Rain Rain Go Away!

It's been well over a year now since The No Flood Zone blog was created. A group of concerned 8th Ward residents embarked on a collaborative effort to persuade the Mayor and City Council to accelerate the flood project scheduled for Marshall Drive, a street on which my family has lived for 24 years. Many of my neighbors were affected when excessively heavy rainfalls exceeded the storm sewer capacity, which historically had been about 1.25 inches per hour. In particular, for each of the past four years, there has been at least one significant rainfall, which resulted in street flooding. Not every one of these led to property damage, but the rain events created a great deal of stress for those affected.

It is January 2011, and the long-awaited Marshall Drive project is now complete. A new 36-inch storm sewer was installed, and the old 18-inch line is still intact. In addition, the Willie Road reservoir was created for emergency runoff. These changes provide for significant storm water capacity. The big questions, of course, are whether it will work, how many households will benefit, and whether the sanitary sewer also needs an overhaul. Cordial Drive, which runs into Marshall Drive, has had a history of flooding, but the project did not involve any work on this street. However, due to the interconnectedness of the sewer systems, one would expect some relief for folks who live on Cordial. The only way to find out for sure is to experience another torrential downpour, but I don't think any of us are ready for that!!

While I certainly am glad our storm sewer work has finally been completed, going through this long and epic battle has made me realize the importance of a sound infrastructure, something which is too often neglected, probably due to the significant cost involved. As homeowners, we face a similar dilemma. For example, if you had $20,000 to spend on remodeling, would you rather spend it on beautifying your kitchen, or fixing your plumbing? The City Council has historically struggled with making monetary commitments to infrastructure work and has placed more emphasis on cosmetic improvements. After all, storm sewer work doesn't do much to improve the look of the City of Des Plaines!

Mayor Moylan has made it clear that upgrading the City's infrastructure is a priority. In fact, when the City Council was split on whether to accelerate the Storm Water Master Plan and complete the work on Marshall Drive ahead of schedule, he cast the tiebreaking vote. For years, our alderman, Rosemary Argus, tried to take care of our flooding problems, but former mayors and City Council members did not support her. The current administration is getting the job done, and my message to them is to continue to work collaboratively and take care of the residents of Des Plaines.

In a report to the City Council, I cited several reasons why flood mitigation work was important. Among these reasons was the obligation of a local government to protect its citizens. In many ways, a flood is like a thief that robs you of your property, your health, and your time. The City of Des Plaines needs to remain committed to mitigating flood damage, a problem which has plagued our community for decades. Whenever I tell people where I live, a common response is, "Doesn't it flood there?" There is a stigma on our community, and one way to remove it is for the residents to be vigilant and to hold our government officials accountable for their actions. Many people have just given up out of disgust, but that is not the answer. I am thankful I never quit, although I will admit, I experienced many moments of discouragement and despair. The No Flood Zone was formed because residents decided it was time to take action. The result is that we sent a clear message and got something accomplished.

I am also delighted to learn that one member of our group, Austin Stanton, is going to run for the alderman position vacated by Rosemary Argus. One benefit of getting involved in a local community matter is the satisfaction that comes from working with others toward a common goal. While this blog has focused on one issue - flooding - we recognize that city officials are faced with a host of other problems and challenges. However, solving those problems requires the same strategic approach based on concern, commitment and collaboration. I personally wish Austin well in his honorable pursuit to serve the people of Des Plaines and to take part in accomplishing great things for our community!

OCC Flood Plain Friendly

Oakton Community College has  embarked on a five year, $68 million revitalization plan. They seem to be very environmentally concious, especially about impacting the flood plain

• A couple quotes from
  Oakton looks ahead with expansion plan - PIONEER PRESS
  • Also, we are very conscious of the environment and have had engineering studies done to insure we will have no impact on the flood plain and flood way. We will put the building on piers or 'big stilts' so that the water table and water flow will not be effected. We know our 125-year floods come about every three years," Lee said.
  • The impermeable parking lot surface probably will be replaced with permeable pavers and swales to allow natural drainage, she added.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links about DesPlaines are here.

