VILLAGE OF BARRINGTON HILLS
Minutes of the Regular Meeting April 23, 2007
President Abboud called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:32 pm. Roll Call.
Robert G. Abboud, President Kathy Soeder, resident
Fritz H. Gohl, Pro-Tem Rosemary Ryba, Treasurer
Steven E. Knoop, Trustee Karen Afseth, Virchow Krause
George L. Schueppert, Trustee Dan Strahan, Gewalt Hamilton
Julie McKevitt, Trustee Neal Waltmire, P & Z Coordinator
Walter E. Smithe, Trustee Pam Cools, resident
Theodore L. Horne, Trustee Alex Gilberts, resident
George Lynch, Village Attorney Marty and Elizabeth Robins,
Robert Kosin, Director of Administration residents
Michael N. Murphy, Police Chief Martin and Nancy Vazzano,
Elaine M. Ramesh, Village Clerk residents
James A. Ponto, resident
Mary Ponto Naumann, resident
Jim Naumann, resident
David Elke (ERS)
Tim Digirolomo
Nick Panos
Nina & Robert Stephenson, residents
David & Emily Mallen, residents
Shawn M. Dahm, resident Mel Motley, American Tower Corp.
Penny, George and Theodore Horne,
residents
Trustee Gohl motioned to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss legal matters at 6:33 pm. Trustee Smithe seconded. Roll Call.
Ayes: 7 (Schueppert, Knoop, McKevitt, Smithe, Horne, Gohl, Abboud)
Nays: 0
Absent: 0
Meeting Adjourned
Village Board Meeting
April 23, 2007 – page 2
EXECUTIVE SESSION
PUBLIC SESSION
President Abboud called the Public Session to order at 8:00 pm.
MINUTES
Trustee Horne motioned to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 19, 2007 with certain corrections. Trustee Smithe seconded. All present said aye.
Motion Approved
Trustee Gohl motioned to approve the minutes of the Executive Session of March 19, 2007. Trustee Schueppert seconded. All present said aye.
Motion Approved
Trustee Horne motioned to approve destruction of the audio recording of the executive session of the Village Board meeting of July 25, 2005. The minutes of this executive session had previously been approved. Trustee Gohl seconded. All present said aye, except Trustees Schueppert and Smithe who voted against the motion.
Motion Approved
Report of the Election Committee – Results (pending certification) of the April 17 Election were presented by the Village Clerk. She reported that the Election Committee, consisting of President Abboud, Trustee Gohl and the Village Clerk held a special meeting on April 23rd to certify the election results. According to the consolidated election canvas, Trustees McKevitt and Smithe were re-elected and Beth Mallen was newly elected to the position of trustee.
Commendation of Retiring Trustee Horne – President Abboud presented Trustee Horne a plaque in honor of 22 years of service to the Village. During his tenure he held several positions, including President Pro-Tem. It is estimated that he attended approximately five hundred Village meetings. Trustee Horne noted that he beat past Trustee McArthur’s record of 19 years of service and requested that all residents remember and maintain the spirit of the Village.
Trustees Smithe, McKevitt and Mallen were sworn into office by the Village Clerk.
Village Board Meeting
April 23, 2007 – page 3
Public Safety Awards – Chief Murphy presented several public safety awards to members of the Police Department. No fatal crashes have occurred in the Village in past fourteen months. This record can be partly attributed to enforcement and to the new lower speed limit. Chief Murphy recognized Brian Baird, Jeremy Hensler and Gary Deutschle for their speed enforcement efforts; and Brian Baird, Bruce Biancalana and Gary Deutschle for DUI enforcement efforts. In addition, David Kann received an Illinois Public Risk fund award for his service.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
President Abboud opened a thirty-five minute session for public comments at 8:23 pm.
Kathy Soeder, resident, thanked President Abboud and the trustees for hearing the concerns of the residents in school district 300. She emphasized that the matter of transferring a portion of the Village from D300 into D220 is an important issue to the community.
Pam Cools agreed with Kathy Soeder and indicated that the Village is artificially sub-divided by zip code, county, school district and telephone area code. Joining the same school district that most of the Village is already in will strengthen Barrington Hills, because it will end an arbitrary sub-division within the community.
Nancy Vizzano asked the Board to consider that the school district issue is a human issue which impacts many of the local children. She pointed out that a child in her neighborhood has no one to play with because he attends a different school than other children attend.
