Park Ridge elected officials were given a priority list of eight flood-mitigation projects to tackle, should they decide to embark on an estimated $106 million plan over a period of four decades.
Jeff Julkowski, senior project manager with Christopher B. Burke Engineering, presented the Park Ridge City Council on Feb. 12 with a ranking of projects in the order they should be completed. The project prioritization was based on the cost-benefit analysis for each project, according to Burke’s report.
Taking the first spot on the list is the estimated $2.5 million in flood mitigation for the Mayfield Estates neighborhood, a project that was originally proposed to the City Council in 2013. The project involves adding a pump station and storm sewer, which would discharge water to a sewer constructed by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District under Dempster Street.
Second on the list is the “west Sibley corridor” project, which consists of a series of enhancements, estimated at $20 million for 100-year flood projection. The project includes a installation of a new, 84-inch storm sewer line along Sibley Avenue from the Sibley Pump Station on the west end of Park Ridge to Home Avenue, allowing for additional projects, including separation of storm and sanitary sewers near Carpenter School and expansion of an existing underground storage vault on the school property. It also includes a proposal to separate sewers in the area of Milton, Babetta and Irwin avenues.
The construction of underground stormwater storage in the center parkway of Marvin Parkway, located between Busse and Northwest Highways, was ranked third on the priority list, followed by above-ground, temporary stormwater retention at Northwest Park, with a separation of storm and sanitary sewers.
Ranked fifth is the most costly project on the list, estimated at nearly $40 million: The installation of an underground stormwater storage vault on the west end of the Park Ridge Country Club, along with some new relief sewers proposed for neighborhoods to the north, west and south.
The remaining projects are the construction of an underground storage vault at Northeast Park, 801 N. Washington Ave., with installation of new relief sewers; construction of a storage vault under the field at Lincoln Middle School, 200 S. Lincoln Ave., and installation of relief sewers along Crescent Avenue and Lincoln Avenue; and construction of an underground storage vault with new relief sewers at Southwest Park, 1600 S. Lincoln Ave.
The projects on the list are largely meant to address overland flooding, not basement sewer backup, the City Council was told. In June, the City Council’s discussion centered around leaving sewer backup flooding fixes to residents. Some of that discussion involved whether the city should provide incentives to residents who install their own flood-control systems.
In September, Julkowski told the City Council that most of the proposed projects could be designed to handle 100-year storms, which is defined as 3.6 inches of rainfall within a one-hour period.
Julkowski’s latest presentation also included a recommendation that the city stick with a stormwater utility fee — paid for by all property owners in the city — of $11 per month per ERU in order to fund the flood mitigation projects. An ERU is a unit measurement based on the amount of impervious surface a property has. The less open space on a property, the higher the ERU and the higher the monthly fee.
The idea is that the $11 per ERU could pay for approximately $40 million in projects over the first 20 years, Julkowski said.
The City Council had planned to begin charging property owners a $2.75 per ERU stormwater utility fee on Jan. 1, 2017, but that action was later reversed.
Julkowski said the City Council’s next action is to decide which flood mitigation projects to do.
“Basically the next step from here is to acknowledge that these are the projects we want to pursue,” he said. “And if we want to do one, two, [and] three, then let’s start designing projects one, two, and three.”
Third Ward Ald. Gail Wilkening pointed out that many of the projects will require the approval and cooperation from another party — Park Ridge- Niles School District 64, the Park Ridge Park District and the Park Ridge Country Club — in order for them to occur.
“If we can’t get those agreements, there’s no plan, right?” Wilkening said.
In addition, the city has been waiting for MWRD to move ahead with its plan for a new sewer on Dempster Street that would tie in with the Mayfield Estates project.
Second Ward Ald. Nicholas Milissis said the city needs to take formal action to move forward on projects or “nobody’s going to take us seriously” and sit down with city officials for discussions.
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