Would Flood Work Hurt La Grange's East Side?

LA GRANGE, IL – A La Grange resident on Monday said he feared that a planned village flooding project would hurt his neighborhood.

John Pluto, who lives in the 700 block of East Avenue just south of Sedgwick Park, was referring to the 50th Street storm sewer project.

That project is being made possible by the village's recent victory in court over the Heidelberg Materials quarry, formerly Hanson Aggregates.

The village plans to install a larger pipe to deposit water into the quarry, which is expected to benefit residents south of 47th Street.

Pluto said he heard the project would include water storage under the volleyball courts at the park.

In response, Village President Mark Kuchler acknowledged the storage would likely be at or near the park. But he said he never heard of it being near East Avenue or the volleyball courts.

"It would probably be west in Sedgwick, but that hasn't been decided at all," Kuchler said.

Pluto said the residents of 12th Avenue, one block over from East, would likely suffer the most if the drainage project fails.

"We're bringing a lot of water from the west side (of the village) to the east side," Pluto said. "We need to be very comprehensive on this project."

Kuchler said the village would not approve a project in which some residents would suffer an adverse impact.

"The idea will be to get as much water out of La Grange as possible to save as many structures as possible," he said. "It's not like somebody is going to be worse off because this happened."