A Year Since 'Angry' La Grange Residents Filled Room

LA GRANGE, IL – La Grange has received word that it is likely to get federal money to help it deal with flooding, the village's leader said this week.

Village President Mark Kuchler announced the latest development a year after major flooding in town.

"It's been a long time since I had good, exciting news," Kuchler said at Monday's Village Board meeting.

Kuchler said U.S. Rep. Marie Newman, D-La Grange, recently told the village that she is securing several million dollars to deal with flood prevention in her congressional district.

He said she has spoken with him and members of Dry Up La Grange, which residents formed after last summer's flooding.

Newman indicated she has enough support to get the money for the district, Kuchler said. He said the congresswoman knows that La Grange has among the most severe flooding problems in the area.

"She is also working with other governmental entities, especially the county, to see if they would be willing to match dollars that she's able to secure," Kuchler said. "We're hopeful that the county would be willing to do that."

Newman's time in Congress is ending in January. She represents the 3rd District, but because of redistricting, she ran in the 6th this time. On Tuesday, she lost to the 6th District incumbent, Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove, in the Democratic primary.

At the Village Board meeting, Glenn Thompson, one of Dry Up La Grange's founders, said it had been a year since the flooding that prompted the group's formation.

"It's hard to believe that last year on this date we were standing here in a stinking room full of angry citizens," he said.

In that meeting, flooding victims took the village to task for not doing more to solve the problem. The village is in litigation with a nearby mine that officials blame for much of the flooding on the village's south side.

The village expects to prevail in court. A victory, officials say, would let the village proceed with a multimillion drainage project along 50th Street. A trial is set for September.

In the last year, Thompson said Dry Up La Grange has seen some successes. For instance, he said, the La Grange hospital undertook a drainage project. And the village launched a program to help residents pay for overhead sewers.

He said Dry Up La Grange has caught the attention of officials at different levels of government.

Cook County Board member Frank Aguilar, a Cicero Democrat, has been vocal about La Grange's flooding problem, even wearing Dry Up La Grange's lime green shirts during county meetings.

Thompson said the group typically refrains from endorsing political candidates, but it backed Aguilar's election bid for County Board.