North Cook News

Village of South Barrington Public Works Committee met Jan. 21

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER 

Chairman Abbate called the meeting to order at 1:31 p.m. 

ROLL CALL 

Present: Chairman Abbate  Absent: Trustee Panchal

Trustee Patel 

Board Members Present: Mayor McCombie and Trustee Guranovich 

Staff present: Mike Dropka, Village Administrator, Damian Michalski, Building Officer, and Public Works / Code Compliance Ryan Murphy 

Others present: None. 

MINUTES 

Due to lack of a quorum, motion to accept the minutes from the November 19, 2024 meeting was postponed. 

PUBLIC COMMENT 

None. 

AGENDA ITEMS 

1) Discussion on the FY25 Road Program was tabled until the next meeting. 

2) Public Works / Code Compliance Ryan Murphy provided a recap on the FY24 Tree Program for the committee members. He highlighted that we planted a Hornbeam in the Conservancy for Arbor Day, and that Sawvell Tree Service removed the dead trees and stumps throughout the village. Ryan Murphy also reported that we filled out a grant from the Morton Arboretum for trees. In March or April, we will be talking about placing an order with the nursery for trees. We will contact the residents asking if anyone would like a replacement tree. We will possibly provide the residents with a few options to choose from along with pictures of what the trees will look like at various stages of life. 

3) Administrator Dropka reported on the situation with dry hydrants in the village, and the meeting that took place with Chief Motisi from the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District. During that meeting, Chief Motisi indicated that there were a number of dry hydrants that needed to be attended to. Contractors that perform maintenance on dry hydrants were contacted, and quotes were provided to the village, however all of the estimates were quite expensive. Due to the excessive number of dry hydrants that need repair, other alternatives were looked at. The situation was brought up to another contractor, who thinks that they can perform the work at a more reasonable price. The contractor will contact the Fire Chief with some questions and will provide a quote to the village. Administrator Dropka will investigate the Insurance Service Office Fire Score (ISO Rating) and find out how much of a factor dry hydrants are when it comes to lowering the rating. Additionally, a grant will be researched for this project as it relates to emergency management. 

4) Building Officer Michalski reported that a contractor was recommending that the village looks into creating a regional stormwater management reservoir near the Arboretum. The area being considered for this project may actually be Park District property. We will further investigate the concept of the project. 

5) Building Officer Michalski reported that an insurance adjuster came out to take a look at the roof which needs to be replaced due to the damage from the storm that occurred last year. During the roof inspection, it was noted that the siding needs to be attended to as well since there are holes in the siding and the wood is rotting out. Building Officer Michalski also reported that he would like to look at rewiring the outside of the building as some of the lights are not matching in color, and it looks odd. Additionally, discussion ensued about fluorescent lights in the building and fluorescent light becoming obsolete in the future. Public Works / Code Compliance Ryan Murphy reported that he spoke to ComEd about changing out the fluorescent lights to LED lights throughout Village Hall. A ComEd rebate program was highlighted, and a contractor who works with the rebate program came out to walk through the Village Hall. Discussion ensued regarding our options. We will wait until the quote comes from the contractor and further review our options. 

MAYOR'S REPORT 

Mayor McCombie reported on a meeting that she had with STEALTH Robotics to discuss ways to elevate STEM education in our community. STEALTH Robotics is a group of students, grades 8-12, who live here in Sout Barrington. The team competes in the FIRST Technology Challenge (FTC) league and is an example of student innovation and community spirit in South Barrington. 

STAFF REPORTS 

None. 

OLD BUSINESS 

None. 

NEW BUSINESS 

None. 

ADJOURNMENT 

At 3:05 p.m., Chairman Abbate adjourned the meeting. 

https://southbarrington.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-1-21-pw-min.pdf