Village of South Barrington Public Works Committee met Jan. 20
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
CALL TO ORDERÂ
Chairman Abbate called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m.Â
ROLL CALLÂ
Present: Chairman Abbate Absent:Â
Trustee KaziÂ
Trustee Zierk
Board Members Present: Mayor McCombie, Trustee Guranovich, and Trustee StagnoÂ
Staff present: Mike Dropka, Village Administrator, Makayla Terfehn, Executive Assistant, Damian Michalski, Building Officer, and Ryan Murphy, Public Works / Code ComplianceÂ
Others present: NoneÂ
MINUTESÂ
Motion was made by Trustee Zierk to approve the minutes from the December 17, 2025, meeting. Seconded by Chairman Abbate. On a voice vote, the motion was approved unanimously.Â
PUBLIC COMMENTÂ
None.Â
AGENDA ITEMSÂ
1) Administrator Dropka presented information to the committee on the FY2026 Road Program from Doland Engineering, and a preliminary timeframe for the project. Discussion ensued, and Administrator Dropka answered further questions that the committee had.Â
2) Administrator Dropka discussed the necessity to procure landscaping services for Village owned properties for the spring and outlined a plan going forward. Discussion ensued, and Administrator Dropka answered further questions that the committee had.Â
3) Administrator Dropka provided details on a sewer televising and cleaning schedule that Jason Fowler from Sheaffer & Roland Inc. has proposed. After some discussion, there was unanimous consent among the committee to move forward with the next phase in instituting the program and work with Jason in preparing a request for proposal for the smoke testing and televising of the sanitary sewers for 2026 in the coming months.Â
MAYOR’S REPORTÂ
No report.Â
STAFF REPORTSÂ
Building Officer Michalski presented an updated quote from TCL Electrical and Lighting, with the new ComEd incentives that were recently announced. The proposal for transitioning the lights in the village hall from fluorescent to LED was reviewed in detail. Discussion ensued, and Building Officer Michalski answered further questions that the committee had.Â
Chairman Abbate called for a motion to send the proposal as presented to the Village Board with recommended approval. Motion was made by Trustee Zierk, seconded by Trustee Kazi. On a voice vote, the motion was approved unanimously.Â
Building Officer Michalski provided an update regarding the roof. He reported that the village has re-opened an insurance claim on the roof based on this committee’s prior directives. There was further information provided regarding the most recent incident concerning the roof over Rose Hall. Discussion ensued and updated information will be brought to the next committee meeting for further review.Â
Building Officer Michalski provided a reminder that the concrete stairs and front entrance to the village hall might need to be replaced. He will look for estimates to repair the concrete. Discussion ensued and updated information will be brought to the next committee meeting for further review.Â
Ryan Murphy, Public Works / Code Compliance reported on a number of outstanding community projects and provided details on their status. Discussion ensued, and Ryan answered further questions that the committee had.Â
Ryan Murphy, Public Works / Code Compliance provided an update on the 2025 Parkway Tree Pruning Program. The contractor completed the work that they were tasked to do with just one issue that the village knows of. Additionally, there were a few subdivisions that were inadvertently left out of the original request for proposal, and so they were neglected. Lucas Landscaping provided a quote to the committee to perform tree pruning in the subdivisions that were missed. Discussion ensued, and Ryan answered further questions that the committee had.Â
Chairman Abbate called for a motion to send the proposal as presented to the Village Board with recommended approval. Motion was made by Trustee Zierk, seconded by Trustee Kazi. On a voice vote, the motion was approved unanimously.Â
Administrator Dropka provided an update regarding the Hoffman Estates Animal Hospital and possible future development. Carissa Smith, Village Engineer Gewalt Hamilton Associates submitted a FOIA request to Cook County for information on Old Barrington Road. The results provided information regarding a court case. Administrator Dropka reached out to our Village Attorney regarding the court case and discussed options for getting further information. Discussion ensued, and Administrator Dropka answered further questions that the committee had. There was unanimous consent among the committee to direct staff to take further action, and to bring the results to the next committee meeting for further review.Â
Makayla Terfehn, Executive Assistant reported on the door system, and the previous failures that were happening with the locking mechanisms. The door system now seems to be working properly after staff intervened with a number of different entities, so for now, the purchase of new software or door system is on hold. Village staff will continue to monitor the system and provide the committee with an update if necessary.Â
Administrator Dropka reported on the status of the Barrington Road Widening Project. Discussion ensued, and Administrator Dropka answered further questions that the committee had.Â
Administrator Dropka reported that the Village received news that the OSLAD Grant in the amount of $600,000 will be awarded to the Village. He further provided an update on the status of the GIGO Grant. A general discussion took place regarding the ongoing project to enhance the Conservancy, the implementation of the Conservancy Master Plan, and a timeline for next steps.Â
OLD BUSINESSÂ
None.Â
NEW BUSINESSÂ
None.Â
ADJOURNMENTÂ
At 2:35 p.m., Chairman Abbate called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion was made by Chairman Abbate. Seconded by Trustee Zierk. On a voice vote, the motion was approved unanimously.
https://southbarrington.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026.01-20-Public-Works-Minutes.pdf
