When they appeared before Wilmette’s municipal services committee Sept. 24, engineers had shaved millions of dollars from their earlier flood control proposals for west Wilmette by loosening anti-flooding guidelines and eliminating a major underground floodwater storage tank.
Despite hearing the alternatives, and despite pleas from some west Wilmette residents to quickly choose a flood control plan even if the best plan is expensive, committee members said they weren’t yet willing to make recommendations to the full village board.
Instead, committee members said they want more details on how Wilmette could pay for any of the proposals developed by Christopher B. Burke Engineering – whether that’s through sewer fund fees, bonds or perhaps a new stormwater utility fee – and they want more information on how Wilmette could implement any plan it ultimately goes with.
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That could take a long time, Trustee Cameron Krueger, the committee chairman, told audience members.
“If I had to guess, I’d say there are several more meetings around this issue before it gets to the board,” Krueger said, adding that he “couldn’t even begin to say” whether that might take months or years.
“I think what we’re look at is, of necessity, a longer-term plan,” said Trustee Julie Wolf, a committee member.
Krueger’s and Wolf’s cautious predictions were at odds with requests from residents, many of whom have been lobbying the village for help in controlling overland flooding in their neighborhoods for years, most recently since widespread flooding after storms in spring of 2013.
Karleen McAllester, of the 300 block of Wilshire Drive East, told committee members that village officials should move quickly to solve flooding west of Ridge Road:
“You have some responsibility to take action,” she said.
Others agreed.
“I think the theme coming out here is that residents want the board to be comprehensive in what they go with,” said Brad Bogan, of the 2100 block of Beechwood Avenue.
Wilmette hired the engineering firm in January 2014 to research possible west Wilmette flooding solutions. A year later, the firm presented three to the village board’s municipal services committee.
Those included a $75 million plan to expand west Wilmette’s storm relief system with 42,000 new feet of trunk and lateral sewers in order to keep street flooding below street curb level; a $70 million plan to build 35,000 feet of new trunk and lateral sewers plus an 18-million gallon underground storage tank at Community Playfield, to hold excess water before sending it on to regional flood control systems; and a $44 million plan to put three smaller storage tanks under Thornwood, Centennial and by the Community Recreation Center.
At the time the options were introduced, committee members said the prices, while high, could be manageable when handled in phases. But in March, they directed village staff and Burke engineers to provide cheaper alternative versions of the three options. Committee members and west Wilmette residents got their first look at the alternatives on Sept. 24.
Burke engineer Darren Olson said his firm developed three less expensive alternatives to all three plans – $65.8 million, $63 million and $39.1 million respectively – after relaxing anti-flooding guidelines to allow for street flooding deep enough to reach street curbs.
He also presented two further alternatives to the $70 million plan. One would create Community Playfield’s storage that was partly above ground, for $59.5 million and another would have put all stormwater storage at the play fields on the surface, at a cost of $53 million.
Burke engineers were also asked to check the costs of connecting to a Glenview flood control project on the Wilmette Glenview border, but Olson said the estimated $900,500 cost would help only five houses in west Wilmette, out of an estimated 700 households that could be helped by flood control projects.
After reviewing the new flood control options, committee members told Engineering and Public Works Director Brigitte Berger that they want her to provide them more detailed information.
Figuring out how to pay for whatever plan the village eventually chooses to go with is going to be extremely important, committee Chairman Cameron Krueger said.
Residents at the meeting asked elected officials to be open to quick action and to be willing to take on high costs if necessary.
“People aren’t looking for a cheap solution,” McAllester said.
Joel Kurzman, of the 2600 block of Greenleaf Avenue, also urged the committee to take action, and said that he supported the original $75 million option. Residents in his immediate neighborhood might benefit more from one of the alternatives, “but I think alternative one helps more of west Wilmette.”
“Option one does appear to be the preferred route,” committee member Trustee Dan Sullivan said, “but how do we pay for the $75 million?”
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