Officials work on Bartlett flooding issues
The simple solution is to find a place for all the extra water, but the hows and whens are still being determined.
That's the response Bartlett officials offered Tuesday after an engineering presentation pertaining to the flood problems residents suffered through in September and December.
Christopher Burke, whose engineering firm prepared a report for the board on the flooding, said finding an area to store the runoff wouldn't be easy, as the village needs permission from various agencies including the Illinois Department of Transportation and the DuPage County Forest Preserve District.
Burke said he plans to meet again with residents in three to four weeks and by that time he'll have more concrete solutions. But after that meeting, the village will still have to find the money to fix the problems. Burke did not provide a cost estimate.
From Sept. 13-15 Bartlett officials recorded 8.8 inches of rainfall in just over 30 hours. Putting that in perspective, average rainfall for the entire month is 3.2 inches. Village Administrator Valerie Salmons said that amount of rain over that period of time had never been recorded in the village's history.
Burke's firm sorted through 192 questionnaires submitted by flood-affected residents, which included 54 from Beaver Pond, 71 from residents on North Avenue, 16 from Hearthwood Farms, 12 from Lakewood Mills and seven from Golf View Drive.
Village officials also disagreed that building development within Bartlett had caused the flooding problems. Burke said the stormwater system wasn't designed to handle such a powerful storm like September's.
Burke said it would take six to nine months for piping construction once all necessary permissions are secured. But permits could take longer. The process could take years.
But Hearthwood residents don't have that much patience, as September floods destroyed many residents' belongings, with water levels reaching 11 inches. They say it doesn't take a so-called 100-year rain event for flooding to happen in their subdivision.
"It floods whenever we get significant rain," said Hearthwood resident Rhonda Hunter.
Salmons told residents that if the village encounters problems securing permits, they'll also look into short-term aid to help residents.
Trustee Dennis Nolan tried to assure residents that this was a priority and asked them for their support, even suggesting they write letters to groups like IDOT which he said could help speed the process up.