Glenview Trustees Agree To $7.7M Flood Mitigation Plan

GLENVIEW, IL — The Glenview Village Board this week approved funding to pursue a flood protection program with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. Glenview could partner with the Army Corp and act as the local non-federal sponsor for the nearly $7.7 million project, the Glenview Journal reported. At Tuesday's board meeting, trustees unanimously signed off on spending $262,500 on a feasibility study.

The improvements seek to address the risk of overtopping of the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River. A study completed last month said the Tall Trees neighborhood on the west bank of the river includes 175 homes built in the 1960's at risk of flooding.

It said there have been six measurable flood events in the past decade, including a 100-year storm in 2008. An estimated 63 homes in the area have direct structure flooding at the 100-year flood event level. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Glenview — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

The feasibility study approved Tuesday will consider four different plans:

• Floodproofing all impacted homes.
• A floodwall along residential streets and flood-proofing of riverward structures.
• A floodwall through residential backyards adjacent to the river.
• Doing nothing.

Glenview is splitting the cost of the feasibility study with the federal government, and if the project is approved, nearly $5 million of the cost would be covered by federal funding.

The study is projected to produce a final detailed project report around December 2018, according to a memo from Village Engineer Shane Schneider. Federal approval to start the design phase was targeted for March 2019, while the completion of the design phase could come in April 2020.

According to Schneider, if the project moves forward on schedule, a contract could be awarded in August 2020 and construction could be finished by the following year.

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