Lake Zurich resident Ron Lomacz said he lost nearly everything after heavy June rains, and resulting flooding, caused nearly 10 feet of water to rush into his basement.
After paying out of pocket what he estimates to be between $40,000 and $50,000 to repair the damages, he said he doesn’t understand why he’s not getting any assistance from the Lake Zurich or the village’s insurance company.
“The damage is not our fault, yet I’m being punished,” he said. “Are we really going to let all these people, including my family, pay the price for this?”
Lomacz, who lives in Lake Zurich’s Braemar neighborhood, said he was one of about 20 residents who experienced flooding in their basements after the June 26 storm—which village officials at the time called a 200-year-event—dumped an estimated 6.6 inches of rain on the town in a matter of about three hours.
The heavy rains caused a sanitary lift station in Lomacz’s neighborhood to short out, resulting in system backups that left some in the area without sewer service for a day and exacerbating the flooding problems.
Because of this, Lomacz blames the village for the damage to his home, where he lives with his mother, grandmother and great aunt.
Lake Zurich Village Manager Jason Slowinski said it was the town’s insurance company provider, not the village, that deemed the event an act of nature and opted not to pay out to affected residents.
He said village officials had been in contact with Lomacz, including going out to survey his property and providing information to the insurance company, Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency.
The village did offer some assistance to those affected, opting in July to waive permit fees associated with repairs necessary to get people back into their homes.
The fee waivers extended to things like water heaters, furnaces and electrical and HVAC systems.
Immediately after the floods, village officials also offered free cleanup kids and placed 20 Dumpsters around town to help residents who needed to clean up
But that’s as much as the village can do to help, Slowinski said.
In neighboring Barrington, village officials recently approved up to $10,000 in assistance for each resident affected by the storm.
The money would go toward upgrading sewer systems in homes that experienced sanitary sewer backup, which is similar to the problem that Lomacz faced.
While officials in Lake Zurich did consider that option, Slowinski said it’s just not possible.
“We did talk about it,” he said of moving forward with a similar assistance program. “Unfortunately, given our financial situation, we don’t have a fund we can tap into.”
Lomacz said he wanted the issue to be put on a future agenda so residents could get some answers.
“I realize our situations (in Lake Zurich and Barrington) are not exactly the same, and this is not an apples-to-apples comparison, but they are doing something, and it seems that Lake Zurich is doing nothing.”
Slowinski said he didn’t expect the matter to come up at a future board meeting.
Lomacz said he is looking into any further options for getting financial help.
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“I’m not going to say that I’m going to go gung-ho with this, but if there’s something there, I’m definitely going to pursue it,” he said.
Twitter: @danwaters33