Mayor’s Message for Friday, September 13, 2024

Dear Residents,

The issue of crime has come front and center nationally and locally, and to help residents better understand the challenges facing our community, I have scheduled a forum on crime.

The upcoming meeting is scheduled for Thursday Sept 19^th at 6:30 pm. Chief Michael Garrison will be on hand to discuss the recent events in South Barrington Lakes as well as what is happening regionally in our area. He will also provide information on ways residents can better protect themselves.

Rest assured what happened in South Barrington Lakes was an isolated incident. At approximately 12:45 Monday morning, residents in the South Barrington Lakes subdivision woke up to find a male subject in their house. The residents confronted the subject, who then ran through the house and climbed out a window. The residents grabbed the subject by the shirt, but the subject slipped out of his shirt and ran away.

Officers were called to the scene to begin a search and at approximately 2:28 am, the officers heard what sounded like glass breaking in a nearby home. The officers went to investigate and observed the residents fleeing from their own house. The residents informed police officers that the subject had gone upstairs. Officers attempted to go in, but the subject yelled out that he had a gun and barricaded himself inside the house. The officers backed out of the house and contacted the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System (NIPAS) to assist. After a 2.5-hour standoff the subject was safely taken into custody by officers from the NIPAS team.

We had multiple agencies help us in South Barrington with approximately 50 additional officers. We have been very proactive in preparing for any event such as this.

The subject was identified as Matthew P. Miller of Chicago. Miller was arrested and charged with one count of Home Invasion and one count of Attempt Residential Burglary. On Tuesday September 10, 2024, Miller appeared before Judge Mandeltort at Third District Cook County Court House. Home Invasion is a Class X Felony, if convicted, he may face a sentence of 6-30 years imprisonment. Residential Burglary is a class 1 felony, if convicted, he may face a maximum sentence of 4-15 years imprisonment.

It is our hope you will come out on Sept. 19^th to our crime forum. There is no need for alarmism but there is a need to get informed about what is happening not only in our community but in our region as a whole. I hope you can attend.

If you did not receive a Code Red Alert on Monday, please sign up for Code Red again.  You can do that by clicking here.  We are working with Code Red to find out why certain residents were suddenly excluded.

New officer sworn in

I am pleased to announce that we have a new Police Officer, Jocelyn Garza, who took the Oath of Office to become a member of the South Barrington Police Department. She is an experienced police officer and has worked at both the Wonder Lake and the Prospect Heights Police Departments. Her training includes being on the prestigious Special Tactics and Response (STAR) and the Major Case Assistance Team (MCAT) teams.

Welcome Officer Jocelyn Garza! The Board and I look forward to working with you.

Pictured above L-R Mayor McCombie, Officer Sakowsko, Officer Palacios, Officer Garza, Chief Garrison, Officer Macchitelli, Officer Lukowski

Shredding Event

The shred event scheduled for Sept. 7^th was a huge success. We had 175 participants (with 104 being South Barrington residents) at the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) sponsored event.

All of the shredded paper was taken back to the recycling facility, bailed, and sold to a paper recycler. Shredded paper cannot be recycled in our curbside recycling because it cannot be properly contained during the sorting process, but it can be recycled when it is aggregated at a shredding event and separated from the other materials. A total of 9,060 pounds of paper was recycled at the event.

Thank you to everyone who attended the event. As members of SWANCC we are happy to provide this service to our residents each year. If you missed it, you could attend any of the other SWANCC sponsored destruction or recycling events. To view the SWANCC Recycling Event calendar, click here.

Pictured above from L-R is Finance Director Frerichs, Trustee Dr. Stagno, Ray J., Trustee, Guranovich, Mayor McCombie, Natalie K.,Al S., Dr. Marilyn S., Dale D., Trustee Abbate.

Arboretum

The Arboretum of South Barrington is getting ready to celebrate Halloween with several fun activities planned. Spirit Halloween is now open for Halloween costumes, décor, and more. Some of the planned events require a ticket, see below in my message for the list and how to obtain your tickets or for the Arboretum website click here.

Private Well Water Testing Kits

It is that time of year to test the water in your private well.

For those residents on private wells, BACOG’s Annual Level 1 Private Well Water Testing kits will be available for purchase at Village Hall starting Monday, September 16. Private well owners are encouraged to test their wells for bacteria and nitrates annually. Residents on the Village’s municipal well water are not eligible to participate in this program as their water is tested on a regular basis. Water test kits can be purchased for $16 (check or cash) at Village Hall during regular business hours through Monday, September 30. On Tuesday, October 1, residents may drop off their collected water samples at the Barrington Area Library anytime between 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

As always, I’m here to listen to your thoughts and concerns. Feel free to email me at pmccombie@southbarrington.org, or use the anonymous comment boxes located in the lobbies of Village Hall and the Police Department. I review these messages privately and value your input.

Enjoy the weekend and the start of a wonderful fall season!
Warm regards,

Paula McCombie
Mayor

Read more of my Friday message by clicking here.

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