A Parade of Dirt and Pipe

There is a lot of dirt and a lot of pipe staged on Marshall Drive near Wille (south of Oakton). So we can now see physical evidence that work has begun on the Storm Sewer improvements in our neighborhood.

Folks are very anxious for these improvements; and with the rain and subsequent flood damage this past July 24th,  there is a renewed sense of urgency.
Perhaps a meeting of 8th Ward residents may be a method for the city to hear from the community much like what is being done on Wednesday, August 18, 6:00 PM for the 
storm sewer improvements on Nelson Lane.


A note to community members reading this blog: Please post comments to this post about the flood damage you experienced this past July 24th and your thoughts about the value of a neighborhood meeting.

Storm Sewer Work on Marshall

See the Des Plaines construction blog. Looks like launch date is tomorrow Aug 12, 2010. Should we have a parade?

Best Laid Plans

As plans were developed for the storm sewer improvements in the Des Plaines community, the work on Marshall Dr. was scheduled for a June 2 2010 start. However, who would have predicted a strike by road construction laborers to hold up not only storm sewer projects, but also others -- including the casino.

Rains, please stay away. And we will need to utilize the race track and river boats to "invest" our money.

June 2010 News

The word from the City of Des Plaines Engineering Dept on a notice letter dated May 24th is that the project will begin on Tuesday, June 2, 2010 with an estimated completion date of Friday, September 3,2010. However, folks on Marshall Dr. will not see any activity until mid-July 2010 as construction will begin on the south end at Wille and Marshall.
The City Contractor is John Neri Construction.

See the City's construction blog post for further details.

Also see the Google Maps tags for this and related project location details
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.desplaines.org/KML/CIP2010ContractA.kml.

City To Expand Sewers (from JOURNALOnline)

Its official! Bids awarded and work to commence. Mayor says all completed by October. Engineering says work should be starting by June's end.
Read more at
http://www.journal-topics.com/dp/10/dp100421.4.html

The details of storm sewer work on Marshall

The following is a recap of an email from Becka Shipp (City of Des Plaines Public Works and Engineering Department):

The Marshall Drive work is anticipated to begin July 2010 with a contractor to be selected after the May 5 bid opening.
The project consists of installing a parallel storm sewer system for flood relief. The work will begin at Wille near the Higgins Creek (the intended destination of the flood water) and proceed to the north. Various existing catch basins will be replaced,  as well as a sanitary sewer (northwest corner of Marshall and Courtesy) and a few water main repairs. As the work moves north across Oakton into the neighborhood, the storm sewer will be installed in the pavement on the west side of Marshall Drive from Oakton to Cordial.
The storm sewer installation process is a moving operation where the contractor excavates, installs the pipe, then back-fills in one continuous sequence at the rate of  100-200 feet of pipe per day, depending on underground utility conflicts.
Events in your neighborhood such as garage sales, deliveries, property construction, appointments, etc, may be impacted with this storm sewer work. Contact Des Plaines Public Works and Engineering Department (847) 391-5388 to be sure your event does not conflict with the storm sewer work.

Des Plaines also maintains a blog at http://desplainescipupdates.wordpress.com/ where information about this and other construction projects will be posted as available.

Spring has sprung and work will be done on Marshall Drive

According to Becka Shipp (City of Des Plaines Public Works and Engineering Department) the storm sewer work on Marshall Drive will begin sometime in July. The kickoff is the bid opening scheduled for May 5. It seems that the Marshall Project will be combined with another main area of work (near Lake Opeka) which will begin in late May. The Marshall portion is scheduled to begin in July with all completion by Sept 2010. Watch for letters about parking, street closures, and other news about the work.

Des Plaines also maintains a blog at http://desplainescipupdates.wordpress.com/ where info will be posted as available.