Stormwater Commission

Stormwater Commission Meeting Summary Thursday August 23, 2018 Members Present: Fred Kudert, Steven Vinezeano, Rich Wlodarski, Thomas Powers, Andrew Vitale, Robert Callero, Fred Braun, and Chuck Ostman. Others Present: Jack Grana, Dan Randolph – Village of Niles; Jeff Wickenkamp - Hey The Stormwater Commission meeting convened at 8:00 a.m. in the Council Chambers at Village Hall. Resident Concern – 8607 National Alex Kravetz of National Avenue provided testimony as follows: In 2014 National and Greenleaf flooded and resident’s vehicles were damaged. After 2014 Niles sewer department installed a new drainage structure to help with flow. Mr. Kravetz lives at the low point, he indicates that the drainage from about 600 feet north drains to the low point. The street flooded all the way to the back yard and cars cannot park on the street during the street flooding. Mr. Kravetz indicated that he is aware that the stormwater mater plan includes improvements to serve the area but the identified project is a low priority 4th Quartile project, he understands that it will take a long time to complete the project in the master plan. In the meantime Mr. Kravetz requested that another inlet is added to the east side of the street north of his property. He believes the east side of the street floods more than the west side. He requested that the inlet is added before the larger stormwater project is implemented in order to give him piece of mind. His basement has not flooded since 2014. Mr. Kravetz feels the new inlet to the south helped with the flooding but feels an inlet to the north would help more, in particular to help with street flooding and damage to vehicles. Hey was familiar with the location and agreed with Mr. Kravetz’s understanding of the stormwater master plans. The big project is a $4 million project, the smaller project requested by the resident is in the neighborhood of $15,000-$20,000. Mr Kravetz indicated that sometimes the inlet gets blocked which contributed to some of the flooding. Acting Chair Callero asked that Engineering staff review the situation and make a recommendation. January 26th and May 31st Meeting Summaries: The Meeting Summaries for the January 26th and May 31st meeting were approved. Old Business: The following topics were presented and discussed. New Business: The following topics were presented and discussed MWRD Stormwater Phase II - Golf Mill Park Expansion and Stormwater Project The Village is in negotiations with the MWRD for the $2 million MWRD grant application. The MWRD expects the Village to complete the engineering in the spring of 2019, with construction to start in fall 2019. The Village needs to move forward with preliminary engineering to keep on schedule. The scope of the work will focus on the conveyance improvements. The preliminary engineering related to storage component in the park will be geared toward park design collaboration. The Hey contract was submitted for commission review. Separate from the engineering design the Village has teamed with the Park District to select a landscape designer for the park. Five firms were selected for interview in October. The Village Manager asked about the possibility of switching soccer fields from east to west, if this were done then the soccer field programming would be less impacted. Hey stated that the majority of their scope is on sewer design to deliver water to the park. The preliminary engineering for the park currently is based on coordination with the park designer. The engineering will be coordinated with park design process rather than trying to lead it. The VM was interested in the potential for a stormwater project that would not affect Park operations by placing all the stormwater on the Village parcel, Hey’s scope does include studying this option as an optional service. The commission recommended that the Village proceed with Preliminary Engineering contract with Hey including the optional services. Howard Sewer Outfall discussion The Howard Street rehabilitation project is planned to take place over 2019 and 2020. The project is programmed to receive federal funds. Project 17-7A is a 1st Quartile project from the Stormwater Master plan that includes a storm sewer outfall in the area of Howard and the North Branch of the Chicago River. Hey performed a preliminary study of relocating the outfall to Howard. Village staff met with the Park District and during that meeting they requested that the sewer be run down Howard if possible. Considering that Howard would be reconstructed it may make sense to build the sewer outfall now. The improvement would greatly improve flooding at Dobson and Nordica, and moderately improve the situation at Jonquil and Nordica. The estimate for the project is between $600,000 to $1,000,000. The VM recommended that we meet with the Finance director to discuss the feasibility of the project financing. Options to fund the project include the stormwater fund or water/sewer fund balance. Acting Chair Callero felt that if we are going to do a project then do it right. He also asked about the suitability of the 54” sewer outfall. Hey indicated that the 54” has adequate capacity and has been fully evaluated. Hey was going to revisit the design to see if the outfall could move to the south side of the bridge. The commission voted to move ahead with the project. Floodplain Ordinance Revision Dan Randolph presented an ordinance revision to the floodplain ordinance as recommended during the FEMA CRS Audit. The insurance reviewer made a code revision recommendation, which was also recommended by Paul Osman who is the IDNR coordinator for the state. The change proposed was to change the requirement to track costs for substantial damage from a indefinite time period to a ten year period. The state recommended tracking costs over a 10-year period. The ordinance applies to properties within the floodplain. The ordinance revision was approved. Floodplain Property owner letters Village staff recommended that we notify all homeowners within the floodplain of the substantial damage requirements of the code. A sample letter was provided for review of the commission. The VM recommended that we include a map of the individual properties with the floodplain shown. The distribution of the letter was approved. Floodplain Property Acquisition Funding Pursuit FEMA has preapproved floodplain acquisition for homes in the floodplain. FEMA currently has a program for mitigation and acquisition. There are three potential properties on Harts which would be candidates. Staff learned from the MWRD that a good approach is to obtain funding approval then approach residents. The Village decided to move forward with acquisition applications. Recent Flooding Acting Chair Callero asked about recent flooding reports. Village staff reported that there was some flooding on Nora that was unexpectedly reported, however it does correlate to the stormwater master planning. A few of the homes had check valves installed. The Community Development Department and Public Works will work together to investigate the issue. Acting Chair Callero reported that the OLR basin has worked quite well. Maine Township Village staff met with representative for Maine Township, Golf/Greenwood Gardens, and MWRD to discuss flooding along Western. The long term solution to the flooding in the area is a large scale sewer project through unincorporated Cook County, however to receive MWRD funding a government agency would need to take the lead. Very few homes in Niles would benefit therefore any project in the area was a low priority in the Village’s stormwater master plan. Next Meeting Date The date of the next meeting will be called as needed at the discretion of the chair. Fred Kudert asked that we provide an answer to Mike Shields about the recent email chain about green infrastructure. The commission asked Hey to study the situation and report at a future meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 9:31 am.