recharge areas.  Quality was not a subject addressed by the research.

Dan Strahan on behalf of the Village Engineer described the stormwater management techniques deployed by the Village.  Water is not piped away from its point of concentration, but rather allowed by design to pool and thereby percolate back to the aquifer.  There is expected that this methodology will be seen in other planning areas and already labeled as rain gardens.

No further action was taken on this matter.


COMPREHENSIVE PLAN REVIEW:   Konstantine Savoy presented in table format the topical issues that in his opinion as a planner warrant revision in the current edition of the Comprehensive Plan.  The topics range from perfunctory date or name changes to format revisions requiring new data.  It was the sense of the Commissioners present to begin with the basic elements inclusive of the items of the conservation easement for Horizon Farms, groundwater, and the EJ&E as a major freight rail line.


OTHER BUSINESS:  Robert Kosin advised that the Village Board had concurred with the information provided by the Plan Commission regarding the Canadian National Railway and will provide a resolution to that effect.  The Surface Transportation Board has extended the comment period on the scope of the EIS.


TRUSTEE’S REPORT    No report.


There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. after being so moved and seconded.

Respectfully submitted,



Lou Anne Majewski
Recording Secretary
Plan Commission Meeting                                                                                         (See DRAFT notation)
February 11, 2008                                                                                                                              Page 2