Barrington Hills deals with tree removal issue

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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:48AM

Cops, trees and 4G topped a marathon six-hour Barrington Hills board meeting which started Monday night and went past midnight.

The board wrestled with legal proceedings surrounding its pending police contract, a proposed 4G connection on the campus and complaints about a resident on the west side of Bateman Road south of Lake Cook cutting down 14 walnut trees without a permit.

Trustee Joseph Messer called it the village’s “first Mr. T incident,” referring to when the “A Team” television star caused a controversy in the 1980s by cutting down trees on his Lake Forest property.

The board listened as Messer, who heads the building and zoning committee, told them a dispute between property owners revealed that one had cut down the “heritage trees” and neighbors have filed complaints. Heritage trees are native species trees that existed before the village’s incorporation in 1957.

Village President Robert Abboud said too many violations of village codes occur and cannot be undone when discovered. He said licensing contractors would make them partly responsible for assuring the proper permits were obtainedg before any work is done.

“Again, this gets to the issue of licensing contractors,” Abboud said.

Prosecution of the permit violations is going forward, Messer told the board.

On a separate topic, the board voted to proceed with a legal challenge to a ruling by an administrative law judge, who made a recommended decision against the village on the workings of its police contract negotiations.

Abboud said the controversy centered on whether the police should get salary and benefit increases while contract negotiations are ongoing.

Attorney Thomas McGuire recommended, and the board unanimously agreed, to file an exception to the ruling with the Illinois Labor Relations Board.

McGuire, who said the case is about the Village Board being able to control its proceedures during contract negotiations, said the cost of the filing would be under $5,000.

Meanwhile, in other action, American Tower Corp. went before the board seeking to set up a 4G connection for AT&T at its present Outdoor Distributed Antenna System facility.

In order to meet new signaling requirements, ATC wants to add to its equipment shelter and change its antennas throughout the village. The new equipment addition would be around the fenced antenna and would have a 20-year-lease.

In return, ATC was offering to pay for Village Board meeting video cameras, a monthly hosting fee, replacement of a ComEd power feed into the village, and for a fiber optic cable link between Northern Illinois University and the Barrington Area Library.

The board, instead, agreed to a commitment to the project so that ATC could go ahead on schedule with building the upgrade to the facility on the village’s campus.

However, board members said they want the financial compensation to be negotiated at a later point. The compromise allows the company to go ahead with construction while the village negotiates a price, possibly asking for payment upfront rather than video cameras for board meetings and free hosting services on the Internet.

“We’re satisfied with the direction of the board,” said Michael Hill, an ATC representative at the meeting. “The next step will be negotiating a price.”

Village Administrator Robert Kosin said the staff “has been given its marching orders” and will be putting a price on the upfront compensation package.

In another board action, Trustee Harold “Skip” Gianopulus suggested the village recoup some of its expenses over the years in fighting a legal challenge from Oakwood Farms of Barrington Hills, an equestrian training and breeding facility.

The village estimates it spent $250,000 in legal wranglings aimed at enforcing its ordinances on ownership and care at Oakwood Farms, directly across from the Barrington-Countryside Park District Riding Center.

The village won its case but Gianopolus and Fritz Gohl voted it should be compensated $50,000 for its expenses in defending its ordinance.

Trustee Patty Meroni countered that the owners of Oakwood Farms were merely challenging the ruling and lost.

“It seems you are trying to punish a resident for using their citizen’s right to challenge the government,” Meroni said. “If we punish them ... then we are usurping their rights.”

The measure failed, with Gianopulus and Gohl voting for the $50,000 fine.