UPDATED - Aug. 10 at 3:30 am: The village board Monday night approved funding for a preliminary engineering study for a combined sewer drainage basin south of 47th St. Village staff set plans for a special public meeting this fall to address sewer plans. More residents spoke about how the flood affected them. Click here to watch video of the meeting.
The biggest issue of discussion at the July 26 regular meeting of the La Grange village board of trustees was not even on the agenda.
Who could have predicted when the meeting's agenda was published and distributed on Thursday, four days earlier, that the intervening weekend would bring a deluge upon the village--a near-record six inches of rain in the overnight and early morning hours of July 23-24?
By the following Monday night, when the board convened, village officials already had logged 80 calls for assistance from residents who streets and/or basements had flooded, in several instances with raw sewage.
Many of the residents affected by the flooding attended that meeting spontaneously to address their concerns to the board and village staff. About a dozen of them, many residing south of 47th St and west of La Grange, whose, neighborhoods were hardest hit, claimed that the weekend flooding was only the latest, albeit greatest, instance of a flooding issue that has perked up on several occasions in recent years.
Below you will find a link to four videos that capture firsthand the comments, questions and criticism directed at village officials regarding the flooding situation, along with the responses.
These videos complement our report from last week in which Village Manger Robert Pilipiszyn summarized the weekend flood event and the immediate response from public works and public safety officials. We also at that time posted , a transcript of remarks made by Public Works Director Ryan Gillingham outlining the ongoing projects designed to improve the village sewer infrastructure.
Today we report that, in the 10 days since those reports were posted, village officials logged another 40 assistance calls from residents, many of them coming just this past Tuesday, when a second but less sustained downpour occurred in the early morning hours. Some of those calls came from residents who also had placed calls to the village during the July 23-24 flood, Andrianna Peterson, assistant village manager, said today.
In response to the outcry from residents, a list of flood resources was posted on the village's official website, Peterson said.
Of particular note is a data collection questionnaire that flood-affected residents can fill out and submit. The information obtained will be used by village and state officials to appeal to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for financial aid that can be used to reimburse residents for flood-related property damage and losses.
West Cook County is one of ten areas in Illinois that Gov. Pat Quinn declared as emergency disaster areas following the July 23-24 flooding.
Also of note is a staff recommendation that the village board will consider at its next regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 9, which if approved would result in a preliminary engineering study for a combined sewer drainage basin south of 47th St.
Click the image below to watch videos residents speaking out at the July 26 village board meeting about the recent flooding, and questioning the village's preparedness. Also included are responses from Village President Elizabeth Asperger and village staff, along with comments and questions to staff from individual trustees.