Stormwater Commission

STORMWATER COMMISSION MEETING SUMMARY Thursday, October 10, 2013 The following persons were present: Chair Joe Lo Verde, Steven Vinezeano, John Stanislawski, Chuck Ostman, Richard Wlodarski, Robert Callero, Andrew Vitale, Fred Kudert, Tom Polcyn, Mousa Nazzal, Scott Jochim and Jeff Wickenkamp and Patrick Lach of Hey and Associates. The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. I. No Summary Available for September 12, 2013. II. Old Business: i. Flood Control Assistance Program Update. Vinezeano read a report from Rich Wlodarski.  Three residents remaining to schedule initial qualifying inspection. Multiple calls have made and letters sent.  To date, a total of 129 flood control permits issued.  To date, a total of $210,692 in reimbursements paid with another $26,000 being processed.  There are 22 applicants that are on the overland list that Jeff is working on and will be processed through engineering department.  If everyone that qualified for the program proceeded to get assistance, we would be around $1,343,556 with the average cost being around $3,800. The Chair read a letter from 7608 N. Nora Ave. The Village Manager was asked to send a letter to the homeowner with a decision from the Stormwater Commission. The Commission did not approve his request. There was a discussion about putting a limit on the future funding of the program. The Chair stated a concern that the Village is not capped with the program. How many homeowners are left on the list? We should have a fixed number due to the large costs. It was discussed that there may be another 180 homeowners on the list which is another $720,000. There needs to be controls next year on the budget for this program. Other Villages have put on limits and we should as well. Joe stated that he wanted to have a general  discussion at the Finance Committee for this cost. There was brief discussion about letting homeowners to do their projects now and be reimbursed before Spring. Should there be a program that allows them to do the work before we budget the work? As money comes due, the homeowners can be reimbursed. There was a question put to the engineer whether or not this would be a good idea and would it put more water on the streets and cause a problem. It has the potential to make sewers incrementally worse; however, the homes putting these in are usually the homes in the lowest area. This is the most affordable and most valuable solution for homeowners to put in flood control. The sooner the better to get the flood control in. Mr. Callero reiterated that we want to get water out of basements and then the streets. It was discussed that the list is in the safe for those who have not put in their flood control. ii. Small Projects Update. There was a question about the Greenwood flap valves. Tom P. stated that the items purchased do not fit the structure. Tom stated that he will look at other options. There was a question of whether or not OLR got water with the repair. No was the answer. It was explained that the sump at OLR was higher than the water coming in, so that was lowered and the flooding did not occur recently. Mr. Callero stated that Fr. Chris was very interested to ensure that the flooding was stopped before they could go forward with the larger project. iii. Tier 1 Capital Improvements. a. Cleveland Sewer Project. Jeff stated that the cost estimate for the 72 inch sewer is about $600k. This terminates into a 60 inch sewer. This upsize greatly improves the situation by adding capacity to main line to allow for more conveyance when additional areas are added. The Chair asked when the 72 inch stops. It was stated Harlem. This is about 2,000 to 3,000 feet from river to Harlem. The spine sewer is about 4,000 feet. It is $6.5M for the spine at 60 inches so it is a 10% upsize for potential expansion. The Commission believes that it is worth it. Sewers west of Harlem begin to step down in size as you go higher into the project. Jeff stated that this means a 20% capacity increase. The Chair asked if it is an open cut on Caldwell going west. Yes. There are lots of other values in the project to include  repaving of the main streets. The caution is the work that has yet to be done with the Forest Preserve District and Corps of Engineers to get the permits due. The upsize is not a for sure thing due to regulatory issues that must be addressed. The incremental cost is minimum to the benefits. Jeff was asked about approvals for Corps of Engineers and Forest Preserve District. The Corps seems clear cut, but the Forest Preserve District is more tricky. The Corps is for the headwall. The Forest Preserve District issue is the 60 inch to 72 inch. Will it be an esthetic issue? Are we replacing or repairing or creating something new? There are a lot of moving parts. Hey will initiate the discussion with the 72 inch and not the 60 inch. A motion was made to go with the 72 inch because a 60 inch pipe will not allow expansion. The Chair asked how many streets can be picked up with 72 inch? A 72 inch must stop at Harlem because utility obstructions that would cost much more and be very complex to reconfigure. The entire 4,400 feet of pipe was upsized for the 72 inch from 60 inch. The Chair asked for technical plans. Jeff will email the plans to the Chair. Mousa stated that the 72 inch is the best plan for Niles and makes sense. The Commission in in favor of 72 inch. b. Maryhill. Jeff made modifications to Maryhill preliminary plans and they are just about complete. The cost estimate for the storage is $1M with the pipes. c. OLR. Vinezeano stated that we met with Fr. Chris and he stated that the church is having a Parish Initiative to discuss this and other church related issues. He stated that he feels good about the project and the support his parishioners are giving to the project. Fr. Chris is excited about making the property usable for concerts, masses, Stations of the Cross, etc. This includes the relocation of the street from the north to the south next to the building. Jeff stated that the meeting was very positive. The estimate is at $2.6M. This