Wilmette Trustees Pick Least Expensive Flood Control Plan

WILMETTE, IL — The Wilmette Village Board chose the cheapest of three options presented for mitigating flooding in west Wilmette. After about five years of meetings and studies, a plan to built underground tanks for floodwater under three parks for between $48 and $55 million ("Option Three") was approved Tuesday, Pioneer Press reported.

The village said that plan will protect more than 70 percent of homes prone to flooding in the event of a 10-year storm, protecting about 220 homes in a significant rain event. The more expensive plan had been projected to offer protection to 95 percent of Wilmette homes.

A more expensive option ("Option One") would have added 8 miles of sewer lines to bring stormwater to the Chicago River, but it would have cost nearly twice as much and add to property taxes and the village's debt burden. Wilmette Life reported Joel Kurzman was the only trustee to vote in favor of the more expensive plan.

Construction of the three floodwater storage tanks – at Thornwood Park, Hibbard Park and either Centennial Park or Community Playfields – could begin as early as this fall, according to village staff.

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