Carol Stream mayor: County budget plan levels field between east, west

Carol Stream Village President Frank Saverino said the projects in a DuPage County $70 million spending plan merely work toward a leveling of the playing field between east and west portions of the county.

"If that were rejected, it would have gotten ugly," he said of the 10-7 vote Tuesday by the county board. "It would have been a disaster if they didn't vote 'yes.' The people would have been so upset in the west end, and they would have been so fed up, I don't know if anybody would have had any peace."

The infrastructure improvement plan includes $17.2 million in flood control projects for the county's west side.

The plan allocates $5 million for Klein Creek flood mitigation - which stormwater committee Chairman Jim Zay told Carol Stream residents last week could include a plan to install a water reservoir and pumping station in Armstrong Park - and $5.4 million for roadwork from North Avenue to Army Trail Road on Gary Avenue in Carol Stream.

During the weekend of July 23, about 50 homes in the neighborhood surrounding Armstrong Park flooded, forcing homeowners to evacuate just two years after they had done so previously.

Many residents have taken Saverino to task for what they deemed was a slow response to their concerns.

Meanwhile, Saverino said the west end of the county has been shortchanged when it comes to flood control. In the early 1990s, roughly $100 million was spent to alleviate flood concerns surrounding Salt Creek on the county's east end.

This included a $41 million stone quarry in Elmhurst that continues to mitigate flooding.

Meanwhile, Klein Creek has flooded twice in the past three years, and the new plan hopes to alleviate the problem.

The perceived imbalance has created something of a rift between residents and county board members from the east and west sides of DuPage County, he said.

Although some residents showed up at Tuesday's county board meeting to support the plan, others tried to convince board members to vote against the spending plan, saying the timing was wrong.

"It seems a shame that it is that way," Saverino said. "Some of the people that were out there, holding up the signs, don't know what it is to carry out and throw away all of your stuff. If you lived here, you wouldn't have those signs up."