Darien Suggests Farmingdale Changes

DARIEN, IL — Darien is considering converting a grassy drainage basin in the Farmingdale subdivision into an area with native plants. That would beautify the neighborhood, improve the environment and save on maintenance, the city contended.

The city also raised the possibility it could add walking paths in the drainage area, which is in the neighborhood west of Cass Avenue and south of 75th Street. Adding native plants and flowers, the city said, would attract butterflies and native birds and improve air quality and drainage. A proposed "rain garden" could be used as an educational took for local schools, the city said.

The city has made no decision on the drainage area, but has posted information on its website about the proposal and a survey for residents to indicate whether they support or oppose it.

The basin brings "maintenance challenges" to the city's public works department, the city said in a letter to residents on its website, signed by Mayor Joseph Marchese. The challenges are the result of deposits of sediments and continuing erosion that the grassy basin cannot withstand long-term, the letter said. The outcome is ponding and saturation levels that hinder mowing in the basin, the city said.

"Typically the department cannot maintain an optimal aesthetically pleasing mowed area in the spring, partial summer and fall months," the letter said.

Making matters worse, the city said, is the sump pump discharges from houses surrounding the basin.

According to the letter, it typically takes two to three years for native plantings to flourish. They would be maintained through ongoing professional services, the city said.

Residents are asked to take part in the survey and turn in their responses by Friday. The letter, which was written Feb. 3, did not indicate when the City Council would vote on the proposal. Municipal Services Director Daniel Gombac said the letter and survey were sent to houses adjacent to the drainage basin.

"We put out the surveys to residents to engage with them, considering it's right in their own backyard," Gombac said in an interview. "If everyone says yes, we would move forward with this sometime in late March or early April as far as engineering goes. Plantings would be in the fall, depending on the species. We'll see what the soil calls for as far as what we would plant."

He said the City Council would likely make a decision at a meeting next month.

The basin, officially known as the Nantucket Drainage Basin, is surrounded by Andermann Lane, Nantucket Drive, 79th Street and Del Court.

For more information on the proposal, call Gombac at 630-353-8106 or email dgombac@darienil.gov.