La Grange Flood Plan Feels 'Totally Up In Air': Resident

LA GRANGE, IL – At their meeting Monday, La Grange trustees talked about a lot of things, but not flooding.

That was left to resident Laura West to bring up. She noted not a word had been said about perhaps the village's biggest problem.

West, who lives in the 100 block of Sunset Avenue, has pointed out this lack of discussion at previous meetings.

"There are people investing in La Grange, and where is La Grange investing in itself? The residents deserve better," West said. "It would be great to stay updated, so residents know all the work that is going on behind the scenes... I feel like from our end, we are totally up in the air."

Much of the village's focus on flooding has been in south La Grange, where litigation has delayed the proposed 50th Street storm sewer project for years.

Meanwhile, West and others have pressed the village to do something about north of 47th Street. She said the village promised an engineer's report on that section of town by the first quarter of 2024. In October, the village said the report was set to be completed by year's end.

"We're anxiously awaiting some plan ideas, some relief and action, so we can stop talking about this issue," West said.

Village President Mark Kuchler said village officials were also anxious for news.

"We're champing at the bit to make some announcements," he said.

But he said it didn't make sense to say the village is almost there and then not follow through.

"We really have to let the process play out," he said. "The engineers we hired and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on to plan the north side of 47th Street sewer projects are working."

The report is expected in the first quarter, Kuchler said, but given spring break, the village may not present it to the public until early in the second quarter.

Kuchler also said the Village Board planned to hold a closed session at the end of its meeting to discuss the litigation related to the 50th Street storm sewer.