Buffalo Grove checks progress on flood issues

The Buffalo Grove village board on Monday revisited flooding issues that came up from a major storm just over a year ago.

More than 11.5 inches of rain fell Aug. 19 through Aug. 24, 2007. Many residents, especially in the area of St. Mary's Parkway, Beechwood and Weidner roads, experienced flooded homes and streets.

The board hired Christopher B. Burke Engineering to look at flooding within town and offer solutions. The engineering firm met with affected residents and collected about 140 questionnaires that outlined problems in town.

The firm gave several options for flooding solutions, which would cost between $2.9 million and $3.3 million for 12 study areas in town.

Some recommendations to reduce flooding included having residents waterproof homes by grading lots to drain away from their foundations and raise window wells for basements.

One of the major problems in certain neighborhoods is reverse slope driveways, which cause water to pour down into homes. A recommendation for those residents was to raise sidewalks and grading. Some residents have removed those driveways and converted their garages into basements.

Trustees questioned one of the recommendations, which would mean converting a large part of Lions Park on Weidner Road into a detention area.

"That's something we have no control over," Trustee Jeff Braiman said, since the park district owns the land.

Trustee Jeff Berman said the park district will have concerns about costs and the lack of parks in the area if Lions Park is removed. "Those two concerns will be a very large speed bump," he said.

Braiman also said he had concerns about getting easements from residents that will be necessary for some of the improvements to occur.

"It's a matter of getting compliance with the residents," Braiman said.

For now, Village Manager Bill Brimm said he wanted the community and the residents to receive an update on what had been done so far with flooding.

Brimm said he and the engineering firm will bring back further recommendations and try to come up with more specific solutions.

The final step will be to request funding from the board if that's deemed acceptable.

Village President Elliott Hartstein said more forums will also be set up with residents if they have specific questions about their neighborhoods.