Flooding Help For Hard-Hit Elmhurst Neighborhood Not On Table Yet

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst is looking at ways to help a neighborhood hard-hit by flooding over the summer, but nothing is on the table yet, the mayor said this week.

At a budget meeting Monday, the City Council talked about the neighborhood at Sunnyside and Olive avenues. Homes there flooded during storms on July 3 and July 27.

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Residents in the area spoke at a meeting last week about their flooding struggles.

Next year, the city plans to spend $6.5 million on a long-awaited stormwater project near Spring Road and Eggleston Avenue. The city has bought two houses and torn them down to make way for stormwater detention.

That area is a few blocks from Sunnyside and Olive.

City officials said they originally expected the Spring and Eggleston work to benefit the other neighborhood. But the city's engineers told them it would not.

Alderman Rex Irby said he reviewed the city's flood map, which showed Sunnyside and Olive as an "isolated" area of blue. The Spring and Eggleston area, by contrast, was not colored blue, he said.

Mayor Scott Levin, who used to represent the area as an alderman, said flooding has long been a major problem at Spring and Eggleston.

He said two committees earlier that night had reviewed stormwater issues in neighborhoods, including at Sunnyside and Olive.

A dozen projects are on the list. The Sunnyside and Olive area is ranked 11th.

Referring to Sunnyside and Olive, the mayor said, "They're not on the table yet."

"How is that not on the table?" Irby asked.

Levin said it wasn't a budget question for next year. Engineering needs to be done first, he said.

At last week's meeting, residents pleaded with officials not to divert money earmarked for stormwater relief for other purposes.

The finance committee is considering the possibility because of the city's budget problems.

Asked about it at this week's meeting, Christina Coyle, the finance director, told aldermen the budget doesn't reflect any diversion of stormwater money.

The council could transfer the money later.

Over the last dozen years, the city has spent tens of millions of dollars on stormwater projects. Complaints about flooding are far fewer than they used to be.