Arlington Hts. might increase share of sewer improvement

The Arlington Heights Village Board will consider increasing the village’s share of the cost when residents install overhead sewers, Village Manager Bill Dixon said Monday night.

The village currently matches residents’ expenses to a maximum of $5,000. Raising that limit “significantly” will be discussed at the Nov. 7 board meeting, Dixon said.

Scott Shirley, director of public works, said an overhead sewer prevents sanitary sewer back up into a home 100 percent but agreed such an installation does not prevent surface flooding such as through window wells. Overhead sewer lines exit at about the top of a basement or lower level. Homes built since 1975 are required to have such systems.

Dixon also said that separating sanitary and storm sewers in the older, central parts of town, as some residents have requested, would cost an estimated $220 million.

The village plans to spend somewhere around $350,000 on studies to try to determine steps that could prevent flooding in the village.

Marc Adelman, who has led residents of the Westgate neighborhood to many board meetings to complain about the July 23 flooding, said one of his community’s requests was funding a larger share of the cost of overhead sewers.

Bill Gnech of the 2200 block of East Grove said the village and consulting engineers let down the Grove Street area years ago, and separate sewers should have been installed there. Trustee Joseph Farwell asked the staff for a report on the history of the sewer system in that area.

The board approved the five-year capital improvement plan, which will include about $15,1 million in the fiscal year starting in May. Half of that will go toward streets and much of the remainder to emergency communication equipment to coordinate with new equipment at the Northwest Central Dispatch System, said Tom Kuehne, director of finance.

The board also approved a six-month, no-interest, $75,000 loan to Metropolis Performing Arts Centre. The center’s budget is $2.8 million, said Phil Collins, chairman of the center’s board. The village gives the center $150,000 annually from funds collected from a tax on restaurant meals.