Martin Vizzano indicated that it was very unfortunate that his neighborhood was originally isolated and divided from the rest of Barrington Hills in D220 solely because the resident farmer wanted his child to play basketball; which at the time the child could do in D300, but not in D220.
As there were no further remarks, the public comments session ended at 8:32 pm.
FINANCE – Walter E. Smithe
Treasurer’s Report – Trustee Smithe presented the Treasurer’s report for the month of March 2007. Trustee Smithe motioned to accept the Treasurer’s report as presented. Trustee Schueppert seconded. New financial software was discussed. Roll Call.
Ayes: 7 (Mallen, Schueppert, Knoop, McKevitt, Smithe, Gohl, Abboud)
Nays: 0
Absent: 0
Motion Approved
Village Board Meeting
April 23, 2007 – page 4
Police Pension Board Report –Trustee Smithe motioned to accept the financial report of the Police Pension Board through March, 2007 and year-to-date summary of activity prepared by Trustee Schueppert as presented. Trustee Schueppert seconded. All present said aye.
Motion Approved
Presentation of Bills – Trustee Smithe motioned to approve the payment of the bills for the month of April to date of $278,910.37 and additional bills of $25,471.23 for a total of $304,381.60. Trustee McKevitt seconded. Roll Call.
Ayes: 7 (Mallen, Schueppert, Knoop, McKevitt, Smithe, Gohl, Abboud)
Nays: 0
Absent: 0
Motion Approved
Overtime Reports – Trustee Smithe motioned to approve $3,582.76 in overtime expenses for March 1 through 15, 2007 and $4,579.76 for March 16 through 31, 2007. The reasons for the overtime expenses were discussed. Trustee McKevitt seconded. Roll Call.
Ayes: 7 (Mallen, Schueppert, Knoop, McKevitt, Smithe, Gohl, Abboud)
Nays: 0
Absent: 0
Motion Approved
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April 23, 2007 – page 5
Amendment of Designated Depositories for Village Funds – Trustee Smithe motioned to
approve Ordinance 07-10 regarding the addition of Fifth Third Bank to the list of designated depositories for Village funds, with an additional section indicating that funds transacted through this account should be limited to 50th anniversary operations. Trustee Mallen seconded. Roll Call.
Ayes: 7 (Mallen, Schueppert, Knoop, McKevitt, Smithe, Gohl, Abboud)
Nays: 0
Absent: 0
Ordinance 07-10 Approved
Communications Committee – Trustee Smithe reported that the next newsletter will come out in two weeks, and that Barrington Hills logo apparel is available for order through the website. Meanwhile, the Committee continues preparations for 50th anniversary events.
ROADS AND BRIDGES – Julie McKevitt
Monthly Report – Trustee McKevitt indicated that a snow command wrap-up meeting with Cuba Township was held on April 4th; and then, it snowed the next week. Mr. Gooch has indicated that there will be no increase in the Township’s fees for the contract for the coming year. Roadway damage and drainage issues were caused by this season’s inclement weather; therefore the list of roads to receive attention this year will be modified. Trustee McKevitt has sent the roadwork package out to bid. A separate bid package will be prepared for the roadwork striping projects. She also recently met with Cook County about their road projects for our area including the re-surfacing of Bateman Rd. and the work in 2008 on Penny Rd.
Equestrian Commission – The Commission met in April. They are working on a proposal to revise the trail easement ordinance language.
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April 23, 2007 – page 6
PLANNING – Steven E. Knoop
Monthly Report – Trustee Knoop reported that at the most recent Planning Commission meeting, Wamberg property lot #5 was discussed. The Wamberg property developer and a Village of Barrington representative came to the Village Hall for a meeting regarding the matter.
Funding for the Longmeadow Parkway (Bolz Road) Bridge – A draft resolution for a toll bridge on Longmeadow Parkway was provided for the Trustees’ consideration. Previous Barrington Hills Resolution 06-06 supported the study for the corridor. Trustee Schueppert motioned to authorize the Village Attorney to draft an appropriately worded resolution in support of the group resolution presented for the Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor Funding. Trustee McKevitt seconded. All present said aye.
Motion Approved
Boundary Agreement with Fox River Grove – Fox River
Grove’s Village administrator extended an invitation for a meeting between a
representative of Barrington Hills with the Trustees of Fox River Grove before
the May Fox River Grove Village meeting to discuss the agreement. The boundary
agreement issue was presented already at the Fox River Grove Board’s last
meeting; and they plan to consider the issue again at their next meeting.
