York High Project Went Well, With 'Little Glitch': City

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst expects to complete the York High School stormwater project in "short order," after it was delayed because of a supplier issue, a city official said this week.

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, City Manager Jim Grabowski said he was pleased to report that all the pieces for the project were in.

"I saw trucks lined up on St. Charles today," he said. "We have been pouring stone ... so we can get it ready to turn it over to the school in short order for the Astroturf to be put on top of that."

He thanked the school district and a number of city officials for coordinating the project.

"They really kept that moving as best they could. We had a little glitch with the supplier," Grabowski said. "But other than that, the project went very well."

The school district said last month it expected the city to finish the project by Sept. 15. Originally, the city had planned to complete it before school started Aug. 18.

In a statement Thursday morning, the city said it plans on Friday to turn over the site to the school district as the city has completed the underground stormwater vault installation and stone backfill. The city said the district is expected to immediately start working on new curbing that will provide a perimeter for the new turf field.

The city is handling the project to reduce flooding in the neighborhoods near the school.

In an email in June to the city's previous contractor, Kent Johnson, the city's staff engineer, spoke about the "traffic nightmare" because of the company's delays and cautioned that the company's reputation in Illinois was at stake with the closely watched project.

Explaining the delays, the contractor, Oldcastle Infrastructure, cited labor and materials shortages.

Because of the issues, the city canceled its contract with Oldcastle and went with StormTrap.

City officials say they have been able to alleviate traffic issues related to the project.