Residents, Officials Look to Solve Oak Park Flooding

Last month’s heavy rains have been described as a 50-year event, but to residents living in the far northeast section of Oak Park, every big rain is considered a major situation.

Bounded by Austin Boulevard on the east, Ridgeland on the west, Berkshire on the south and North Avenue on the north, the northeast section is the lowest spot in town.

This year’s rains filled up the bowl-shaped area quite rapidly, residents say. Now exasperated with the flooding and the sanitary sewer back-ups that have wreaked havoc in their homes – not to mention to their lives – residents have gotten organized. They've created a Facebook page to share information with friends and neighbors about solutions and issues.

And they are turning to the village for answers. More than a couple of dozen residents came to Monday’s special board meeting seeking a response.

Zerrin Bulut, who lives in the 1100 block of North Harvey Avenue, wants a serious investigation of the sewer system.

“We value the diversity and the quality of life in Oak Park and we do our best to keep up our end of the relationship,” she said. “The city should do its part to maintain an infrastructure that’s efficient and effective.”

Angela Spinollo, who lives on Lemoyne Parkway, said she's seen flooding in each of the three years she’s lived in Oak Park. She said types of heavy rains are no longer extraordinary weather events — they’re the norm.

“We need to plan for these types of rainfalls and sewer system breakdowns and create a real plan. These back-ups hurt us,” she said.

And a "real plan" is what the village said it plans to provide, and it could come as early as mid-September.

Officials will start meeting to tie down what course of action to take to deal with flooding all over town, said John Wielebnicki, Oak Park’s director of. In addition to the far northeast section, the general area of the 1000, 1100 and 1200 blocks of Oak Park Avenue got hit pretty hard as well, Wielebnicki said.

Sewers will be televised — tiny cameras in sewer pipes, essentially — to see if they're free of obstructions or need repairs, he said. Wielebnicki said they will see if larger pipes could be needed or if sewers need replacing. Information on flooding prevention will also be gathered and provided to residents.

“We will seriously follow up on all ideas so that residents can protect themselves,” Wielebnicki said.

One idea that will be fully looked into was floated by Eric Davis, a resident who is a disaster management consultant. Davis, an trustee, suggested that the village file a hazard mitigation grant program with the state, similar to what Glenview and Calumet City have done.

Officials say that part of the problem in Oak Park is the capacity of the combined storm-sewer system: it’s built to handle a 10-year rain, village manager Tom Barwin said. And it is hooked into a regional system that carries water from all over the area to the sewage treatment plant in Stickney. The state and federal environmental protection agencies very reluctant to release untreated water into rivers and waterways, Barwin said.

“We’ve had so much rain that the capacity to absorb it all is not there,” Barwin said. “That’s why there are backups into basements and streets. “We had 3 inches of rain in an hour.”

Still, Barwin said, “we will be as responsive as we possibly can be.”

One way to assist the village and the Cook County Department of Homeland Security in assessing damage is to fill out a Data Collection Form and return it to the village by Aug 4. In addition to determining eligibility for individual assistance support, information will help create a database for future aid programs for homeowners if mitigation funding is obtained.

Forms can be obtained by clicking here. They can be e-mailed to Rob Cole at cole@oak-park.us, faxed to (708) 383-9584 or dropped off at the health department at 123 Madison St., care of the health department. Residents looking for more information are encouraged to call (708) 358-5791.