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April 23, 2007 – page 7
PUBLIC SAFETY – Fritz H. Gohl
Monthly Report – Trustee Gohl deferred to Chief Murphy who presented the Police Report for activity in the month of March 2007. Members of the police department completed several hours of training during the past month. A new squad car which has been budgeted for and approved will be purchased. In response to residents’ complaints about bicyclists on the Village roads, the Police Department will attempt to heighten bicyclists’ road safety awareness by handing out information cards to bicyclists in May.
Disposal of Personal Property – Trustee Gohl motioned to approve Ordinance 07-11 authorizing the sale of an old police car, computer equipment and furniture on e-
Bay or authorize disposal of it. Trustee McKevitt seconded. All present said aye.
Ordinance 07-11 Approved
Regulation of Target Shooting on Residential Property – A resident, Mr. Robins, has requested that the Village Board consider modification of the standards/requirements for target shooting on property in the Village. The Village has an ordinance applicable to shooting, wherein permits for target shooting are approved on an annual basis by the Police Chief, after an inspection of the property and review of the proposed site of the shooting. To date this year only three permits have been granted, including the one to Mr. Robins’ neighbor. The resident proposed adding a limit of time for a reasonable number of hours when weapons can be discharged, minimum size for property upon which target shooting can be approved and limitation on where within the property the shooting can be done. Mr. Robins commented that target shooting is an activity which seems to be out of character for a community which stands for tranquility. He expressed concern for neighboring children, dogs, horses and horseback riders during shooting. He was also disappointed by the lack of notice to adjacent landowners that a permit had been issued or that firing would take place. In addition, he conjectured that decomposition of the lead and clay by-products of target shooting could have an environmental impact by leaching into and affecting the aquifer. The Police Chief is willing to discuss the permit jointly with the permit holder and Mr. Robins. The Board discussed the matter at length.
BUILDING AND ZONING – George L. Schueppert
Building Permit Report – Trustee Schueppert reported that seven building permits had been issued during the month of March 2007. They included permits for one residence, two alterations, one addition, one pool and one accessory building.
ZBA Report – Trustee Schueppert reported that at the most recent meeting, the ZBA
discussed a request for two variances at 4 Middlebury Lane; and forestation matters.
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April 23, 2007 – page 8
The ZBA has begun creation of a list of heritage trees in the Village. After such trees attain a certain size, they should not be taken down without permission. The ZBA heard a speaker from Urban Forest Management, and will review Long Grove’s ordinance regarding forestation matters. Residents have complained about landowners removing or clearing trees from a vacant property, and then not building on the cleared property. President Abboud requested that the ZBA consider how the ordinance would be enforced and what appropriate remedies would be if a tree were cut down despite the ordinance.
American Tower Petition Hearing – A record of the proceedings before the ZBA regarding American Tower’s petition to erect a cell tower on Bateman Rd. has been compiled for the Trustees’ reference (nearly 400 pages for review resulting from six different ZBA meetings). A special meeting devoted to the topic is planned for
May 16th . Many residents may attend, so a large meeting space will be required for the meeting.
Grading Standards – Trustee Schueppert motioned to approve Ordinance 07-12
regarding the establishment of grading requirements in the Building Code. The
ordinance provides requirements to minimize of the effects of grading on
drainage and seepage of surface water. Trustee Smithe seconded. All present
said aye.
Ordinance 07-12 Approved
Village Board Meeting
April 23, 2007 – page 9
INSURANCE – George L. Schueppert
Monthly Report – Trustee Schueppert reported that the Healthcare Committe met regarding two different options within a Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. Trustee Schueppert signed off on a renewal letter for the Village’s total liability insurance package.
HEALTH, BUILDINGS & GROUNDS, ENVIRONMENT – Beth Mallen
Solid Waste Management Report – No report.
Strategic Plan for Village Building – Trustee Mallen will be updated on the plan by Mr. Kosin and President Abboud.
ATTORNEY – Douglas Wambach
Attorney Wambach stated that matters of litigation had been addressed in Executive Session.
ADMINISTRATION – Robert G. Abboud
Trustee Gohl motioned approval of the appointment of Beth Mallen as chairman of the Communications Committee and the Health, Buildings & Grounds Committee. Trustee McKevitt seconded. All present said aye.
Motion Approved
Trustee Gohl motioned to adjourn the Public Session at 11:12 pm. Trustee Smithe seconded. All present said aye.
Meeting Adjourned
Approved ________________