Elmhurst Held Up As Model For Flooding Solutions

LA GRANGE, IL — La Grange resident Steve Koppell is among many other residents who are urging the village to take action soon on flooding problems. And he held up Elmhurst as an example of a town that gets things done.

Southside residents, he said, cannot wait more years as the village proceeds with litigation before it begins the 50th Street storm sewer project, which officials and residents agree is the best long-term solution.

But Koppel and other members of the newly formed Dry Up La Grange group say quicker action is needed.

"Why do we need to do this now? Well, it's simple. We are out of time. Two significant floods in 13 months, four in 10 years," Koppel said at Monday's Village Board meeting. "It's not an acceptable position to just wait for the litigation to work its way through the courts."

Koppel praised Elmhurst for going a long way to solving its flooding issues through underground vaults that store water. Elmhurst and La Grange, he noted, have the same engineering firm, Christopher Burke Engineering.

Over the last decade, Elmhurst has installed a number of underground detention basins to curtail flooding. In a few weeks, it is expected to finish such a project underneath a field at York High School.

"They go under parks, open spaces, sports fields. Elmhurst has been building these. They don't take very long. In some cases, it's months and not years," Koppel said.

Koppell also pointed out that Western Springs earlier this month authorized a study for water storage in a park to solve the flooding problem in its Springdale neighborhood, which has suffered severe flooding.

He urged the village to start spending some of its bond money dedicated for taking care of stormwater issues.

In 2015, La Grange voters approved a sales tax of three-fourths of 1 percent to address flooding. That allowed the village to go $14 million into debt to pay for projects.

At a June board meeting, Village President Mark Kuchler said the village has resisted spending the money on smaller projects because it wouldn't have enough to pay for the larger 50th Street project.

The village is in years-long litigation with the Hanson Aggregates quarry in McCook, which is blamed for most of the flooding. A favorable outcome is required for the city to proceed with the 50th Street project, officials say.