Aldermen Say Elmhurst Stormwater Solutions will Involve Use of School and Park Property

Elmhurst City Council unveiled a plan Monday to alleviate flooding throughout the city by utilizing land belonging to Elmhurst Unit District 205 and Elmhurst Park District. On display in council chambers were conceptual drawings of public areas identified as potential water retention basins.

While a lot of work has been done since the 2010 floods devastated numerous areas of the city, nothing "tangible" has been implemented yet to take care of overland flooding, Public Works and Buildings Committee Chairman Jim Kennedy said. In 2010, RJN Group analyzed system failings on the sewer and sanitary side, resulting in the soon-to-be-constructed, $6 million southwest Elmhurst Wet Weather Project.

RELATED: 'Four Times in 10 Years': Elmhurst Residents Outline Their Continued Flooding Frustrations

On the stormwater side, solutions are just beginning to be discussed. Christopher J. Burke Engineering released its 94-page storm sewer analysis in 2012, which identifies several parks and schools for excavation:

"We went to District 205 and the Elmhurst Park District," Kennedy said. "Because we don't own the land where we ultimately hope to put this water, we will work with our brethren in those entities to alleviate what has been a standing issue for the city and all its residents for many, many years."

For all stories related to Elmhurst flooding, click here: Elmhurst Flood 2013

Doug Gotham, landscape architect with Christopher Burke, used Golden Meadows Park as an example of what would happen at each of the sites.

Golden Meadows Park is just south of East End Park and includes a full-sized soccer field. The plan is to lower the soccer field and engineer it so stormwater enters at the southwest corner, fills the depressed area and eventually exits near the I-294 tollway.

There would be a "slight pitch" to the field but not enough to interfere with play, Gotham said.

"Keep in mind we would like to leave the fields in a better condition then they are now—improve them in appearance and function," he said.

Burke has been able to do this successfully in Tinley Park, Downers Grove, Gurnee and other communities, he said.

Mayor Steve Morley said he saw an example first hand, at Washington Park in Downers Grove.

"I encourage anybody who wants to get a look at this to go to Downers Grove and look at Washington Park," he said. "It actually was an improvement to the facility that's already there. Two days after the last flood, people were playing on the soccer and baseball fields and the grass was completely dry."

The sites would be gravity-fed with no pumping required, with the exception of Bryan Middle School, Morley said.

These concepts are very new to the park and school districts, which haven't even begun to study the overall impact. The Park Board will discuss the plans at its next meeting on Wednesday, May 8.

"I can't stress enough that these are concept, in draft only," City Manager Jim Grabowski said. "Neither the School Board nor Park District have had an opportunity to discuss these and how they will affect their individual properties."

The next step will be to hold separate meetings for each of eight areas identified. The schedule of these meetings will be posted soon on the city's website, Grabowski said. Then, detailed engineering projects will be developed in conjunction with school and park officials. Engineers have not determined a cost for the work.

"If for some reason one of the other entities says this is absolutely not going to work for us, we don't want to spend dollars on engineering and cost analysis to find out it's not moving forward," Gotham said.

Kennedy said the challenges with these projects will be how to pay for them, when to begin and in what order.

"This is the No. 1 thing we need to do that everybody has a hand in to make this great town even better going forward," he said.

"This is not our land. It's going to take some serious intergovernmental work to get this done," Morley said.