Wet Weather Worries Bring Elmhurst Residents to Committee Meeting

Residents Monday night had a question for the city's Public Works and Buildings Committee: What's been done to ensure that last summer's floods don't happen again?

The committee had a request for residents in return: Keep your storm drains clear.

The committee meeting room overflowed with residents who were concerned that no concrete action had been taken since floods ravaged many neighborhoods last July. But committee members assured them that work on a comprehensive stormwater plan was ongoing, and that contractors had taken advantage of recent rains to gather data.

The city has a with Christopher Burke Engineering/RJN Group to study areas of the city that repeatedly flood and to come up with a comprehensive list of solutions for these areas. In addition, a Stormwater Task Force, made up of 40 residents, is studying various issues related to ongoing flooding in the city.

Chairman and 6th Ward Alderman Jim Kennedy reminded residents that the city took major action following the large flooding event in 1987.

“We have made huge strides since '87. ... We fixed Salt Creek,” he said, referring to the berm the city constructed along the creek–the only city-owned, federally certified levy in the country, he added.

Residents wondered if the city planned to look at a variety of options or have a set limit on how much money it would devote to a fix this time around. Kennedy and Public Works Director Mike Hughes said the city would have many alternatives to choose from, including purchasing homes with chronic flooding issues and working with other taxing bodies to provide for additional water storage.

In response to a question about funding, 5th Ward Alderman Chris Healy said that the financing of any work “might be the easy part,” as the city has a great credit rating.

“To float a bond is not a time-consuming process,” he said.

Healy told residents that he patrolled his ward following the heavy rain on Memorial Day weekend, and all of the flooded areas he encountered were due to blocked storm drains in the streets. One was even clogged with two newspapers.

Hughes added that if a big storm is anticipated, city crews get out and sweep the streets to clear tree debris, a much more cost-effective use of time than going out after the rain to unclog drains. Alderman and staff asked residents to help out and keep drains in front of their homes clear.