Arlington Heights likely to study flood-prone area

When it rains heavily, Sean O'Mara calls his street "Lake White Oak."

On Aug. 23, 2007, rain flooded streets and even some homes in a flood problem area, roughly boarded by Cypress Street, Highland Avenue, Cedar Street and Arlington Heights Road.

On Monday, members of the Arlington Heights village board supported paying a firm almost $52,000 to study the area and come up with some ways to fix the flooding. The village board will formally vote on the study at the March 3 board meeting.

About 10 residents also attended Monday's committee meeting.

O'Mara and his wife, Linda, were two of the residents. They live on the 100 block of West White Oak Street, right at corner of South Vail Avenue.

"We're just glad you're going to fix this problem," Sean O'Mara said.

About 20 homes were affected by the August 2007 storm. The storm caused 5 feet of water to pool in his basement, O'Mara said.

There are a variety of fixes, including expanding the nearby Cypress detention basin and installing a storm water lift station, said Director of Public Works Scott Shirley.

"Water in the streets is pretty common, but this is the first time homes have actually been flooded," Shirley said.

Margaret Andersen has lived in the area for 50 years. You don't have to tell her there's a problem.

"This has been going on for years and years," Andersen said. "We need some kind of solution."

Village President Arlene Mulder agreed with Andersen.

"There are areas of our town that have issues, but not issues like this area," Mulder said.

If approved on March 3, the study should be complete by July, Shirley said.