Stormwater Commission

STORMWATER COMMISSION MEETING SUMMARY Wednesday, February 5, 2014 The following persons were present: Chair Joe Lo Verde, Steven Vinezeano, 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. Approve Meeting Summaries for September 12, 2013 and October 10, 2013. Summaries were approved to be posted on the Stormwater Commission webpage. II. Old Business: i. Flood Control Assistance Program Update. Rich Wlodarski provided an update by the numbers. There was discussion regarding those who were put on a list, but did not come in to request cost share within the set period. The Chair voiced his concern regarding the allocation of funds for this program beyond what was approved in the current budget. It was stated that the wait list of 168 homeowners could result in another $672k in the next budget. There was discussion that a certified letter should be sent to those who have not acted on the applications yet. Nothing was promised to the 168 on the “waiting list.” There was discussion that the Finance Committee will discuss what should be considered for next fiscal year. ii. Tier 1 Capital Improvements. a. Cleveland Sewer Project. This is the most complex due to the issues. Today a package is being sent to IDOT for Harlem permits. The Forest Preserve tree survey was done showing that the sewer route could be realigned to have less impact on valued trees. The tree impact permit going in this week. The plans are close to 90%. Engineering will not be the holdup on the Cleveland project. There was discussion about the possible funding. MWRD information was provided. The Cleveland sewer was listed  as a possible project for funding. They could not say how much at the time, but it could be about $2M or more depending on projects. MWRD has discussed that they will start the IGA process to prepare us if the State passes the necessary laws to allow MWRD to provide local project support. The IEPA Loan program was discussed and that it will save the Village as much as $1.8M due to low interest. Both of these funding opportunities will have their own requirements that the engineering plans will need to show. The Mayor asked when we plan to break ground. There was discussion of permits and timing that would require approval, but no hold ups were anticipated. Hey stated that spring ground breaking is still on target for these projects. The Mayor stated that the goal is to break ground in May or June for the two basins. There was discussion about the bid process and the need to go to the village board to request to go to an rfp and go back to the board to award the contract. There was discussion that three to four weeks is important if you want serious bids on the projects. Technical modifications will be required for the Cleveland project if we get the IEPA and/or the MWRD funds. It was discussed that the earliest the Cleveland project could be started is September. b. Maryhill. Plans are 90% and their engineering department had one or two final comments. There was discussion on the project and how it works. There are no berms, but a detention basin with attached new and larger sewers. Hey outlined the sewer locations and how they worked with the basin. Homes directly south will benefit greatly from this project. There was discussion that the annexation request was in process. There is a strong interest to get the project moving forward and match the signal modernization of the Main and Milwaukee signal lights to prevent duplicative work. There was a question if this project impacts Cleveland sewer project. It does, only if it flows overland to the Cleveland area. Maryhill led the engineers to believe that it is no big deal to get this project done.  c. OLR. Plans at 90% complete engineering plans. In communication with church and Archdiocese. All work has been reviewed by them and their engineers. There was some clarification with a basin fence for the legal documents. There was discussion about the type of fence and the purpose. A fence surrounding the basin is out of the question and not something that the church would like or the village. Hey provided a basic description of the project. The space will now be functional and an amenity that the church will be able to use for outdoor masses and Stations of the Cross. Vinezeano will provide the Mayor with a copy of the project rendering. iii. IEMA Buyout Grant Application. We were preapproved, however, the calculations for damages did not meet the applications needs of the grant. Hey worked very closely with FEMA and IEMA on the homes identified and it could not work. Vinezeano stated that the letters for those homeowners participating in the preapproval process were sent out. III. New Business: i. IGIG II Grant Application. Hey provided an update on the grant application for a pervious paver project with planted swales near Oak Park where there is flooding. ii. Illinois State Revolving Fund Loan. This was covered. iii. MWRD Potential Funding. This was covered. iv. 8652 Park/8310 oak Backwater Valves. Flappers are ordered and will be installed this spring. v. Future Engineering Support. There was discussion on whether or not Hey and Associates would be chosen to complete the projects listed. These items have been budgeted and will require engineering support. Overland Flood Control Reviews – it is not known if any of these are necessary yet, but could be minimal. Reevaluation of Tier II Projects and Timing – there was a list of possible small projects that require engineering. Once Tier I is done, Tier II will need to be reevaluated based on actual. The Chair asked about Hey’s agreement currently. Jeff stated there is nothing after bid award of the projects. No oversight is budgeted by Hey and Associates. There was brief discussion about hiring a new engineer.  Vinezeano was asked to have a recommendation for oversight engineering at the next meeting. Mousa stated that a new engineer will work on streets and water main. MWRD ordinance passed is more aggressive than it was in the past. Now they are requesting municipalities participate with the coordination of the MWRD permits in the future. There was a consensus that the village applies to become certified. IV. Open Discussion: Center for Neighborhood Technology and the IKE grant was discussed. It was stated that maybe it can be planned for green streets planning to supplement the hardscape projects being planned now. Andrew Vitale is working on maps to see flood control devices plotted. He stated it would be a week or so. Resident at Kedzie. He discussed what he called “flow berms” and shared pictures of flooding. His home is two homes off of Milwaukee Avenue. He stated that the flow berms only blocks the water in. He stated it happened a couple of times this year and a couple before in the past. He stated about 20 homes are impacted. He said the water is 15 inches deep. He said the flow berms caused the flooding. He stated that the village did not get a second opinion from another engineer before it was installed. He stated that Jeff wanted to research whether or not this could be mitigated. He stated that nine streets have these and should all be removed. April and May it occurred this year. He said that his foundation is cracked and cannot fix it. He said that he has an ever ready flood control system that does not work well at all. $8,000 was paid for the flood control system and $1,000 to have them come out to repair. His flood in 2005 cost him $30k in losses. He stated that the value in his home has dropped and so he is stuck here and cannot move. He said that he has post-traumatic stress disorder now and everyone on his block as well. He said the flood was created by the village. He made claims that Jeff said that the area would not flood if a pipe was connected to Milwaukee sewer. Jeff stated that it would reduce “duration” of flooding. Nine damns were put in many years ago and he never heard about it. Give Jeff the chance to do a study on the pipe. He said he can do it real cheap. The Chair asked if this connection to Milwaukee would help as the resident stated. Jeff discussed the seven areas in the Village for small project consideration. These areas were studied by Hey and Associates and the area was identified as a possible project, but no funding was available. What was determined by the study of the flow berm is that it is 100% not hurting the situation on that street or making anything worse. If anything, it is helping because it blocks the water from Milwaukee from going down the street. However, a connection under the berm to Milwaukee will reduce the duration of flooding. To resolve the flooding 100% (primarily street flooding) $1M was not approved during the triage phase of planning. Berms were installed in 1992 and he claims they never flooded until then. There was a question on how  much it would cost to remove the berm, but Hey stated that the berm is a good thing and if you remove it it will cause more flooding. There were questions on the timing of the flooding. Vinezeano outlined the dates of the major storms since 2008. There was discussion about connecting the pipe, but not removing the berm. V. Next Scheduled Meetings: TBD