includes all site improvements. Everything is looking good budget wise for these projects. The combined sewer on Lee Street is slated for 2015. III. New Business: i. Catch Basins on Private Property. Mr. Ostman stated that there is an issue with who maintains the catch basins on private property. He said he was informed by the Engineering Department that property owners are responsible, but there is not an ordinance backing this up. 8100 Wisner area has three installed by the Village, so is this public or private and is the Village responsible? It runs about eight lots in the rear of the properties. An ordinance is required to require maintenance by residents and a method is needed to determine what is private and public. The Chair asked if there were easements and it is unknown. He asked if there was an agreement on any of these. The Engineer stated that agreements were not made because the Village was doing the properties a favor by providing drainage. The Chair feels that the pipes on private property are private responsibility. Calero mentioned his pipe has an easement and in that case it is Village responsibility. Chuck stated it can be case by case as they are found, so tickets can be given. The Engineer stated that all the most recent are private. There was a point made that the catch basin may be on one property, but then others tie into the catch basin. Some are clearly private. Chuck was going to work with Mousa Nazzal to write an ordinance for this. The Chair asked who has been maintaining these for the past years? Tom stated that maintenance for these requires a clean out in the front by the street. He stated that access point in front yard is required too. The Chair stated that if we are going to get away from cleaning private sewers, then we get away from it. Chuck and Rich agreed that the language should be strong and establish that pipes in older homes is their responsibility. ii. Stormwater Presentation for NTV. There was a request to have Jeff conduct a presentation on the project for NTV. This would be very useful for the residents. iii. Stormwater Focus Areas. There were a number of focus areas where homes fall out of the Tier 1 and 2 projects and cannot be helped by the cost share program. These are the residents who have come to a meeting in the past. Could they be included in a Tier 3? Is there a cost assigned to them? There was a summary given: a. Oconto and Octavia. Several meetings held discussing this area. We have submitted them for the buyout program, but there is an issue with flooding duration and level. The level of flooding could not be improved. A sewer upsized would cost about $100,000 to reduce the duration of flooding. To fix the problem totally would be $2.5M for a pipe all the way  to the river. This would save the two homes flooding and street flooding impacting seven others. The Chair asked if there was a shorter route. Can it be connected to another pipe somewhere? It was discussed the pipes would have to cut through a watershed divide to reach any pipe and the grades would not be there. Chuck, whose son lives in that area, does not think it would be of value to the residents for the cost of the work. Jeff stated that some residents did tell him the duration reduction was favorable to them. This project will be impacted if the IEMA buyout grant is successful. b. 8149 Farnsworth. There are no compelling reason why problems, so smoke testing will occur. Clustered sanitary sewer backups occurring. c. 9401 Western Avenue. We have discussed this home extensively. This is in the buyout grant application. There was a solution for overland protection at an estimated cost of $50k. Creation of storage is a possibility on the limited space, but it will only hold a ½ inch of water and not help his issues. d. 8500 and 8506 Oleander Avenue. They said they have overland flow issues. It is by Oak Park and would benefit from the Tier 1 Lee Street project. e. 8520 Overhill Area. The Main Milwaukee Lee Street project in 2015 will help this area. In addition, Notre Dame closer look was not completed yet. This will get done. Chuck asked about the roadway berm that is not holding water on their Notre Dame property. If a berm is beneficial, lets approach Notre Dame. f. Nordica Townhome Area. This is an area that is mostly storm sewer. There is a depressional area where flooding occurs. Some autos were damaged. No structures reported. This would require a $1.5M sewer improvement to reduce street flooding. It was stated that home flooding is something to be tackled first and then street flooding. g. Kedzie/Oriole/Milwaukee Area. This is the gentleman who made a presentation to the Board of Trustees. It has flooding issues and there is a potential sewer extension that could help, but much more expensive then Milwaukee. Also, a cross connect to Milwaukee for $60k could help. The residents have stated that the flooding is not structural, but proximity. Some street flooding that is severe and caused loss cars. Chuck stated that his flood control system gets close to the water line when it does flood. Duration of water is too long and there is capacity on Milwaukee that can be taken advantage of. IV. Open Discussion: Jeff brought up the MWRD Phase II Stormwater Program. April 18 of this year, the Board said they would pursue this. Hey has been pushing our projects with MWRD. MWRD approved pursuing projects with our projects attached. The largest project at $6.5M on the list is the Cleveland sewer project. The legislation allows MWRD to work with the Village. Will they fund the project? Or a portion of the project? We are waiting for first contact since that meeting where it was approved. Jeff brought up the long term green infrastructure presentation that he gave at a Chicago conference and stated that five of the MWRD personnel sat through this presentation. The Village of Niles is very high on the districts mind. It is highly probable we could benefit from MWRD support. Vinezeano thanked Hey and Associates for all their efforts with MWRD and thanked them for their efforts. V. Next Scheduled Meetings: TBD