Stormwater Commission

STORMWATER COMMISSION MEETING SUMMARY Wednesday, June 13, 2012 The following persons were present: Chair Joe Lo Verde, Steven Vinezeano, Andrew Vitale, Richard Wlodarski, Fred Kudert, Tom Polcyn, Chuck Ostman, Mousa Nazzal, Robert Callero, George Van Geem, and Jeff Wickenkamp of Hey and Associates. Absent: Scott Jochim The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. 1. Approve Meeting Summary of Wednesday, May 2, 2012: The summary was approved to be posted on the Stormwater Commission web page. 2. Old Business: a. Flood Control Assistance Program. Vinezeano outlined the brief discussion the board had at the last Village Board meeting. There was no clear direction from the board, so the commission will stay with the recommended “grant” flood assistance program. The Mayor stated that if it gets voted down as a grant, we can return with a loan program. He stated it is important to include the program particulars again. He would like to share how we choose the people in the proposed program. The Mayor discussed how Jeff and Steve have noticed that other towns with these programs do not utilize all the funds. He mentioned the generator program in Des Plaines did, but there were issues. Vinezeano and the Chair stated how that information is within the Attachment A provided to the board. 3. New Business: a. Resolution for Stormwater Relief Program. Vinezeano explained the reasoning for what was written on the Board Agenda Item Explanation Form provided to the group. The language was discussed with the Village Attorney in the room, who assisted with recommended language. The first sentence was amended to add “…comprised of Tier One and Small Project.” And the second sentence remained and the third was removed and replaced with “This is not a request for expenditures.” The budget amount of $580,000 was removed because the commission is only requesting the board to vote on the Stormwater Relief Program and not specific projects with specific costs. The bond was already approved for $15M. Attached to the resolution will be the Tier One and Small Project table of estimated engineering costs. There was discussion about pursuing the preliminary engineering contract as well for this meeting, but it was explained that it would be very difficult  for that to happen since it (an agreement) would need to be done by the end of the week. b. Resolution for Flood Control Assistance Program. The first sentence was amended by adding “… authorizing a grant based Village of Niles flood control assistance program.” The second sentence was removed. The budgeted amount of $300,000 will be on the form. Attached to the resolution will be Attachment A, which they have been provided already. It was discussed that if they pass it, the commission can return to the board with additional program information. The grant program is the recommendation from the commission. There was a question regarding the amount of $300k. What would occur with the funds if it is not all allocated the first year? It was discussed that this fund may just be rolled over into the following program year. There was discussion about how the tax was put into place to address stormwater and it should be used for that purpose. There was a question of whether or not the grant vs. loan memorandum should be included in the packet and the answer was no because it is being forwarded by the commission as a grant. The Chair stated that a memorandum should be attached to the resolutions outlining what is being asked of the board. c. ComEd Transformer Investigation. Vinezeano outlined what occurred with a site visit from ComEd to the west side of town (west of OLR) where there are ground transformers that have been known to fail due to flooding. Vinezeano and Ostman met with ComEd External Affairs Manager Jeff Batara and ComEd Regional Engineer Dave Cooke to review the ground transformers known by ComEd to have failed due to being submerged under water. The transformers identified by ComEd are behind 8350 Knight Avenue and 8714 Bruce Drive. Each has been verified by Community Development through discussions with residents regarding flood levels vs. transformer base level. These were verified by Hey and Associates and their flood data. It was stated by ComEd that the next step in the process is to create drawings and a Customer Work Agreement (CWA) for the charges associated with the raising of the two transformers. The preliminary costs to raise these are $5,000 each. There were discussions regarding who has to pay to raise these. Vinezeano stated that he was informed by the past and present ComEd External Affairs Managers that the “retail customer (resident/property owner) must provide ComEd read and continued access to such facilities without impediments from overbuilding, change in established grade or other obstructions to the operation, testing, inspection, maintenance and replacement of such facilities” (from ILL.C.C.No.10). The Village was reminded by ComEd that it also has ordinances requiring property owners to obtain permits for changing grades on their properties. The Chair found it odd that the Village must pay for this. He feels that ComEd wants to have better power reliability. There was discussion that it could be a public relations nightmare if they were seen as not willing to raise these transformers out of  the flood water. The Chair thinks it is a customer relations issue and it would not look good for them in a public board room. The Mayor asked to setup a meeting with the ComEd representative regarding this and possible other transformers. The Village wants to solve a problem and ComEd should work with the Village on this. Bring in the local representative and if that does not work, we will go higher. The Mayor mentioned that in 2008 two transformers south of the two mentioned failed as well. He stated that the ComEd individual who was out there in 2008 stated that these were out because they were under water. Vinezeano stated that he will have to verify again from ComEd what transformers were out and when. Vinezeano stated that ComEd stated that they will work with the Village to raise all the transformers, but it will still need to be paid for by the Village. The Mayor mentioned that the area suffers more here because the sumps fail because of loss of power. There is also an interest to inspect the area to the north by Glenview as well due to power outages recorded during heavy rains. d. Backflow Prevention Detail. Jeff from Hey passed out the color brochure of the Tideflex Checkmate Inline Check Valve. The purpose is to have details for homes with rear yard drains that flood when streets flood. This can also be used for the larger systems mentioned in the report as small projects. Jeff stated that this particular product is considered the most reliable and versatile of the systems available. The valve would be placed in the drain from the yard just outside of the catch basin. This would be required to be put in by the homeowners who install these types of drains. It can also be used for those homes currently suffering from backflow caused by charged sewers like on Sunset. Jeff stated that this rubber system is better than duckbill systems. The Mayor asked the cost from start to finish for a home is about $1075.00 each. Greenwood/Sunset and Clare Drive are larger “small project” uses. 4. Open Discussion:  Vinezeano laid out the maps of the created to show the homes that have had damage in 2008 and 2011 due to overland flooding and sewer backup. The maps can be used to help determine who would most likely qualify for flood control assistance. Regarding the overland flow map made by Hey and Associates, it shows homes that have water modeled higher than the foundation. To make it any more detailed, a house to house survey would need to be done. The Tier One homes were pulled out. Tier One projects pull out about 400 of the 1000 homes identified on this map. There are pockets of flooding that could be taken care of during the preliminary engineering when the projects are better engineered. For instance, the resident over on 8249 Osceola who mentioned the project should have come west one more street could be correct and the project can be engineered that way.  What is not seen as a critical area now may be fine tuned during preliminary engineering review. There was discussion about all the homes and property that will be improved from the Cleveland Sewer project. The known flooding points from 2008 and 2011 could be added to this map to improve it. The second map shows homes built before 1970 (so overhead sewer not required), have basements, and are in the combined sewer area. In addition, it also shows the homes that reported or had known damage in both 2008 and 2011. Based on the map, there were about 710 homes identified. The Mayor mentioned how this information will help the group know who should qualify for flood assistance. Jeff stated that this is why the maps were developed. This is a map that can be used as a pre-screening process. If they do not land on the map, we will still take a step back and try to determine if they had flooding because the program requires the homeowner to provide proof of prior flooding. There was a question if whether or not someone would be helped with cost share if they have a sewer project coming. The program does not preclude anyone who shows a need to be prevented from using the cost share program. The meeting was closed at 9:50 a.m. 5. Next Scheduled Meetings: TBD