Hard-Hit Western Springs Area May Get Help

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL — Residents in Western Springs' Springdale neighborhood expressed outrage after flooding in late June, with many accusing the village of doing little to solve the problem.

This week, the Village Board voted to direct its staff to take action for long- and short-term solutions for the subdivision in the village's southeastern corner.

Trustees asked the staff to seek proposals for the second phase of design work for a drainage project in the subdivision. Earlier this year, a study done by Rosemont-based Christopher Burke Engineering showed the project could be done for $3 million to $3.5 million.

The solution, the firm said, would be excavating a part of the nearby Springdale Park to temporarily store water. But that would require the cooperation of the Western Springs Park District.

On Monday, the board was told that the second phase of design would take up to 1½ years to complete. That disturbed trustees, who said residents wanted quicker action. But officials said it would take so long because the project would be complex, involving underground work that would require navigating around utilities.

They also said the design would help the village get a leg up in trying to secure state and federal money for the project.

"It would be shovel ready," said Jefferey Koza, the village's engineer. "We would be in a position to jump on grant opportunities. They typically want a quick return. If it's ready to go, it will rank higher than a project that's at the concept level."

As a short-term solution, the board approved allowing staff to seek proposals for the design and construction of more inlets north of Springdale's hardest-hit area, which includes 54th Street's intersections with Franklin and Howard avenues.

"There is a decent amount of water bypassing some of these other inlets," Koza said. "It's not getting collected, and it's rolling down into the troubled area. The thought is that we should take a close look to collect that water upstream, so it doesn't head to our troubled area."

He added, "Will this solve our issues? No, it won't. Could it make it better? Yes, it could. We will be evaluating these intersections to see if there are improvements we can do at a relatively low cost as we wait for the bigger project."

While the board discussed the Springdale situation for a half hour, the issue was not on the meeting agenda. Nor was the fact that the board would vote on the issues.

The board called its actions "consensus votes," a procedure that the board sometimes uses when it is directing staff. Such a procedure is rarely, if ever, used in nearby towns.

The state's open meetings law generally requires that the public is notified of issues involving votes. Most government entities let the public know about planned discussions of public matters.

Officials said the votes did not constitute approval of the expenditure of public money.

Patch left a message for comment on the notification issue with Village President Alice Gallagher.