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Carpenter Creek restoration project to stabilize banks, eliminate erosion

Paul Vesper had several reasons for moving to his home on Sedgewick Street in Carpentersville about a year ago.

The area was quieter than his former neighborhood in Elgin. The neighbors were friendly. He enjoyed the house layout. He also loved that Carpenter Creek runs directly behind his property. But, as a victim of the erosion, standing water and backyard flooding caused by the creek, he's the first to admit that it's in need of repair.

"A lot of weeds have grown on the banks of it. Trees have fallen into it, and there's a lot of debris in there," Vesper said, noting that the yards along his street have become floodplains. "(Carpenter Creek) could be very nice; it just hasn't been maintained."

Carpentersville officials are hoping to fix this problem in a restoration project scheduled to begin by the end of the month, said Kevin Gray, assistant public works director and village engineer.

The $1.1 million project calls for stabilizing about 9,200 feet of stream banks, minimizing erosion and improving water quality, he said.

Several properties north of Maple Avenue are affected by runoff from the creek, which acts as a tributary to the Fox River, Village President Ed Ritter said.

"(The project) will be a major environmental plus," he said. "(Residents') backyards are literally falling into the creek from all of the water flow."

The village board approved the easement agreements for 10 properties along Sedgewick Street last week, giving the village authority to begin work along those properties. A final easement is in the works with TKJ Enterprises, Inc. for access to the property occupied by Cross Container Corporation, 400 Maple Ave.

Reconstructing Carpenter Creek was included in the Jelkes Creek-Fox River Watershed Action Plan, which aims to improve water quality in the river and its tributaries. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency approved the plan in December 2012.

Carpentersville received a $628,215 grant from the IEPA, Gray said, and the village will fund the additional project costs.

Plans for the project include tree clearing, earth grading, installing pools and riffles and restoring the riparian buffer, or the vegetation along the side of the creek, using native plants, Gray said. Eight rain gardens will also be installed adjacent to the creek, he added.

Construction will be completed and overseen by Iowa-based HR Green, Inc., as well as Applied Ecological Services, Inc., an ecological consulting firm based in West Dundee.

The project is expected to be completed by next spring, Gray said.

Vesper said public works officials have been meeting with residents affected by the creek's flooding over the past year and shared their plans for reconstructing the creek.

In the meantime, Vesper said, he and his neighbors are eagerly anticipating the end result.

"Carpentersville has done a great job here," he said. "I like the creek and the wildlife and the quietness. (The project) will really clean it all up."

  Carpentersville's Carpenter Creek will be restored beginning this month in hopes of eliminating flooding and erosion. The $1.1 million project is part of the Jelkes Creek-Fox River Watershed Action Plan, passed in 2012 to improve water quality. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
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