Lake Barrington board approves contract for new official

William R. "Bill" Balling will serve as Lake Barrington's temporary village administrator after his contract was approved by a unanimous village board Tuesday night.

Balling replaces longtime administrator Christopher Martin, who abruptly resigned Jan. 11.

Balling, who served as village manager of Buffalo Grove for 29 years, started last month in his role on a precontract basis.

The terms of Balling's contract were not discussed during the board meeting. Village Attorney Jim Bateman said the final version of that contract will be finalized over the next few days.

Village President Kevin Richardson characterized Balling after the meeting as "a real pro."

Balling runs Arlington Heights-based WRB LLC Management, which offers services including executive recruitment, management reviews and interim management.

In addition to overseeing the village's day-to-day operations, Balling will also provide some management review services.

Richardson said Balling's firm will not necessarily be in charge of the search process to find the village's next village administrator. Richardson said there would be a separate Request For Proposal for search services and that Balling would be able to bid on that, but so will other firms.

Richardson said he didn't know when the board would begin that search process but said it would likely be in a couple of months.

The need for Balling's services arose after Martin, who served the village as administrator since December 2004, resigned in January.

According to the two-sentence statement issued by the village on Jan. 11, Martin left to "pursue other opportunities."