Grayslake school's plan to fix drainage spares trees

Grayslake Elementary District will lower a pair of baseball fields at Woodview School to address a neighborhood's complaints about flooding.

Homeowner Heather Lennartz said she and her husband spent at least $20,000 to fix damage from two floods that occurred after water flowed from the school "as a river" into her basement last summer.

It's unknown if Grayslake Elementary District 46 will reimburse her costs.

District 46 board President Michael Linder said Tuesday work will start soon on the two Woodview School fields near North Alleghany Road and Mitchell Drive. Construction also is planned for a Woodview addition.

Linder said the baseball fields will be lowered by 3 feet in an effort to better handle storm water runoff. He said the fields will act as a retention pond, which should end the flow of water toward five or so nearby Mitchell Drive homes.

Some residents were upset about an initial plan to level oaks and other large trees separating their homes from Woodview School as part of the drainage solution.

Addressing about a dozen concerned Grayslake residents at a board meeting Monday night, District 46 Superintendent Ellen Correll said tree removal is no longer a part of the equation.

"I think I know more about Woodview's trees on its property than I ever cared to know," Correll said.

Lennartz told the school board the two floods broke her basement windows with water that wound up mid-calf high. She said she got nowhere in trying to have school officials address the flooding problems for roughly the past eight months.

"This was not a small trickle of water," said Lennartz, who drew applause from neighborhood supporters after speaking.

Lennartz's father, James P. Long, said the school board should approve reimbursements for the damages his daughter and other homeowners had to cover from the flooding that was triggered by Woodview School's poor storm water drainage system.

"I urge you to right the wrong," Long said.

Linder said District 46's insurance company and lawyer will look into the possibility of homeowner reimbursements.