Bartlett moves ahead with Brewster Creek flood control project

The Bartlett village board has approved a resolution for an intergovernmental agreement that divides responsibilities for the approximately $5.3 million Brewster Creek flood control project between three parties.

Village Administrator Valerie Salmons explained that the project is a response to significant flooding that occurred throughout the village in September 2008.

“We began to hold public meetings to identify all the different areas that had flooding and I think that this was the biggest one, this was one of the most difficult ones,” she said. “I think the culmination of this is what we said to those residents in '08 — that we would fix it.”

The agreement states that the village of Bartlett, DuPage County and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County will each be required to help with the funding, construction or maintenance of the project. Bartlett's share of the cost should be no more than $150,000, officials said.

Darren Olson, a representative from Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd., said at Tuesday's village board meeting that the area being addressed spans from the northern edge of the Wayne Grove Forest Preserve southwest to the intersection of Route 59 and Stearns Road and west to the Pratt's Wayne Woods Forest Preserve.

The drainage improvements that will be installed aim to move floodwaters south to Beaver Pond and then west through approximately 2,500 linear feet of new storm sewer under Stearns Road.

“This is a major, major portion of the project,” Olson said of the Stearns Road section, adding that the water will then flow into a water storage basin in Pratt's Wayne Woods.

Olson said the design and approval process for the project is being paid for by the village and DuPage County. The county, however, will be funding the majority of the project with a $5 million bond and will also be responsible for overseeing construction.

Maintaining various storm sewers and easements throughout the project area will be the responsibility of the village.

The forest preserve will maintain the water basin that will be located on its land. Salmons noted that the forest preserve is not charging the village for storing flood water on its property.

Construction for the project is slated to begin this spring if all the necessary permits are obtained by then. Olson said he hopes the work will be finished by the end of the year.

Trustee Dennis Nolan praised Salmons and the village staff for their work, in particular for finding a way to complete the project in hard economic times.

“We made a commitment to the residents and we also went out and figured out how to do that financially,” Nolan said.