Batavia, Geneva parks remain closed due to flooding

The weekend's flooding rains continued to cause problems today.

As of 10:45 this morning Batavia's Clark Island Park remains under water, and the pedestrian and bicycle bridges crossing the Fox River have been closed due to high water levels in the Fox River. There is minor flooding at the Woodard baseball field, according to Mike Clark, Batavia Park District director.

The north loop to the Riverwalk path system is closed since the river has flooded the north tip and wildflower areas.

Residents experiencing surface ponding or flooding on their property can request assistance from the city by calling (630) 454-2000. The city will also respond to sanitary sewer backups in residents' homes, according to assistant city administrator Randy Recklaus.

The city will be establishing a special curbside garbage pickup date for carpet and other storm damage debris. More information on this service will be made available by the end of the business day Monday at cityofbatavia.net. If you have storm debris to be picked up, call or e-mail the Street Department at (630) 454-2423 or kmontana@cityofbatavia.net to be included on the route.

A special public meeting will be scheduled in the next few days for residents to have the opportunity to give the city feedback on the storm response.

In Geneva, Island Park is under water and closed. Wheeler Park has two trees down and much of the park is under water, said Steve Persinger, executive director of the Geneva Park District. Mill Creek Community Park is also flooded.

City officials are meeting with Allied Waste today to schedule flood debris pickup; when it is set, the information will be posted on the city's Web site, geneva.il.us. Over the weekend, the city delivered sandbags to the Mill Race Inn restaurant complex on the east bank of the river south of Route 25.

"I can tell you from being out all day and into the evening with our crews on Saturday that our employees did a fantastic job doing what was needed to keep our systems up and running. Sunday was a matter of holding our own (which our crews did very well," Geneva City Administrator Mary McKittrick said via e-mail.