More money possible for flooding controls in DuPage

Revisions to DuPage County's $70 million capital improvements proposal calls for additional spending on flood controls and less on transportation and information technology projects.

A week after the county board held its first hearing on Chairman Bob Schillerstrom's borrowing plan that could ultimately cost $125 million to repay over 30 years, the board met again Tuesday to go over some proposed changes.

Schillerstrom's latest list of capital projects calls for $5.1 million to be removed from road projects and $2.5 million to be removed from an $11 million technology upgrade plan. Instead, those funds were added to stormwater and flooding related projects.

"We started out with very little for stormwater, so it's very nice to see the increased level of financial support," said board member Jim Zay, who heads the board's stormwater committee. "This will allow us to take care of some major projects in Bartlett, Carol Stream and Warrenville."

Zay and fellow board member Paul Fichtner locked horns over the proposed increase in stormwater spending. Fichtner noted that the proposed $15 million planned for flood controls would impact roughly 150 homes.

"I think we need to make it very clear again this isn't going to help great swathes of the county," Fichtner said. "It's a very small limited group of people."

Zay accused Fichtner of disregarding the need for flood controls on the west side of the county because Fichtner represents east side residents. Zay said the county spent almost $100 million on east side flood controls over the years.

"I guess the other side of the county is not entitled to the same flood controls," Zay said.

Schillerstrom said the stormwater projects were intended to cover 100-year flood events. Zay noted that some of the proposed changes wouldn't keep areas of the county that flooded late last month from flooding again if the same conditions occurred again in the future.

To fund the stormwater projects, the scope of a widening and resurfacing project along Gary Avenue in Carol Stream was scaled back. Schillerstrom said plans for retaining walls and an adjacent path were eliminated. Also, plans to move the county's information technology department were also scrapped to move money to stormwater funding.

Board members seemed more at peace with the planned technology upgrades than last week after receiving additional information about what the upgrades will do. County officials said the upgrades will save the county money, help achieve transparency, provide disaster recovery synergy with local municipalities and ultimately downsizes the department.

"There was some misunderstanding about the project and what was involved," said technology committee chairman Brien Sheahan. "We're not buying PCs, this will finally put us in the 21st century and allow the county to produce reports that it literally can't at this point."

The board is expected to vote on the borrowing plan at a special Sept. 7 meeting.