Arlington Heights hires consultant to study flooding
More than a year after many residents experienced major flooding issues, Arlington Heights is hiring an outside consultant to look at the village's sewer system, officials said.
The village board on Monday approved spending nearly $60,000 to contract with Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd. to investigate problem areas as a result of the major flooding that occurred during the July 23, 2011, rain event, said Village Manager Bill Dixon.
Dixon said the village hoped to start studying the flooding issues this past summer but was unable to make much progress because of the drought.
Village President Arlene Mulder said flooding has been a major concern she's heard from residents for some time and that this is the first step to try to find answers.
“We're trying to figure out why certain areas seem prone to flooding,” Mulder said.
The study won't look at the entire problem, however. During the large storms in 2011 two types of areas had problems — the combined sewer tributary area and seven locations in the separate skewered areas.
Christopher Burke will be studying those seven separate sewer areas, which include the following parts of Arlington Heights: the 2600 block of North Stuart, Hintz Road west of Arlington Heights Road, Regency Park East, Burr Oak and Dryden, Greenbrier/Roanoke/Wilke, the Berkley Square/University Drive detention basin, and the 600 to 110 North Forrest Avenue area north of Euclid to Oakton Avenue.
According to the proposal, Christopher Burke Engineering has experience with similar projects in Buffalo Grove, Winnetka and Des Plaines. Although Christopher Burke Engineering did not submit the lowest proposal, staff members said they believed the firm would provide the best value and understanding of the problem.
Public works staff members are also working on looking at the larger combined sewer tributary system for problems, but officials said that could take longer and require a larger study.
Trustees agreed unanimously to spend the money on the flooding study, saying this is an issue that needs to be addressed.
“There are some things that are really the responsibility of the municipality, while other things are only nice if you can afford them,” Trustee Norman Breyer said. “But, in my mind, this is one of those things we really have to do.”