If Elmhurst can divert stormwater to a quarry, School District 205 could save York High School more than $1 million.
District 205 is paying $1.17 million in stormwater variance fees to the city’s stormwater control fund instead of providing detention facilities at the high school.
York High School was not required to provide stormwater detention because the school was built in 1918, decades before stormwater management requirements were added to the building code. But the four-year, $86 million rebuilding project that began last month cost the high school its grandfather clause, City Manager Thomas Borchert said.
“The complete replacement of the school triggers the maximum stormwater requirement, and there just isn’t enough room on the site to store the runoff,” he said.
A study the City Council commissioned in August will determine if Elmhurst can use the quarry.
If DuPage County agrees, District 205 probably could run pipes from the high school to the quarry for less than the stormwater variance fee.