Park Ridge officials and public works staff delved into recently completed, in-progress and upcoming flood control construction projects Aug. 7 and pondered ways to speed up construction on stormwater basins, sewer systems and other ways to contain rainwater.
Earlier this spring, intense storms prompted 50 residents to call the city for assistance and left six streets flooded to the point they needed to be blocked off.
A pair of residents who had already sat through more than two hours of city council proceedings also took the podium to express their frustration with the pace of work on the flood control projects and ask why new storm sewers at Northwest Park were the last item on the city’s list of priorities.
First on the priorities list is a new pump station and storm sewer network at Mayfield Estates and upsizing the Dempster Street storm sewer. According to a memo from Public Works Director Sarah Mitchell to city council members, the city is currently negotiating an agreement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and expects the Dempster storm sewer to be built in 2025.
The next items on the list are, in order, a new storm sewer on Sibley Avenue and connecting sewers on a number of other streets in Park Ridge. Then there are the new storm sewers at Northwest Park.
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The most recently completed flood control project is an underground vault on Marvin Parkway, which began construction in 2021.
“We’re in this period where we’ve finished Marvin, we’re waiting on Mayfield… we have to talk about funding,” 4th Ward Alderman Harmony Harrington said.
Harrington wanted to know if the order of the city’s priorities could change.
“It’s hard to feel like we’re just sitting here for two to three years waiting for the next project to start,” she said. “I know nothing ever works seamlessly with the timeline but there has to be some accountability to the public on that.”
Mitchell said receiving a grant could prompt staff to reshuffle the projects.
“We’re always seeking grants and there’s grants out there for flood control projects and it’s been our hope all along that we would get one for Mayfield, or maybe one for Sibley, but there’s no guarantee,” she said.
Some of Park Ridge’s peer communities, including the neighboring village of Niles, have gone so far as to hire federal lobbyists to try and secure dollars currently flowing out of Washington, D.C. for infrastructure projects.
All of the projects carry price tags in the millions of dollars and are in varying stages of planning and licensing, according to Mitchell’s memo.
The city also installed nine sewers between 2010 and 2013 as part of a flood control plan adopted in the wake of a 2008 flood, according to Mitchell’s memo.
City Manager Joe Gilmore pointed out that Park Ridge also does ongoing sewer lining, which improves the effectiveness of its existing sewers, and installs “green alleys” and permeable pavement, both of which reduce the overall volume of water going into the sewer system.
“Even though (with) these major projects, there are some dominoes that have to fall, every year we’re making progress on our flood mitigation efforts,” he said.
In response, 5th Ward Alderman Joseph Steinfels suggested that the city look at increasing the number of green alleys the city installs in the coming budget.
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Finance director Chris Lipman also suggested that the city council revisit the idea of a stormwater utility fee during its annual budget process to help finance flood control projects.