Climate Change A Factor In La Grange Flooding: Official

ELMHURST, IL – A La Grange trustee this week described the village's flooding problem as "intractable." But he said the village was working hard to solve it.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Trustee Lou Gale responded after two residents spoke earlier about flooding north of 47th Street. They said the village was doing nothing about it.

Gale said the village had no easy answers to the problems.

"If there were, we would have solved them already," Gale said. "We're confronted with a changing climate. We're confronted with deteriorating infrastructure. (That) makes it a moving target, harder to address."

But he said the village has taken intermediate steps such as holding the line on impervious surfaces that lead to more flooding.

He noted the village's continuing litigation with a nearby quarry for the 50th Street storm sewer project.

"We try to work through all of these issues," Gale said. "It's big, intractable, and we're working hard to solve it."

Trustee Beth Augustine agreed the village was working hard for a solution. But she said the village should gather its engineers, public works officials and a couple of trustees to talk about the issues with concerned residents.

Village President Mark Kuchler said he appointed Gale and then-Trustee David McCarty to the task of investigating the issues soon after he took the helm in early 2020. He noted McCarty's experience as an architect and Gale's degrees in engineering.

The two trustees concluded the village should continue its efforts for the 50th Street storm sewer, which would benefit areas south of 47th Street. They also set the process in motion to hire Rosemont-based Christopher Burke Engineering, Kuchler said.

That firm, Kuchler said, did a good job in addressing flooding problems in Elmhurst.