Arlington Heights gets grant for rain garden, pavers at police station
Arlington Heights has received a $358,000 grant to help pay for a rain garden and permeable pavers at the downtown police station that's under construction.
The funding from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago had been contemplated when plans for the $27.9 million, 70,500-square-foot station were being discussed last year. An intergovernmental agreement approved by the village board Monday formalized and confirmed the grant award from the stormwater management agency.
It represents about a quarter of the total cost for the green upgrades, which will be constructed and maintained by the village. The village has already spent $127,685 on the engineering and design of the project, and could spend another $1.8 million on construction, according to the agreement.
Officials say that will still fall within the $27.9 million guaranteed maximum price for the entire police station project set by the village board last July. The board approved a $35 million bond issue in 2016 for the police station work.
The rain garden will be installed near the existing park at the northwest corner of the municipal complex. It will consist of native plants meant to naturally filter storm runoff before being released to a storm sewer.
Permeable pavement will be installed in lieu of asphalt in the rear parking lot - on top of a stormwater detention vault - and the main access driveway between the station and village hall.
Those green infrastructure components are aimed at capturing up to 90,807 gallons of stormwater every time it rains, officials said.
As the new cop shop at 200 E. Sigwalt St. continues to take shape, the police department is still aiming to move in by fall.
It's likely construction of the rain garden and pavers won't take place until after move-in, said Charles Witherington-Perkins, the village's director of planning and community development.
The village is due to receive half the grant amount when construction is halfway complete, and the rest when the project is done, under terms of the agreement.