Schaumburg still trying to solve drainage problems

Schaumburg village officials say they want regular reports on how often storm drains are cleaned by public works crews.

The request came at Thursday night's engineering and public works committee meeting after frustrated residents living on Niagara Avenue once more vented to village officials about flooding problems.

About a dozen residents came armed with photos of their flooded streets. A few of them braved the neck-deep water and attempted to clean the debris off a drainage grate. They charge that Schaumburg officials have ignored their needs over many years.

Trustee Marge Connelly, chairwoman of the engineering and public works committee, said the village is willing to work with residents. She said the public works reports on clearing the drains would help the village board get a better picture of how flooding is affecting residents.

Village officials say pipes are designed to handle 7.58 inches of water in a 24-hour-period.

But weekend rainfall was record-breaking, and Schaumburg officials said they recorded more than 8 inches.

Still, Mike Haws said the storm tore a hole in his driveway that's forced him to park his truck down the street. Haws and other Niagara Street residents say they don't know why the village won't pay to remedy the flood problems.

The issues stem from a drainage culvert and grate that needs to be regularly cleared near the affected homes.

Residents say it should be the village's responsibility to rectify the problem by filling the culvert, which they charge lies in a village right of way. The village board's long-standing policy has been that it's the homeowners' responsibility.

Trustee Mark Madej said he didn't understand that policy and wanted to help residents. There's a possibility the village board could discuss the issue of responsibility.

Village officials in August commissioned plans to design a dry retention pond in Sunset Park including a 30-inch storm sewer on Salford Drive. That area includes Niagra Road, which was hit hard by an Aug. 23, 2007 storm. The cost? $57,443.

However, Connelly said it could be a year before any construction could actually take place. That answer didn't make Haws happy.

"What am I supposed to with my driveway?" he said.

However residents on Niagara weren't the only ones who have flooding concerns. Two residents living near Lexington Drive shared their own frustrations.

While not as serious as Niagara's, Ron Nunziato said his neighbors have had squabbles about rain runoff.

"I have a furnace in the crawl space, and I had to go get sandbags to try protect the furnace," he said.

Schaumburg officials say the 1987 storm was more brutal, though last weekend saw more rain. Deputy Public Works Director David Varner said in 1987 village officials fielded 160 calls from residents with sanitary backup concerns. Over the weekend officials fielded 51 calls, and of those only seven were from the same residents who called during the 1987 storm, Varner said.