County committee OKs levee measure

A Cook County Forest Preserve committee provided a major piece of the puzzle in constructing a levee along the west side of the Des Plaines River from Euclid Avenue to Palatine Road.

The county has little to do with the actual project, which is being spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the communities of Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights and Des Plaines, but its approval for a land swap was a necessary component of the plan moving forward.

While the entire Cook County Forest Preserve board must still approve the swap, Tuesday's committee vote was an indication that will likely happen.

Under the deal, the county will provide permanent easements of 2.89 acres valued at $505,000 to construct the berm. In exchange, the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County will give the county 9.73 acres valued at $425,000.

To make up the difference in value, the Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to do some forest preserve restoration work, such as removing some invasive species such as buckthorn, said Mount Prospect Mayor Irvana K. Wilks and Prospect Heights Mayor Pat Ludvigsen.

The levee is needed because the river has overflowed its bank in that area twice in recent years, once in 2004 and again in 2007. Government leaders have been trying for months to put together the components for the levee, said Ludvigsen.

"It's been two steps forward, one step back," he said. "Today was two steps forward."

Wilks told the county board the residents who live along the river desperately needed the measure. When sandbagging volunteers turned out in 2007, the residents showered them with thanks.

"There are people who just come out in droves who say, 'Thank you. you saved our homes' " noted Wilks.

Assuming the Cook County Forest Preserve Board gives final approval in September, construction could begin in October and be completed in two years, said Felicia Kirksey of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.