Stormwater Management Commission

MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING STORMWATER MANAGEMENT COMMISSION VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS July 21, 2016 Commissioners Present (6) Adele Sturgis Peter Rosner Len Rago Greg Hoeft Craig Hetue Sandra Whitmore Members Absent: (4) Thomas Burke Pedro Cevallos Eugene Chodash William Pappas Village Staff Present Matt Morrison, Asst. Director of Public Works Matt Farmer, Village Engineer Colleen Brunner, Recording Secretary Call to Order Acting Chairman Len Rago, called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm in the 2nd floor Conference Room at the Public Works Center. Review of Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes with the following change; First page, second to last paragraph, Strike last sentence and insert “Member Sturgis is concerned that FEMA won’t use the Village’s best available data for the West Fork area south of Walters.” Hear From the Audience None New Business A) Introduction of new Stormwater Management Commission Members Due to terms expiring, there are two new members. Staff introduced Sandra Whitmore. She has worked in the leisure/park district industry out of state and has recently returned to Northbrook. She is ready to be involved in the community. Pedro Cevallos was not able to make the meeting tonight. 1  B) Verbal Update of Current Stormwater Management Projects. Village Engineer Farmer handed out a detailed written project update of the 3 projects that are currently being worked on. Additional comments include: 1) Wescott Park- The project is moving along but the first stage of the concrete pavement pour was delayed a few days due to the high heat. Concrete pavement is susceptible to uncontrolled cracking when poured at high temperatures. Farnsworth will remain open with one way traffic. 2) Shermer Road Overflow Sewer- This project is over budget in the 5-10% range due to delays, redesign work caused by a 30” crosstown water main, and changes required by the railroad for a storm sewer pipe pushed under the railroad tracks. All of the roadway work and most of the landscaping has been completed. 3) Northbrook East Stormwater Detention Facility- As of 4:00 today, staff received the Cook County permit to construct temporary access to the project site. Work should begin the week of July 25. The contractor is expecting to complete the project on schedule. Following the public open house, the neighbors have been fairly receptive to the proposed work. The Village will do some plantings for the properties adjacent to the work for additional screening. Additionally, an 8 foot tall cedar fence will be installed along the rear lot lines of the affected properties. There will not be any work completed south of Sunset Ridge. Discussion Regarding Prioritization for Stormwater Projects Included in the packet, was an update and exhibit relating to the Stormwater Management Projects. Matt Morrision explained that staff is working on the 5 year CIP and is looking for input from the Stormwater Commission in prioritizing the upcoming stormwater projects. The current plan is to complete all the projects in the Master Stormwater Management Plan, then Addendum #1 , followed by Addendum #2. The Village is seeking input with the following; 1) Should the projects continue to be prioritized by MSMP, Addendum #1, and then Addendum #2, or 2) Should remaining projects be prioritized based on structure flooding, property flooding, and street flooding or should new factors be considered? 2) If so, should the Village re-prioritize the remaining projects based on these priorities. The members had the following comments; Adele Sturgis- Ms. Sturgis feels property acquisition is a necessity and should be a priority as the Village cannot construct any of the projects that require detention without the land. The Village should actively identify and seek out these parcels. In Willow Creek a particular vacant home is most likely available to purchase and the Village should be offering right of first refusal. Morrison stated that during the development of the project the design is finalized and it doesn’t always mimic what was in the MSMP so purchasing property in advance can be difficult. The Village really wouldn’t be out anything as they could then sell the parcel. As to re- ranking projects, the Master Plans original purpose was to prioritize and rank in an attempt to avoid this very issue. She wants to see consistency and worried as we have been down this road so many times. If you change the criteria, how are those that have been waiting for so long going to respond? Not sure if it is fair to push others ahead. She doesn’t want it to change based on who is the most vocal or loudest. We perhaps could consider re-ranking if there is structure flooding and the homeowner has done everything reasonably possible to mitigate it. She can understand the arguments on both sides. Craig Hetue- 2 He feels that property acquisition and easement issues are very important. How would staff deal with leap frogging a new project over an original project? He thinks staff should not touch the original plan but could reshuffle projects within the addendums. Sandra Whitmore- Due to being a new member, she is getting familiar with the ranking prioritization of structure of structure flooding, property flooding and street flooding . She feels the Village should do the footwork and make property acquisition a priority. Peter Rosner- Adding property procurement is a priority. If the Commission obtained new or more specific information on structure flooding, perhaps he could consider re-ranking projects within the Master Plan and addendums. Craig Hoeft- He feels the Village should proactively purchase properties as it won’t affect them either way as they could always be sold. When we look at the overview map of the floodway there are still properties in the flood plain. Were these considered when the areas in the Master Plan were identified? He feels roadway flooding is an important consideration as it impacts emergency vehicles gaining access, and perhaps should be ranked higher. Perhaps staff should resort the projects in the addendums if there is structure flooding. Farmer’s response- Some properties will never be taken out of the flood plain but many have been taken out with the letter of map revision and the Techny Drain project. Len Rago- He raised the point whether we could look at property acquisition as a separate category. It would let the Village buy parcels based on preliminary design. Perhaps HLR could identify the appropriate parcels needed for these projects. He questioned whether going forward, the Commission could look at each addendum and if someone has structure flooding in the 1st or 2nd group, should we reevaluate those and move them ahead of those waiting the longest? Matt Farmer- stated the other way to look at the re-ranking of projects is that if both addendums were part of the original Master Plan, the projects may have ranked higher within that plan than being part of the addendum. Acting Chairman Rago recapped the comments to state that the Commission is open to staff re-sorting the projects with any questionable projects being brought back to the Commission. They requested the updated plan be brought back to a Stormwater Commission meeting. Adjourn There being no further business there was a motion made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried and the meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Colleen Brunner Recording Secretary 3